My name is Aly, I’m from London. I’m 27 years old. 

I’ve been a content creator for around two and a half years. I became full-time 11 months ago today, so nearly coming up to a year.  

What inspires me to share my creativity is feeling like I’m helping other people step out their comfort zone, inspiring confidence which allows them to wear what they want, how they want. 

My dream DM on Instagram would probably be Lil Uzi Vert (@liluzivert). Hopefully he messages me one day. Lil Uzi, if you’re watching, I love you.  

One Instagram account everyone should follow, apart from mine of course, would be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (@shai), who plays basket ball for Oklahoma City Thunder. His fits are insane. If you ever need outfit inspiration, he’s the one you should go to.  

When someone follows you and they leave a comment, replying to their comment is a way of saying ‘I hear you and I appreciate you’.  

If I had to collaborate with another Instagram creator, it would probably be A$AP Rocky (@asaprocky). I know that’s generic, but I feel that me and him could come up with some cool creative visuals for his music videos. 

This video on Instagram of me styling the keyboard jacket. It was unreleased, it was crazy, something no one had ever seen before. I styled it in a way that was completely unique – even Erykah Badu was DM’ing the creator. My friend designed it, and he was like ‘Yo, do you want to wear the jacket?’ I was like, ‘Send it to me right now, we’ll make the video in a couple of hours’. Within an hour of posting it blew up, had over 2 million views, and then Erykah Badu messaged me and the designer. That was really cool to see.  

I’m on a panel speaking to loads of people from Instagram headquarters, so for me, that’s an achievement in itself.  

I love being able to wake up when I want, film when I want and inspire a whole load of people on my own terms, on my own time, as a content creator. 

My style icons are old people and kids – in the most non-weird way possible. Old people are so put together, they have life experience and know what works. Kids just don’t care what they wear, so if you combine the two together you have a masterpiece. 

My resolution for the year ahead is to make more long–form content. I feel like people who are already invested in me and follow me want to see more behind the scenes. I want to let them in on my life and show them that it’s okay to be who you are and do what you want. I eventually want to become the MrBeast of fashion by doing lots of giveaways and giving back to the community and people who can’t just afford clothes on a regular basis. 

I’m Asher Glean. I’m from London and I’m a content creator/actor. 

Ah, story time! I used to be on Vine. I had loads of American followers. After it closed down, I did nothing with my life. Then last year, in February, I decided to start posting on Instagram and TikTok. 

I just want everybody to be happy, life is too short. 

My dream DM is Denzel Washington. I’ve literally watched all his films and I think he’s an amazing actor, so I’d love to just pick his brains. Or Michael B. Jordan because everybody thinks he’s good looking, and good looking people message good looking people.  

My mother, because my mum doesn’t know how to use it. Every day she posts pictures of the sky with a paragraph of metaphors about the sky and life. 

Yes, my mum watches my videos. She’s not surprised from my content. 

What helps me with connections is my social media platforms, Instagram and Instagram Threads. I’m able to see what everyone’s talking about, not directly but indirectly. You can respond to almost everyone.  

I would collaborate with Denzel Washington and we would make a short film, where he’d be the serious person that he is and I’d be very ‘unserious’. I’d like to see where that goes. 

How far I’ve come since last February when I started content creating. I didn’t think I would win an award for it. I didn’t even know there was an award, but I did it. 

This one. The caption is, ‘When your manager comes to your funeral’. Manager comes over, looks at your face and is like: ‘You know the policy. You can’t just miss work. You need to give me a week’s notice. You know what, I’ll give you time to get yourself together…’ And then he walks off.   

It means everything. I’ve had VIP treatment. I’ve even had my eyebrows done, nobody’s ever touched my eyebrows. 

To get cast in a film. That is my biggest goal for next year. I’ve built a platform, I’ve been working on my acting, so I think it’s only right that’s the next step. 

My name is Claire, I’m from Sierra Leone and I’m Nigerian.

Myself, because I’m my own biggest fan and my own biggest critic.  

What I like most about putting looks together is the textiles and the fabric of the clothing. When I look at clothing, I find a deeper meaning to it. Depending on my mood and how I feel, the pattern and textiles will change. So if you look at my Instagram, you’ll see one day I could be chic, the next day I could be a boss lady and the next day I could be in cosy streetwear fashion. It’s those things that inspire me. 

