I Met My IG Crush: Social Media and Influencer Marketing With Alaine Limjoco
The saying goes “don’t meet your heroes” but I say let the universe play its course.
Heroes are often a reflection of our aspirations and sometimes like you’re meeting a version of yourself in a parallel universe. They can either shatter the illusion or unveil another route in your journey.
Alaine Limjoco is a lifestyle content creator who has built a loyal audience by sharing her personal fashion, fitness, travel, and (my personal favorite) her unfiltered dating stories. I’ve been following her journey since 2017— Fashion Bum Peak (IYKYK).
In all honesty, Alaine is one of those few creators who has not only been consistent in her game but also authentic as hell in the content she creates. A lot of my experiences have been inspired by Alaine: she‘s not scared to solo travel, she’s a fashion girlie, and some of her dating stories have saved me a headache 😅. In a way, she had become a bit of my hero.
Luck has manifested me to run into her in some pretty random ways. The first in the streets of Downtown Santa Barbara, and the next in the working spaces of Greenhouse Coffee. I don’t mind making a fool of myself when it comes to a great conversation or growth-related opportunities. I decided to practice what she’s preached and shot my shot.
A couple of back-and-forths over email and there I was, with a calendar invite to connect with my IG friend crush. While it was set up as a bit of an interview, it was more like a conversation between friends. She spoke about her journey through social media, her travel adventures, her fitness journey, and OF COURSE, I got the scoop on her dating stories.
Being on social media is not like it once was. It’s become a community where you can develop some great connections, while also leading you to professional growth opportunities. Alaine has been able to build a great following by sharing her day-to-day journey which has led to partnerships with brands such as Nivea and Puma. I had the chance to sit down with her and get her hot take on influencer marketing, social media, and some juicy stories through her 20s (get to the end to find out).
Have a read.
How did you first start your journey on social media?
When I was in my senior year of high school, I started posting my outfits online. Posting my outfits online just felt so natural to me, and I loved it. I grew up in a Filipino household, and of course, my parents wanted me to be a nurse. But, I wanted to do fashion, it’s what made me happy.
I ended up going to FIDM and got my Associate’s Degree there. I was also working at Nordstrom and became involved in the YouTube community. There was a certain Youtuber who I used to travel with and I got a lot of attention from her. I was always posting things I wanted to share and that was relevant to my life. So, when I was traveling, I was posting content from my travels.
There was a time when I was into fitness, and I ended up being the ambassador for a fitness company called EPH Labs/Blessed Proteins. From there, I learned more about fitness, so I started to get more interested in it and create fitness content. I was always doing fashion in that mix, and that part of me was never omitted from any of my content.
What inspired you to continue social media, despite the obstacles that come with it?
I’ve loved being the front of the camera from the beginning. We would be on family vacations since I was 8 years old, and I was the girl telling her dad that I needed a picture here, here, & here. I love planning my outfits, and I created a community from that love. The more in touch I was with my community, the more confident I became in sharing so many other parts of my life.
After my break-up with my ex-boyfriend, I got this newfound confidence to start sharing my dating stories because I saw other folks share their experiences. It was so fun to connect with people, and even more fun to share my stories and to know that I am not the only one in this. Some so many girls can relate to these situations. There really is no better feeling than not feeling alone.
At the end of the day, I do make a positive impact on other people. That for me is enough because we only have one life, and if I’m going to do the damn thing, then I want to know that I did something good.
Why did you switch from using the handle @thefashionbum to your actual name?
The Fashion Bum is a version of me that I still am and feel like. The reason I changed my name Alaine Limjoco is to present a more elevated and mature version of myself. I am going to approach 30 in December this year. I think It was time for me to recognize the power in my name, and that’s who I want to be in this next chapter of life.
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You speak a lot about women empowerment in your content and share a lot of the girl friendships you’ve built over the years. How have you maintained strong friendships in your life?
I’m so grateful to have so many of my friends around whom I’ve known since I was younger. We still talk almost every day. I maintain the strong friendships in my life by just showing up, even if it’s a simple text or short phone call- those little things matter. And of course, making plans and following through with them. Being older also means getting to go to expensive girl dinners and afford girls’ trips.
Going back to your Filipino upbringing, did that have an impact on your social media journey and receiving negative feedback from your community?
My parents are immigrants, so I am first generation. I grew up in a very strict household, I hid my high school boyfriend for about 2 years, and my parents had no idea about him. I hid a lot of other parts of my life from them which made me very sneaky. By the time I turned 18, my parents loosened their leash and allowed me to experience life on my own. As long as I had gotten home in one piece, they were okay with my antics.
