What I Learned In A Room Full of Female Founders

I recently attended the Ladies Who Launch event hosted by Rochelle Humes, where female founders and business leaders came together to share their real, unfiltered entrepreneurial journeys.

The room was filled with ladies such as Aimee Smale and Samantha Faiers, and I left feeling both inspired and challenged by the collective mindset of women who are building, shifting, and reinventing themselves in real time.

Aimee Smale - The power of quiet influence and resilience.

I’m a big fan of Aimee, and she’s honestly the queen of founder content and personal branding. The conversation was incredible, but what stuck with me most was how hard this all is running a business, leading a team, and knowing when to take risks isn’t easy.

Listening to Aimee clarified something I often see in personal branding, that growth often requires a shift in mindset and habits, because the person you want to become can’t be built with the same thinking you have now. I often hear, “I’ll start when...” but there’s never a perfect time to start. Waiting for the “right moment” usually keeps you stuck, so you have to begin where you are. That said, your past, your job title, or your current chapter doesn’t limit what you can build next, reinvention is allowed. Allow yourself time to learn and adapt as you grow.

What stood out most was the power of quiet influence and resilience. Aimee pushed the message that influence isn’t always loud, the right visibility with the right alignment can have more impact than constant promotion. And every woman on that stage took risks before feeling fully ready. Progress comes from showing up, learning fast, and continuing anyway.

Amiee’s advice:

• Separate the founder’s personal brand from the business so the product stands on its own.

• Hire experts in operations, time and project management to protect the founder’s creative role and support scale.

• Increase founder-led content to build community and transparency around the journey.

• Protect the brand by keeping product launches intentional and limited, prioritising quality over mass production.

Rochelle Humes - The power of proximity

One of the biggest lessons I took from Rochelle Humes was the power of proximity. Every meaningful connection I've built has come from meeting people through people. It reinforces just how important it is to put yourself in rooms that inspire and challenge you because that’s where real connection and learning happens.

It also highlighted the value of being intentional in those spaces. Taking the time to read the room, introduce yourself, exchange details, and actively encourage follow-ups turns a moment into a relationship. Growth doesn’t happen in isolation, it happens through connection.

Samantha Faiers - The power of personal branding

Samantha Faiers surprised me with her story, it wasn’t one you often hear discussing online but she shared it with a level of honesty that truly reinforced why personal branding matters. What stood out was how she’s embraced her past not as a setback, but as the fuel for her next chapter.

It reminded me that many people carry quiet stories that deserve to be told, but they’re waiting for the “right moment” but realistically the right time isn’t something you wait for it’s something you create methodically.

Your personal brand isn’t just about visibility. It’s about the courage to show up with your full story, and the power that comes from owning it, so lean in.

From my own experience building personal brands, I’ve seen first-hand how powerful it is when you stop trying to look like everyone else and start leading with who you actually are. A personal brand isn’t just visibility, it’s showing up as you. In rooms like this, it reinforces why I do what I do and I believe there is no time like the present to start building your personal brand.

Let’s round-up my thoughts

Ladies Who Launch reminded me that growth isn’t a straight line,  it’s a series of reinventions. The biggest lessons weren’t just about business strategy, but about the mindset needed to build something lasting. The courage to start before you feel ready, the discipline to show up consistently, and the willingness to evolve as you grow.

The most powerful takeaway? You don’t have to do it alone. 

The founders in that room proved that success comes from community, connection, and the confidence to lean into your story. Whether it’s through quiet influence, intentional networking, or owning your personal brand, the path forward is built on real relationships and real authenticity.

If you’re a founder or creator navigating your next chapter, remember your current chapter doesn’t define you and reinvention is allowed. And the best time to start is now.

Are you ready to build your personal brand?

If you want guidance on building a personal brand that feels authentic and actually drives results, book your personal brand power hour here.

What Brands Need To Know Before Working With Creators

Don’t confuse influencer marketing with traditional brand marketing.

