Melissa Eugene
Staff Writer
In a world filled with comparison, inspiration and knowledge we look to others near us and from afar, from our phone screens to our closet companionship to get the answer to our daily questions. “Does this look right?” “What answer did you get?” “I searched it up on Google…” I saw it on TikTok.”
Social media and the internet have become the kit to knowing it all, about someone or something. While this kit can be very useful, sometimes dangerous, it can mostly be inspiring, to be a witness or learn something from a simple device or to know a person based off what they post, knowing an influencer is exactly what it sounds like. Knowing someone who became an influence on you and Monet McMichael makes a perfect example.
Monet McMichael started her social media journey on YouTube where she just hit 400,00 subscribers, and on TikTok where she has over 3.7 million followers. On a general note, Monet placed her category of the content she makes as beauty and fashion, but what makes Monet different from other influencers is the energy she brings and exudes from her videos.
Her supporters have stated that they really made the right girl famous this time around. But what really makes Monet McMichael so different and special than other influencers is her background. Monet went to college at Rutgers University where she obtained her nursing degree, and during this time Monet started off her YouTube channel as a way of documenting her life. But she never truly had a goal to be famous, or to make her presence on social media her full-time job as she was a nursing student at this time. Monet also went over the struggles a nursing student may come across and the things she went through while in school.
She also goes over how she balanced her life and how she still did content creation on YouTube and other platforms even though she was still in school. And while documenting her life and giving tips on being a nursing student, the people fell in love with Monet and her life changed tremendously after graduation.
Blessed with the opportunities she gained from vlogging and posting on her other platforms, Monet became the new influencer to know and the new “it girl.” Her supporters felt a connection with her. The girl that came from nothing and went into nursing not knowing much about it comes to being a social media influencer to a person who people now look up to and the person people want to know more about.
In 2023, Monet McMichael was named influencer of the year by WWD (Women’s Wear Daily), as well as being featured on Forbes Top Creators of 2023 and being in Teen Vogue. It’s safe to say that Monet accomplished every girl’s dream in as little as one year.
From my own personal take on Monet McMichael is that she is as real as a best friend you’ve had for years. She started out doing what she loved, which was makeup, fashion and documenting her life on film for YouTube. She didn’t have a goal or desire to be as big as she has become, she did what made her happy and didn’t place having a huge following as her goal, she simply was creative.
Monet also spoke in a recent TikTok that she has always been grateful at every stage of her life, from when she was eating Jamaican beef patties from the dollar store with her mom because there was a time when her mom was struggling, Monet was never sour about her situations. She always embraced every stage and didn’t let challenges consume her.
I think that what everyone can take away from this story is it’s okay to have wants and to have goals, but never resent where you are now, take every day with some type of gratitude and be at peace with how things are, you’ll get to where you want to be in life. Just live everyday like it’s the day you achieved your goal.
