Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Nicole Chen @thenictionary

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

I’m 22, going on 23 this year, hailing from the beautiful KL city in Malaysia. People always have this prior perception that adulthood is a really strange and confusing place, but I think I’ve graduated into mine pretty smoothly! I’m currently working as a social media strategist and online marketer in the mornings, and I teach dance in the evenings. I enjoy the diversity in what I do (and also the fact that I literally get paid to work out, who even does that? haha.)

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

Oh my gosh, this is such a loaded question for me! Haha. My posts mostly revolve around fashion and styling, but I also try to incorporate a lot of beauty videos and make up looks into my feed. I also dance a lot and sing occasionally, so a lot of these videos like to find their way in there from time to time! And last, but definitely not least, I travel as much as I can, you can tell because there is a drastic change in the colour of my feed! I have to segregate these different passions into separate hashtags so I can keep track of them. Haha. A lot of first world hard work, but I love it nonetheless.

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

I had a crush in a big way on this guy once, and we would literally speak every day. I have this funny habit of always coming up with my own words or way of saying things and he mentioned in a passing one day ‘You know you need your own dictionary, you should have ‘the nictionary’ so people can understand your lingo.’ We don’t talk anymore, and he was sort of a real butt to me, but I’m really glad that at least the name stuck! Haha.

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

I really love VSCOcam for filters! That’s literally all that I use. But I like to toggle with things like the exposure and saturation on Instagram itself. Because unlike VSCOcam, their toggles run in the hundreds, so it’s easier to be a lot more specific with the editing!

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

A lot of people say I resemble @luanna90 because of her hair, and I think I started to be largely influenced by her looks. I also love the videos and styling of @micahgianneli! This girl is on fleek 24/7. Local people like @dreachong are also really great to keep up to date with, something about her wonderful, unattainable lifestyle makes her so interesting to keep up with, even though I juggle with some jealously and awe in the process! haha.

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

I think trying to theme a feed is really fun! I start off with white and black as a base color and then I proceed to add in different accent colours, like green or blue. As the weeks progress, the feed starts to take on a life of it’s own and it’s really satisfying to look at. It’s actually pretty difficult cause it limits the amount of things you can add to your feed because of the colors, but I think it’s always interesting to see! It’s a fun ‘Instagram Challenge’ to try out for a month.

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

I wouldn’t like to deem myself an influencer. What does that even entail? It’s such a loaded word for someone who’s a little vain and takes pictures of herself in the process! Haha. But I enjoy personal messages from people I don’t know asking about how I do my hair, or where I like to shop! It’s nice to know that I carry little nuances of individuality in terms of style that intrigue people enough for them to ask me about it.

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

I think it’s always important to get influencers that embody the message the brand is trying to send out, that’s the only way for both parties to maintain authenticity. For example, a gym junkie influencer should probably be endorsing brands that advocate for clean eating or detoxing teas rather than evening gowns, etc. I always make sure that I pick brands related to things I do and styles that I love to endorse, that way I have an inclination to work more for the brand and vice versa.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

Traits that make you an individual are so important. It doesn’t matter whether that trait is a sharp nose, or the cutest button nose, or even if you’re plus sized. The main thing people love to see is how you own what you’ve got. I’m not even close to being one of the more ‘commercially beautiful’ Instagrammers out there, hell, I’m just an average size, average height, average looking girl. But I’m real, and I’m honest, I dress in ways that accentuates my body, and I do what I do to the fullest of my extent, and I think my followers like to see me just being genuine and authentic, and to realise that you don’t really have to be exceptionally aesthetic to make it in a so-called ‘superficial’ industry. Haha.

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

Of course, I enjoy all the perks of receiving sample products! And I also get paid to basically be vain and take loads of pictures of myself, haha. Jokes aside, I love Malaysia, and I love working with local brands. Malaysia is still a growing nation, so we’re all at this exciting phase where we are at the forefront of the music, dance, and fashion industries. Doing your part in your community to help build up these scenes and helping them gain the visibility they might not be able to do on their own is a huge part of why I love partnering up with brands. I’m only a tiny aspect of helping it to grow, but I’m doing the best that I can, and that’s more than enough for me 🙂