Is everyone *actually* making that much money??

I feel like there’s a weird divide happening lately.

You’re either a content creator or entrepreneur seemingly making a lot of money - either by showing us with luxury hauls or telling us with financial breakdown videos.

OR you’re someone watching the luxury hauls and income breakdowns, wondering how is everyone suddenly “rich” but me?

And are they actually rich, or just pretending?

In this post I want to break down what I think a lot of us are secretly thinking: is any of it real? Am I comparing myself to a lie? How are everyday people seemingly getting rich out of nowhere - can I do it too?

Because I have strong opinions on all of it. And I think my position as someone who worked a 9-5 for 11 years before entering the influencer world uniquely qualifies me to answer.

But before we start, here’s a transparent breakdown of my own financial position:

I became a content creator 4 years ago. I left my full time job at 28 and have been self employed ever since.

I used to work in marketing. I started on 18k a year, working my way up to £95k before I quit.

I was able put down £75k for a flat deposit at the age of 30, after saving and investing since I was 21 and 24 respectively.

I have friends in the industry.

I know what people get paid.

So here’s the clincher:

Yes some people are lying. I’m certain of it. BUT, a lot of people aren’t.

I find it fascinating. So I’m going to break down it down into the few, biggest reasons:

Influencers get paid way more than they should

I recently listened to Farron Clark’s episode on Aimee Smale’s new podcast, ‘Pretty Busy, Lately’.

Farron has recently become a full time creator after working in marketing for years.

I was surprised to hear that even she was surprised by the amount of money in the industry.

And I’m still surprised when I see the TikTok suggested search say ‘how is Katie Fang rich’. Katie Fang being a 20 year old beauty creator living in NYC with 7m followers, who is undoubtedly getting paid tens of thousands for singular posts - multiple times per month.

The fact of the matter is that influencers get paid far more than they should.

Influencers aren’t saving lives like doctors and nurses. It doesn’t make any sense. But the world is skewed away from meritocracy and heavily towards capitalism.

This means your skill rarely correlates with your salary. There are idiots being paid millions, and geniuses being paid minimum wage.

This is the first reason people online seem richer - because they often are.

But there is one thing I don’t see anyone talk about.

Money opens your eyes

People talk about money changing you - usually for the worst.

But they don’t talk about money shifting your whole perspective on what you can achieve.

And I’m not talking about suddenly becoming stuck up. I’m talking about seeing life through an entirely new lens.

For me, it went like this:

Pre-content, I was always confident in the value I brought to jobs, so I earned well - I negotiated a £75k offer into a £95k offer (and I wrote an exact post on how here). I was taking £6k a month home at 27 because I had grit and confidence in salary negotiations.

For a year, I was making content alongside my full time job. I remember the moment where I realised I was about to earn more from content than my full time job.

Then I quit my job.

Then a couple years passed and I was still earning more than I ever had. With no boss, no holiday allowance. Freedom and money does feel amazing. I’m not going to lie about that.

For a while, it feels too good to be true.

But then it becomes your norm and your mindset starts to shift.

This is the part nobody talks about.

With complete control over your schedule and a lot of disposable income, you start to think and make decisions like the business owner you never thought you’d be able to relate to.

This is the psychology behind those ‘braggy’ LinkedIn posts.

Why everyone’s suddenly posting their income - because it makes them more income.

Why it feels like everyone’s quitting their 9-5 to start a business.

Why everyone wants a personal brand.

To break out of their full time role, earn money from brand partnerships and go on podcasts.

The best way I can describe it is this

This is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

People in 9-5s are typically operating around the safety and security level in today’s economy. The idea is that you don’t have the bandwidth to think much further up the hierarchy if 90% of your time is taken up by work and earning money to live.

People in more stable or better paying jobs are operating in the yellow and green. They still make good money, but aren’t afforded the headspace to think all day, in depth, about their life.

The top influencers, creators and entrepreneurs are close to being in the purple. Self actualisation.

Billionaires are firmly in the purple. This is where your flow of money is enough for you to stop thinking about it.

This is why nutjobs like Elon do the weird shit they do. Life becomes their own personal board game.

BUT

Let’s go deeper on self actualisation

Because this is my underlying point when it comes to influencers:

They jump from being a regular joe in a 9-5, to having the income of someone who’d ordinarily have to have worked much harder.

In other words: they suddenly gain the audacity.

It’s then down to the individual person how they utilise this.

Better people might:

• Start a business about something they love

• Share their knowledge online to help others do the same

• Give to charity or people in need

• Spend it on their kids or family

Other people might:

• Become entitled

• Hoard or over-consume

• Exploit relationships and trust

The former is what I try to do.

The pattern you only spot once you’re inside

Some of the most successful people online right now are earning money by teaching people how to earn money.

A few examples:

• “How to Yap” made millions in sales by teaching people a skill for making more money

• Mia McGrath posts breakdowns of her income online, and those posts make her more income by building her following, which gives her more brand partnership opportunities. She is the perfect Gen Z version of previous financial influencers like Nischa and everyone who has come before.

• The Lazy Millionaire sells a course on ‘how to build a substack using the same tips I used to make £XXX per year'. Her Substack probably does make that much for her, but the people who take the course will only make money if they also make those promises to their readers.

You start to see the loop.

That’s a big part of how “everyday people get rich out of nowhere.” A lot of them aren’t rich out of nowhere. They’re rich because they figured out a self-referential loop that pays them to talk about paying themselves.

I’m not saying any of this is good or bad. But this is why we feel such a divide.

This is why it can feel like everyone knows something we don’t.

I’m grateful to have gotten lucky in content creation. I want take the opportunity, value it and do great things. I know that not everyone gets the chance.

If you've ever thought about trying content creation yourself, I'd still encourage you to. It's genuinely made me more enthusiastic about life (self-actualisation at it again) because I feel so personally aligned with it. It won’t be for everyone, but it’s life changing for some.

That's why I keep posting little nuggets, even when I probably should be neatening up my posting schedule and making everything more cohesive instead.

Natalie x

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About the author:

Hey, I’m Natalie. I built an audience of over 1 million on TikTok talking about skincare, that quickly evolved into something much bigger here on Substack.

Now I write brutally honest, big-sister guides on skincare, finance and wellness for your 20s and 30s - breaking down what actually works so you can get ahead faster, learning from my mistakes and shortcuts.

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