'People see that I didn’t change': Longford-based woman's journey to social media success

During a time of AI and image manipulation, there are content creators that thrive off the authentic self. Paula Stephens, a Longford-based Instagram influencer from Dublin, is one of the women who wants to keep social media real. With 11.5k followers and 1,392 posts (as of this article), the 40-year-old has explored the fun, challenges and interests that have helped her brand thrive online.

Moving to Longford in 2018 with her then-husband, Paula said that the relocation from Dublin was a fresh start, as she had family in the county. What interested her in her youth was fashion, going shopping to root for sales and put a wardrobe together. That interest has become a growing public profile. However, it started with Facebook; putting up her inspiration, but then people on there encouraged her towards Instagram, which she started at 36-years-old. Within four years, she gained 10,000 followers.

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"I started with fashion, a bit of myself, my background. I’ve five brothers and five sisters; I'm the second eldest. A big family! It took off from there. I think it was because I was normal, down-to-earth, honest. The good and the bad–the makeup! That sort of thing; pjs, family life, home, decor, interiors. My main focus was always the fashion side, definitely,” she described.

The profile evolved to PR opportunities, as businesses approached her. With a bubbly and chatty personality, Paula’s first big gig was during the Covid-19 pandemic with Mr Price. She did a takeover page.

“It was what to do with the children during school; your mental health; keeping yourself busy while at home. You weren’t losing yourself being away from everyone. That would’ve been my first big gig with Mr Price. I’d talk about their stores for a few minutes.”

That warmth that viewers could see in her videos led to ongoing success with her profile. She recognised a surge in interest when she posted videos rather than just posts. Without needing to follow, people would see content when scrolling through feeds on Instagram. As Paula grew more active, more people could see and the followers increased, which also led to small businesses also seeing it and wanting to do advertisements. This would lead to increased publicity as they would reshare the content, thus building on the following, Paula had summarised.

Where Instagram used to be a priority, Paula has made it a worthwhile pastime again while she works full-time as an activities coordinator in Lough Erril Nursing Home in Mohill. She now happily lives in Ballinalee with her partner, Roy. The challenges of creating content for social media became noticeable to Paula, who described how her perspective used to be compared to now.

“I remember when I first started off, the background was perfect. Not an item of clothing in sight. A lovely picture on the wall. But people want to see the washing basket; a normal, busy mam at home; a 9-to-5 job; Instagram at the side. Nobody is looking to follow perfection. They want something genuine and honest.”

The demands of Instagram affected her home life at one point with videos such as try-ons, which required lots of rushing. She said that companies would poach her to try large quantities of clothing, model them and then video them, along with comments on the quality, price and then tagging of the company. Reflecting on this, Paula added:

“Then we’d get a discount code, or a voucher. That sort of thing. I would’ve done that at first and made a small bit of money. You’d be gifted a lot of stuff and invited to nice events.

“But I have to say, since the past two years, work has been more full-on, moving house. I’ve gone for a different route at my pace. What I want to show is less ads; I would’ve lost followers for doing too many. People think you do it to be paid. My work is a hobby. I think some are little bit judgemental. People think that it’s an easy job, that you’re doing it as a full-time job.”
Prioritising her own goals and ambitions, Paula gets joy from seeing the notifications popping up once she has posted something, to the interactions and nice comments. She has followers from all over, as she moved from Dublin, to Mullingar and then Longford. Even when something is not sponsored, she has often given thoughts on hauls of clothes from Dunnes, Penneys and H&M which have been big hits.

“There could be ten items with me wearing them. I look forward to seeing what people prefer, or prefer on me. You feel like you’re helping the ladies dress up and what is nice for them as well.”

With this love for finding her own haul of clothes, Paula’s success and life changes have not altered her as a person. It has led to both body positivity and positive mental health.

“When I started off, I was three stone heavier to now. I love that people say you’re the exact same person from losing weight. When I started off, my clothes, trying on stuff for my shape then and now. People see that I didn’t change because my body changed.”

Instagram has given Paula the best experiences and building of lifelong friendships, who she goes on holidays and coffee dates with, meeting them through Covid. Where she focuses on her true self, she has commented on what she does not like about social media – filters. Deeming it wrong to use them when showing skincare and makeup, she has observed that almost everything is filtered that she sees.

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“There are so many technologies, modifying figures, blending makeup. I just feel that you have to be true to yourself. The people who follow you want to see natural and normal. I think the more natural and normal, the more you’ll have people follow you. If you change to something different, using all the filters and editing too much, people don’t appreciate it, I find.”

Most importantly, Paula respects the privacy of those around her, as well as being open with her life. She acknowledges that many viewers have grown with her, met her, identified her on the streets because of her social media popularity.

“You have to be okay with being 100%. I’m very open. My breakup with my husband of 20 years. People would’ve seen my life with him for 6 years. I have 3 children. I’m with my new partner now, and they got to see my life. He’s more private, and I’ve to respect his wishes of posting photographs of him. He allows me the odd one. I do think that people grow with you.

"They will say they’ve watched you since you opened your page. It’s lovely to hear. In public, I get this every time. For me, it’s just a hobby. I don’t use the term influencer.”

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Paula's Instagram is still as active as ever, with content to interest any lover of fashion or seeing the life of someone who is living in Longford. The page, as of this article, is continuing to grow, and the biography states: Showing my love of style, fashion, makeup, travel, bargains. Life as a busy mama to 3 kids and bits of everything.

To conclude, Paula said the following:

“I suppose you could say that I am in my 40s now. I’m a normal girl doing this for fun and I’m thankful that it took off. I’m getting busier with it now with more work in the coming weeks. If people want to follow me, follow @PaulasBitsofEverything.”