Pam Fajardo On Getting Over Being Cringe And How The Influencer Space Has Evolved
We spoke to the influencer about getting over being cringe on the internet, what being a POC creator is like, and how her job has helped her gain confidence.
March 29th, 2024 | Written by Sierra Madison This article is part of our BTW series, where we talk to creative professionals across various industries to provide aspiring creatives with first-hand insights and resources to help them navigate the creative industries.
Pam Fajardo shot by Sierra Madison
“I'm an introvert by nature. I really only share what I want to share, you cannot get anything else from me,” Pam Fajado tells me over the hustle and bustle of the local coffee shop we met at. My choice for our interview seems to be a popular choice among the finance crowd and we’ve been hit by the lunch crowd. However, we keep our conversation flowing. “When I started on Instagram and TikTok it was during COVID, and in 2021 there wasn't a space for micro-influencers yet. Micro-influencing wasn’t even a thing, it was sort of just starting. Everybody you could find was 200k plus. There was no 50k, no middle ground. And a lot of their lifestyles [big influencers] were so unattainable. It was so unrealistic.”
Pam grew up in the Philippines and moved to Canada right after University. She started posting content in 2021 and has since grown her following across both Instagram and TikTok, amassing well over 188K followers between the two platforms at the time of publication. “I came from a country that's very judge-y. So, I grew up feeling judged by other people all the time, and then there came a point where I just didn’t care anymore, you know? I just thought, you know what, I don't care anymore. I'm going to be ‘cringe’ and you can follow me if you want to or you can unfollow me if you want to.”
I spoke with the influencer about how she got into the industry, the power of getting over “being cringe”, and what the influencer industry is like for POC creators.
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We actually met a while ago at an influencer event I held for a small floral shop in Toronto. You’ve definitely grown a lot since then. What has changed for you and your career in the last like year and a half since then?
Pam F: Yeah, when we met I feel like I was at 30k followers [on Instagram], I was a lot smaller back then. But I think the most that has changed for me is how I see my page and brand now versus back then. Before I had approached it all with more of an “Oh I feel like I could do this. I want to do this. Like I want to try” feeling. I was more in the trying phase of it all. But now I’m much more confident and want to build my brand and provide more value to my followers. I'm more determined now.
Yeah 100%, I feel like the longer you do something the more you sort of like hone your craft. It’s obvious you've grown into yourself more and you know what you relate to, and what you enjoy and can portray that in a visual sense to your followers.
Pam F: Yeah. I can also see the change, especially in how I film myself. I feel like some of my [older] videos are so cringe that I don't know why I filmed that. It was really uncomfortable [filming herself]. As you can tell in the videos I was so uncomfortable. But the videos are all still there [on her page].
Do you feel like your confidence has improved?
Pam F: Oh 100%. I feel like my confidence is like 10 times more. I was always a shy kid growing up. Even now, I'm more of an introvert. I don't really like to go out and talk to people and stuff. But I feel like having confidence on screen has translated to having it in real life. And now I feel like I can do anything.
You're signed to OUT OF OFFICE Creators. Could you tell us a bit about that and what the process behind signing with an influencer agency was like?
Pam F: Yeah. So I've been signed to them for around a year now. I've been signed by different agencies before. But basically, they pitch me to a ton of different brands on the daily and then they'll also negotiate my deals. In exchange, they take a cut from the deal.
Would you think it's important to try to sign to an agency if you're just starting?
Pam F: I don't think it's worth it in the beginning. When I signed I was at 40K followers on Instagram. And even then I was wondering if it's worth it. Because I feel like if you're not getting a huge amount of money for your deals, then it's not worth it to cut to an agency. But I like it because I don't like reaching out to brands myself so it's nice to have somebody do it for me.
Recently you've worked with some crazy brands like Porsche, Revolve, Ugg and more. What's been your favourite campaign or brand that you've worked with so far and is there one that was sort of like a pinch-me dream moment?
Pam F: Every deal is sorta a pinch-me moment to me because these are all big brands that I grew up looking up to. But I guess one of the craziest ones I've ever had was a deal I had with Calvin Klein. When I received that email it was just so insane. I grew up looking up to Calvin Klein. I couldn't even afford to buy it as a kid. It's also funny because I still remember my first set of Calvin Klein's, I bought it here [in Canada], the top and the bottom set. I was always wearing it in all my styling videos and my get ready with me videos, there was no other set I would wear. But getting to work with any of the brands that I looked up to as a kid is always a pinch-me moment. It's also a lot of pressure though because I'm like “okay this has to be really really good.” But sometimes it's good to have that pressure on yourself.
So what does a typical day in the life look like for you now?
