Influence this.

Story by Dani Hunt from @thesportsbrat

It seems like since the recent unfortunate events and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, social media is acknowledging black influencers as if we are new to the social realm.

Well, hi! How are ya?! I’ve actually been here for four years and have spent the last 18 months at The Sports Brat. While I think it’s amazing that black influencers are being promoted on social media, I would just like for everyone to know why most business is equal-opportunity, influencing isn’t. I think it’s important to bring attention to the issues that black influencers face, all which I have personally experienced myself. By doing this I wanted to share with you situations I’ve found myself in while trying to partner with brands throughout the years.

*Please keep in mind that the following are all my own thoughts and opinions

“Sorry, we don’t have an influencer budget right now. We’ll keep you in mind if something comes available.”

Oh really? That’s not what you told my friend that worked with you last week. This is probably the most annoying response I get on a daily basis. By now, I know a lot of black influencers have been bringing up the fact that black influencers aren’t paid nearly as much or, offered the same opportunities as our non-black counterparts. To be told by a company there isn’t an influencer budget, when you know for a fact that there is, is the most frustrating response for a blogger that’s trying to at least be somewhat compensated for the work that we put in. I know it doesn’t look like it, and you’re probably going to laugh at me, but taking pictures, editing video (I do this on my own), writing blog posts, etc is a lot of work. It’s time consuming. That’s the main thing. Time. 

“We’d like to see you grow some more.”

Oh, the growth response. I love this one. No really! This is the cop-out response in my opinion. This is the phrase that is the mask for “thanks, but no thanks”. I have seen influencers and creators with a much smaller following land paid partnerships that I have been told I’m not big enough for. A question I always have is, “what is big enough?” When will my voice be valuable to a brand or company? Is it really fair to say that my platform isn’t large enough when someone with far less than me gets the same partnerships I’m going for? I know influencing is a numbers game, but at what point is my following going to be enough? I mean, I’m not asking to get thousand-dollar collab deals. Sometimes all I’m asking for is a partnership or a chance to just work with a brand no matter how minimal the opportunity is. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be paid. Hell, I’d love to be a full time blogger and not teach. However, although blogging is my passion project and not full time, of course I have those moments of “if only I was full time and this is what I did every day.” But, then I realize I don’t have the partnerships and sponsorships to be full time. With the podcast, the YouTube channel, and the blog, I could easily create enough content for those three channels alone to be full time. If only…

“We love your style, but-“

Enter whatever excuse here. I love when I open an email from a brand I have reached out to and they thank me for the correspondence but continue to proceed with, “We love your style but..” and then add some weak excuse. Now, yes, I do have a very specific and unique brand. Sports and Gameday is not mainstream when it comes to blogging. I focus on sports, travel, and style, with a heavy emphasis on the sports. I try to pepper in mainstream blogging topics to reach the masses because I know not all women want to hear about sports all the time. I also know that sometimes the only time they’re at a sporting is if their boyfriend/husband brought them to the game. So, I like to cater to all. But, what style do people want? If you have any suggestions that don’t require me to change my personality, please send them my way!

I know this is starting to sound redundant. But, so are some of the “reasons” why I am unable to move forward with my passion.

Hold on let me rewind. I can move forward. I do move forward, on my own. What I’ve learned from the influencing world is that I have to overdo to be taken seriously. Much more than my non-POC blogger pals. But that is nothing new to me. I just wish it wasn’t this way.