“Don’t care what people think, just do it,” NYC based influencer Eloise Dufka states. After graduating from high school, Eloise attended Tulane University in New Orleans majoring in Pre-med. She wasn’t sure of her career path until she realized Pre-med wasn’t the life for her and switched into Business also majoring in Legal Studies & Management. Since she grew up in West Africa, she wanted to minor in French to be more proficient in the language and to understand it if she were to ever work in a French-based company. During her time at college, she enjoyed working out at Romney Studios, grocery shopping, and cooking for her friends and herself. “I would cook for all my roommates.” In fact, one of her first TikTok videos to blow up was inspired by her love for cooking when she recreated the “Green Goddess Salad” she made with her friend. “I woke up the next morning, and it had 50,000 views, which was random.” Following that, her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, was having their rush week, which kept her pretty open when she wasn’t helping her sorority sisters out. “I randomly started making vlogs and a get ready with me, and each video kept getting bigger.” Her growth went from 800 followers to 2,000 within the weekend. Throughout the last semester of college, Eloise continued to make vlogs and had 50,000 followers by the time she graduated in May 2022.
“I had a video that blew up over the span of two weeks. It got over a million views and made my followers jump from 15,000 to 30,000. The algorithm is so weird though, and I wasn’t sure what to do with my life when I was kind of stuck and not growing as much over the summer until my manager found and helped me,” Eloise said. She decided this was something she could do long-term if she set small goals for herself. With that mindset, she continued to create more content, gained a lot of social media interaction, and started to realize she can make money with the brand deals and engagement she received.
Her full-time influencer journey started in August of 2022, when she finally moved to New York City. She had lived in SoHo for a while when she was a junior in college as she worked for Estée Lauder. Eloise always knew she was meant to live in New York. “I am a New Yorker at heart.” She considered living in LA when she got signed to a modeling agency doing commercials, which is known to be popular in LA, but she was never a fan of LA. She even traveled to California for three weeks to give it a shot, but decided New York was the place for her.
Her college lifestyle very much differs from her life in the Big Apple. “In college, I would get up early, work out, go to WholeFoods, and I’d either babysit or go to sorority parties on my days off.” Now, she enjoys her days still getting up early, having a glass of hot lemon water with chlorophyll, journaling, working out, and of course going to Whole Foods. “My morning routine always stays the same, however my day varies depending on if I’m meeting up with friends, have plans to go out, or have an event to attend.” Eloise also shared how two to three hours of her day is taken up by editing her content, all of which she does on her phone.
“Finding a balance is hard when it comes to having time for yourself because people want to see what you do. There are days when I realize I’ve been looking at my phone for six hours straight and there are no boundaries since I’m on my phone 24/7 filming content,” Eloise explained. She shared how it is a time-consuming job since there are no days off and how it is hard not to bring out your phone when you get content everywhere you go. “I credit my routine to journaling every morning for five minutes. It helps plan out the day, and I have my phone away from me because that is a designated time for myself.” When it comes to spending time with her friends and family, that is something she always prioritizes as she does not get to see them often.
There are many challenges and negativity that comes with being an influencer. “I try not to base my confidence in how well my videos do. I told myself that I should not be getting upset if a video of mine doesn’t do well because I still worked hard for that content and I try to look at the bigger picture.” Her growth in social media varied as some videos blew up overnight and others would take their time, and sometimes a video wouldn’t blow up as much as she thought it would. “It’s easy to get wrapped up in the moment, especially since the algorithm doesn’t make any sense. I look at the small victories instead of focusing on what didn’t go well,” she shared. To Eloise, negative comments do not bring her down. “I remember seeing a video about how Alix Earle thinks negative comments are funny, and she’s right. If someone comments something negative, they’re still engaging with my content which is a plus for me. If someone really doesn’t like you, then the best thing for them to do is not interact at all.” Although Eloise explained how she has not dealt with negativity yet, she talked about how if that were to happen, she would only focus on the positive energy. “Not everyone is going to love you or your content, and that’s okay. I enjoy what I do, and if someone leaves a negative comment, I feel like I’m doing something right.”
Mentally, Eloise described how she is not a very anxious person so social media has not taken a toll on her mental health. “I don’t get levels of anxiety, but I get in these lulls like everybody else wondering if I should be doing something different with my life.” Journaling is one of the favorite parts of her day as it helps her get out of any weird thoughts she may have. “I also enjoy my job, and I try not to overanalyze it. If I were to stop liking it, I would immediately step away and still have a plan of what I’d want to do. As of right now, I’m really enjoying my life,” she states.
Through Eloise’s social media growth and influencing journey, she’s got to attend cool events and has received many brand deals. She recently attended a brand trip with YSL in London and shared her story. “I am a firm believer of manifestation. The day before I got the invite to go on the YSL trip, I manifested a brand trip for me. The next day, my manager called me and told me I was going to London. I started bawling in tears because I couldn’t believe this was happening. I got to have dinner with Zoë Kravitz and meet another influencer I had been following on Instagram for a while. I flew first class and everything was paid for, it was unreal.” She keeps a list of brands she would love to work with and checks them off when she gets to work with them. If it doesn’t work out, she doesn’t get upset over it because she knows there are more opportunities out there. “It is the most validating feeling. Someone sees the potential in you and wants to work with you. Even if one of my videos doesn’t do well, I know that in the long term, someone still wants to work with me and believes in me. It’s a really good feeling.”
Known for her “Get Ready with Me” videos and beauty/ lifestyle content, Eloise shared some of her favorite products and brands. She recently got sent a PR package from SAIE Beauty and as a pre-prep, she loves the “Glowy Super Gel” to use as a base for a bronzed, sunkissed look. She prefers no foundation and instead uses the “Super Serum Skin Tint” by ILIA or the “Perfecting Skin Tint” by Glossier. “I hate lipstick, I am 100% a lip gloss girl.” Her favorite lip gloss right now is the “YSL Candy Glaze Lip Gloss Stick” in shade 02. She also enjoys lip balms from Summer Fridays. One of her all-time favorite beauty brands is Pat McGrath. She’s a huge fan of the blushes and highlighters. For a natural bronze, her go-to is the “Hoola Bronzer” by Benefit. “That bronzer is my favorite makeup product.” As for mascara, she says “Lash Clash Mascara” by YSL is the best mascara in the world.
Although Eloise Dufka started her videos as a joke, she never knew where she’d end up after taking it seriously. She finally found the job that was perfect for her, and she’s even given tips and advice on how to start influencing. “Take the chances and do not be afraid.” She explained how she would experiment with content of all sorts until she found her niche and what makes her and others happy. “Do one thing a day that scares you,” she says. She clarifies this statement by explaining how doing one “scary” thing a day such as posting a TikTok will help benefit you in the long run. It helps you be more open and confident in yourself. “Be confident. Sometimes you’ve got to fake it til you make it, and that’s okay because everybody does. Say yes to any opportunities given to you because you never know where it might go.” The last thing she shared was to not care what anyone else thinks. “I was so scared to post content on Instagram because it feels more personal to me, and I didn’t want certain people to see what I post. But then, I was like ‘Why do I care?’ and posted it because it really does not matter. People will not care about what you post. It only matters if YOU care about what you post.”
“Just go for it.”