When you take a look at Carson Light’s Instagram profile, an array of fashion, travel, beauty and lifestyle photos might pique your interest. Light’s Instagram reflects her personal interests and what she does for a living.
Before building her own social media company, Lumière Media and Content Group, Light worked full-time as a social media editor and content coordinator for fashion brands, LoveShackFancy and The Bar. Through her personal brand, she has connected with her followers by posting colorful content that keeps viewers enticed.
Now, she has over 31,000 Instagram followers and over 37,000 followers and 1 million likes on TikTok with videos reaching upward of 4 million views.
A 2020 College of Information and Communications graduate from Charlotte, North Carolina, Light credits being an advertising major and retailing minor with helping her decide on her career path.
She not only uses her accounts for her personal brand, but she is also using them to tell the stories of other brands. The social media influencer started out in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, taking media and advertising classes and working as freelance social media manager for multiple small businesses on campus.
“I really became immersed in the advertising program at the J-school and loved the creative side of it,” Light says. “Taking classes in video editing, Photoshop and social media is what sparked my interest in creating my own path.”
Getting involved in social media wasn’t her only activity on campus. Light found community in her sorority and became media chair of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. She was involved in the Student Advertising Federation and spent a semester learning about fashion and business while studying in Italy at the Florence University of the Arts.
In addition to USC helping her find her niche, she was able to pair her work with her interests. The career center in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications also helped her receive her first internship in fashion at major brand, Tory Burch , her junior year. From there, Light continued working heavily in fashion, landing a job with Curtsy, an online apparel-thrifting business. Proving that this was the field she belonged in, she increased the company’s social media following from under 350 to 4,000 followers in just a week.
Now, as a New Yorker, Light’s career as a social media manager and influencer has taken off. In July, she was featured in The New York Post, where she was interviewed about her style and personal brand for a Barbie-themed article. Leveraging her USC connections, the opportunity was presented to Light when her sorority sister reached out and connected her to the publication.
“I had the interview portion one day and the photo shoot the next day and it was such a surreal experience. They asked me about my style, and I shared with them how I was planning on celebrating the premiere of the Barbie movie,” Light says.
Between managing and working with multiple fashion brands, Light has been able to attend major events such as the Revolve festival, brand trips to the Hamptons and Palm Springs, New York Fashion Week and more. During fashion week she attended events with Dior, Alice & Olivia and Rebecca Minkoff, a major accomplishment in the fashion and beauty industries.
“The community aspect of working in this field is similar to being in school again and I love it. Since I’ve moved to New York, I’ve met so many people through social media and have become close friends with them,” Light says. “Had I not gone into this career, I wouldn’t have that. Being a freelancer gives me the opportunity to work with incredible brands and create and balance my own schedule, which I couldn’t do with a regular 9-to-5 job.”