Mum-of-two transforms her kids into Instagram stars… and her toddler now makes £40 an hour modelling
Carly Ashton has two daughters who she has transformed into Instagram stars. Avaya, three, became such a hit Khloé Kardashian wrote to Carly asking if Avaya would wear some of the kids’ line she has with her sisters
GRABBING my camera, I started snapping away at my seven-month-old daughter Avaya. She looked gorgeous in her faux-fur cape. But these pictures weren’t for friends or family – they were for Instagram, and within three hours they’d notched up over 4,000 likes.
Before becoming a mum, I was clueless about social media. My Insta page had a few followers – mainly people I already knew – and I tended to post snaps of my baby bump or my new home.
But when Avaya was born in February 2014, I felt so proud I couldn’t help but share endless photos of her in cute outfits. I’d always been into fashion, and insisted on dressing her in cool clothes rather than boring Babygros.
As I had a public account, my followers soon doubled from 150 to 300, and I loved it when people commented that my baby was beautiful – what mum wouldn’t?
That June, some of my followers tagged me in a post about a contest for a baby to be a brand rep for a boutique clothing shop. With the blessing of Avaya’s dad, I decided to go for it.
Dressing Avaya in a new pink tutu outfit, I took some shots and sent them off. Deep down I didn’t think she stood a chance, so I was beyond surprised when she won. Her prize included a box of clothes from the shop’s new collection, which I’d post pictures of Avaya wearing, making sure I tagged the boutique. Even though she didn’t earn any money, it didn’t matter as I was saving a fortune in baby clothes!
Using hashtags like #postmyfashionkid and #fashionkids helped my Instagram account to really take off, too – by October 2014, I had more than 10,000 followers, and other brands were asking me if Avaya could model their collections in exchange for free outfits. Insta stardom was something I’d never planned for Avaya, but it was a great opportunity.
I couldn’t believe it when, later that month, I received a package of clothes from Kardashian Kids, with a letter from Khloé saying she’d love us to post pics of Avaya wearing them. It was so exciting rummaging through and finding adorable wet-look leggings, a leopard-print dress and faux-fur cape. People from as far away as Australia left comments on her pictures gushing that they loved her look.
I had my second daughter, Aliza, in July 2015, and started snapping the girls together in matching outfits. I also shot videos, which would get thousands of views.
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I soon realised Avaya had what it took to be a model, so last March I got her signed up with Manchester agency Boss Model Management. She got work almost straight away, including a shoot with JD Williams and modelling for Minoti. She earned £40 an hour, which I put into a savings account for her.
So far she’s made £1,000 – on top of all the freebies – modelled for more than 50 brands, started charging brands £40 a post and racked up 110,000 Instagram followers. Not bad for a three year old!
Some miserable people have left comments saying I’m a pushy parent, but I’d never force my kids to do something they didn’t want to. Avaya loves dressing up and posing. Even on days we’re not doing shoots, she’ll ask me to take a snap of her outfit. She oozes confidence for someone so young, but still plays in the sand and gets messy like any other child.
She’s not a total diva just yet! As long as we have the support of our family and the girls’ dad, that’s all that matters. Plus, it’s clear Avaya loves every moment. And why wouldn’t she? She may be a toddler, but she has a far better wardrobe than me!”
BTW
The most popular baby on Instagram is Harlen Bodhi White with 213k followers
Avaya has featured on Instagram page , which has 3.7m followers.