Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Ivey-Davis.
Hi Olivia, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started my Instagram account in May of 2018, just a few months before my wedding in Austin, TX. I was laying in bed after another weekend of way too much partying on West 6th downtown, feeling frustrated by my lack of self-control with food/drink/exercise and just feeling blah. I thought, “ugh I just want to be skinny and am so hungover” (in hindsight, this toxic thought process was not a healthy one but this is the truth). I decided to make an Instagram account to hold myself accountable with my diet and exercise. I had absolutely no intention of anyone knowing about it, let alone becoming an influencer.
But as I began to post more and more recipes, workouts, etc., my following of like-minded women grew. Eventually, I got married, dabbled in the diet world for a little longer and finally realized that the way I was thinking about health (and posting about it online) was toxic and needed to change. So I did the internal work to figure out what “wellness” really meant to me, and have shared about that journey every step of the way.
My audience now is full of women like me – we love a good cocktail, we love a good workout. We don’t have time or budget to commit to some of the absurd wellness routines spewed online by out of touch influencers. We want to be healthy for the long term and short term. And we’re figuring out life along the way!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Teaching myself how to grow and maintain an online presence and really turn it into a business has been anything but easy. It’s been an amazing creative challenge and I think the toughest part has been growing a thick skin. Recognizing that some people only follow creators online to hope they fail is a tough pill to swallow. But the majority of my audience is full of amazing, positive, uplifting, hilarious, badass women. So I have chosen to focus on them and ignore the rest.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m Olivia, a 20-something woman in Austin, TX and the founder of the Skinny Hangover social platforms and online brand. I’m an advertising account supervisor by day and influencer by night. I’m not a Registered Dietitian, I’m not a fitness instructor and I’m not a chef. I’m a real girl with a full-time job, a husband & baby, a Golden Retriever and not enough time in the day. I consume more wellness, beauty & fashion content on the internet than I care to admit and am still figuring it all out. I’m sharing what I do know and enjoying my amazing community along the way (most likely with a cocktail in hand).
My brand is a direct reflection of who I am and who a lot of other millennial women are. We’re going out for happy hour, we’re working 9 to 5 jobs, we’re trying to stay on trend while following a budget, we’re striving to be healthy for the short and long term benefits. But most importantly, we’re struggling to relate to a lot of the current healthy lifestyle content out there. It’s overwhelming & unrelatable, it’s potentially harmful and it’s giving us a metaphorical wellness hangover.
I am a real woman, mom and friend on a personal health journey that happened to find an engaged, excited and in-tune audience. I’m sharing tips, tricks and real life, daily. My community relates to me because I am truly one of them.
What were you like growing up?
I’ve always been obsessed with documenting. When I was little, I wanted to be a writer, then a broadcast journalist and landed on advertising. Creating something beautiful, telling a story and cementing it in history has always been my passion. My little brother would probably tell you that I was the center of attention growing up. So naturally, I became an influencer 😉
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Www.instagram.com/skinnyhangover
- Tiktok: @skinnyhangover
Image Credits
Brooke Taelor Photography
