I dropped out of college & made $1m on Instagram by 25 – I bought a four-bed house with a pool & now celebs chat me up
A MODEL has revealed how she made her first $1 million at 25 thanks to Instagram fame - and she even owns a four-bed house with a swimming pool.
Alexa Collins, from Miami, Florida, admits her parents were angry when she dropped out of college to pursue her dream aged 21 - but says she knew she was onto a killer career.
Now the influencer has 1.2 million followers and is the proud owner of the plush pad with boyfriend of two years Tom Shields, 31, who works in real estate, thanks to her Insta-fame.
In an exclusive chat with Fabulous, she says: "I hit 1 million followers in July 2020, which felt really cool, but I want to keep growing.
"I'm a millionaire now, I made my first $1m right before I hit a million followers, that felt pretty awesome.
"My boyfriend Tom and I have even bought a house together. It’s a four-bedroom home, we have a pool in the backyard. It’s really nice and it’s our first home, so we’re excited."
Alexa, who grew up in Palm Beach, south Florida, launched her Instagram in 2014 and immediately treated it as a business.
She says: "At the time I didn't see it as a full-time job, I always thought it would be something on the side - but I knew Instagram was the way things were going to go.
"I started modelling when I was 18 and used the photo shoot pictures to build a social media presence. Over time, I became more of an influencer.
My parents were not too happy about it, they were set on me going to school
Alexa Collins
"When I left high school, I studied communications at college for three years but I decided to take a break year before graduating - and never went back.
"It took three years for me to see a big growth in my business, that's when I left college as I realised this was what I wanted to do.
"I was already working with a lot of big brands, so I realised there were opportunities there.
"You need about 50,000 followers to start making money, that's when you become a micro-influencer.
"My parents were not too happy about it. Because of their generation, they didn't understand what Instagram was or the power of social media.
"They were set on me going to school, but I told them ‘guys you have to listen to me, understand this is the new age and what I’m going to do’. I was super confident going into it and it turned out great."
Alexa now works with big name brands like PrettyLittleThing, Fashion Nova, Urban Decay and Tart Cosmetics.
She grew her following by posting twice-a-day, chatting to fans online and "documenting every single thing I was doing".
She says: "That gained interested. People wanted to watch so I started posting more about my life, my routine, how I go to photo shoots and create content.
"I started to create a little fan base of both men and women. From the minute I wake up at 7.30am, I spend the whole day on social media - I'm always very busy.
"I reply to my followers first thing, then I spend my afternoons creating content, going around town taking pictures for clothing brands, make-up brands and swimwear companies.
"Then I come home and I have to edit my pictures, I also have a YouTube channel now so there’s a lot going on."
Nowadays, Alexa lives a life of luxury - travelling all over the world and stocking her wardrobe with designer bags by Prada, Dior and Saint Laurent.
She says: "Travel is the best part of the job, it’s been really cool to see lots of parts of the world I wouldn't have been able to travel to otherwise.
"My favourite place I went to was Croatia, I’ve been all over Europe."
Alexa's tips for growing on social media
- Post twice-a-day, make sure your page has a pretty aesthetic and engage with your followers.
- Make yourself relatable to your audience, you don’t want to be untouchable. Sometimes people think social media is glamorous, but we all have our problems. So you need to tell people if you have insecurities or what’s going wrong in life because you need to make sure you’re speaking to them.
- Make sure you have quality content. Don't post anything you're not happy with, it's about quality over quantity.
- Have good editing skills, I use various different apps to edit my photos, and I have my own presets on Lightroom. It’s also important to have good lighting, cameras and angles.
- Create a media kit, this is important to have once you hit 10,000 followers. It should break down your demographic and engagement, so when you're pitching to brands for collaborations, they can go through it easily.
- For people who are just starting out, it’s all about being confident. If you want to do something, you can always figure out a way to do it, no matter what people tell you. I know it sounds cheesy, but you have to listen to yourself and if you think you have the potential to do something, then go for it.
Thanks to her popularity online, Alexa is inundated with messages from male admirers - including a few famous faces, who she doesn't want to name.
She says: "I get quite a lot of male attention, I don’t know if my boyfriend likes that too much.
"I get a lot of guys asking me out, it’s always interesting getting messages from celebrities, but I don't tell anyone because it’s probably not good for them.
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"I’ve had American football players, actors and musicians ask me out. But I'm loved up so I don't reply."
We previously spoke to an expert who revealed how anyone can make money on Instagram and you only need 200 followers to cash in.