International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day of celebration and recognition of the social, economic, cultural and political impacts of women.
Every year on March 8, International Women’s Day commemorates and honors women’s accomplishments, raises awareness about gender disparities and discrimination, as well as spotlighting global support for women.
Ahead of International Women’s Day we’ll be spotlighting some of the influencer marketing industry’s most inspirational figures, as suggested by our own Goat team.
Danae Mercer
Recommended by Account Director, Mae Reddaway
Journalist, activist, content creator and Cambridge alumni, Danae Mercer highlights the difference between appearance and reality to share the importance of body positivity.
In past ventures, Mercer has been the Editor-In-Chief of Women’s Health Middle East, working for both CNN and The Sunday Times, and shenow curates content across social media.
Across her YouTube channel, Instagram, website, podcast and newsletter, Danae delivers uplifting advice and body confidence to her community.
Speaking to The Florentine, Danae visits the nature of her work as an influencer:
“One of the things I’m most proud of is knowing on a tangible level that I help women feel better about themselves. And I only know this because they are so kind as to message me saying things like Because of you, today I wore a bikini, and of course, it’s not actually because of me,”
Account Director at Goat, Mae Reddaway, notes how important influencers like Danae have become, opting to ditch the filtered lenses for something more authentic.
“Growing up, the women I saw in the media were all unattainably perfect; stick thin, bright white teeth, long lashes, luscious bouncy hair and not a wrinkle in sight. Looking back, this was a dangerous standard of beauty to set, and led to so many girls and women feeling like they weren’t good enough if they didn’t match this ideal. 15 years later, social media has thankfully given a platform to women celebrating body positivity and self love, while exposing the fakery that goes into many of the images that we see of ‘flawless’ models and celebrities which are in reality heavily staged and photoshopped.”
“Danae is a ray of sunshine in this space and her honesty has made millions of women around the world feel that they are beautiful and they are enough.”
Jackie Aina
Recommended by Global Brand Strategist (US) Ajalin Zenon
Jackie is an American beauty YouTuber and social influencer who advocates for visibility of people of color in the cosmetics industry. Starting on YouTube back in 2008, Aina can be considered as one of the first ‘YouTubers’, before influencing was a recognized space like it is now.
Jackie was amongst the first influencers to receive an invitation to the Met Gala, and the very first black creator to be invited. While her main vertical is beauty & lifestyle, her content and voice overs are very encouraging and inspirational. She’s worked with major beauty brands and challenged them on diversity and supporting black creators. She has truly championed inclusive beauty.
Heading up Goat’s Strategy team in the US, Ajalin Zenon recognizes AIna as a warm figure, who alongside campaigning for inclusivity, is there to spread encouragement and positivity to her community.
“The internet often refers to her as auntie Jackie, because they’ve been following her for so long, she feels like family, and her messaging is always so loving and encouraging”
GrlSwirl
Recommended by Account Director, Ellie Hooper
GrlSwirl started as a small group of founding women and has grown into a global force of thousands of online members across New York, San Diego, Paris and Lisbon.
The women behind the outfit have found community through skateboarding, and have launched into a global network of people who come together to skate, hang and make friends.
Their vision from the start was to do good for the world. In addition to empowering people and building community through skateboarding, the girls have raised over 25k for local non-profits, taught over 300 young children to skate through a membership program, and continue to use their voice to better the communities they live in.
Account Director, Ellie Hooper, resonates with the GrlSwirl community and credits them for getting back into skating:
“Having been very keen as a kid, I let it slip around Uni. Late-twenties, I felt far too old to get back into it. Until I stumbled across this community. And now I’m as in love with it as I ever have been. These girls, the online community and the inspiration they spread got me through the pandemic.”
Looking through an influencer marketing lens, Hooper highlights the influence that these girls have had over a global community, encouraging empowerment over competition:
“These women have done an incredible job of bringing female skateboarding to the forefront of social media. Not necessarily from a performance and competitive POV, but from a community-led, just enjoy yourself POV. They champion learning whatever your age, all levels welcome and have even embarked on a philanthropic journey to empower young girls to take it up – not just in the US but it’s a force across the globe. These women – both in a group and on an individual personality basis – probably don’t realize their influence on the female skate community. But it’s big. And their unique approach to social inspires on many levels.”
Snitchery
Recommended by Senior Campaign Coordinator (US), Clare McCaffrey
Eleanor Barnes, known better as her social handle Snitchery, brings together the worlds of cosplay and beauty.
After posting anime and Disney-inspired looks on Instagram during her freshman year of college, her passion grew into a YouTube channel where she uploads makeup tutorials, and discusses personal topics like her hair and beauty journey, and growing up as a biracial woman in a predominantly white town.
Speaking to PaperMag, Barnes describes her experience growing up in Northern Virginia:
“When you’re a kid, you don’t realize that you’re different from other kids especially when you’re around everyone who looks the same. You think that they perceive you that way too, but they don’t,”
“It turned into this thing where growing up I was the de-facto Black friend because I was the closest anyone knew to a 100% Black person.”
Barnes also maintains transparency for her audience as a beauty creator, highlighting the cosmetic work she has received to prevent unattainable expectations:
“as a beauty channel I never wanted to come on with new cheekbones and have people think it was just makeup or something achievable outside of what I was explaining in the tutorial.”
Clare McCaffrey, Senior Campaign Coordinator for Goat in the US, highlights how Barnes strives for empowerment and body positivity throughout her multiple channels:
“I adore Snitchery because she is never afraid of being herself. She is a body positivity advocate, her clothing lines goes from 3XS to 5XL I believe, and stresses the importance of exclusivity in all ways possible. She is biracial and came out as bisexual recently.”
Charlotte Emily Price
Recommended by Account Director, Hannah Pether
This 22-year-old London content creator thrives on empowerment and body positivity. Charlotte, a travel and lifestyle influencer, encourages her nearing 120k fan base to fall in love with their life and body, spreading positivity across Instagram and vlog-style videos on YouTube.
Charlotte’s message is one of self-love, embrace, and acceptance for who you are, seeking to inspire thousands of women online who may struggle with self-image.
Working with Charlotte on a client shoot gave us an insight into the person behind the feed.
As Goat’s Account Director, Hannah Pether says,
“In a world where women are suffering with mental health issues, which can sometimes be deep rooted from social media, Charlotte shares content that inspires self-love and confidence,”
“She has built an empowering online community around body positivity, self-acceptance and trials and tribulations of being a young woman in today’s society.”
Inspiring, Empowering and Supporting Women on Social Media
For years social media has had a stigma surrounding beauty standards and exclusive representation. Thanks to the tireless efforts from creators, some of that criticism is starting to fade as more and more creators join the conversation around body positivity, self-love, inclusivity and diverse representation.
Social media is emerging as a support network, and a safe space for women to go for advice on self-improvement, body confidence, activism and causes to fight for, and so much more!
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