When influencers unveil their secret talents

Influencers have given us so many reasons to be inspired: their entertaining vlogs, spectacularly-curated Insta feeds, and witty Twitter one liners. But lately we’ve been seeing influencers stepping away from their own channels to reveal their secret hidden talents in other arenas: be that on the dancefloor, in the music studio, or in the design chair.

Turning these pursuits into multi-million dollar businesses, the last few years has seen influencers by the dozen come out of the woodworks to wow us with performances we never knew they were capable of. On Husskie, we round up a few of our favourites – from the musicians to the entrepreneurs and more that kept their talents hidden, waiting for the right moment to have us all raising our eyebrows and going “damn girl!”

1. Kristina Bazan: Musician
Earning the title as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 most influential personalities in 2016 with her fashion blog Kayture, the world thought it had already been blessed with the best of fashion’s “it girl”, Kristina Bazan. But she showed she still had more to give when she released her first music album, EPHV1 and first self-penned single, VR that blends psychedelic indies and rock perfectly. While she became fashion for her fashion blogging, Kristina in fact started songwriting at just 13 and had joined a rock band called The Few at 15.

2. Liza Koshy | Lizzzak : Actor
Being the queen of the pun game meant Liza soon had us laughing our way to the subscribe button and putting her into YouTube’s spotlight with her channel gaining a whopping 16 million+ subscribers. Next thing we knew, Liza was upping her status to actor – starring in the Hulu series ‘Freakish’ in 2016. This jump-started her new-found acting career, with the world seeing her take on roles in the silver screen for ‘Boo! A Madea Halloween’ and in TV series including ‘Escape The Night’ and ‘Jingle Ballin’.

3. Zoe Sugg: Author
The renowned beauty influencer and vlogger lengthened her extensive list of job titles to include story book author in 2014, with her latest novel Cordially Invited released in late last year. The book, which Vice said had “amazing stuff to prepare you for a lifetime of servitude! #Cute”, is full of life-hacks for things like socialising, food and hosting. Every girl’s bible.

4. Lily Singh | Isuperwomanii : Dancer
The Canadian YouTube star started out making videos in her room and the world fell in love with her humorous skits relatable to everyday situations. Next thing you know, Lily goes from cracking jokes to busting moves and slaying the stage like a pro in her first dance video released in February 2018 featuring Machel Montano. Fusing Soca and Bhangra, Lily says of her moves: “I’m not a professional dancer! But I do love Soca music and Trinidad & Tobago so I wanted to show some love this Carnival season.” We think she’s being way too modest because, girl, she killed it.

Image credit: Lily Singh | @IISuperwomanII

5. Huda Kattan: Makeup Mogul
This list wouldn’t be complete without makeup mogul Huda Kattan. Starting off a top beauty blogger, Huda then proceeded to take the world by a surprising storm with her new range of must-have makeup products in 2013. The brand has seen Sephora bringing in the big bucks, with Huda putting her name on everybody’s lips with the help of her God-given entrepreneurial talents.

6. Chiara Ferrangni: Fashion Designer
Launching her blog, The Blonde Salad 10 years ago, Chiara Ferragni could never have dreamt it would lead her to be one of the most influential people on the internet. This success saw her go on to launch her very own fashion label in 2014: the Chiara Ferragni Collection. A multi-million dollar enterprise, the label has since seen collaborations with big brands like Converse and ShopDisney, and worked with designers from Off-White. Today, Chiara remains the chief executive behind all her companies while continuing to create content for her 16 million+ followers on Instagram.