Influencer marketing isn’t the same as a brand marketing its own product. The way conversions happen and the style of content that performs are often very different. What works on a brand’s account almost certainly won’t translate the same on an influencer’s channel. That said, brands can take key learnings, like the messages that convert and the talking points that resonate and allow influencers to adapt them authentically to their own voice.

Trust the creator’s expertise

It’s crucial to let influencers apply their own insights, analytics, and best practices to ensure content feels organic and fits naturally alongside their other posts. Encourage experimentation with formats, and don’t force the brand name into the first three seconds. 

Hooks, placement, and soft selling

We all know that the hook is the most important part and this can instantly disengage an audience. Often product placement with influencers is just as powerful as a direct call to action to purchase. The aim is to get the product in front of the right people and let it integrate naturally, it doesn’t always need a discount code or a hard sell.

Measuring impact beyond discount codes

Attributing conversions to influences can be challenging unless you go down the root of discount codes. However, my recommendation to all brands would be to have a post purchase checkout questionnaire asking customers where they heard about the product, and even which influencer influenced them. This provides a far more authentic data than tracking solely via codes and helps brands understand impact in a real, human way.

Think long-term, not instant sales

Finally, remember that influencer marketing doesn’t always deliver immediate sales, it can be something that builds quietly over time. The ultimate goal should be brand salience, being the first brand that comes to mind when a customer needs your product. Not every campaign will convert instantly, but when done right, it creates lasting awareness and trust.

Want more industry tips and tricks?

Follow my  Instagram for more insider knowledge from someone who has been on both sides of the industry.

How I Turned My Influence To Income

My First Steps in the Creator Economy

I would deem myself to be an accidental influencer, I know there are people who start their accounts with the intention of growing it to a point of monetising it but when I started my Instagram account, I had absolutely no idea that you could make money from it.

In 2020, I started an Instagram page called overatcharlie’s, documenting what we were doing to our new build home. At the time, it wasn’t a business idea or a career plan, it was simply a creative outlet. I was sharing progress updates without any expectation that it would turn into anything more.

What I didn’t realise back then was that this account would become the foundation of everything I’ve built since. I started to see the biggest impact when I moved beyond small gifted collaborations and began actively pitching myself. I still remember the excitement of my first gifted partnership with a Manchester candle company, I deemed gifted collaborations as a big win. From there, demand from brands slowly started to grow. As more brands approached me for content, my confidence grew, and I became far more intentional about positioning myself and pitching myself for the work I wanted.

Seeing Both Sides of the Table

I had a unique perspective, working full-time at a marketing agency while growing my own page. I could see both sides of the table, how brands make decisions, and what it’s really like to create content and build influence from the creator’s perspective.

This also gave me the ability to recognise my worth. It doesn’t come immediately, and being paid to create content for something I once saw as a hobby felt foreign for a long time. It wasn’t until I recognised the real value I was giving to brands that everything shifted.

By the time my collaboration income matched my salary, I knew it was time to take the leap. In November 2022, I left the security of full-time employment to fully pursue a career in the creator economy. Understanding both sides of the business didn’t just help me make smarter decisions, it set me apart and showed me how to create influence that actually drives results.

Turning Collaboration Income into a Career

I had always shared my story on my page, so my followers knew my career background. When I announced I was leaving my job, I started receiving enquiries from brands and programs, not just to create content as a one-off, but to work on a retainer model, managing their social media month-to-month.

Scaling Beyond Personal Content

I think there’s still a huge transparency gap when it comes to income in our industry, which causes uncertainty when it comes to rates and knowing your worth. When I really started to focus on this, and understand the metrics and benchmarks that brands look for, I went from earning £320 across multiple collaborations in May, to a recurring income of £2,256 per month by November.

I was aware of how unpredictable income can be from brand collaborations alone. As a newly self-employed freelancer, I wanted to ensure I had multiple streams of income. I started offering training services, coaching, and small business retainers which took off much faster than I could have anticipated.