Most of my clothes are thrifted, so Vinted, Depop, Etsy, charity shops as well.  

I usually go to the ones in Notting Hill Gate, they usually have really good items.  

I would say Rihanna (@badgalriri) – not just because she makes music, but she inspires me on the business aspect of things. She started with music, and then to become a businesswoman owning a brand… She has built up a whole empire.  

If I was to collaborate with an Instagram creator or influencer, it would be GAKU (@gakuyen). He’s a video editor who shows you how to video edit and how to do cool transitions. I think together we could make really good content. 

I’m Eliza. I’m a disabled content creator from London.  

I’ve been a content creator on Instagram for about three years now. I started during the pandemic and it just grew from there.   

One of the things that inspires me to share my creativity is the fact that, as a disabled person, I didn’t see that much representation out there. I wanted to create my own so that other people could see disabled people online and feel more seen. 

If I could collaborate with any other Instagram creator, it would have to be Hayley Morris (@hayleymorris3), who creates amazing, funny and educational content. I would love to make a funny sketch about disability with her amazing spin on it.  

My dream DM absolutely has to be Harry Styles. I mean, who doesn’t want Harry sliding into their DMs? 

One Instagram account everyone should follow is definitely Benjy Kusi (@benjy_lookbook). He makes amazing educational content that everybody should be learning from.  

My Pizza Express order is always Pollo Pesto, without the chicken. It’s pasta that’s baked in the pizza oven so it’s always super crispy and yummy. 

One of the things I’m most proud of in 2023 is my wedding. I just recently got married and it was such a perfect day. It was a combination of me and my partner and we both loved it. I was able to share it with my followers who also really loved it, so that is something I feel really proud of.  

One of my resolutions for the year ahead is to keep creating consistent content and try to start creating every day, because that’s something that I struggle with. I think it would get me in the groove of being creative. 

I’m Humz and I’m from Manchester. 

I’ve been a content creator for two years. It’s been a long, hard, enjoyable road with ups and downs, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. It is a dream come true and it’s finally being accepted in the real world as a real job. 

If you have creativity to share, it’s your duty to share it. If you’re a creative person, you just have to.

My dream DM would probably be PinkPantheress (@pinkpantheress), because she is the queen of socials, the queen of pop. She’s a baddie, she’s super inspiring. I look at her and think ‘That’s what I want to be doing’. It’s groundbreaking stuff. PinkPantheress, if you’re watching this, hit me up please. 

What helps me facilitate connections with communities and other creatives is being present on the platform as much as I can. I need to be sending out a new message every single day, be present on my DMs, making sure no DM goes unnoticed. I get messaged by a lot of people asking help for this and that, and just making sure to keep track of those things is part of my job role as a creator. My main role is to help people, how can I help people if I’m not present every day? 

I’ve got three main motivations. One: to fulfil my purpose of being a contributor, someone from our generation who is remembered for taking us down a better path for the whole planet and changing the world. I want it to be part of my legacy that I was one of the people that helped change the course of humanity and took us where we should have been going. 

Another one of my main motivations is my family. When I was going through my low moments and I was reckless at uni, not really thinking about anyone else, I put my family in a lot of pain and now I feel like I have a duty to them to turn things around and give them the whole world as a thank you.

Another huge thing that motivates me is I just want to be the greatest, number one, because that’s how my dad always raised me. I do feel like every day I’m always pushing to be the number one in everything I do – the number one content creator on Instagram, the number one Pakistani musician in the world. 

My mission is very clear: it’s to raise the vibration of every person I come across. Social media has allowed me to do that at an unprecedent rate. If I keep rising the vibrations, then overall together the population are raising and that’s how the world changes. So overall my overarching mission, which is in my Instagram bio, is I’m on a mission to change the world. 

Everyone told me you can’t make a real career out of this. Now we’re here – I’ve been chosen by Instagram themselves to be in the Creators of Tomorrow. I’d like to say ‘look at me now’, but also ‘never let them tell you that it’s not possible’, because this is now my full-time job. I get to do what I love and I get to help the world in the process. 

