Hello! Welcome to Forge Member Spotlights! This is one of our favorite types of blog posts, because we get the unique privilege of highlighting one of Forge’s incredible members. I had the honor of chatting with one of our members and learning more about her and her story.

 

Everyone meet Kameron Monet, a YouTuber, Influencer and Lawyer – I think you’ll find her as cool as I do!

 

 

How did you get into YouTube?

What inspires you to create content?

 

Unlike many other aspiring lawyers, I didn’t grow up always wanting to become a lawyer. Growing up I loved the performing arts, photography and video production. I was in several local plays, school plays, and would record my own at-home short films. I’d say I’ve always been a creative at heart. Fast forward to college, I had to pick a major and felt the pressure of picking a “real career” as people around me put it.

 

Also, during this time, I started my YouTube channel, specifically on October 6, 2014 I uploaded my first YouTube video not realizing this was a step towards my future career. So, I spoke with my academic advisor, who was a lawyer himself, and he told me to take some pre-law classes and check out the mock trial team to see if law was something, I’d be interested in. I took his advice, joined the mock trial team, became a legal assistant at a local law firm, and I was hooked! The same empowering feeling I got on stage, I then got while being in the courtroom.

 

I received my Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a minor in Criminology from Kennesaw State University in 2015. Upon graduation I took a gap year before going to law school and began my legal journey at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in the Fall of 2016.

 

During this time, I remember searching on Google and YouTube for law school tips and law students showing their day to day lives, but there really wasn’t much out there. So, I picked up my camera and began to vlog my experience, the raw, real, honest truth about law school. I was nervous because my content up to this point was all about hair, makeup, and beauty type videos, but I quickly realized there were other aspiring lawyers out there that wanted to see what it’s really like to be a law student.

 

3 years later, I graduated from Cumberland School of Law in May of 2019, I took and passed the Alabama Bar Exam in 2019 and began my career as an Associate Attorney practicing Employment Litigation, while simultaneously using social media to create content around fashion, beauty, lifestyle, as well as female professionalism and career building. At this point, the idea of a non-traditional lawyer career path became more and more appealing. So, I quit my 9-to-5 law firm job to live what I call the best of both worlds.

 

Today, I have built an engaging and organic audience with over 100,000 followers across my platforms @kameronmonet, working with brands from Dove to Dyson to Ulta Beauty. After realizing my social media expertise and license to practice law could provide value for aspiring “Lawyer Influencers”, as well as educate content creators about the power of contracts when signing brand deals; I launched my Influencer Contract Consulting service. On a monthly basis I help creatives on a one-on-one basis navigate the legalize of contracts to gain complete understanding and secure higher paid opportunities!

 

What is your favorite part of being an attorney?

And your favorite part of being an influencer/Youtuber?

 

I love having one foot in the door as an influencer/content creator and the other in the door as an attorney! It allows me to see both sides of the coin very clear and perfectly bridge the gap between the two.

 

I bet it is difficult to juggle the demands of being an attorney & an influencer. How do you manage both?

 

Three things come to mind when I think about how I manage juggling the demands of being an attorney and influencer.

 

1. Staying organized and planning. I use Google Drive, Google Calendar, ClickUp, and timers to stay on top of everything I need to get done on a daily, monthly, and quarterly basis.
2. My manager. I hired her back in August 2020 and she has helped me so much with staying on top of brand partnerships and so much more!
3. Prioritizing self-care. I’m what most people would call a work-a-holic, I genuinely love working! However, I can’t pour from an empty cup, so I really make it a priority to implement something related to self-care almost daily. Overall, I love what I do so it’s worth the crazy, busy, and stressful times, haha!

 

What is the biggest lesson or takeaway you’ve gathered from your time as an attorney and influencer?

 

My favorite life lesson quote is ‘What’s for you, is for you.’ Being in both the legal profession and the social media industry can make it hard not to fall into the comparison game or have imposter syndrome. I’m speaking from personal knowledge. But once I decided to stop focusing on how fast others were meeting their goals or how they would get an opportunity I’d love to have, I realized that I’ve always gotten the opportunities perfect for me. I love supporting others on their unique career journeys and no matter how many resources I share with them or how many connections I help others make, what is meant for me, will always be for me. I truly believe that no one can take what God has planned for my life.

 

If you were to give advice to your younger self what would it be?

 

It always seems impossible until it’s done. One of the hardest things about starting something is actually starting it. I can think of many times when I’ve talked myself out of starting something because of the fear of failure and the intimidation of accomplishing a goal that seems impossible. But everyone has to start somewhere. The successful people we’re inspired by had to start somewhere.

 

So, guess what I have to do? Start somewhere. Which is why I constantly remind myself to not compare my day 1 to someone else’s day 27. If you would’ve asked me on October 6, 2014 after uploading my first YouTube video if I’d make money from it, let alone build an entire career from it, I would’ve said ‘that’s impossible.’ Today my response, ‘it’s beyond possible.’

 

What is something you wish more people knew about you and the industries you work in?

 

When people think of what defines a lawyer, they immediately think of what they see on tv shows. Generally, society says lawyers are conservative, always dressed in a suit, constantly in and out of the courthouse for trials, mostly men, working at law firms, barely sleeping, stressed, and making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sure, there are a few doing some of that but that is not the majority. Even taking it a step further, law schools put a lot of pressure on law students to get the best grades, work for the best big law firms and become partner at that firm someday. However, this completely overlooks so many other amazing career opportunities that come with simply obtaining a Juris Doctorate.

 

As a black female lawyer leaving the traditional law firm life to build a lane to bridge the gap between law and social media, simply put, I’m paving the way to show others that there’s more than one lane to succeed in the legal profession. No, I may not be the first, but I pride myself in being authentic, genuine, honest and real. On my YouTube channel “Kameron Monet” I show the raw behind the scenes of the good, bad, and ugly through my “Weekly Vlog” series. My goal is to redefine what society generalizes as a lawyer and to inspire and motivate others on their law school journey and entrepreneurship journey!”

 

 

What is your favorite part about your job?

 

My favorite part about being an influencer is creating genuine connections with my online community and providing value to my audience through the knowledge and experience I gain! My favorite part about being an attorney is being able to give my clients more time to create and not worry about making sure they’re protected in their brand partnerships and watching them get excited about the power of contacts!

 

 

Why did you decide to join Forge? 

 

I’m sure we all can relate to being tired of working from home or being more productive when working around others working, and both of those were me! I used a free day pass to get a feel for Forge and I was so much more productive that I knew I had to sign up to become a member. Forge is such a beautiful space, perfectly located downtown exactly where I wanted to be, and does a great job with encouraging member connections! I haven’t participated in many members group events, but I love that I have that option and I’m excited to start attending more soon!

 

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I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about Kameron Monet and her passions. If you want more from this incredible women, visit her website, YouTube, Instagram, or other socials. To join Kameron and the plethora of awesome members at Forge, please visit our website. You can book your tour of Forge today. Forge is currently running a Summer Special, if you join with a Coworking Membership in May or June, you can buy the first month and get your second month of membership free!