Featured story by : Nick Kasmik

Recent increases in the costs of living have led a large number of young people, who spend their day-to-day lives doing “normal” office jobs, to take a second or even third job just to survive in this ever-changing economy. According to FE News, as many as two-thirds of young professionals under 24 have had to seek a “side hustle,” stating that it is too risky to stick to just one source of income.

Among those affected by the rising costs, many young entrepreneurs have turned their attention to social media. These platforms have proven quite lucrative in the past several years but, as Alexia Woods points out, only if you know how to navigate the intricate labyrinth of being a digital entrepreneur.

“Social media is generally viewed as a powerful environment teeming with countless work opportunities for anyone who is intuitive and has a good sense of innovation to avoid getting lost in the maze. That’s why, with the right idea and enough resourcefulness, achieving success online can be just a few steps away,” she says.

Twenty-one-year-old Alexia Woods is a self-made London-based entrepreneur and social media influencer who has already reached a point where she has been able to quit her nine-to-five job and fully dedicate herself to managing her successful social media accounts. What started as a dire need to get by and remain financially independent has become a lucrative business within a couple of years, which Woods only hopes to keep expanding, alongside her partner.

Woods had her first job when she was just 14, when she started to work as a waitress. By 18, she had already been promoted to a management position in which she ran an entire restaurant by herself. She thought she had it good, but after COVID struck, the restaurant had to close down, and Woods found herself uncertain.

With no way of knowing when or if the national lockdown would be lifted, Woods decided to try social media to see if she, like so many others before her, could make a living by posting content online. She took a wild guess and started with Twitter.

In order to cope with the skyrocketing prices of everyday goods, however, she took the first opportunity to get an office job as well—which mainly involved doing sales and admin tasks—viewing it as a sort of safety blanket.

Her social media income was not grand initially, but even an extra couple of hundred dollars a month was huge for her. It was enough to keep her financially afloat, and it made the difference between being able to afford her bills and moving back in with her family.

“I went into it completely blind,” she recalls. “I had no idea what I was doing. And I just decided to see what the other girls were doing, do some market research and see how they advertised and what other sites they were using.”

Then, with an assistant’s help, Woods gained over 200,000 followers on Twitter within two years. In the meantime, she expanded her online presence to other platforms by sharing her photos on Instagram and TikTok, with four active accounts.

Even though two years is not a short time, especially in the social media industry, the venture started paying off, netting her as much as £10,000 a month. That’s when Woods decided to commit to it fully.

“It is more work than people seem to make out,” she emphasizes, adding that people have a misconception that what she does is “easy money” and many jump into the industry thinking they will achieve instant success. But when one looks at the facts—for example, in Woods’ case, putting in 16- to 17-hour workdays—it becomes clear that it takes a special kind of dedication and creativity to do the work.

Woods does not complain, though. She prides herself in the fact that she is one of the world’s youngest entrepreneurs and has no plans of taming her ambitions. One impactful lesson to be learned from her story is that of her enterprising spirit and ingenuity, best exemplified by her self-reflection and continuous ability to think and plan. Rather than conforming to societal expectations, she keeps forging her unique path forward. Her example highlights the significance of pursuing one’s aspirations and carving out one’s path to success.

KO Media newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.