An Influencer for Every Industry

How can you become a leading voice in your space? Ask five people who did it, and transformed their careers in the process.

- By Jennifer Miller

Models, DJs, teenagers dancing to millions of views-this is what many people envision when they think of “influencers.” But every profession, no matter how niche, has its unique roster of social media stars. They're people who caught fire by cleverly capturing their world and then leveraging that attention to build communities, side hustles or businesses of their own.

So how can you, say, go from being “an accountant on TikTok” to being “the accountant on TikTok”? Five niche influencers explain.

TERRILL HAIGLER/ @_yafavtrashman on Instagram was a Philadelphia sanitation worker, and is now CEO of the nonprofit Trash 2 Treasure, which organizes community cleanups and educational programs.

How he broke through/ “During the pandemic, so many sanitation workers had COVID, and we were days behind. There was no communication from the Streets Department to the residents about when trash was getting picked up. So I jumped on Instagram Live with updates and community tips. People started listening because I was the only voice talking.

How he grew/ “I filled a gap. People became curious about what sanitation workers do, so I post about the day-to-day, like cans full of maggots. It's not for the faint of heart. We created a hashtag: #supportsanitation. Now they hand us water on hot days and come out to the community cleanups run by my nonprofit.

ALEX NINO/ @alexnino_on TikTok is a long-haul driver of an 18-wheeler truck, whose social media posts have earned him additional income through brand deals.