Readers’ pick: @gwu_affirmations

Being an influencer in today’s world may only be a dream to most Gen Z students, but for senior Kate Carpenter, it’s her reality.

You might know Carpenter, a political communication major from Stillwater, Oklahoma, for her blue-and-white striped overalls dripping with school spirit at GW basketball games, her pun-filled Instagram captions or her list of achievements as vice president of the Student Association last year. With more than 5,000 followers on Instagram and active engagement in numerous student organizations across campus – from the Panhellenic Association to her self-founded festival celebrating school spirit GW Palooza – she has emerged as one of the most prominent faces within the GW community.

From her thrifting TikToks to aesthetic photos of her excursions on Instagram, Carpenter doesn’t restrict herself to any one type of lifestyle content. Carpenter said she lets go of “hesitations” or any “embarrassment” that restrains her from living her life to the fullest, an attitude her social media presence reflects.

“It’s basically an art form to me on social media, as funny as it sounds,” she said. “So I’ve loved being able to have an impact through that. I’ve really grown my influencer base and my impact since I’ve been at college.”

As of this winter, Carpenter turned her social media presence into a paid partnership to promote her passion. She said MtoM Consulting, a digital marketing agency based in Falls Church, Virginia, hired her through the athletics department to promote GW sports like basketball and baseball games to rally fan engagement for GW Athletics.

“Getting people to sports games and events and being able just to do a lot of things that I care about – it’s been a really special and unique experience for me to start using social media for that,” she said.

Carpenter’s social media skills have grown enormously on Instagram and TikTok, amassing around 2,000 more Instagram followers and more than 4,000 followers on TikTok throughout her time at GW. During her campaign for SA vice president in April 2021, while GW was fully online, social media was the only platform Carpenter had to make sure her voice was heard.

“My entire campaign was only based on social media, and that’s where I really got refined skills for social media, influencing and spreading the message because I had to,” she said. “If I wanted to be successful, I really needed to get the word out there.”

But Carpenter said she’s never considered herself an influencer. While she often does paid content for GW and other organizations, she said she sees her content as just putting her “exciting life” on display for her and other people to see.

With interests like photography and videography, social media gives Carpenter an outlet to share her work and free her “creative mind.” Her goal? To show people what it’s like to follow your passion.

“You can live this life that you’ve always dreamed of,” she said. “Don’t feel held back – just do things you’re passionate about.”