Aniyah Morinia Interview
@AniyahMorinia, Your Next Instagram Follow
How an underrepresented Queen is kickstarting her career before finishing her degree
By Jenne Slaw
All images courtesy of @AniyahMorinia on instagram
Juggling full-time college classes, part-time jobs, and internships, all while building and maintaining a personal brand doesn’t sound easy. Honestly, it sounds borderline impossible. But if I told you that there are a handful of stunning individuals out there that manage to do it all and then some, would you be as astounded as I am? Aniyah Morinia, a Public Relations student at the University of Florida, is one of those stellar individuals. As a minority student, PR specialist for her campus’ Information Technology department and Copy Editor for EveryStylishGirl, girlfriend is doing it all and doing it well! I had the pleasure of getting the scoop on how she makes time for it all and what drives her boss- baddie attitude.
Aniyah is a great example of boss women being inspired by other boss women. When asked what inspires her most, Aniyah noted the influences of fashion and “badass women” have on her daily life. “My mom is one of my greatest influences, shaping the way I think and dress on the daily. I live for Angela Rye’s wit and intelligence, Tracy Ellis Ross’s style, and humor, Kerry Washington’s class and beauty, and Yara Shahidi’s activism and presence. These are people who inspire me on a regular basis and remind me of where I would like to be.”
“As corny as it sounds, ESG has brought me closer to my dreams in more ways than I expected, and I don’t take one second of it for granted.”
It’s exciting to think someone could be well onto starting a corporate career before reaching the pinnacle point of graduating with a bachelor’s degree. Through her work with EveryStylishGirl, Aniyah is making that magic happen. ESG is a multimedia platform aimed at representing influential women of color making game-changing strides in a variety of industries. “I have been working with EveryStylishGirl for three semesters and have learned and experienced aspects of the fashion/social media industry that I would have never been exposed to {at the University of Florida}.”
EveryStylishGirl has changed the way Aniyah looks at creating content for social media. “Being an intern made me want to try harder to create a good-looking feed with fresh content,” she says.
Like many of us, Aniyah has realized the important role social media plays when it comes to one’s career and personal brand. “Having an aesthetic or a really beautiful feed did not matter to me until I started taking PR classes in my college. I decided that I needed to create a brand for myself and whatever that brand was, I would be able to alter it and make it “me” whenever and however I wanted to.”
Aniyah strives to keep her brand true to herself and her personality. “I honestly try not to get sucked into the idea of having a perfect feed. I want people to be able to go on my account and get an idea of what I’m interested in and the things that I enjoy. Captions are honestly the hardest but best part of a good Instagram post. If you say it doesn’t take you over an hour to get the perfect caption, I don’t believe you,” Aniyah jokes.
Living in the moment has become central to her killer Instagram feed. “I’ve stopped planning my photos and have decided to only do it for the gram if the opportunity presents itself. It usually takes me a good 25 photos (I’m being kind to myself lol) to get a good selection to choose from.” Though she uses VSCO to plan out her feed, she tries to focus on posting content she believes in, instead of posting for likes.
“When I can end my nights with matching pajamas and a moisturized face, I know I conquered a tough but productive day. “
Aniyah is well on track to break down walls in her field. But she’s careful not to overwhelm herself. “I keep a mental and physical check-list of everything I have to do, with me at all times. When planning my weeks, I like to keep my nights free so that I can spend that time hanging out with friends or spending time on self-care.” Her advice to any aspiring creators or influencers out there? “Don’t sleep on any opportunity! APPLY APPLY APPLY. There’s no such thing as being underqualified so take any position head on even if you don’t feel 100% confident in it.”
Do yourself a favor and take a page out of Aniyah’s book. If you take inspiration from a drive like hers, how could the odds not be in your favor?
