Economics Graduate Who Speaks Six Languages Rejected Banking Job To Become Influencer

When you hear the word 'influencer', adjectives such as dim, vacuous and shallow may spring to mind.

But as Xenia Tchoumi points out, generalising like this is a bit reductive.

Instagram/Xenia Tchoumi

"There's a huge pool of people, with completely different aptitudes and talents and they are all called influencers," she told LADbible.

"Whoever has an online platform with followers is considered an influencer, yet the nuances are infinite. They can be dim and shallow of course, or they can be hard working mini power-houses and intelligent entrepreneurs."

As you may have guessed, Miss Tchoumi falls firmly into the latter category.

The Swiss-Italian speaks six languages - Italian, Russian, English, German, French and Spanish - and after graduating in economics she was offered a job as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan.

However, Miss Tchoumi turned the role down, instead launching a career as an influencer. Since then she hasn't looked back, launching an online magazine, amassing 1.6 million followers on Instagram, giving three motivational TEDx talks and recently walking the catwalk at Paris Fashion Week.

Instagram/Xenia Tchoumi

It's certainly an unconventional path she's tread, but Miss Tchoumi said her choice to go it alone as an influencer has been empowering.

When asked what her favourite thing is about being an influencer, she said: "The freedom to work at any hour or day of the week, the constant connection to a community and the responsibility of having a voice that can be heard, or read, at any moment that you decide. As well as the empowerment in dealing and negotiating with big brands and professionals of the sector.

"You are completely un-linked from the traditional form of media, which means you have your own audience and your own voice at all times.

"It gives you a lot of freedom, as you are your own brand and business too."

Indeed, Miss Tchoumi said she 'loves' the career she has forged as an influencer.

Instagram/Xenia Tchoumi

She said: "Yes, I do have other qualifications, but working as an influencer is the business I chose to be in for this period of my life. And I love it.

"Sometimes by seeing only my social media, you don't know the full picture, and it is fine like that by me."

Given the success and satisfaction Miss Tchoumi has derived from being an influencer, she would encourage young people to pursue a career in this most modern of trades - so long as they have the correct motivations.

She said: "I would ask them, influencer in what? Do you have a specific passion that you would explore in depth and share with your audience - like cooking, travelling to discover new cultures, the fashion and beauty industry or sports? Then that's amazing.

Instagram/Xenia Tchoumi

"As long as their aspiration is not purely based on vanity, I think being an influencer can definitely be an interesting professional path. You'd learn to interact with people, negotiate deals, do accounting, banking, and more than anything be a visual, creative director of your own content.

"And if you have a message you believe in, like mine on individual empowerment, please by all means spread it and repeat it to your audience as much as you can."

Topics: Instagram, Influencer, Interesting, Community

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey