Meet Sophie Cachia – also known as 'The Young Mummy'. Sophie has amassed an impressive 200k+ Instagram following with her authentic voice, and most recently scored a collaboration with Designer Brands on two new palettes.
BD chatted with Sophie on how she picks the brands she works with, and her advice to anyone who wants to build a following.
Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into Instagram/Influencing?
I’m Sophie Cachia, Mum to Bobby (four) and Florence (15 months), and I’ve been what some would call an ‘influencer’ for over four years now. I initially began writing my old blog ‘The Young Mummy’ and began sharing my stories via the platform that Instagram is, and before I knew it, I was flooded with a forever growing online following audience who resonated with my words. Instagram now sees me with an extremely engaged and loyal audience of well over 200K people, which then in turns allows me to be categorised as one of Australia’s most influential online identities. I strongly believe it’s my “no bullsh*t” approach to life, my authenticity and relatability that leads me to have such influence on my audience.
You’ve created new face and eyeshadow palettes with Designer Brands – could you tell us how this collaboration came about?
I was approached by Designer Brands years ago to work together across my social media platforms, and what initially attracted me towards DB many years ago was their amazing price points that for a young mum, were very affordable. Upon trailing out their stock, it was evident to me that their quality was equal with brands who were charging five times the price for the same products. It just blew my mind! I’ve nowgot so many of my girlfriends onto using DB for the exact same reasons. They simply provide quality product along with affordability and I think that's something that my audience really seek - so what a wonderful collaboration this will be!
How did you work with DB to create a product you were both happy with?
With me, if I’m going to align my name to a brand, I need to know that the product is 100 per cent what I want it to be. Brands (and some influencers) are happy to slap their name onto a product and BANG – apparently, they designed it! But that’s not the case with me. The DB team enabled me to be a part of the entire process.
I don't believe in doing things without having purpose. I don't do anything 'just to do it'. I'm passionate about injecting parts of my personal life into every little project I do and therefore – for example - when it came to naming my eyeshadows, I wanted every single one of them to have a special meaning. I've named one after my best friend and makeup artist - Amelia Webb - who has given me great inspo over the years in this field, down to my Mum and her favourite colour. I've got my coffee drink, my body type, my personality is shown in there and of course one named after my baby girl Florence. I sat down and chose all the colours myself, and then refined them sample afte sample as they arrived in head office. And it was the exact same process with the ON the GO palette – I researched into my favourite DB products until I knew exactly what I wanted, and what I thought the customers would love.
What’s the first thing you do when a brand comes to you for opportunities?
My management who I’ve worked very closely for years now will initially asses if the opportunity is a good ‘fit’ for me and my brand at that point in time. She will then cross-check with me and I give her a ‘yay’ or a ‘nay’ as well as interjecting any non-negotiables with what I want / will do / won’t do. My management will go back and negotiate on my behalf how the collaboration / working relationship will plan out. But regardless of the product, I’ve NEVER said yes to any job without researching / investigating and most importantly – TRIALING the product. I know many influencers who brag about doing jobs with product that they didn’t even open out of the box – I just find that baffling. That’s why I suppose I have so much authenticity, because I allow a few weeks to trial a product before I’ll even agree to doing the job.
Do you set any personal ground rules when working with brands?
Yes, and I will keep them private because you can’t be a trailblazer by giving away all your little secrets ;)
Do you have any tips for people who want to build a following on Instagram?
Nowadays there’s all these fancy tools/tricks to do it. I really can’t comment on those because when I initially started, I did it off my own back. I created authentic, UNIQUE content that differed myself from a crowd and the audience came along for the ride naturally.I hear now – and see – people doing ‘pod engagement’ where you’ll hook up your own little group to like and comment on each other’s posts in the hope of achieving greater reach and engagement. These things have now been bought in due to the tricky ways to blitz the Instagram algorithm,
Which trend is exciting you about the beauty industry right now?
I’m all about anything that glows. One of my favourite makeup artists in Melbourne Tess Holmes uses her own hashtag #enhancedontcover and I love it! She creates the most glowy, dewy skin that just beams and that’s what I’m loving now. I used to be about a heavy coverage and contour but I’m really leaning towards skin skin skin now.
Top networking tip?
You’re never too important to be nice to people.
For more information or to download hi-res images, visit the brand listing.
