Woman Who Quit Her Corporate Job to Be a Full-Time Influencer Breaks Down 5 Shocking Realities of Content Creation (Exclusive)

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Influencer Hannah Krohne, who goes by the handle @hannahlizzy on Instagram and TikTok, quit her full-time corporate job in fashion to become a full-time fashion influencer

• While initially nervous about making the switch, Krohne says she “loves being an entrepreneur”

• However, like starting any new job, there’s an inevitable learning curve, and she tells PEOPLE about the best things that surprised her about the behind-the-scenes of being a content creator today

In September, after a year and a half of working in corporate fashion, influencer Hannah Krohne quit her full-time job and made a leap that is becoming increasingly common in the ever-changing world of social media.

Krohne, who previously worked in strategy and merchandising for British fashion retailer ASOS, had been posting fashion and lifestyle videos online since her sophomore year of college.

Born out of a desire to share her fashion eye with the world (and maybe a chance to snag a few free clothes while doing it), Krohne grew her following throughout her undergraduate career, gaining more and more followers and brand deals and affiliate link income, until she felt safe cutting her corporate job down to part-time hours.

In the back of her mind, however, Krohne had already decided she wasn’t cut out for corporate life. When she moved to New York for her job at ASOS, she almost instantly started getting invited to brand events and growing her social media presence even bigger.

“It just got to the point where my social media — I loved being an entrepreneur,” she explains.

Krohne admits that, when she cut her first hours, she was hesitant to tell people she was pursuing a career in content creation.

“Even if it was only 20 hours, whenever someone asked me about my work – whether I’m on a date with someone, meeting someone randomly, my third cousin – whenever they asked me what I did, I always just said that I worked at ASOS, because… that was the most acceptable answer,” she explains.

“And they can be like, ‘OK, she has a corporate job,’ and move on,” she says.

Eventually, however, Krohne knew she needed to stop and, in September 2025, she made the final leap.

Social media content creation is somewhat uncharted territory, and many people may not be aware of the small, niche details that go into making it a full career – especially when it comes to the financial side of things.

Krohne, who now has over 400,000 followers on her Instagram and TikTok, reveals some of the most surprising things she’s learned about what it takes to support yourself as a creator.

Brand influencer gifts aren’t always ‘free’

Krohne laughs that when her college friends first encouraged her to start her side hustle influencing her sophomore year, the thought of free clothes was a big draw for the sartorially “obsessed” student.

She shares that, as a content creator, she is sent PR and has access to some perks through her role. However, she also reveals that there is a little more to what appears to be free clothing than meets the eye.

She reveals an example involving online retailer Revolve, which sends Krohne a certain monetary amount of clothes per month that she can choose.

“We were getting the depth of Revolve clothing,” she explains. “It’s free stuff from one of my favorite brands.”

However, in April, when Krohne went to pay her taxes, her financial advisor informed her that she owed $3,700 to Revolve.

“What I didn’t read in the fine print of this Revolve Gifting was that they were giving it away in exchange for posting,” she says. “So, AKA, the clothes are the income in exchange for my post, so they’re taxing it like income.”

Krohne made a video about her discovery around the time it happened and it was met with mixed responses from her commenters – some of whom believed that Krohne should have known better and others who were of a similar confused mindset as her.

Influencers must set aside a significant portion of their income for taxes

Another learning curve that came with her influencer work was getting used to setting aside a significant portion of her income to pay taxes.

Since almost all influencers do not work for corporations, they are considered 1099, or contract employees, in the eyes of the government. This means that when it comes to paying taxes, influencers must be diligent throughout the year to set aside money for when April rolls around.

“It was so shocking,” laughs Krohne about the first time she paid taxes as an influencer. “With a corporate job, taxes are taken before you see the money. So the money you get paid is really yours.”

When you work for yourself, Krohne says, “it’s not like that.”

“To be safe, I’m going to take, like, 30% of everything,” she reveals, including brand agreement money, affiliate programs like LTK or ShopMy and money from the TikTok Creator Fund (although Krohne says she’s not part of it).

Influencer managers tend to take 20% of the influencer’s earnings

Many influencers have managers, whose job it is to help them land things like brand deals and partnerships.

According to Krohne, who also has quite a few influencer friends in New York City, where she lives, the standard rate is that 20% of the deals and partnerships they help bring in.

“My manager does not receive 20% of my affiliate earnings. I am doing this, but all my brand deals, everything else, 20%,” says Krohne.

“That’s the industry standard,” she says. “There are some managers who take more. I have never heard of one taking less, but maybe there is.”

Influencers cannot simply ‘delete’ purchases they make to feature in videos

While online viewers may be convinced that their favorite influencers are able to “delete” the purchases they make and use in their tax videos, the reality is much less glamorous.

Krohne says, “I feel like people think I just, like, write everything I have, but you have to be able to prove it was just used for business.”

Other content creators have also recently been vocal about this common misconception, with popular influencer Madeleine White addressing the issue in a video in October 2025.

“No, influencers can’t write things because they put it in a full video or did an unboxing,” White said. She went on to clarify that the purchase of anything from clothes to shoes or bags cannot be cancelled, although she said she assumed that “some people are doing this”.

“If they are verified, they will ask for the money back,” she said.

Continuing, the content creator, known for her online fashion and lifestyle content, explained that “You must be able to prove that you have never used it for personal use.”

“That’s why you can write off buying a uniform for work, but you can’t write off buying a plain black t-shirt because you can’t prove you never wore that plain black t-shirt to anything else on any other day of your life.”

Influencers function as their own employers

In addition to setting aside a certain portion of their income for taxes, influencers and content creators should also set aside money for things like their 401K and insurance.

While the same is true for those who work for corporations, Krohne says it’s different for influencers who aren’t meeting an employer contribution match for their 401K.

“I have to contribute to my 401 as an employer in order to have a retirement fund,” she shares.

Fortunately, Krohne, who is 23, is still on her parents’ health insurance. But she says she’ll have to “discount that” when her 26th birthday rolls around and she can’t stand it.

Read the original article on People