I started documenting my mental health journey two years ago by running around the park and jumping into a wheely bin full of ice, screaming motivation into my iPhone. Everyone told me ‘you can’t make a real career out of that’. But the one thing in my life that gave me joy was when I’d get a message from a kid in Australia, 15 years old, saying ‘I used to have anxiety and I watched your videos. I did everything you said and now I don’t have anxiety anymore’. That feeling, of someone on the other side of the world giving me an Instagram DM saying that, was unbelievable. 

What’s next for me in 2024 is releasing my first single as a musician. Not many people know this, but one of the reasons I actually built my social media up in the first place was because music was always the thing I wanted to do, the thing that feeds my soul – which is also in line with me wanting to change the world. My music is an extension of my content, which is high vibrations. 

My name is Jade Foley and I’m from Cork, Ireland. 

So, it originally was @makeupbyjade_1, but I actually ended up changing it because I felt like I’m more than just makeup. I think I can do a lot more than just one specific thing and I want to broaden myself as just Jade Foley, so that’s why now it’s @itsjadefoley. 

My dream DM would definitely come from Vogue. I really want to get into modelling and it’d be amazing to be asked to be on a Vogue catalogue.  

I’ve been a content creator since lockdown. I essentially started when I got my makeup qualification. I wanted another way to show all my work and just keep on practicing since we had nothing else to do in lockdown. It’s kind of kicked off since then.  

Amelia (@ameliadimz) from Chicken Shop Date. I really would love to go on a date with her. I love watching her videos and hopefully I’ll get to a level of stardom where I’ll be able to be on it. 

What helps me facilitate connections is knowing what I want to find. I look on people’s follow list and follow a bunch of people who stand out to me and that I want to connect with. I’ve found a lot of Black Irish creators that way. I actually sent a list of the Black Irish creators I came across to PR companies to ask for more inclusivity within our communities. It got people talking.  

It was like really nice to work with Glow Up. My biggest dream was to be on the show, and when it came to Ireland I was like ‘Yay!’, because I wanted to travel to London for it. I got to the semi-finals, so I’m pretty happy with that one. 

My own perseverance. A lot of things have happened to me this year that were very unfortunate – my best friend, I lost him to suicide, I had a breakup, I was really in debt with money. But I never let it stop me from achieving anything that I wanted to achieve. I don’t come from the best area as well… but that’s why I love the internet and Instagram. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you can make yourself somebody if you really want to. I never stopped. From the start of this year ‘til the end, I’ve really given it my all.  

A New Year’s resolution is to go back to the child I once was. I think when you get older, you’re trying to step away from your inner child because you want to grow up. And then when you get to being a grown up, you want to go back because when you’re a child you’re more carefree. You just did whatever you wanted to do. You had more fun, more creativity. I think I’m just going to revert back to the version of myself that I once was. 

The event I’m planning next year is this POC / Black event in Ireland where all of the agencies and brands are going to come into the one room and just uplift, encourage and educate POC / Black creators on how they could do better, who they can market themselves to best. Just basically get people’s names in the door. A lot of people have helped me get my stuff in the door. And I would like to give that back to other people, because I’ve had my flowers and I want to give it to other people. 

Klaudia Fior, AKA @wavyute. I was born in Poland and grew up in south London. 

I started doing content full time in September of 2021, so it’s been just over two years.  

When I was in secondary school, everyone went through the phase of calling each other ‘wavy’, ‘sway me’ and all of these different things. I just wanted to be the coolest of the cool. And because I’m from south London, obviously Jamaican culture is a big part of London culture in general. 

I was a kid at the time, so I called myself a ‘wavy yute’. I don’t know how the Instagram name wasn’t taken and people have offered to buy my Instagram name because it’s so cool. I refuse to get rid of it even though I’m no longer a child. 

I can’t tell you my dream DM, because they’ve already DM’d me! 

Logan (@logansfewd), who makes loads of different Korean food. He knows how to make his own kimchi, and I want him to make me kimchi so I can try it. He’ll make the food and I’ll taste test it.