It was not until COVID that I started diving deep into the taboo topics of dating and being more open on social media. It got to my head for a little bit of ‘oh my god, should I even be talking about this?’. I got such positive feedback from my community and they would thank me for talking about such topics.
A specific taboo topic that I am known for is speaking about vibrators. I’ll talk about it because I feel that all women deserve to feel pleasure in their own way. I love mine and it’s empowering to know your body. There is so much negative stigma behind it and it’s annoying because we are powerful, with or without a man.
My whole premise for my presence is what I wished I had when I was younger. At the end of the day, A) I know that I’m helping someone in whatever way, and B) I don’t need validation from anyone but myself + the close people around me.
Also, my parent does not have Instagram, so that helps.
How did you prioritize your education while being online?
My parents had always wanted me to become a nurse. But, I always knew I wanted to be in fashion, so I went to FIDM to get my associates there. FIDM is a private school and it was very expensive. After my time there, I started traveling a lot.
I’ve always known that I needed to do something to make my parents proud, so it was always my goal to get my Bachelor’s. I didn’t want to be in school, so I had to suck it up. I collected the rest of my GE’s from a community college in Chino Hills and transferred to Cal Baptist University. It was an online program during COVID-19, so it happened to be all at the perfect time. I ended up receiving my Bachelor’s in marketing.
If I were to do this all again, I feel like I would have gone to community college after high school. There’s a huge pressure to know what you want to do for the rest of your life from the age of 17 or 18, and I certainly felt that from the start.
I wanted to shift gears from your personal life to diving a little deeper into the influencer marketing space. Not many people know about it, but there are a lot of people trying out UGC or content creation. What are your thoughts on the benefits of partnering with an influencer?
Brands should be utilizing influencer marketing because of the power of word-of-mouth. Influencer marketing is a step above that. When brands collaborate with influencers, they’re getting brand awareness which will hopefully lead to sales. It’s important to hone into a specific audience because of the said influencer. The benefit of this is that an influencer has developed trust with their community, so it’s a given that they’ll be reaching a larger audience.
One thing I will say is that because there is so much saturation between nano, micro, and macro influencers, it’s important to dabble between those groups. A lot of companies are working with the same influencers. As a consumer, I want to see variety between the following, size, and demographics (gender, race, body type, etc.). I would love to see more Asian representation and not just the same girl on every brand trip, right?
What are ways that brands could be more strategic about the creators they pick for partnerships?
It definitely means doing more research into the person. There are a lot of people in the industry who deserve so much more recognition than what they are getting. It’s also the issue of brands using the same few folks. Being more mindful of the different kinds of representation and giving a platform to more creators who deserve so much more spotlight.
I’ve been on Threads a lot lately, and have been reading a lot of creator threads where they are selling themselves short when working with a brand and even do work for free. It brings down our value as a creator since we do deserve to get paid. We put in so much time and effort, plus our own money, to create content for brands in hopes that we get to work with them in the future.
I get a lot of emails from brands sending merchandise with these crazy deliverables, and you can tell that they don’t see my value. That’s kind of where it gets tricky.
How do brands measure success and how a specific campaign perform overall?
I do get a lot of gifted products and I’m not going to confirm a sponsorship just for gifting. I’ll share it if I truly believe in the brand. And that type of mentality makes me a little picky because I am not going to promote something that just doesn’t make sense to me, right?
I’ll use Nivea as an example. I’ve been a part of the Nivea Squad for three years now. It’s been a brand I have used since I was in middle school. Going back to my content in 2020, when I would post get ready with me for a date, I would always use Nivea just because I loved the look it gave on my skin. It made me feel feminine and glowy, so it was very authentic to me.
In turn, I was able to work with them for a long period. Even to this day, I can easily ask my followers what is something I influenced them to get or something that made them think of me, and they will most likely say Nivea. That’s how I measure success as a creator and how I want to partner with a brand. I’m still the Nivea spokesperson when I go on trips with my friends; I’m known for carrying a huge tub of Nivea lotion in my bag.
*writer’s note- I can also agree that I had been influenced by Alaine to buy a bottle of Nivea lotion in the past*
Influencer Marketing Funnel by Hashtag Pay Me
What critiques do you have about the influencer landscape today?
I think the biggest thing I want to see in the future is the diversity in creators being chosen because there is room for everyone in the space. Even though it seems very saturated, I do believe that there is room for everyone to come into this space with something different to offer.
There are no two people who are truly alike, but I think that it’s just important to bring the spotlight and opportunity to creators who are doing it for the right reasons, as those are the folks who are valuable. I also love finding new influencers, as much as I respect them, I get tired of seeing the same couple folks on my phone screen. I need more people to be inspired by, and I feel like I haven’t been seeing as much creativity in sponsorships that influence me.
