Samantha Neira: School, Work, Blog Life Balance

This week I had the pleasure of talking with Samantha Neira, blogger and social media influencer, about her experience as a blogger this far. I wanted to know about blogging and being an influencer from the perspective of someone who has been in the game longer than I have. Shes had some amazing opportunities that I have seen via, Instagram, so I just knew I had to have a chat with her. We got together and had a quick conversation on her blogging/social media career thus far. Continue reading for better insight on who Samantha is and her experiences so far.

- Tyanne Jeannie

[Ty. Jeannie] What made you want to get into blogging?

[Samantha] Before I started my freshman year of college, I wanted to create something to do as a hobby. I was never really into sports or music, but for some reason I was drawn to writing and obsessed with fashion!

[Ty. Jeannie] When did your blogging career, really start to accelerate?

[Samantha] It wasn’t until this past year that I really noticed my blog started to take off!

[Ty. Jeannie] How do you balance a job, keep up with your blog, and maintaining good grades while in school?

[Samantha] School always comes first, so I like to prioritize that. Next up is work! Because I am very work orientated, I would go crazy if I didn’t have a job. My blog is something I like to do in my free time.

[ Ty. Jeannie] Has there been a time where you have had to put blogging on a hold due to school or vice versa?

[Samantha] There have been many times where school or work was consuming my life, and I had to put my blog on the back burner. I would take weeks off from blogging to get everything else accomplished. I would love to come up with a nice balance of work and a steady uploading schedule, but it’s virtually impossible.

[Ty.Jeannie] How do you land such large sponsorships on your Instagram and blog page?

[Samantha] College Fashionista offers me many brand deals through my social media internship. Through apps like Heartbeat and Brand Brief, you can obtain sponsorships. Sometimes I even reach out to the brands myself.

[Ty. Jeannie] How can you tell the difference between a legit email business inquiry verses a scam?

[Samantha] I never trust any email, and I would never reply to any without researching it first. I like to look it up on Instagram and Google. Grammatical errors and odd-looking formats can be an immediate red flag to a scam email.

[Ty. Jeannie] What are your thoughts on saying yes to every opportunity that comes your way? Do you recommend that for a new blogger or should they agree to opportunities that best match their niche?

[Samantha] I would only ever accept a brand deal/opportunity if it relates to my brand and if I whole heartedly believed in the product. Some people are comfortable with accepting deals just for the money- I would never.

[Ty. Jeannie] Since you started blogging which opportunity would you say helped you to grow the most in your career thus far?

[Samantha] I had the opportunity to go to Palm Springs, California with Victoria’s Secret PINK! It was a collaboration between CollegeFashionista and VS PINK. They sent 13 of their top interns on the trip- so I got to meet all of my internet friends. We received so many goodies and we were treated like royalty! Since then, I have seen a steady increase of followers.