In recent years, content creation has emerged as a lucrative career choice among the youth. Popular content creators who have a big following are making big bucks and running successful businesses as influencers. Not just money, influencers also enjoy fame, recognition, free PR packages and several other lavish perks. However, 23-year-old influencer and actor Ana Wolfermann, who has almost a million followers on TikTok and Instagram combined, is ready to give it all up for a regular 9 to 5 job.
Ms Wolfermann, born in Venezuela, currently lives in New York. She started sharing videos on her TikTok account during the Covid-19 pandemic and is known for sharing her fashion and beauty looks. She is also known for her role as Rosie Rivera on Telemundo's Netflix series 'Mariposa de Barrio'.
In an interview with Fortune, Ms Wolfermann, who graduated from Notre Dame last year, said she is no longer satisfied with her career anymore. While she initially thought of social media influencing as a profitable venture, she later found it to be more taxing than rewarding.
''When I was in college, a lot of the people I looked up to and ultimately wanted to follow in their footsteps career-wise were full-time influencers. So I was extremely eager to graduate into full-time influencing and continuing to grow,'' she explained.
''But within six months, I started to have very real thoughts of ‘I don't think that I want to do this full time. I don't think that I want my entire life to be about ‘how can I market my life?'' she added.
The pressure of sharing content on social media every day soon became crippling and a source of anxiety for her. She also said that she felt becoming more superficial and ''wasn't feeling challenged.''
''I would wake up every single day and think: What can I say today? What can I share today? What can I post today? My entire day became focused on what I was doing and what I had to say. That's fine when you have something you're excited to share, or there's an outfit you want to show people because you just bought it and you love it. But because it was the constant thought in my head and my main focus, it just led me down a very narcissistic and anxious route,'' she continued.
Though she wants to continue posting on social media, she does not want to make a full-time job of it. She is now excited to take on a corporate job as she is ''passionate about and excited to show up to work every single day.'' She realises that she will not be making more than her influencer salary, but is still excited to learn new skills and forge new relationships with her co-workers.
However, when she decided to switch to a corporate job, her family and friends were not on board. ''Everybody thought I was possibly delusional and I just didn't get it. They were like, why would you want to work for somebody else? Why would you want to not have control over your own time? Why would you want to take time away from what you could be building?'' she said.
She has not shared what types of job she is applying for, but lists her skills as "time management, wearing all the hats, and doing things all on my own, getting things done. . . networking skills and building brand relationships".
As per a 2023 Morning Consult report, nearly 60% of Gen Zers said they'd want to be influencers if given the chance.
