In celebration of International Women's Day 2025, we're shining a spotlight on the extraordinary women who make up our Popular Pays creator community. These entrepreneurs, storytellers, and innovators aren't just creating content—they're building businesses, breaking boundaries, and redefining success on their own terms.
We asked them to share their journeys, challenges, and triumphs. Their stories reveal the true impact creators can make when they embrace authenticity and push beyond conventional boundaries.
Breaking Culinary Boundaries: Danielle Cochran (@thesaltycooker)
When Danielle first stepped into content creation, she had a bold vision: to challenge the notion that certain cooking methods were gender-specific. "I wanted to show that girls can grill, smoke, cook open fire just as well as bake," she shares. "There are no boundaries."
But her journey wasn't without its challenges. Like many creators, she initially fell into the trap of chasing trends and perfectionism. The turning point? A memorable live streaming incident where she accidentally set her food on fire. "After people saw me making cooking mistakes LIVE, I quickly realized that's what they wanted. They wanted the real me, not the perfect picture, perfect dish every single day." Now, she posts both successes and failures, finding the perfect balance between authenticity and professionalism.
This commitment to authenticity has paid off. What began as a lifestyle page mixing recipes with daily life evolved into something more focused, yet equally dynamic. "My page will never be all cakes or all grilling. I share how I cook in real life," she explains. "When you follow me, you never know what will be posted next, and my audience enjoys this variation." Today, Danielle runs a thriving culinary brand that employs two full-time team members and spans beyond food into travel content. She's particularly passionate about revolutionizing gluten-free cooking, challenging the misconception that it can't be delicious. "My goal with each recipe is to create a final dish that no one knows is gluten-free. They love it because it tastes amazing!"
Her success story wouldn't be complete without mentioning the women who helped shape her journey. She credits Dina (@the_perksofbeinus) for early guidance and encouragement. "She helped guide me a ton in the space and gave me tons of confidence in going for it." This led Danielle to invest in herself, taking Joni's The Bite Shot courses to master food photography—a journey that started with her infamous finger-in-lens photos and transformed into professional-quality work. With her vision board guiding her growth, her success extends beyond content creation—she's even building towards supporting elephant sanctuaries, proving that creator success can fuel broader positive impact.
Balancing Motherhood and Content Creation: Tasha Ball (@keepintheballrollin)
For Tasha, the intersection of motherhood and content creation presented both challenges and opportunities. "Being a woman shapes my creative perspective by bringing authenticity, empathy, and relatability to my content," she explains. Her approach centers on genuine storytelling and shared experiences, particularly around family life, making every piece of content feel personal and impactful.
The juggle between motherhood and content creation initially seemed impossible. "Finding time, energy, and balance felt impossible," Tasha recalls. "But that struggle made me lean into authenticity, sharing real, unfiltered moments." This authentic approach resonated with her audience and opened doors to brand partnerships that value real-life storytelling. She's learned to give herself grace and embrace the mantra that "done is better than perfect," understanding that at the end of the day, it's about creating a life they love, not just content.
Her biggest piece of advice for aspiring creators? "Stop waiting for perfect—just start." It's a lesson she learned through experience, moving past the perfectionism that often holds creators back. "In the beginning, I overthought everything, worrying about having the best equipment or flawless content. But the truth is, growth comes from showing up consistently, learning as you go, and connecting with your audience through authenticity."
The journey has transformed her life in unexpected ways. "Becoming a content creator turned my passion into a paycheck," she shares. "At first, I was just sharing my life, but as I built my brand, doors started opening—paid partnerships, brand deals, and opportunities I never imagined. It's given me the freedom to work on my own terms, support my family, and create a life I love." Her approach to balancing it all is refreshingly practical: "Sometimes I'm filming with a kid on my hip, other times I'm editing late at night." She's passionate about changing the perception that content creation is just a hobby, emphasizing how creators are "strategists, marketers, and storytellers all in one," managing late nights and constant brainstorming to create high-quality content that resonates.
