How do you secretly tell your boss that you need more than five weeks off to film a hit reality show where you meet your future spouse in a 12-by-12-foot pod?
Better yet, how do you explain that you won't meet your partner until you actually say “yes” to his proposal, that you only have 28 days with your partner before you say “I'm going to see you,” and that you're quitting your job? Is it okay? How to pursue a career as an influencer?
It's a unique struggle love is blind Season 2 contestants Deepti Vempati and Natalie Lee are well aware of the inevitable. Broadcasting your dating life to her over 232 million Netflix subscribers may be daunting for some, but it can have profitable results for the creator. .
Lee and Vempati sitting together luck In June, we'll reveal what's not talked about on the show: how they balanced regular 9-to-5 jobs with instant stardom. . Although neither ultimately got to say “I do” at the altar, their season finale was just the beginning of profitable careers as viral personalities. “After the show aired, we each earned over $500,000 as influencers,” Vempati said.
Ms. Lee, 31, has long been outspoken about her career, documenting her days in Ernst & Young's Chicago office on social media, and has made her $234,000-a-year salary to more than 700,000 employees. He revealed this to his Instagram followers. Although she continued to do her job during filming, love is blind And after the season was released on Netflix, she said she recently decided to quit her job and pursue content creation full-time.
Mr. Vempati, a 32-year-old former data analyst, also quit a career that earned him “just over $100,000” a year. After the show aired, Vempati said she quickly realized how difficult it was to balance content production and corporate work, and admitted that she was “not giving my 100% in both.”
“I decided to take a risk and quit my corporate job,” Vempati explained. “Honestly, I think it was the best choice because if you don’t take risks, you can’t move forward in life.”
Balancing office culture and prestige
It's one thing to land a spot on a hot Netflix show, it's another to convince your boss to approve a vacation.
Vempati revealed that she didn't tell her boss why she was taking accumulated paid leave because she didn't think it would work. “I was like, 'Hey, I'm going to take a long vacation,'” she explained. “Most of the filming in the second half was [the season], I literally just worked through it. So there was no need to tell them. ”
Meanwhile, Lee said she was “honest” with her bosses about filming the reality show, which she generally calls a “serious marriage show,” but made it clear to her co-workers that she was using paid leave to appear on the show. I didn't tell you that love is blind
“They said, 'You don't seem like the type to be on a reality show,'” Lee said. “They didn't know it was that love is blind It came out and they were like, “Did you do that show on Netflix?” We thought this was a documentary. ”
Both contestants said they didn't expect their colleagues to watch the show despite love is blindwas a blockbuster debut in 2020, reaching 30 million viewers just a month after its premiere. “She thought no one was watching,” Lee explained, adding that her colleague told her that her company's global CEO told her he was “rooting for her.” she remembered.
But while that moment of fame allowed Lee to break the ice multiple times at the office, she said her appearance on the show had an impact on her professionally, and that customers who recognized her from the pod I remember meetings with colleagues and colleagues.
“I'll be giving a presentation or something and they'll ask, 'So, what was it like in that pod?'” Lee said. “What do I like? I thought you were talking about this Excel sheet that I spent 18 hours creating.”
“[Becoming a content creator] We are very normal people so it never occurred to us,” she added. But despite the support, both stars personally realized they could make more money as full-time influencers.
life from the pod'
The newly crowned influencers are making the most of their fame by collaborating on weekly podcasts. out of the pod Promising insider info and behind-the-scenes views from the world of reality TV. One episode details how the two leveraged their influx of followers and transitioned into content creation careers following their whirlwind romance. explained.
Lee said she looked at the Instagram profiles of Season 1 cast members and researched the brand deals they signed. “They were all advertising and making money in some way,” Lee said on the podcast. “That’s when I started thinking about how to monetize this experience.”
However, joining the show caused “emotional turmoil” for both cast members, and they did not receive a high return for actually filming. According to Vempati, love is blind pays out prize money to contestants each week, but after taxes, “it's actually not that much”.
However, if contestants use their personality in their brand deals, they can potentially see strong results by maintaining a relevant online presence even after the show ends. Lee said that 95% of his current income comes from brand deals and that he currently earns three times his previous salary as a content creator.
“It's kind of shocking to come from the corporate world and into this content creation, slash influencer world, and how much money you can make from brands,” she said.
Similarly, Vempati has secured partnerships with Fenty Beauty, Stitch Fix, Taskrabbit, Eventbrite, and LAY potato chips, and told his podcast followers that he was paid an astonishing $60,000 for just one Instagram Reel.
But balancing the greater good while maintaining the authenticity of her personal brand is a responsibility she takes seriously. Vempati was not the brand that submitted the offer, and she said it was “quite a journey” to agree with the right brand. The podcaster is more selective with her partnerships to focus on brands she actually uses and trusts, and takes a hands-on approach by attending strategy meetings, she said. . “I want to appear naturally to my followers,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Lee revealed that he made a profit worth $50,000 on his biggest brand deal to date, but did not reveal the company behind Live. She has several business partnerships including SoFi, Fidelity Investments, Burt's Bees, and Lulu's. Ms. Lee is “very frugal” with her own income, she said, dividing her savings between her 401k, her backdoor Roth IRA, and a wide range of index funds.
“We save everything we create that influences content creation,” Lee said. “I haven't spent a penny.”
However, her career as an influencer may have an expiration date, as she plans to return to the corporate world within the next few years. “I can't imagine myself doing that forever and sharing my life. I'm a pretty private person,” she said. “I know it’s short-term, but it’s really fun and from a financial standpoint, it’s worth it.”
Although it's an “uncomfortable position” not to be able to predict the future of her content creation career, Vempati says she plans to ride the Netflix fame for much longer, becoming an author and TEDx speaker after leaving the show. Ta.
“I don’t know how long this content creation and influencer lifestyle will last,” she said. “But as long as I show up with integrity and create good content for the brand, I feel like I can keep doing it.”
This article originally appeared on Fortune.com
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