While I continued doing brand collaborations through @overatcharlies for a while after leaving my job, I quickly realised the biggest demand for my time was in sharing my knowledge and helping brands grow their own channels. After just eight weeks of being self-employed, I hired my first team member, who joined part-time through the apprenticeship scheme, to help manage and service these retainer clients.

That home account is where the name for the agency came from, and it’s where my journey in the creator economy really began.

Fast forward to today…

My focus is helping creators grow the way I wish I had when I started, turning influence into income with more impact. Over the past three years, running an Influencer and Personal Brand agency whilst being a creator myself, has given me a unique perspective. I use it to help people build smarter strategies, pitch confidently, maximise income, and work with brands in a way that actually feels aligned. That’s exactly what we cover in my Influence to Income programme, sharing the lessons I wish I’d had so others don’t have to learn them the hard way.

Ready to turn your Influence To Income?

Book your Influence to Income Strategy Session, where we’ll map out a clear plan to turn your platform into a profitable, long-term career.

The Influencer Managers Guide To Pricing Collaborations

Everything you need to know to set (and negotiate) your rates

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering how to price collaborations as an influencer, you’re not alone. We price collaborations for some of the top influencers in the industry daily, so I know firsthand how confusing pricing can feel—especially when every project is unique.

That’s why I’m sharing my complete framework to help you confidently determine your worth, tailor your rates, and negotiate like a pro.

⚠️ 🗑️ It’s time to BIN your rate card!

Let me start with a controversial take: your rate card needs to go in the bin.

I know, I know—many influencers rely on rate cards to streamline conversations with brands. But here’s the thing: pricing isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Think about it...

Would you price a holiday collaboration the same as a deals roundup you can film at home? Or charge the same for an entire room renovation as you would for showcasing a new faux flower arrangement? Absolutely not.

Every collaboration is different, and your pricing needs to reflect the scope, effort, and value of each project.

Here’s how to break it down:

Setting Your Base Rate

Your base rate should account for:

1. Your Time

• Time is your most valuable resource, so consider how long the project will take from start to finish. This includes planning, filming, editing, and any revisions the brand might request and price for this accordingly.

2. Scope of the Project

• What does the brand want? A single Instagram story, a detailed carousel, or a highly produced reel? Each format requires different levels of effort and expertise, so your rate should reflect that.

3. Timeline

• Is this a last-minute request with a tight deadline? Quick turnarounds often mean you’re sacrificing flexibility in your schedule, so it’s fair to charge more.

4. Your Capacity and Demand

• If you’re in high demand or nearing your workload capacity, your rates should increase accordingly. Remember: scarcity adds value.

Additional Factors to Consider

Once you’ve determined your base rate, think about the following:

1. Brand Reputation and Budget

• Big-name brands with larger budgets can (and should) pay more than smaller companies with limited resources. If it’s a high-profile collaboration, your rates should reflect the added exposure and potential workload.

2. The Brand’s Cost to Recreate the Content In-House

• Imagine what it would cost the brand to hire a team of videographers, photographers, editors, and models to produce similar content. Your work is not just convenient—it’s cost-effective for them.

3. Longevity of the Relationship

• Are you building a long-term partnership or working on a one-off campaign? Long-term collaborations can justify slightly adjusted rates in exchange for consistency and security.

4. Added Value You Bring

• Do you have an exceptionally engaged audience? Are you cross-promoting on multiple platforms? Featuring this on your blog / email newsletter / YouTube? Highlight any extras that make you stand out.

Charge for Extras!

Certain elements should never come out of your pocket. Be sure to charge for:

1. Expenses

• Include costs like travel, props, or other materials you need to execute the project.

2. Exclusivity

• If the brand requires you to pause collaborations with competitors, this limits your income potential and should be factored into your rate.

3. Usage Rights

• Will the brand be repurposing your content for ads or other platforms? Extended usage rights should come with an additional fee.

