It is not uncommon for teenagers to be leading double lives nowadays, juggling school and demanding careers or hobbies simultaneously. Since social media has increased its presence in everyday life, content creators and influencers have risen in popularity and become a dream career for many. TikTok and Instagram’s younger generation audience is increasing, turning teenagers into teen-creators.
Eric Zhu, 18, began posting on social media at only 14 years old and, once his presence grew, various companies reached out through email offers, asking him to review their products (PR) or participate in sponsorships. “All the business aspects, they came to me. I did not go looking for it,” Zhu explained. Brands would ship products to Zhu’s house requesting he film himself using the product and promote it on his platform. Software sponsorships are what truly launched his career though, where he was paid to advertise different software in video clips.
Zhu’s most recent collaboration was with the world-wide brand Miniso. This event was organized on Saturday December 6th, 2025, to promote their new Zootopia 2 collection, which came out upon the movie’s release. Zhu strode into Carrefour Laval, talking fast on the phone, his head held high, his manager, Anqi Peng, walking beside him. He was not the only content creator invited; Angelina “Sugar” Zhang and her manager also walked alongside Zhu, chin up and in full Judy Hopps costume.
The pop-up Miniso shop in the center of the mall was filled with toys and customers. Rabbit and fox police officer shaped objects were in plentiful supply. On the outside wall of the little shop, a cardboard display was stationed for people to pose in front of to take pictures.
Zhu received a detailed PowerPoint via email explaining the contract protocols and his required tasks. He was sent a $100 gift card to purchase the listed blind box and a plushy in a seated position. The PowerPoint included pictures of these items. In the end, Zhu had enough to buy an extra blind box and had to pay an excess fee of approximately $12. After buying the merchandise, he had to showcase the blind box and sitting-plushy in a video streamed across his social media platforms. Zhu chose to create a short skit, wherein he plays the incompetent boyfriend who cannot take a hint. Along with his manager, they rapidly planned the script and adjusted his clip-on microphone between each take. Shoppers kept shopping.
After filming, Zhu changed into his Nick Wilde cosplay outfit, completing Sugar’s. The pair took pictures and filmed more TikToks for their accounts. Many kids stared and asked for pictures with the two Zootopia characters, who gladly agreed.
The young influencer has over 145k followers on Instagram and over 796k on TikTok. Zhu is recognized in the streets, at school and at his workplace, every week. In his posts, he wears a full face of makeup, and Zhu always makes sure he has makeup on wherever he might be recognized, in case a fan requests a picture.
At first, Zhu’s confidence was much lower, making it all the more intimidating to post on the Internet. Students from his high school would mention they had seen his videos, and some would even criticize. This led to his overthinking people’s opinions and finding it awkward to be in the spotlight: “So definitely, yeah, when I started, it was pretty humbling for me.”
From a young age, Zhu had to learn not to let people’s opinions bother him. “I have this sort of shield I built for myself, because I got so used to criticism that now I take it really, really well,” he explains. Zhu does feel that his childhood got cut short but blames it on the lifestyle he chose for himself. He believes that, either way, had he not become a content creator, his childhood still would have been shortened for some reason or another.
In 2024, Zhu began attending casting sessions for paid modeling work, mostly commercial. This type of booking consists mostly of photoshoot modeling. Since he was so young, Zhu thought this was part of the package deal of being a content creator. He thought: “Oh, I have to wear clothes and take pictures after school. That’s just what I have to do to keep the business going.” It was not before end of 2024 that he went to his first runway show audition.
Similarly, Fabiola Prince, 17, has been exploring paid modeling work as a fun hobby for a couple of years now, except that she isn’t, and has never been an influencer. She was first scouted at 14 years old while taking a walk in a park with her friends.
A man had approached them, telling Prince how much he liked her look, then asked if she’d be interested in modeling. He gave Prince and one of her friends his business card to contact him with their decisions, but Prince’s mother refused because she was too young. Prince’s mother was strongly against the idea of her daughter “getting used for her body”.
At the time, Prince was very upset with her mother for not allowing her to model, when her friend’s parents had agreed to their daughter walking runways. Today, Prince understands her mother’s reasons but still doesn’t agree with these strict decisions.
The second time-around, at 16 years old, her friend had invited her to a fashion show casting call at college LaSalle. She got chosen, to her surprise, but not her friend. She has been going to casting sessions and bookings ever since, thanks to her freelance agent. Her mother is still unsure about letting Prince model, but now that she is older, she has gotten used to the idea, especially since she will soon be legally an adult. Until then, she cannot yet sign with an agency, but she hopes to soon after her birthday.
In the meantime, Prince has been secretive about her age. While she has not had many bad experience regarding being a minor, she rather be safe and let the designers and other crew members think she is older. She often writes on her contracts that she is 18 or 19 too.
As for the compensation, Prince deems the pay to be equal, regardless of experience or age. “I mean you’re booked for a reason; you’re not booked for your age you’re booked for your look,” she said. In fact, your pay depends on the designer and who you are walking for.
Although Zhu’s manager, Peng, is only 22 years old, she usually works with influencers her age or older. Zhu only turned 18 a month ago, making him one of her youngest clients. Peng says that she finds it strange that teenagers need managers to begin with and thinks parents should instead be more present.
When asked if she thinks the job is more difficult for teenagers, Peng replied: “Teenagers deal with stronger emotions, so it will be harder for them to handle exposure.” With content creating comes putting your face on social media, and with putting your face on social media comes intense love and hate comments from the public. This is difficult for anyone to live with, but teenagers are more likely to take it personally. Parents also can have strong reactions to these messages about their children. That being said, Peng thinks that it is not as much about the persons age, but who they are as an individual, and what they can handle.
A typical runway show booking for Prince happens as so: upon arrival, she get her hair and makeup done; during that time, an explanation of the day’s schedule and show is issued; the designer picks out her look for the show; then, a practice run with all the models followed by a long break before the show. Finally, the models all line up backstage to start the walk, and the show begins.
The aftermath varies; sometimes Prince has multiple outfits to change into, sometimes only one; sometimes complicated makeup and hair need to be removed by the stylists before she goes home. Once she’s changed back into her street clothes, she often stays backstage a while longer to mingle with the models and influencers who’ve been invited to the show. Photographers come to take pictures of the models and eventually VIP guests join the party backstage.
Since both teenagers kicked off while still in high school, they have had to create ways to combine the work world and the school world for both to mesh well into their lives. Zhu says that teachers in his high school were very accommodating with the condition of all the assigned work completed in time. Now that he’s in college, the young influencer has a different approach towards his work. Before, he treated it as a “silly little side hustle” but now, it’s a real career. Zhu has organized schedules and routines to align his jobs with his schoolwork. Social media is usually in the late evening, when he opens all his business emails. Prince, on the other hand, brings her homework to casting sessions and bookings, since the days tend to get very long. Though, she doesn’t always get around to doing the schoolwork she brings along. “When the cast and crew is filled with good energy and people you’ve worked with previously, it definitely makes things less boring,” Prince says.
