The Human Billboard (Jordan Reid)
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The Human Billboard (Jordan Reid)
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Before “influencer” was a job title, I was already making a living selling my life online. Long before algorithms or sponsored content line items, a small group of women began turning personal, unfiltered spaces into careers, and I was one of them.
This episode traces the early days of influencer culture: The moment marketing entered spaces that once felt intimate and real, the monetization of “authenticity,” and the strange emotional alchemy of being simultaneously rewarded and punished for vulnerability. I talk about building a career based on access, relatability, and performance — and the anxiety, imposter syndrome, and eventual reckoning that came with it.
I also touch on what happened later: Aging out of the algorithm, pivoting away from visibility, and living with the aftermath of having once been extremely online — but there's a lot more to come on that topic.
This episode sets the foundation for the season ahead, which will explore influence from the inside: the people who helped build it, the culture that sustained it, and the complicated lives that followed.