Building Community Through Food and Wine: Nicolle Laviolette (@convinoboard)
For Nicolle Laviolette, content creation is about more than sharing recipes—it's about fostering connections and building a community centered around the joy of entertaining. "Girlhood is about empowering one another and creating a sense of community," she shares. "I create mine through a love of food and hosting—connecting women who love to cook, host people over, and want to make memorable moments with the ones they love."
Her journey into content creation was sparked by a passion for travel and European wine culture, having explored vineyards across 30 different countries. When global travel paused in 2020, she channeled her creativity into the kitchen, discovering a newfound love for cheese and wine pairings. What started as a way to stay connected during challenging times evolved into ConVino Board, where she's taught over 450 virtual charcuterie and cheese board making events, sharing her expertise from choosing the perfect parmesan (her favorite cheese) to creating sophisticated pairings that elevate any gathering.
Like many creators, Nicolle initially struggled with self-doubt. "I wish that I cared less about what people think when starting my socials," she reflects. The turning point came when she embraced authenticity over approval. "When I started caring less about what people thought and put more effort into creating genuine, authentic content, that's when I saw my socials grow exponentially." Today, her success has allowed her to redefine work-life balance, though she's candid about the challenges. "Being a content creator is not easy—I work for myself 24/7. I have more time to read, go to a morning pilates session, have coffee with a friend mid-day or pick up new hobbies, but finding work-life balance can be difficult."
Despite the pressures of constant content creation and evolving algorithms, she remains passionate about challenging industry misconceptions. "Sure there are a lot of recipe and dinner party content creators out there," she notes, "but it's about being different and creating innovative content that is your own. That is how you will stand out!" Through her platform, Nicolle continues to prove that authentic content and genuine community building are the perfect pairing for creator success.
Engineering Success Through Authenticity: Adya Roy (@thedesicareerwoman)
For Adya Roy, the journey from mechanical engineer to content creator wasn't about choosing one path over another—it was about creating a unique intersection of both worlds. "I think something I've always noticed in person is that women tend to have very unfiltered conversations, but we fear showing that transparency online," she reflects. This observation became the foundation of her approach to content creation, where authenticity takes center stage.
As a six-figure engineer turned digital storyteller, Adya brings a fresh perspective to the creator economy. Her platform, Desi Career Woman, has grown into a community of over 20,000 members across platforms, serving as a beacon for South Asian women navigating corporate America. "One of the biggest challenges I faced was the balance between my fulltime job as an engineer and my parttime career content creating," she shares. "I somehow managed to make lemonade from lemons by creating a new niche for myself and making my lifestyle as a career woman my niche!"
Her approach to content creation is refreshingly strategic, shaped by her engineering mindset. "I think one thing I'd recommend to everybody is to understand what your final goal is," she advises. "For some people, becoming a full-time influencer is the goal, which means monetization should be top of mind. For me, staying truthful and transparent is my goal, so every little thing I do should get me one step closer to my goals."
What sets Adya apart is her commitment to changing perceptions about content creation in professional spaces. "I'd love for people to stop thinking of content creation as an attention-seeking mechanism," she emphasizes, sharing a personal story about deleting a 53K-follower Instagram account in 2014 due to negative peer pressure, only to return five years later with an even stronger purpose. Her journey exemplifies the strength required to challenge stereotypes and create meaningful impact.
The community aspect of creation has been crucial to her success. While she maintains discretion about specific mentors, she acknowledges the profound impact of collaborative relationships, from working with virtual assistants to participating in mastermind programs. Though content creation represents a small percentage of her income compared to her engineering career, she values the unique opportunities it provides, particularly in networking and travel.
Building Communities and Breaking Niche Barriers: Jackie Ortiz (@ocjackieo)
Jackie's approach to content creation challenges conventional wisdom about creator specialization. "We are not one-dimensional," she asserts. "We're capable of doing more than one thing that we love and showcasing many different aspects." Her content spans motherhood, beauty, health and wellness, education, technology, travel, and lifestyle—proving that creators don't need to be confined to a single niche.