Everything Is a Negotiation

Let’s talk about negotiations, because they’re inevitable in influencer marketing.

Here are some suggestions for handling common scenarios:

When a Brand Pushes Back on Your Rates

Response: “I understand budgets can be tight! My rate reflects the time, expertise, and value I bring to this project. Let me know if there’s flexibility on the deliverables to fit your budget better.”

Tip: Stand firm on your worth but show willingness to adjust the scope if needed.

When a Brand Offers a Lower Budget

Response: “I appreciate the offer, but my rates are based on ensuring I can deliver high-quality content that aligns with your goals. Is there room to increase the budget to reflect the level of work involved?”

Tip: Reiterate the value you bring, and don’t be afraid to counteroffer.

When a Brand Asks for Exclusivity

Response: “I’m happy to discuss exclusivity! For the duration you’re requesting, my rate would include an exclusivity fee to account for potential lost opportunities.”

Tip: Always establish if exclusivity is editorial or advertorial - there is a big difference!

When a Brand Wants Full Usage Rights

Response: “If you’d like to use the content for ads or other platforms, I can provide extended usage rights for an additional fee. Let me know your needs so I can tailor the terms.”

Tip: Be specific about what the additional fee covers (e.g., time, reach, brand equity).

Remember…

Pricing collaborations is an art, not a science.

By tailoring your rates to the scope and value of each project, you ensure you’re fairly compensated while delivering excellent results for brands.

Remember: you hold the power to negotiate, and the right brands will recognise your worth. Ditch the rate card, embrace flexibility, and approach every project with confidence—you’ve got this!

Need some extra help?

If you’re feeling stuck or unsure about how to price your collaborations, don’t worry—you don’t have to figure it out alone. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to scale your influence into a thriving business, I’m here to help.

Book a Power Hour for personalised guidance on pricing, pitching, and positioning yourself for success, or dive deeper with an Influence to Income Strategy Session, where we’ll map out a clear plan to turn your platform into a profitable, long-term career.

Let’s work together to ensure you’re charging what you’re worth and building a business you’re proud of.

3 Common Mistakes Influencers Make When Working With Brands (and How to Avoid Them)

Collaborating with brands is an exciting milestone for any influencer—it’s a chance to monetise your platform and build valuable partnerships. But, if you’re not careful, a few missteps can hold you back or even harm your brand.

Alongside managing our roster of influencers, we also support aspiring creators by refining their content strategy, helping them secure paid collaborations, and providing expert guidance through our Influence to Income 1:1 sessions.

Here are the most common mistakes we see people make:

1️⃣ Making Ads Overly Promotional

We know it sounds back to front, you’re being paid to promote, but the best-performing ads feel organic and authentic. Think of it as a genuine recommendation to a friend rather than a hard sell. The more it blends with your usual content, the more trust it builds with your audience.

Pro tip: Ask yourself, “Would I share this even if I wasn’t being paid?” If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track.

2️⃣ Focusing Too Much on the Wrong Numbers

Follower count? Not as important as you think. Brands care far more about stats that prove your influence, like story link clicks.

If there’s one metric to focus on improving, it’s your story views and link clicks —because it directly shows how your content drives action.

We teach our proven strategies and tactics in our Influence to Income strategy sessions.

3️⃣ Saying Yes to Misaligned Collaborations

It can be tempting to say yes to every paid opportunity, especially early on. But when a collaboration doesn’t align with your personal brand or values, it’s often obvious to your audience—and those ads tend to underperform.

Working with brands that doesn’t resonate with your audience can chip away at the trust you’ve built with your followers and that could cost you more opportunities (and income!) in the long run.

Pro tip: Before agreeing to a collaboration, ask yourself:

• Does this product or service align with my values?

• Would I use or recommend this outside of the partnership?

• Will this resonate with my audience?

If the answer is “no,” it’s okay to pass. Saying no to the wrong fit leaves room for the right opportunities to come your way.

