Introducing: Catryce Thompson

Catryce Thompson is a life coach for young adults who want to start living the life of their dreams. She is passionate about preparing young adults to thrive earlier on instead of waiting for things to simply come together.

Here’s her story on how she juggled graduating from college, a full-time job, all while building her business as an influencer and content creator.

Tell me your story. Why did you start your blog and/or Instagram?

I have been on Instagram since 2013, but really just used it for personal reasons until around 2018 when I created a second account to post about my planner. In high school, I got really into bullet journaling and The Happy Planner.

The Happy Planner has a brand ambassador program called The Happy Planner Squad that I really wanted to be a part of and that meant I would need to have an Instagram dedicated to my planner.

After applying to be part of the squad in 2019 and not making it, I stopped putting effort in the Instagram I had created for my planner. In April 2020, I joined Christina’s Influencer Bootcamp and decided that I would use the knowledge and skills I gained from it to make my Instagram better in order to look better for The Happy Planner Squad applications.

As I got deeper into the bootcamp, I came to the realization that I could work with more brands than just The Happy Planner, and began to pivot my Instagram while still holding true to my plannergram roots.

Towards the end of summer 2020, I applied for The Happy Planner Squad again and once again didn’t make it.

After this squad rejection, I decided to pivot my Instagram again and this time focus on being a lifestyle influencer since I had not found a niche that made sense since I had been so caught up with trying to get on The Happy Planner squad.

This pivot though was what catapulted me forward as an influencer. I really dug deep and tried to create content that would attract brands, but also gave value to my audience. As I began trying to figure out what my niche was I found that the closer I got to developing my brand the easier it was to show up for my audience.

I had a sense of direction and now here I am niched down and ready to start a business using the brand I created for myself via Instagram.

Tell me about your business and your “why”!

During summer 2021, I finally found my niche – young adult lifestyle. While still a pretty general niche, I decided to focus on content that taught my audience about how to thrive as a young adult rather than waiting till “everything” came together to live the life of their dreams.

I went to college with the intent of being a high school family and consumer science teacher and during the pandemic, I realized that working for a school district would be extremely restricting.

As I finished up college, I decided I would start my own business focused on help youth prepare for adulthood and helping young adults thrive earlier on rather than waiting for the right moment to live their dreams.

Freshmen in high school are constantly asked about what plans lie ahead for them after high school and how is a 14-year-old supposed to know something that when they have barely lived life?

I am a rare breed where I had an amazing sense of direction early on and have the ambition to chase after my dreams no matter the risk. I was also raised by parents who made me believe that the world was mine to conquer and gave me all the love and support needed to be successful.

Not everyone is raised in a home like mine and I want to act almost as that older sister who wants to let you learn from my mistakes rather than make all the same mistakes.

How did you discover Christina?

I found Christina through IG ads for her Influencer Bootcamp and after doing a little bit of digging determined that I wanted to follow her and join the TIB.

It was like one minute I was just liking my friends’ posts and the next minute I was investing in a course that would teach me how to use my Instagram for more than just showing my friends and family what I was up to.

Prior to discovering Christina and The Influencer Bootcamp, I didn’t follow anyone on Instagram that I didn’t know in real life.

Which course(s) of Christina’s have you taken?

I am currently enrolled in The Influencer Bootcamp and The Blogger Bootcamp. I also have bought other products that she has released such as The Mini Email List Bootcamp.

What pushed me to enroll and invest in Christina’s courses is that I felt like she was genuine about wanting to help others grow as influencers and bloggers.

She didn’t seem like someone who just who wanted my money. I have seen many other influencers who release courses, but you can tell that they are in it for the money rather than to actually help their students.

I have only completed The Influencer Bootcamp so far, but I have reaped the benefits of the hard work I put into my Instagram by applying the knowledge and skills that Christina teaches.

What 3 – 5 “lightbulb moments” did you have while taking the course(s)?

Three aha moments that I had while I was going through The Influencer Bootcamp were:

A. Niching down is important – Everyone says and Christina will tell it to you 100 times over. It is so important to niche down. I struggled for a long time finding my own special corner of Instagram and once I did I started thriving.

Before I niched down it was hard to content plan, because I had no direction of where I was going and it was frustrating that I wasn’t seeing the results that I wanted when I would apply other learnings.

B. Batching content is a lifesaver – As someone who has a 9 to 5 job and just finished college it can be hard to find time to shoot content especially reels content. It is easy to plan your feed when you have all the elements of a post and just have to put them together.

I am still mastering solo photography, so I work with a photographer on a monthly basis to batch photos for my Instagram. When I come up with a blog post or caption idea, I jot it down in my notes app on my phone and then will schedule out an hour or two on a day off from work to write as much as I can.

This is all helpful when I am planning what to post for the next week or so, because then I have already done the heavy lifting. Batching also helps when it comes to avoiding burnout.

C. Instagram Stories is a fantastic way to build an engaging audience – I used to HATE talking to the camera and though I am not amazing on camera I would say that I am much better now than I was a year and a half ago.

Connecting with my audience via stories has been super helpful in terms of engagement on my Instagram. I have found that hopping on to talk about your latest post and then sharing your latest post really helps to boost engagement on posts.

I also love that I can have an aesthetic feed, but then share all the messiness and chaos of my day-to-day life through stories.

What are the 2 – 3 most exciting things that have happened since completing the course(s)?

The most exciting things that have happened since I completed The Influencer Bootcamp are landing a modeling gig with DevaCurl and then being added to their PR list, figuring out what I wanted to do with my life after college, and meeting some amazing people through TIB Facebook group.

What do you love most about the work you do?

What I love most about what I do is that I use my platform to educate people about things that we all wish someone had told us in high school.

I went to college with the intentions of becoming a high school family and consumer science teacher, but enrolling in The Influencer Bootcamp opened my eyes to new possibilities.

I love that I am able to still do the work that I want without the restrictions of curriculum dictated by someone else or being censored from saying the whole truth.

What’s next for you? What’s your next big goal or project?

I graduated college in December 2021 and I have a really good feeling about 2022. As school came to a close for me, my brain just couldn’t stop about what came next after graduation. I have been dreaming of launching my own business and plan to do so in February.

I am literally so stoked for what this next chapter will bring in my life. I am also hoping to land at least 3 paid brand collaborations during the 2022 calendar year as well.

What is your number one piece of advice for aspiring influencers or bloggers?

A piece of advice that I would share with anyone aspiring to be an influencer and/or blogger is be okay with changing your plans.

I started in the plannergram space and am now all about young adult lifestyle and sharing all the information you wish you learned in high school.

Be okay giving new ideas a trial run before you decide that it won’t work.

What are your favorite accounts to follow on Instagram? Favorite bloggers?

My favorite accounts to follow on Instagram are @catherine.lavy, @alexporterfield / @alexporterfield.biz, @naohms, @alyssabuon, @itsmodernmillie, and @madcrayy.

Where can people find you?

Find me on Instagram: @catrycethompson and @_thriving.human_

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