As a woman in the digital space, Jackie recognizes the unique impact she brings to her community through educational content. "We are always intrigued to find out about simple hacks, items recommended and tried by other women," she explains. "It's important to get a women's perspective on a wide range of topics." This understanding shapes her approach to content creation, focusing on delivering true meaning while optimizing for search engines to ensure her valuable insights reach those who need them most.
Her journey took an unexpected turn when she identified a gap in the creator community. "When I first started, there wasn't a big community outpour of women supporting other women. It was a pretty lonely road." Rather than accepting this isolation, Jackie took action, founding a local SoCal community of influencers and brands that collaborate on everything from local events to restaurant openings and small business support.
This community-building approach has paid off, both professionally and personally. "Having that solid foundation of a true community makes a huge difference," she explains. It's enabled her to reach a level where she can be selective about partnerships and focus on creating meaningful impact. Jackie emphasizes the importance of both creative and technical excellence, focusing on search engine optimization while maintaining authentic, high-quality content that resonates with her audience. Her success stems from maintaining consistent posting schedules and understanding the business side of content creation, including protecting creators' rights within the industry. For her, it's about more than just creating content—it's about keeping up with timelines, crafting clean and organic content, managing pitch leads, and having the creative freedom to highlight brands in the most effective way.
Capturing Beauty Through the Girl Gaze: Nesrin Danan (@blackprints)
For Nesrin Danan, photography is more than capturing moments—it's about bringing a distinctly feminine perspective to every frame. "I feel like as a professional photographer, the 'girl gaze' has always set my work apart," she shares. "I'm so influenced by small details, symmetry and discipline, and dreamy, soft colors and textures. While my photos are undoubtedly strong and vibrant, my work has an overall tone that's always been rooted in femininity."
Her journey as a creator began over a decade ago, leading to an impressive portfolio spanning entertainment photography, celebrity portraits, and lifestyle campaigns. The path to success came with an important realization about authenticity. "Once I stopped trying to shoot photos that appealed to the mainstream and really dialed into what I liked and what I thought was beautiful, I feel like that attracted my perfect niche audience, which is largely the girls, gays and theys," she explains. This authentic approach has opened doors to collaborations with major brands like YouTube, Spotify, Cartier, Netflix, and Fenty Hair, while her work has taken her from capturing runway shows at NYFW to creating social strategies for global brands.
The impact of content creation on her life has been transformative. "Being my own boss has taught me a lot about not only managing my money but also things like time management, professionalism, and how to network in different spaces," she reflects. Now as a full-time entertainment photographer and occasional influencer, she's built the career of her dreams, traveling constantly and working with incredible clients. Her advice to aspiring creators reflects her journey: "You don't need to - and shouldn't - be doing what's proving successful for someone else. Really lean into what you're passionate about and the style of photos or content YOU want to make and that will generate your own type of success."
For Nesrin, the power of women supporting women has been instrumental in her success. "Women are everything. Almost my entire network, I'd say, is women, and LA is a big word-of-mouth town so they truly have impacted my career," she shares. Her inspiration comes from diverse sources—from chance encounters with Mindy Kaling on flights from Paris to admiring Martha Stewart's career trajectory. She finds daily inspiration in creators like Kamie Crawford, Orion Carloto, and Aimee Song, emphasizing that "the creator world is one of the only female-dominated industries and I absolutely love to see everyone crush it every day." With support from her mom, sister, and close friends, plus over 120,000 followers who resonate with her distinctive vision, Nesrin continues to prove that success comes from staying true to your artistic voice while lifting others up along the way.
Creating Impact Through Authenticity
Each of these creators has leveraged the Popular Pays platform to expand their reach and connect with brands that align with their values. Through successful campaigns and collaborations, they've demonstrated how authentic partnerships can drive meaningful results for both creators and brands.
The stories of these creators showcase the evolving landscape of digital content creation. They remind us that success in this space isn't just about follower counts or perfect aesthetics. It's about authenticity, community building, and the courage to challenge conventions.
As we celebrate International Women's Day, these creators exemplify how women influencers are reshaping digital storytelling, building successful businesses, and creating meaningful connections with their audiences. They prove that when creators stay true to themselves and support each other, the impact ripples far beyond social media metrics.