We’d love to hear from you…

What challenges are you facing when it comes to brand collaborations? We’d love to hear your thoughts or questions— our DM’s are always open (@oactalentuk)

If you’re looking for tailored advice to up your collaboration game, check out our Influence to Income 1:1 sessions for personalised support with influencer strategy and brand partnerships.

What REALLY goes down on an influencer retreat?

12 Influencers, 1 Private Island, 72 hours of strategy, team building, upskilling, and endless ideas!

The White Party

OAC Talent is all about doing things the right way, building a community around our team and offering more than a management service to our influencers through constant education and mentoring. And what better way to bring this to life than through a retreat! 

Since the launch of our Talent management agency, we’ve supported heavily on content and business strategy, locked in killer deals and made some pretty life changing amounts of money for our influencers, but we wanted OAC Talent to be more than this!

We know that this industry can be lonely at times, and building our community is so important and what many of our creators say makes OAC unique. Many of our creators had met previously at PR events but we’ve never had the whole team in one place to celebrate and plan our next moves!

MKM Home

Many of our influencers have fallen into the world of content creation accidentally, setting goals for themselves isn’t something they’d taken seriously prior to working with OAC and our retreat set about to change that.

We set ourselves 3 clear goals: 

1 - Team Building : To ensure all of our creators felt that strong sense of community and knew they had a team of girl bosses standing right behind them, it was important we all had some time to let our hair down. Throughout the retreat, we worked together, sharing the struggles, the ups (and the downs) of being in the industry.

2 - Up-skill Creators : Our creators are amazingly talented, but there's always room for growth. The retreat gave the team opportunities to level up their quality of content, as well as learning some marketing secrets we have, to growing their accounts. 

3 - Switching from a hobby mindset to a business mindset: Creating content isn't just a hobby - it's a business. We’ve empowered our influencers with the skills,confidence and resources they need to take their businesses to the next level.

We had a host of speakers come and join us over our time at the retreat, unfortunately for them, they had to experience Meg and Rosie driving them in the boat, which believe us, entailed quite a few crashes and very questionable parking.

On day one, Alice Benham, the definition of girl boss, a hugely successful business and marketing strategist, as well as a newly published author, kicked things off with a deep dive into intention setting. She covered topics such as:

• Engaging in meaningful conversations

• Defining your reputation

• Creating impactful content

• Multi-platform opportunities like podcasting and email marketing.

If you haven’t already, take this as your sign to go and grab Alice’s Digital Marketing Handbook.

On day two, we had a jam-packed schedule, with a very exciting night ahead. First up, Charlie, the founder of OAC, and Kayla from @reynoldsresidence, who together run The Social Academy, led an immersive workshop on User Generated Content. From hooks, to creating harder-hitting content, the creators had the chance to make notes, create their own angle and put their knowledge into practice with a content making workshop. 

Our next visitor onto the island, Oli Hills, the director of Nonsensical, a specialist TikTok Agency, offered a masterclass on upping your game on TikTok. He explained how to:

• Monetise on the platform

• Discover your niche (which he called "finding your Tok")

• Understand the algorithm

• Exactly what brands are looking for when they’re planning TikTok collaborations.

And last but by no means least, we welcomed Dawn McGruer, a multi-millionaire business coach, speaker, and strategist, closing our speaker series on a massive HIGH with an empowering (and emotional) session on Mindset, Motivation, and Marketing. She’s been working with Charlie to drive the growth and success of OAC throughout 2024 and was on Charlie’s ‘must book’ list for the retreat. 

Chelsea Peers Pjs

She shared her expertise and provided our creators access to her 30-day app challenge, which covers financial mastery, growth mindset, and unbreakable resilience - essential ingredients for  long-term success. The session involved a few tears, as our influencers realised just how much their lives have changed since embarking on this exciting journey, and let’s just say, we won’t be forgetting that anytime soon.

