Clarke Peoples had a “formulaic” road map that was disrupted by content creation.
Columbia University Student
Peoples was a student at Columbia University in New York, NY. It had been the only school she applied to, and she placed all her energy into perfecting her application, she shared with Business Insider.
“I put in a lot of work to earn enough scholarships to get into Columbia. I spent months writing my application essay and did whatever I could to make myself a more competitive applicant. It was the only school I applied to, and soon I was in New York living out my dreams,” she said.
Putting all her eggs in one basket ultimately paid off as she would be admitted into the school. She proved herself to be ambitious — pursuing an American studies degree — with an overarching goal of becoming a lawyer and launching a startup company. Peoples also had other backup plans including becoming a finance intern for a wealth management asset firm.
Early Career Opportunities
By her sophomore year, she would secure a job with a startup and interned with jeweler David Yurman’s legal department. She was living with roommates by this time but was able to rent her own place a few months later, which cost $3,325 a month at the time, per a TikTok by Peoples.
Content Creator
@claaaarke clean and go on a date with a millionaire with me #nyc #dayinmylife #dating #college #nycvlog #fypシ #nycrooftop
First Brand Deal
“I definitely think I do want to take a year or two before thinking about whether or not I’m going to go to law school,” she said on YouTube. “I’m definitely not going to go straight through. So, in those couple of years, like whatever job I have, I think I will want to have a 9-to-5 on top of content creation.”
@claaaarke bittersweet GRWM 🥹 also storytime about starting at Columbia with two broken femurs lol
Following
Peoples would continue to film and edit more day-in-the-life videos but later pivoted and released more GRWM content.
“When I first started making TikTok videos, I pretty much exclusively made daily vlogs because that’s what I went viral for, but since using TikTok regularly, I really loved leaning into the Get Ready With Me content,” she explained on TikTok.
By October 2022, Peoples had gained more than 400,000 followers on TikTok, and that number has soared to 655,200 (at the time of this writing) coupled with 22.9 million likes. Additionally, she currently boasts 98,800 followers on Instagram.
More Partnerships
Peoples’ platform has opened the doors to sponsored press trips and brand deals including with JCPenney, Walmart, and DSW in 2022.
Some of her more recent partnerships include:
- KISS
- DOVE
- Elemis
- Cerave
- L’Oréal
- Microban
- Love Beauty and Planet
Becoming A Full-Time Content Creator
After completing college, Peoples made the decision to become a full-time content creator. However, her aspirations of becoming a lawyer are not on the back burner. She is currently studying the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and in an Instagram story shared on Aug. 16, she revealed her intention to attend law school in the future.
“I still plan on going but maybe not for 2 or 3 more years,” she wrote. “I have really been enjoying traveling for brand trips, conferences, and speaking engagements across the world this past year since graduating. I want to soak up this for as long as possible before committing to 3 years of intense school!”
Earnings
Peoples is grateful to social media as it has provided her greater financial freedom, especially post college. Her earnings so far are pooled from her brand deals, which she described as “lucrative” to Business Insider. She has earned “thousands of dollars” to market home decor, haircare products, and dating apps, and this was accomplished on her own strength, having no help from a manager at the time.
In 2022, she was not a part of TikTok’s Creator Fund, therefore she was not receiving earnings from her content unless it was sponsored by a company.
It is unclear if she is now enrolled in the Creator Fund.
@claaaarke no one knows the greatness you’re destined for quite like you do. trust yourself. GO BE GREAT!