A Co Down woman has landed what she has described as her 'dream job' having put her skills and knowledge of social media into practice.
Beth McDaniel is one half of TikTok and Instagram stars The Diabetic Duo, alongside her pal Ellen Watson, who rose to fame on the platform by sharing their experiences living with the condition in their early 20s.
Now the 23-year-old has come full circle after landing a role in the Marketing team at The Boulevard Banbridge, having previously worked in a store at the shopping outlet.
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Speaking about how it all began Beth told Be how she ended up in the influencer world was really all a bit of an accident.
"It's crazy how it all started and that's why I think you should never worry about not being where you want to in life or not being where you thought you would be because things can just happen so fast," said Beth.
"I was only diagnosed with diabetes at 20, so three years ago in September, and Ellen and I have been friends since we were 17, we met at our first job and went to University together and stayed in the same halls, so I learned all about diabetes from her as she has had it since she was six.
"It's almost like the universe wanted us to become friends because when I was diagnosed it meant I wasn't going in blind, I already knew so much about it because of Ellen. So when I was diagnosed in my second year of university, there was almost a part of her that was a wee bit secretly happy that she had someone who had it too."
Beth continued: "We both loved social media and fashion so we jumped on TikTok and weren't even thinking about diabetes at all and didn't even realise there was a diabetes community online in that respect, even though Ellen had it since she was six she had never tapped into this community and felt so lonely and isolated.
"So we out started making fashion TikToks, getting ready for nights out etc and no-one cared about the fashion, but we got so many questions asking 'what is on your arm?' So we had our technology on our arms to monitor our blood sugars and we couldn't believe the response. So that started a conversation and we started making more videos about it and that first video is now at almost 1 million views and it just spiraled from there."
Since then the girls have amassed more than 27,000 followers on TikTok and a further 11k on Instagram, which also played a role in helping Beth land her job at The Boulevard.
"I started out working in retail in Donaghy's shoe shop in Banbridge, that was my first job. I've always loved fashion so when Guess opened in The Boulevard I was like I need to apply there. I worked there for a year and I went on my placement year then I came back and worked there for another few months. Then I graduated and now I am in the management team, it's mad how's it all happened.
"I studied Communication, Advertising and Marketing at Ulster University and I absolutely loved that course, I knew that was what I always wanted to do which is why this role is perfect for me as it's helping put everything I learned into practice.
"It just went hand in hand for us as we were learning about content creation and what it's like to do collaborations with brands alongside our studies which showed the other side of the coin which was being the person who was organising the collaborations.
"So it was a such great experience for us and led me to where I am now. It really helps to be in the industry because I attend so many events for brand launches and things and alongside this journey being able to network with lots of other content creators.
"That's allowed me to then use my connections in this role now because I know them and their values and I know if they genuinely would love The Boulevard, and if they would work for collaborations with us.
"At 17 I was also a Brand Ambassador for The Boulevard so it really has come full circle for me, I feel so lucky."
Beth has urged other young people not to panic when they leave University and feel they have little experience for the roles they want to land.
"I think everythin happens for a reason and you just have to make sure you're networking with the right people, I think Linkedin is an amazing tool to just share what you're passionate about because then if an employer goes on they might see you don't have much experience but they will see what you're passionate about and they might still consider you for a role.
"If you put yourself out there and network, things will come."
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