Meet Evelyn Henry, production manager for her sister Marla Catherine, an influencer on YouTube and Instagram. The Marla Catherine channel began in 2015, when Marla was just 12 years old and Evelyn was 19. The two sisters had always loved YouTube and decided to start their channel on a whim one summer day. “We sat down in front of the camera, and we just started making videos, and it took off from there. We started creating a community of people that enjoyed following Marla and her sense of fashion and personality.” Five years later, and now it’s a full-time job for both Marla and Evelyn, while they juggle high school and college life. 

From the beginning, Evelyn was always confident in her skills with social media – “I can see trends, and what’s popular, and I knew if we followed a certain model of videos, titles, and thumbnails, we could hit a million subscribers.” 

Because everything is constantly changing, Marla and Evelyn map out their week every Sunday, or at least once a week, whether that’s planning out the video they’re filming, organizing the sponsor they’re working with, or even an Instagram photoshoot. They figure out the creative narrative they want, and search Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration. 

When it comes to gaining followers, Evelyn says being consistent is huge. “Finding your niche and being consistent is the best way to grow, especially nowadays. Marla is also really good at connecting with people and she’s just really authentic online, and I think people see that.”

When asked how it has been working together as sisters, Evelyn said it’s been great. “Because we started when we were younger, we’ve grown up and bonded a lot – although she’s really mature for her age, and I’m constantly amazed at the wisdom that comes out of her mouth.” Evelyn also mentioned the importance of communication, “We’ve learned to work on our differences. If I’m doing something, editing a certain way she doesn’t like or something, I like having her tell me so I can make adjustments, and vice versa.”

As for growth, a clothing line has always been a dream/goal for both Marla and Evelyn. “We just had a phone call the other day, it’s still really early stages of contracts and stuff, but we’re really excited about it.” Marla and Evelyn also want to continue to create content that is inspiring for people to watch, but also content that Marla can still connect to – letting her content evolve as she grows up.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, Evelyn recommends you create a vision board, “Write down your goals and have a constant reminder every morning of what you want and decide each day how you’re going to make it possible.”  Along with a vision board, Evelyn also recommends finding your style, and deciding what you want your work to look like. “Anybody that has a desire to go into social media, don’t worry about what other people think. Do you and do what feels comfortable for you. Stay true to yourself. People can see through that, and that’s when they’re going to start following you, and want to know more about you. The more authentic you are to yourself, the better off you’re going to be, and the further you can go.”

Evelyn also gave the 3 following recommendations when starting in the influencer industry: 

1.     Be comfortable with yourself going in, because you’re going to get hate. Whether from someone in real life, or online, be comfortable and secure with yourself as an individual and knowing you do want to do this, and not letting anyone stop you. If you can get over the fear of rejection, you can accomplish anything. 

2.     Equipment – a lot of people get scared they don’t have the right equipment, but as long as you have something you can record on, just get yourself out there. 

3. Try and build a community. Find your niche and build that community and be interactive with people, because that’s really why people go onto social media: so they can feel that connection. Be interactive with your audience, and don’t take them for granted.

When it comes to working with Davies Allen, Evelyn says it’s been amazing. “I’ve only worked with Brynn so far, but we love her so much. She’s incredible, and I’d recommend her to anybody.” 

A huge thank you to Marla and Evelyn. You can check out Marla and Evelyn’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/marlacatherine – look for their video featuring their trip In to New York City with Calvin Klein back in February. You can also find Marla on Instagram @marlacatherine.