What are the best ways that new influencers can negotiate and work with brands themselves?
For me, I have my email in my bio, so they can reach out to me directly. I like to take control of the partnerships and work on my content by having relationships with brands. You can honestly do your own negotiations through ChatGPT. Let me tell you, Chat GPT is great because you can customize your own contract or email through its algorithm to streamline the process.
What advice do you have for women stepping into the social media space?
Just be your most authentic self and your audience will come naturally to you. Having a natural audience that is interested in your content is the most valuable thing. The industry is saturated. So it’s easy for us to feel super discouraged when it comes to algorithms and content not being out, XYZ.
But something I’ve learned is really coming back to your WHY and understanding why are you doing this. For me, it was to be someone that other girls can look up to. I wanted to be someone that would openly talk about taboo topics, and share what was going on in my life because that would probably relate to someone else.
I never wanted to be just another person with the cute outfits; I wanted to show that I had substance and connect with others. When people reach out with DM’s asking for advice, that feels so fulfilling to me. That is my WHY.
Are you working on any future projects?
I’m stepping back into my power as a creator and finding my footing again. I am currently working on a podcast, which is fun since I am a yapper and love to overshare. When talking about my presence online, it’s always going to be me, everything I share is always about me.
My new podcast, SO UNSRS is a way of sharing the nitty gritty and behind-the-scenes of my life. You can tell from the name that I am generally not so serious and believe that we are truly responsible for our actions and how we emotionally regulate ourselves. As pessimistic as it is to say, we are all on a floating rock and are going to die in the long haul. I laugh at complex situations and try to be positive as a way of bettering the version of myself.
There are certain topics that I never go into depth on social media, and those are the topics I want to bring to the plate. In no way is the content I currently post fake, but there are so many layers I want to go into depth with on SO UNSRS. I am excited to share this with the public, I’ll be having some guests on there and it’s going to be nice to have something that is solely mine.
Those who know me know I am the biggest fan of the Bachelor franchise. Would you apply as a contestant?
I feel like I would be the best of friends with the girls and it’d be such a cool experience. I talk about it with my friends all the time and the amount of people who have told me I need to be on the Bachelor is making me warm up to the idea of it. Now I feel that nothing else is working out in my dating life, I’m sure I was dating a stupid guy when they were casting for Joey’s season. All men do is cause me problems and prevent me from opportunities LOL.
I don’t know who is going to be the next bachelor, but I think I saw this one guy named Austin. If he was the Bachelor, I think he’d be cute. But we have to know the deets to see what we are working with. Let’s hope it’s a good bachelor 😚
Time For The Juiciest Question: What is your favorite dating story to tell?
There was a time when I flew to Switzerland to meet a guy. It was back in 2021 when I spent 3.5 weeks in Europe with my friends. I was talking to a guy and he ended up going to the same place I was at so he invited us over to the table. Because his table was full of friends and family, we spent maybe 60 seconds talking to each other, and then I left to go hang out with my friends.
So that was it, but we were texting and DM’ing and invited me to visit him in Switzerland before I went back to California. So I decided to make one last hurrah out of it.
I visit one of my friends in London and then take a flight to Switzerland for the weekend. I’ve never been to Switzerland in my life, so it was insane of me to travel all the way there for a boy I literally met for 60 seconds of my life.
I got my own hotel room in case of trouble, and then he picked me up from the airport. The first place he took me was to his family’s house, which was so confusing because I wasn’t sure why I was meeting them. From there, he ends up taking me to a beautiful restaurant for drinks and then back to my hotel to freshen up for a hockey game.
This part of our time was very cute. I met his best friend at the game and then met more of his friends when we went out that night. It was so weird because I felt so out of place there as an average American girl; there’s money in Switzerland so the country felt so expensive to me.
The next day I ended up exploring the city by myself, and then shared one last dinner together. His place was beautiful, at the top of the building with a beautiful view of the lake. And then I flew back home, and that was the end of us.
I’m glad I am alive to be telling my tales and have been able to embrace my 20s. It’s one of those stories you look back at and tell your kids.
I am so grateful to have been able to speak with Alaine Limjoco, I had a true fangirl moment working on this. I’ve been following Alaine for YEARS, and have felt like I’ve lived a part of my life vicariously through her. Throughout our conversation, it was amazing to see how passionate she was about her work and her process of creating content for gals like me to be inspired.
They say never to meet your heroes, but I say, shoot your shot. Because it truly can lead to a new friendship. {as shown above}.