The thing that inspires me to share my creativity is just inspiring other people to post whatever they want to post. I feel like life is too short to care what other people think of you. Also, I’ve come to realise over the years that I’ve been sharing content online that it boosts other people’s confidence. I’m really just here for that. 

From the moment you have a platform, it’s your duty to be able to educate others. You don’t necessarily have to be opinionated about certain topics. You don’t have to choose sides, as some people like to call it, but you do have to share information so that people are able to access facts, educate themselves and have a better understanding of what’s happening across the world. It’s the least we can do. We’ve been blessed with such a great platform. It only makes sense for us to be able to put it to good use.

Instagram plays a crucial role in facilitating relationships with content creators and building better relationships. Not only is the algorithm really smart in terms of being able to match you up with people you should be interested in following or having the same content as, but it also gives you easy access to the people you might want to work with.  

Novara Media (@novaramedia), to get all your political news and social issues updates. They’re very unbiased and they give the information that you need. 

The things I’m most proud of in 2023 are that I paid off all my debt and I solo travelled to Korea. I’ve done solo travelling before, but doing it in Korea was a huge step for me and I absolutely loved it. 

And my last thing is, at the start of the year I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve both financially and work-wise. I’ve already completed all of them.  

I’m Max and I’m from London. I swear every time I say that I feel like I’m on Take Me Out...  

I’ve been a content creator since lockdown. That’s when I started to take it seriously and wanted to do something with it, instead of just kind of posting a photo of my dog or my mum. 

For me, just being able to make people’s day, make them happy, make them smile, inspire people. That’s what I’m about. 

A lot of the stuff I talk about is trying to spread positivity and I talk a lot about mental health awareness. So being able to create spaces where people can support each other and chat freely. 

Probably. I used to live really close to my tattoo artist, so none of [my tattoos] are planned. I don’t really like planning them too far in advance. I’d literally just wake up and be like, ‘Can I get a tattoo today please?’. 

First of all, everyone should be following my account! No, but for real — one that I think everyone should be following is David Larbi (@davidlarbi). He’s just got the most amazing speaking voice and he’s so wise, he’s literally like a wise owl. Shout–out David. 

I’d have to say Stephen Graham. He’s my favourite actor. He’s sick. He’s also a short king and I rate that. 

I would say my New Year’s resolution is to carry on growing and on doing what I’m doing. But also, I want to tell more stories about people whose stories might not be being told. And I want to make documentaries, so that’s a goal for next year. 

My name is Maymah and I’m from Leeds.  

I’ve been a content creator for three years. When I first started out it was just self–documentation, and then it blossomed into this beautiful thing and now it‘s my job. 

Some of the content I’m most proud of is my failures, because I want to show you guys that it’s normal to be bad at something. Failure is part of the progress; it’s part of the journey to success. Without the fails, we wouldn’t know what our good times are and what successes truly is.  

The thing that inspires me to share my creativity is the never-ending possibilities in every piece of content I find on Instagram. 

That there’s no boundary to what you can do and the possibilities that come with it. One piece of content can reach so many people and the opportunities that can come from it are literally endless. I ended up in LA and the year before I wasn’t even affiliated with Gymshark, so for that to even happen as a result of my posts is just insane to me. 

The thing I like most about travelling is meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, getting involved with different areas of the world and just seeing how much there is to discover. 

My most proud moment of 2023 is being involved with Meta. That’s been insane.

If I could collaborate with anyone on Instagram, it would be Analis Cruz (@analiscruzx) and Stefi Cohen (@steficohen). We’d just have a massive, heavy workout sesh. Those girls are just so inspirational to me because of the way that they work out, so it would be so amazing for us all to get together and really graft. 

My dream DM is from Stefi Cohen because she’s such a strong woman. I’m so heavily influenced by her with every single piece of content that she puts out. I’m amazed at the capabilities that she has, and I’m like, ‘I wanna be her so bad!’. 

I like to read, I like to do jigsaw puzzles, I like to do Lego. I like journaling, watching movies, doing puzzles, that kind of thing. 

Right now, my workout routine is doing bodyweight stuff. I used to neglect it for such a long time because I was scared of it and I didn’t want to be bad at something, but now I’m embracing being a beginner again. 

