Fashion
Would You Pay Someone to Teach You How to Be an Influencer?
Valeria Lipovetsky brings in millions of dollars as an online personality. Now she’s teaching aspirants what she’s learned — for a price.
In August, the energy inside the event space of a hotel in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, was first-day-of-school jitters meets sorority initiation ceremony. The room was bustling with about 50 women, mostly in their 30s, dressed in similar colors (neutrals with a pop of red) and similar silhouettes (trousers, maxi skirts and vested tops), per the styling mood board they received the previous week.
Over the course of five hours, they listened to a panel, participated in a Q. and A. session and broke out into small groups — as one might at a business conference.
This gathering, however, also included a “content creation” hour, during which attendees were encouraged to collaborate on videos and photos. Ring lights glared around the room as everyone claimed their space. They were learning how to be influencers.
This was the first class of students at Creator Method, an online content creation academy founded by Valeria Lipovetsky, 34, and her husband, Gary Lipovetsky, 51. The venture is an offshoot of their company Valeria Inc., which supports Ms. Lipovetsky’s career as a fashion and lifestyle influencer. On TikTok and Instagram — where she has 2.3 million and 1.8 million followers — she posts reels of her getting dressed, glimpses into her three sons’ lives and snippets from her podcast, “Not Alone,” where she talks to mostly female guests about relationships and wellness. She says her collection of social media brands earn her about $13.5 million over the span of her influencer career.
Ms. Lipovetsky, wearing a pea-green dress and with her sons Benjamin, 9, and Maximus, 5, in tow, had pledged to teach this group of young women her methods.
Her school for influencing, which she rolled out in May, has no course work, no exams and no certification of any kind. The $3,000 annual membership fee gives students access to a library of over 80 (and counting) prerecorded video lessons; weekly Zoom calls with the Lipovetskies and Rachel Ostro, the chief executive of Valeria Inc.; and private group chats.
