I Made It! : An Overview of The Fohr Freshman Class Experience
/Hey hey hey!!
If you’re reading this then you may or may not know about the Fohr Freshman Class Experience. It’s okay if you don’t know what it’s about because I am going to give you a run down on everything that happened from the day I found out I made it to the Top 10 until now!
After putting in my application and seeing hundreds of other influencers I follow apply, I lost hope. I stopped thinking I would get it and decided to give it to God. Oh but then I received an email saying that I made it as one of the 85 finalist. That’s when I started thinking about it all over again. It was about 3 days and I couldn’t stop thinking, “Did I make it? Did my friend make it? Did anyone I know make it?” I was obsessing over the thought of did I get it or not! Then, I received an email on October 25th, 2018 saying, “On behalf of our team, I would like to congratulate you on being accepted into Fohr Freshman Class, Class of 2018. You are one of 10 who was selected over 1600 applicants. Congratulations!!!” I SCREAMED, CRIED, and REREAD that email over and over before I knew it was real. This was probably one of the happiest moments in my influencer career.
What is Fohr?
Fohr is an influencer marketing platform that works with not only brands, but influencers as well. They are one of the few influencer marketing agencies that really care about the influencer. Every week the CEO, James Nord, does a “Drink With James” segment that answers influencer’s questions about the industry and overall helping us improve our brand. Aside from that, their website is created to help influencers have a built-in media kit and a detailed spread of our analytics. It’s free to make a profile and open to anyone who considers themselves an influencer!
What is Fohr Freshman Class?
Fohr Freshman Class was created to highlight some of the industry’s most exceptional (yet underrated) content creators. It all started because Valerie (@OnACurve), responded to a “Drink With James” segment about diversity. The company then wanted to play their part in making the influencer space more diverse, so they created Fohr Freshman Class. They picked the best 10 people they felt had compelling stories to showcase that their are diverse people in the influencer space. The 10 people who were chosen represent all different types of diversity. Here’s a link for you to check out the 10 Freshman Class members, including me!
Since Fohr is located in New York. they flew all 10 of us out to New York and put us in the lavish Four Seasons Hotel. It was an all expense three day trip, where we got assigned mentors, visited the Fohr HQ, Instagram’s NY office and had a party in our honor. I will say it was my best 48 hours ever spent in New York.
What/Who impacted me the most?
What if I told you that my other classmates impacted me the most! It’s nothing like being around other creatives who are so eager and hungry to learn. What I loved the most, was the fact that we all had extremely different Instagram follower counts. Some of us had 4k while some of us had 99k. The range helped us talk to each other about brand deals, how we grew and shared our insights with one another. It was great to hear each other stories and feel inspired by one another.
What Was My Best Take Away?
My best take away was learning new strategies and determining content that my audience wants to see. We had the opportunity of listening to the VP of Fohr, Grace Murray, tell us what brands like to see from influencers when doing campaigns and how can we stand out. She also talked about effective client communication, because a lot of this industry is about impressions. I’ve worked with some brands over and over because their PR person loved me once they met me; I guess I left a good impression. Here are some of the points she shared with us that I want to share with you guys!
If you’re having an in person meeting, make sure to ask questions about their personal life. E.G. Where’d you grow up? , Where have you traveled lately? , Compliment their jewelry and ask questions about it. Once you’ve done a little Q&A yourself, take notes on your phone afterwards. So when you meet the person again you can refresh and bring up something they mentioned in your last conversation.
Take emailing serious. A lot of times in this industry, email might be the only communication you have with the person, so it’s better to make sure you are on it. Always personalize your greetings, mirror the persons energy, and show that thoughtfulness in your emails.
Make sure you are over-delivering and showing the clients your work. Sometimes brands might not ask for your analytics after a post but it’s nice to send them over how well your post did or a DM from someone saying how they want to buy the product now. It’s great when you recap or report your work.
How Am I Going To Use This Experience?
My Mentor
@TylaLauren
Another thing that I loved about this experience was meeting my mentor. I was actually following my mentor already, (@TyLauren), so I was super excited when I found out she was my mentor. She helped me get an inside perspective of what worked for her and how to grow my following. I plan on using this experience to stay connected with her and potentially collab and work together more. A lot of this industry is about collaborating. Whether it’s working with another brand or another influencer, it’s great to show that you work well with others. Now I have another influencer who’s platform is similar to mine and can help guide me through my journey. Aside from that, I’ve built a relationship with the people who work at Fohr which is AWESOME! It’s nothing like knowing the people who are responsible for finding influencers to work with other brands. Very grateful for that!
How Did I Get The Opportunity?
This year was the first year of the Fohr Freshman Class and it will only get bigger and better next year. Like previously mentioned, I’ve been a member of Fohr for a few years now and I receive their emails weekly. When I saw the email for their freshman class application, I applied immediately. I remember after submitting my application I felt like I should have taken more time and put more thought into my answers, but I guess my answer were better than I thought! Unfortunately, I didn’t save my answers, but I know I explained in my application what I feel like is missing in the influencer space and how I’m determined to be a change. I receive messages from women all the time saying how they love seeing a dark skin girl with hair that looks like them, doing the same things as the normal blonde hair white girl. That inspires me to never give up! I said sooo much more in my application but you get the picture. lol. If you are an influencer, then I’d advise you to sign up for Fohr and stay connected with what their doing. It’ll be the best free membership you’ll ever have, I promise!
Here’s some pictures from my stay at the Four Seasons Downtown New York, The Fohr office and Instagram office. I hope I answered any questions about Fohr and my experience there! A separate blog post coming soon about what I learned at the Instagram New York offices!