In the future, I’d like to do more collaborations with more brands that I love and adore. I want to have my own podcast. I want to do more events; I want to travel the country and meet you guys, maybe even internationally. I want to do more panel talks. I just want to be involved in everything a lot more. 

My New Year’s resolution for the year ahead is to stop putting a cap on my own capabilities and the outreach that I have. To start maximizing on the connections I can make with people and just bringing my audience into a more personal relationship. 

I’m Myla. I’m originally from Ghana. I lived in Manchester for 14 years and I just moved to London last year.  

I don’t really see a lot of Black girls, or Black non-binary people that look like me doing what I do. So, I do what I do to encourage darker skinned people to be bold, bleach your brows, wear crazy colours, do crazy make up, and go about your life.  

Making new friends, because I’m really, really shy. A lot of people think, when you look at my page, that I’m not shy. I’ve been getting out of my comfort zone, making new friends and trying to make new connections. Another achievement would definitely be articles written in Metal Magazine and Dazed Beauty. That was huge for me, personally. 

I would collaborate with Gustaf Westman (@gustafwestman). He is a furniture creator and I love interior design. He very much touches on 70s and 80s interiors, so I feel like combining that with makeup and furniture would be really cool. In the future, I want to bring out my own furniture line. 

I love responding to comments when I get them. I also love talking to people who aren’t friends in the DMs, because, for example, if I don’t know about something, they’ll tell me in the DMs and then we’ll talk. I also love going to events to network, even though I do have social anxiety, but that really helps with getting rid of the social anxiety. 

SZA. I’ve talked to her a few times in the DMs. She’s been following me since 2018, and I vividly remember that day. I was in bed and I woke up to loads of notifications. I was like, ‘What is this?’ And then I realised that she commented on one of my pictures and followed me. 

For sure. I love her music. I remember back in high school, nobody knew who SZA was – this was when her album Z was out – and I used to bother my friends to listen to her. 

@EditorialBLK. It’s run by Wendy, who is a Black content creator. EditorialBLK is basically highlighting other Black creators who specialise in editorial makeup. 

I can’t live without food. If I’m in bed and I’m hungry, I’m like, ‘OK, time to get out of bed, let’s go eat and start my day’. Also, my cat, because even if I want to stay in bed, he will not let me. He will scratch down on my door until I give him food and go play with him.  

My New Year’s resolution for the year ahead is to be consistent. Procrastination is really my worst enemy. I feel like, because of lockdown, it’s just really ingrained in me. So definitely to be consistent with creating and other things in my life as well. 

I’m Ro Mitchell and I’m from Southampton. 

My dream DM would be Phoebe Bridgers. Hands down. Easy! 

I’ve been such a big fan of her music for so many years. When people ask me who my favourite celebrity is, she’s the first one that comes to mind every time. 

I started sharing content in late 2020. It feels like a really long time, but also not at the same time. It’s been almost three years now. 

I’m most proud of the content I’ve created around getting myself out of the house, because I‘m someone that’s quite anxious and has really struggled in the past to get out and to be by myself. I feel like I’ve really come out of my shell this year. 

The thing that inspires me the most is knowing that my content can help other people who are going through what I was going through when I was younger. 

I am so grateful and overwhelmed that I’ve been asked to be here. When I think about what I do for a job I feel like I’m just sat in my bedroom, but then I come out and it’s like, ‘I’m here!’ It’s so cool, and it makes everything feel so real.  

I’m part of the Meta Wellbeing Collective, where I’ve met so many other lovely people.

Both of us have been inspired by content we’ve created before. She’s credited me for Reel ideas before and I’ve credited her too, so I feel like we could mishmash what we both do and it would work. 

I really love the content that Bree Lenehan (@breeelenehan) puts out because it’s really helped me personally with my body image and how I feel about myself. And I feel like she has such a positive impact on young girls and young women. 

I feel like I’m going to keep creating mental health content until I am even better than I already am. I also really want to start a podcast. Now I’m thinking about it, I really want to do that. 

Just a casual, chatty one, getting out all my thoughts about my mental health in that moment and trying to help people. 

In 2024, I want to fully be over my fear of leaving the house, and I want to conquer my anxieties about going out. I just want to be able to do everything by myself.