Pam F: It’s kind of different every day. But right now because it's the spring season, there are a lot of events going on. So my typical day right now would be doing some admin in the morning, then at 11 AM I have to post [on Instagram], I have a set posting schedule, and then I'll engage for a bit. Then I shoot content, because I like having set shooting days it makes it easy for me, especially since I can shoot my content at home. And I love shooting my styling videos — I feel like that's what my audience wants most too. If I have an event to go to that day then I'll probably edit some videos during the day and then get ready and go to the event.
Do you find it difficult to balance your personal life with your online personas? Influencers are expected to share so much of their life online and with their following, how do you sort of draw that line to ensure that you're keeping a healthy balance between professional and personal?
Pam F: It helps that I'm not an oversharer. I'm an introvert by nature. It also definitely helps that my friends know the business I'm in and are supportive. Even my boyfriend, he knows the nature of my work and all that so if I'm out and I want to take a photo they'll understand. I know some influencer’s friends may be like “why are you taking so many photos?” But to be honest, I feel like even if I wasn't an influencer I would still be taking a ton of photos. But yeah, it’s so good to have a support system like that.
Does your boyfriend sort of know all the angles now?
Pam F: Yeah. He's an Instagram boyfriend. I love it. But yeah, I think it's just about knowing what you're comfortable with sharing. It's a very personal line you have to draw, you need to know where that line exists for you. For example, sometimes I get messages asking for more info on a brand deal or something personal I’ve shared, and if I don't want to give more info, then I'm not going to. Boundaries.
Influencers are getting a lot of heat nowadays, especially in terms of them not necessarily fact-checking the brands they’re working with, or promoting products that they may not actually use. It comes down to the idea that with great influence comes great responsibility. How do you navigate that responsibility in terms of what you choose to share with your followers?
Pam F: Well, every single brand I work with needs to align with me. The first thing I ask myself is am I going to be comfortable posting about the brand? If there's any doubt in my mind I pass on it. And there are also a few brands that I would 100% say no to. No matter what they say.
What are some of those brands? Do you feel comfortable sharing?
Pam F: Shein. I couldn’t say yes to them — it’s a moral thing at this point. But also any brands that don’t make sense to me as a person I also wouldn't work with you know? I would say no to say, a cigarette brand because it doesn’t align with me or my lifestyle. In terms of fashion brands, I know a lot of people are concerned about fast fashion. But there are so many fast fashion brands out there, honestly, I feel like 90% of popular brands can be considered fast fashion. I have a lot of fast fashion brands in my wardrobe, but I know how to take care of my clothes so that they can last me years. So, I find it okay to work with those brands because it's true to me, I wear those brands. I've been wearing them for years.
Engaging with your audience daily is pretty critical now, for any influencer in the digital age. What strategies do you employ to sort of foster that sense of community and keep your followers engaged while still maintaining a work-life balance?
Pam F: I think sharing some bits of your life is important because that's why they follow you. They’re interested in knowing what you're doing and what you're seeing. So I like sharing the fun parts for sure. But I also like sharing some of the not-so-fun parts. And I feel like a lot of influencers are what I like to call cold influencers — they produce a very curated image online. Everything they share is very curated and not necessarily “real”. And that’s not something I ever want to be. I know my feed is curated and all that, but my stories are all over the place, and my stories are just really who I am. They show what I’m doing on the daily, what I’m eating, and I feel like it fosters that personal connection with my audience. I can get to know my audience through them too because they respond to my stories and sometimes I get to talk to them through that.
Do you have hours that you go offline, where you say “okay now I'm like logging off for the day”or whatever?
Pam F: Well, I'm crazy. So, I don't really log off. But I've been trying to not post or work on weekends. If you go through my archives I probably don't have any stories or posts from the weekends. But, also sometimes I work like eight in the morning till ten at night. I'm like okay maybe the weekend I could just chill. But engagement right now is so important, especially for working with brands, they really value engagement, and they always want engagement. I also like replying to every single comment and DM helps. I remember when I started, I was engaging with my audience for upwards of four hours a day.
Can you walk us through your creative process sort of from the creation of an idea to what gets posted?
Pam F: I can talk about my styling videos since that's the majority of my content. For that, I used to mainly do get ready with me videos, or singular outfits videos. But then I kind of got bored with it. At the time [2021] there weren’t many people doing it yet. But now literally everybody does it. So, I thought, time to change it up. And I feel like that's one part of my creative process: if I see something's being overdone then that’s when I want to try something new. I want to try something different. Now I'm doing more multiple outfit videos where I pick a theme or idea and show outfits that align with that theme. So all the outfits stick to one theme or aesthetic. For example, I recently posted a video focused on spring outfits and another one that was all-white outfits.
