SIMPLY Founder Sarah Boyd on Kindness, How to Make it in Business & What it Takes to Become a Successful Influencer

When Sarah Boyd decided to leave fashion PR after a decade in the business, she had one mission: To create a community within the fashion and beauty industry filled with kindness and empowerment.  And that’s how SIMPLY was born. The agency specializes in events and brand collaborations that has ultimately transformed into a major player in connecting the dots in the digital space and bringing together fashion, beauty and entrepreneurial spirits to network, inspire, and learn from one another. SIMPLY’s digital network represents the likes of celebrities, influencers and reality stars alike, including Alessandra Ambrosio, Catt Sadler, Jamie Chung, and Bachelor alum Ben Higgins, to name a few.

For our latest installment of FFInterviews, we caught up with the lovely Ms Boyd and talked female entrepreneurs, the ever-growing influencer space, and what it takes to survive in the digital revolution. Read on, she gives invaluable advice.

Tell us a little bit about  SIMPLY and how did the idea come about to start you own business?

Sara Boyd: I actually started it seven years ago, which is crazy to even say! I started in fashion PR, and did that for about 10 years. And while working there I saw the need for kindness in the fashion and beauty industry. I was always kind of known as the nice girl in PR and everyone was telling me, you know, you need to be mean in this business.  And I came across a lot of not so kind people. But at the same time I came across a lot of people that wanted to work in the industry and were really talented but didn’t have that connection to get their foot in the door.

I wanted to create a space for people to come and it’s all about kindness. There are no mean girls here.  [I want to] provide a platform for people to connect within the fashion and beauty industry, whether that’s meeting a blogger that they love and have watched for years, and maybe they could become their assistant. Or a Youtuber, or a stylist, or an editor. All these jobs you can’t really go to school for, but you kind of have to know someone to get your foot in the door of the industry. So that was my initial idea seven years ago and it’s really grown since then. From our conferences, to our online courses which we just launched. We have our blog with tons of content every week. And about four years ago, we launched our digital arm of the business, where we represent and manage celebrities and influencers. And then help cast campaigns for brands as well.

Was it difficult for you to switch from fashion pr to your own business and being your own boss essentially?

Yes, it was. Because I quit my job and you know, I didn’t know where my next paycheck was coming from. So that is very scary. I have a very supportive husband who had no doubt in his mind that I would succeed, and that really helped me. Having his emotional support [really helped me] because it was  such a crazy time.

I gave myself three months to plan our first conference and I was just like, head down and didn’t focus on anything but that. So I’m a bit fearless and I, I like to just do. I come across a lot of people in the industry who are just scared to take the jump, and I wasn’t [scared]. I did it, and that’s how I hope that I can inspire other people at our conferences.  You never know if it will succeed if you don’t try.

I actually went to one of the SIMPLY conferences here in Chicago a few years ago. It was really a great experience for me as I was starting out in my own ventures in fashion writing and journalism back then.  So for those of our readers who are really not familiar, can you just describe specifically what SIMPLY does?

We connect in a kind way, and you know, in many different aspects. We do that through our conference and event series that we host in LA,  we’ve done Chicago, New York, Dubai, Miami, Orange County. So that’s how we started — as a conference. And then we added a new arm to our business, the  Simply Digital Network where we connect people in the digital space. So whether it’s our talent that we represent, helping them advise and strategize their social and do their paid partnerships. We also cast thousands of bloggers all the time for different brand campaigns. So brands will come to us and look to our expertise to help cast the right bloggers and influencers for their digital campaigns.

Was representing influencers a conscious business decision for you, or more of a natural progression? 

Actually as crazy as it sounds, it kind of fell into my lap. And it was because of my 10 years of being the nice girl in PR. I worked with all of these celebrities and some of them at the time were not that big, and we would still want to build relationships. I would dress them when they weren’t big enough for our clients to want to work with them, and I did a lot of convincing. And then, years later they are everywhere and everyone wants to dress them. So, it’s kind of like being nice to those on the way up. And then when I started my business a lot of those girls that I worked with for years came to me because they saw what I was building with the conference and they liked that. I knew the digital blog space really well, and I’m like, wow, these bloggers have the same following as me or less and they’re making a lot of money. Maybe this could be an additional revenue stream for me. So that’s honestly how it started. And now it’s grown into multiple partnerships, and our inlfuencer roster reach alone is 90 million.

It is incredible to see the growth of that arm of the business. And  everyone will get cast now for movies and TV shows based on their following. So it is something that I was using. People typically have their agents, managers, publicists, but they are experts in the acting space, or in the music space, not experts in digital. So that’s really where we come in and we work directly with all of their teams to really help build out their digital presence.

Why do you think influencers have become this social phenomenon that they are today? 

Because they’re real. People feel like they’re their friends and it’s very relatable. Some of my clients were on reality TV shows, and brands continue to book them because they sell. They sell even more than some of the more traditional celebrities because people have that connection with them. They are just like you and I —  they are normal. I mean the others are too, but not as relatable as bloggers, or just everyday girls and guys that have great style and they talk about it. So I think  money talks, and whoever translates to sales is going to keep getting booked and that’s what brands will gravitate toward. Their budgets are slowly moving away from print and away from traditional advertising, and all moving toward digital because there’s a direct ROI. You can see that instantly. And that’s why influencers continue to grow.