“Growth is not where you went to, it’s how far you’ve come. Now, let that sink in.” - Dawn McGruer

And once sunset rolled around, so did the music, drinks, hot tub sessions and laughs. The creators got dressed up for our white party and delicious catering provided by Jamie Tulley, a well recognised luxury private chef! Our final surprise, a visit from the talented Dan Greenaway, and his guitar, who gave us a live performance until the later hours - the drinks were flowing and our singing was… questionable. We ended the evening in our matching sets of Chelsea Peers pyjamas, in front of Love Island - because what else do you do on an all girl island? 

To round it up, the OAC Talent retreat lived up to all of our expectations, and more. We’ve been overwhelmed with our influencers' responses, and find ourselves multiple times a week going “did that actually happen?!” 

Who’s got FOMO and wants to be on our next retreat? 

Apply to join our roster here. 

See you all soon, The OAC Team. 

---

Reflecting on our Journey: A 2023 Recap

As we take a breather from the whirlwind that was 2023, we couldn’t resist sharing with you the rollercoaster ride that has made last year oh-so-special for OAC. From events across the country, welcoming new team members to finally getting the keys to our office space - last year was one to remember. So, grab a cuppa and recap on the incredible last 12 months with us.

Ava May Bridal

We kicked off the year with a bang, going into 2023 with a growing roster of clients and a fully booked training schedule for January. The first few months were a whirl, after just 8 weeks we were fully booked from just word of mouth and that’s when we knew things were about to get exciting. The start of the year was content heavy, working with the likes of Eggo, an award-winning skincare brand on a UGC campaign, as well as countless bridal shoots with Ava May Bridal to launch the new Disney Fairy Tale Weddings Collection. With more and more clients wanting help, Charlie welcomed India to the team.

The start of the year was jam packed with PR events, content shoots and training days, making connections with some big names and some amazing brands along the way. 

MKM Home

As spring came around, Charlie and good friend Kayla from @reynoldsresidence were busy planning the third (sell out!) Maisons & Mingle event. It was a fun-filled afternoon held at @distilleryb16 with a hands-on wreath making workshop for fellow content creators. The pair spent most of spring zipping up and down the country creating content for MKM Home, you’ll find their faces all over their socials and even in stores on the digital displays! 

The Social Academy launched in the Summer, a joint venture between @overatcharlies and @reynoldsresidence to share their combined knowledge with other content creators and small businesses. The 6 week program generated incredible results for the graduates and glowing reviews all round. 

In July, OAC Talent was born, a new division within OAC specialising in connecting talented influencers with growing brands. From the beginning, OAC Talent has been working with huge global businesses (Jo Malone, ALDI and Gousto to name a few!) and has been excelling under the radar for the last 6 months. We’re excited to say the public launch of OAC Talent is just around the corner! 

Our expanding team

Autumn marked a transformative period as OAC outgrew its roots, we needed a space to base our quickly expanding team, host in-person training sessions and provide a space for wider in-house content creation. We found the perfect space and 6 weeks of rapid renovations took place.

November welcomed Danielle, our Social Media Account manager. Danielle has played a key role in growing @onthetools and her varied in house and agency career made her the perfect addition to the team! Alongside Danielle, we also welcomed our two new marketing assistants, Rosie and Meg. Meg has had experience navigating the online presence of several home improvement businesses while Rosie gained her experience through a marketing role at a local estate agent, a perfect fit for our growing roster of home and interior related clients. 

With the team working hard behind the scenes, Charlie was invited back to her University to guest lecture to their current students about the world of marketing - a true full-circle moment! 

Winter brought thrilling PR events, a record-breaking Maisons & Mingle Influencer gathering, and notable successes for our creators. As we closed our doors in December for a well-deserved break, it marked the festive end to an extraordinary year, teeming with achievements and unforgettable moments.

Here's to the next chapter of growth and success in the upcoming year!

Maisons & Mingle Influencer gathering

---