Here’s how Emilee Hembrow accidentally became one of the most successful Instagram influencers…

Walking into the Instagram lounge at VidCon is exactly what you’d expect: your sense to be completely overwhelmed. From a hallway covered in a series of pink, brightly lit hearts, to DJ’s surrounded in disco balls, coffee carts in one direction, food stations in another… Mario kart, DIY GIF stations and ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ straight out of The Kissing Booth… it was an influencers wet dream.

But what you don’t expect to see is a mother doting on her baby boy, and that mother happens to be one of the most well-known social media influencers in the biz: Emilee Hembrow.

Emilee Hembrow may be the sister of ultra-famous Instagram celebrity Tammy Hembrow, but the mum-of-two is a social media legend in her own right.

WATCH: Firsts with your favourite influencers at VidCon Australia 2019

The 27-year-old Aussie model has managed to attract over 1 million followers simply by capturing moments from her life – especially during her pregnancy - and we can see why people are fascinating.

Sitting down with Girlfriend in the Instagram lounge at VidCon, Emilee opened up about her life as a social media influencer, revealing everything from her thoughts on the new ‘no visible likes’ policy, how she handles trolls and the moment creating content became her full-time job.

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When did Emilee want to become a social media influencer?

It might surprise you to hear that a woman with 1.1 million followers never actually planned on a career as a social media influencer.

“I never wanted to become an influencer!” Emilee revealed. “I actually just kind of fell into it from my sister [Tammy]. She was doing the whole thing and I just thought, ‘we love taking photos and sharing our life, why not be a little but more open online and do it as a full-time job?!’

“So it came really naturally.”

What was the moment Instagram went from ‘fun’ to ‘career’?

“I think it was probably one of my first contracts with this fashion label (Meshki) and I just thought, ‘this is so cool that they are offering to pay me, this is really awesome.’”

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Has Instagram’s ‘no likes’ trial affected your business?

Despite many social media influencers pushing back on Instagram’s ‘no visible likes’ function, Emilee insists the change has actually helped her as a social media influencer.

“It hasn’t affected me at all! At the beginning I was a little bit worried, but it hasn’t affected my work it hasn’t affected any of my business.

“Now that I know the meaning behind it, with the pressure for the younger generations, I’m really glad that it’s gone. I find that I’m posting without thinking as much now, so that pressure has gone without me even knowing realising it.”

How do you handle online trolls?

“I really ignore it, I don’t really care anymore,” Emilee reveals. “These people don’t know me personally, so I don’t take offence. I just brush it off, I don’t really read it, I just block!”

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Now for a bit of #FACTS

Sharing content online was never something anybody expected to become a steady career choice, but now, it may come as a surprise that it is now the most popular career choice among young Aussies.

Research conducted by OPPO highlights that a whopping 86% of young Australians (18-24 years) share this aspiration.

73% of those same Aussies agreed that the number of followers and likes they get on Instagram is incredibly important to them.

However, with how unhealthy Instagram was rated in relation to mental health, it has been taking steps to lower that percentage.

Removing the number of ‘likes’ from users photos was their first step, and now, the social media platform has a new policy that hides all weight-loss and cosmetic procedures from users that are under 18-years-old.

Have fun Instagramming fam!

Milly H

Milly is the Digital Content Editor for Entertainment. A devout tea and chocolate enthusiast, Milly is a lover of all things pop culture (with a little dash of politics).