Now that you’ve helmed your own company for a while,  what would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learned since starting your own business?

God, I’ve learned so many.

Don’t start a business unless you are passionate about what you do! Do not think about the money. Although obviously money has a big part of everything, but, if you’re starting a business make sure that it is something that you will live, breathe, eat, sleep for years to come, and that you are so passionate about it that you would do it even if you weren’t getting paid at all. That’s how passionate you have to be to have your own business, because it literally is your child and your husband and your wife and everything. So being passionate is number one and thank God I was passionate about what I did!

What would you say are some of the most essential skills for success as an entrepreneur?

I think number one is having  hustle, tenacity and drive. I think that is first and foremost, you need that. You need to be able to hear the word no, you need to be able to pick up a phone and call someone and pitch someone, you have to really be behind your brand. And not afraid.  I think that 90 percent of being entrepreneur is also the ability to wear different hats. One day I’m HR, one day I’m accounting, one day I am an influencer. So it really depends on the day.  Until you can hire the right people that can take on these roles. At the same time,  you can’t just give a role to someone, you still own the company and you have to have your hands in everything.

What is your biggest success story so far in working with an influencer?

We have a really cool case study that just happened actually with one of our clients,  Jana Kramer and the Ava bracelet. It’s a fertility bracelet and Jana’s been trying to get pregnant for years. She went through IVF, she had miscarriages and she’s just been going through a heck of a time. So we got this paid deal, and she was like ‘Sure, I’ll try the bracelet.’ She tries everything before she posts. So she used the bracelet for a month and did her sponsored posts, and thought that would be it. And it actually got her pregnant!! This little bracelet tells you when you’re ovulating, and she realized because of this bracelet that she was ovulating a few days late, and ended up getting pregnant because of this. She’s like five months pregnant now.

So we went back to Ava and we were like, hey, let’s do something bigger because this is a major success story. So we turned it into a way bigger deal than just the one-off post because it was such a perfect organic fit. So this is a really great case study of an organic collaboration that translated really well.

That is such a great story.  For those who are serious about the influencer business, what steps should they take in order to get noticed in such a saturated market, especially in the fashion, beauty, travel, and lifestyle sectors?

We get this question all the time.

Number one: Don’t compare yourself. If you have 100 followers and you’re influencing them, you’re technically an influencer. The following doesn’t matter. What really matters is your content, if you’re engaging, if you’re authentic. And also, I would say find a niche where, you know, it’s not too broad. So if you’re petite, do like a petite size blog; if you’re in Chicago, maybe write on the best spot to take photos in Chicago. Find your niche so then brands can instantly identify you to that niche when they’re looking to cast. If you’re just like a traditional fashion blogger that has all kinds of content and you’re like, let me just post about everything, no one’s going to know how to put you in a bucket of what they’re looking for. Some brands are seeking, for example, influencers that only post about products under $100;  some are super high-end, or some want people that mix high and low. So be true to who you are, and don’t post about brands that are not a fit to that.

There have been a few articles that came out in the last couple of months claiming that the end of influencers is approaching, and that Instagram marketing is a bubble that’s about to burst. What are your thoughts on that?

Yeah, I mean, seven years ago when blogs first started, it was like, oh, the bubble is gonna burst. This isn’t gonna last. There’re always gonna be haters and you know, I don’t think influencers are going anywhere. I think, of course the strong will survive, but no, I think it’s only getting bigger. But you know, the one thing is yes, numbers are over-inflated. People are unclear on how to price themselves, and the ROI isn’t there for a lot of macro bloggers. Micros is a  huge buzzword right now, micro influencers [Editor’s Note: Influencers anywhere between 10,000 and 500,000 followers on social media channels.] They are getting  booked because the return on investment  is so much higher.

What does the influencer space future look like? 

I see a lot of new automated systems for influencer marketing, which really is going to take the agencies business  out of their hands because it’s going to be so automated. You won’t have that white glove service anymore. It will  automate the payments and the pricing across the board based on engagement, based on following. I think that’s going to change a little bit, as people get a bit more robust in their technology.

I also think the department stories are going to be more influencer-focused. Something Navy is at Nordstrom, for example. Because, that’s what sells.

So how does a regular blogger or influencer get someone like you guys to represent them if they don’t have, let’s say 200,000 followers, but have 5K?

With our representation, we only take on traditional celebrities with at least 1 Million followers. But our sister agency Socialite, they represent traditional bloggers. I think their minimum is  100,000 or 200,000 following, but you can at least get on their radar. You have to be at a certain level and a certain level of income to even meet a manager. But I think just getting on everyone’s radar, like Socialite. So grabbing coffee with them, or just getting your media kit over for their profiles and you know, getting on their radar along with all of the other casting agencies, that cast influencers all day everyday. I think that’s the way to get more business.

When you’re not making a ton of money, there is no manager that is going to take you on because they take it for a percentage and if they’re only making x amount a year, it’s not worth their time to be managing. So I think the best bet is to just get an assistant. It’s hourly or, or hire a bookkeeper or something like that, until you can grow to the level of needing a manager where you could not maintain all of the incoming deals anymore and, and be pitched.

Fun Five

If you are in the Los Angeles area, and are interested in attending the newest SIMPLY conference, you are in luck! It’s happening this Saturday, August 11. Get all the information here.