How long does it take to film and edit those videos?
Pam F: Well, it's definitely harder to film multiple outfits in one video. So sometimes it takes me an hour or two to film those. Which is a long time for one video because then I have to edit it as well. But it’s also easier to film them all in one day, especially with the cleanup. If I film them on separate days, then I have to keep cleaning up, which is a struggle, so I'd rather just shoot everything in one day.
“I wanted to get more confident and I knew the way to do it was getting in front of the camera and putting myself out there. It was like something I couldn’t do growing up. Even as a teen. ”
Your content focuses a lot on fashion and the fashion industry. Sustainability is a massive growing concern for the fashion industry. How do you keep that in mind and address it in your content and what sustainable practices are you advocating for?
Pam F: I guess I'm not really like outrightly saying it in my content, but I'm for sure doing it. If you look closely at my styling videos you’ll see that I'm wearing the same pants in like ten videos. I set up a lot of my styling videos to show you how you can style something in multiple ways. And to me, sustainability is also a big thing. That's why I said, even if I buy fast fashion or if I work with a fast fashion brand, I need to be confident that I’ll be able to use that piece for like five, or ten years. Being in this industry though it's hard to not buy into the trends, and honestly, I feel like at the start I was guilty of that because I always wanted to be trendy and cool. Now though, I don't care. I'm going to style the same pieces that I have already, and also having a capsule wardrobe helps you create your own style and get creative with it.
Your path to becoming an influencer is not without challenges. Especially when you first were starting and getting over that hurdle like appearing cringy online. Can you talk about some of the obstacles you faced and how you got over this idea of being cringe on the internet?
Pam F: I think being cringe is a lot of people’s biggest hurdle, the idea of being judged online for being cringe. Honestly, I came from a country that's very judge-y, so I grew up feeling judged by other people my entire life. But I hit a point where I thought, I'm going to be cringe and you can follow me if you want to, or you can unfollow me if you want to. When I was starting the thing I would always tell myself “if you want to achieve this then you just have to do it.” You have to be cringe. I also knew that I wanted to get more confident and I knew the way to do it was getting in front of the camera and putting myself out there. It was like something I couldn't do growing up. Even as a teen. No one cares as much as you think they do.
You've been in the industry though for like quite a few years now, how do you feel like the experience has been for you as a POC creator? Are there more opportunities now than when you started?
Pam F: I feel like it kind of depends because sometimes you'll see a lot of brands working with POCs at a time and then the next month they're working all with like white creators again. So, it depends but I know that brands are becoming more conscious of it. Even in the events that I go to I'm starting to see a lot more POC creators and starting to see more diversity. But I do think there's still a long way to go, especially since it feels like brands, or at least some brands have like token POCs, which isn’t really the point.
Yeah, I feel like there are brands that kind of do these fake diversity campaigns that are super transparent because it doesn't feel authentic or something they stand by. It's more like an, oh we have to do this.
Pam F: Yeah. And having token POC creators is literally not the point. But I think by having more POC creators in the industry it's really pushing brands to change how they approach it. The space is opening up a bit because when I started I would say every event I went to I could count on my fingers how many POC creators were there. But now there are so many POC creators that are pushing their way through becoming bigger.
Could you give us a run-down on how influencer events have changed since when you first started to go to them?
Pam F: There are good and bad things about how the events have evolved. I talk a lot about this with my other influencer friends, but one thing we’ve noticed is that when events first started post-COVID, they were more intimate and very activity-focused. There was always something to learn or something to do. And I get that there were also a lot fewer creators at that time. But as opposed to now, they invite upwards of 100 people and the most you can do is take photos. It feels like a lot of events today are very transactional, where they just want you to take photos and post about it. But at the end of the day, you can't leave the event and talk about what the brand kind of values or is really about. Sometimes I do miss how it was when you could actually sit down with the brand and talk to them and learn about everything behind their brand. There are still some of that kind of events today but not as many.
For those who are looking to follow in your footsteps and kind of get into the influencer career path, what advice would you give aspiring creators in sort of getting started with it?
Pam F: I would say to literally just keep going. Because even today I know, I’ve gotten a little bit bigger than I was before, but there are still a lot of challenges with the industry. I feel like the industry is still very new. Even though it’s made a lot of progress already, I feel like there’s still a long way to go. Even with being a POC creator, it still sometimes feels like we need to fight for a place. I know everybody says it's oversaturated but it's not. Like there is always a seat for everybody at the table. And brands are still looking for influencers to help them grow their pages. You start by getting over cringe mountain, you have to get over cringe mountain. It's the only way to do it.