Conversations with the Inspiring Kendel Chelberg

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendel Chelberg.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kendel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always loved capturing moments, my travels, and my style through photos. When the Instagram trend started, I was all for it. I never expected or tried too hard to gain a large following. It mostly happened by accident when one of my photos got picked up by the algorithm. It was a photo of my friend Lindsay, who had a large following, and I. I think that helped a lot. When the photo got reposted dozens of times within a couple of hours, my page gained momentum and popularity quickly. Ever since then, I’ve been growing steadily. I didn’t realize I could make a business out of it until brands starting reaching out to me offering to pay me to advertise their products on my profile. I started really enjoying the whole process and content creation became my hobby on the side of school. Now that I graduated, it’s my only job combined with some modeling on the side which has been a dream.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Influencing on Instagram has not been the smoothest road. Brands and people often expect me to work for free because they think modeling and curating content doesn’t take any time or is super easy. I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today and it’s frustrating when people don’t recognize that. When first starting, I think working for free helps you get your portfolio built but once you gain more experience you should be able to charge more and more for your time and creative skills.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
It’s hard to choose whether I’m more of a model, content creator, or influencer. I think I’m all three and many more roles within the small business of my Instagram. I’m currently in the works of creating a website and a YouTube account so soon, I’ll be a blogger and vlogger as well! I think I stood out being a college student since most other influencers were making Instagram or modeling their full-time job as far as I knew. I think a lot of people gained interest in that aspect of me. I get a lot of college students following me which makes my audience unique.

It would be great to hear about any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve used and would recommend to others.
I often forget that being self-employed is all about self-motivation. My success depends entirely on me and I can choose exactly how I want to spend my time which is a blessing and a curse. Self-help books are my favorite for this reason cause they help me challenge myself and get me out of my comfort zone which I have a tendency to crawl back into. “Feck Perfuciton” by James Victore, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson, and “You are a Badass Everyday” by Jen Sincero are currently in my library.

Contact Info:

• Email: kendelkay@yahoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kendelkay/

Image Credit:
Jaicee Morgan

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