Jaleesa Charisse, originally from Duncanville, Texas, came to the University to North Texas so she could be close to her family but still maintain a little bit of distance. While she originally only planned on majoring in Merchandising, she eventually ended up double majoring in Merchandising and Digital Retailing.
“…I love all things digital, so digital retailing was the perfect fit for me,” said Charisse. “I also obtained a minor in marketing — another passion of mine. The two majors really go hand-in-hand and I’ve bedn able to apply both to my career today.”
Now, she works as a beauty influencer turned Social Media & Influencer Partnerships Manager where she gets to work with one of her favorite brands.
She is also a blogger, where she posts content about beauty, style, lifestyle and travel. This wasn’t her first blog, though. She originally had two other blogs.
“At the time, I was in high school and juggling school as well as several extracurricular activities, so they eventually flopped,” said Charisse. “When I got to college, I took 80% of my marketing classes one semester completely online and used any spare time to focus on my blog and building my platform. I worked on it as though it were my full-time job.”
Now, because of all her hard work, she is self-employed and has the ability to work remotely for her job, which provides lots of flexibility for her to work on other things.
“So on most days, it’s easy to slip in filming a video or working on a campaign into my schedule,” said Charisse. “While I do have tons of flexibility, I still hold a very important position and when things get busy with the brand, I may have to scale back on blog/social media posts… but that’s the best part about being your own boss.”
As for advice for anyone that is wanting to start a beauty/lifestyle blog, her advice is simple: Do it for the right reasons.
“The number one piece of advice I have is: Do not start a a blog or platform for the trips, PR lists or money,” said Charisse. “I see so many influencer workshops that focus on those topics alone these days and it’s so annoying — start your platform because you’re passionate about what you write or talk about. Those who follow you will be able to see straight through you and your content if you’re not authentic.”
Here’s where you can follow her journey:
Blog: https://jaleesacharisse.com
All Social Media: @JaleesaCharisse