Social media has rapidly become the way for people to broadcast their personal news and share their lives. And while most of us use social media simply to connect with our families and loved ones, others have very effectively managed to carve careers out it. One such person is Zephan Clark.
One of New Zealand's hottest young social media stars, 17 year-old Zephan has a huge fan base - predominantly across the USA and UK - and he has chosen to make the Shore home. The British-born boy calls himself a social media influencer. His career centres around sharing content on his daily life with his followers and supporters through YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok among many other sites. Currently over 594,000 followers on Instagram, and 239,000 subscribers on YouTube follow the social media 'feeds' he works on every day. "I'm constantly thinking of new content to share," he says. And with an audience of this size, there are many eyes across the world waiting to see what he does next.
Taking notes from what other YouTubers and social media influencers are doing, Zephan stays 'on trend' and keeps his creative content flowing every day. Making videos, taking photos for Instagram, talking with his fans everyday, and designing merchandise are just a few of the ways he works to maintain and grow his online presence. Although he loves what he does, he says it can be a bit of a repetitive job at times, as editing takes around four hours per YouTube video. And there is an ample amount of planning and interacting with fans, which Zephan does every day, to ensure he keeps his supporters involved and doesn’t leave them waiting too long in between posts.
Growing up in England, Zephan and his family began their New Zealand journey in the Bay of Plenty initially, and earlier this year decided to make the Shore their home. The family felt Auckland would be the best place for Zephan to further his career here in New Zealand and he has linked up with an agent in Auckland to help develop his Kiwi fan base.
Zephan loves the combination of beach vibe and close proximity to the city that the Shore offers. Family time is important to him and he's enjoying sharing this new lifestyle with his mum, dad and sister. His new home in Belmont allows plenty of space for him to get creative, with his own editing room to concentrate on content and put new ideas into practice.
When he's away from the screen, he enjoys getting out and about on the Shore. One of his favourite things to do is having family picnics on Devonport Beach. "It's one of the best ways to relax and destress," he says. He hopes to make more videos that show the beauty of New Zealand and now, particularly, the Shore. With the majority of his followers and watchers living in America, he can now share his love of the Shore with the world and 'put us on the map'!
Making the jump from focusing on schooling to focusing on his social media life was risky, but worth it. "My dad used to be a teacher, so convincing him to let me do this wasn't very easy," he smiles. Zephan does online schooling here in New Zealand, which works better for him with the amount of work he has to put into his social media daily.
Zephan says his dad Paul, a writer, has helped him hugely. For example, he's been assisting with the merchandise that Zephan has designed and released for fans to buy. Next he aims to create his own clothing line, which will be available on his website and will feature designs he has drawn himself.
He says that if he wasn’t a social media influencer he would love to pursue a career in art or business, which he is now able to incorporate into what he does for his audience. With social media becoming such a big part of many industries, one day he hopes to bring his can-do attitude and knowledge of efficiently running social media to a bigger career in the business world.
Taking the approach of being very open with his supporters allows fans to feel as involved in his personal life, Zephan feels, but sometimes that creates challenges. He admits he can find the pressures of his work hard to deal with and sometimes finds it difficult to put a smile on his face for his followers every day, especially when he's dealing with personal issues in the background. He also sees a lot of people who make hateful comments about what he does, he says: "But I've been able to grow a bit of a hard skin! I can now just ignore the people who don’t have anything nice to say."
The Boys of Summer tour is hitting America during this coming summer in the northern hemisphere, and Zephan is excited to be joining some of his friends to tour around The States and getting face to face with his fans. He will be able to do 'meet and greets' - spending time and taking photos with his supporters, as well as being involved in some music opportunities for fun. He loves that his supporters are such a big part of his life, and he has made many of his closest friends through what he shares online.
Zephan aims to continue to grow his audience and gain more supporters, as well as continuing to plan and create new content everyday and make something big for himself out of his involvement in social media. He is 'beyond excited' to release his clothing line to his fans, continue touring, and make connections with the people that support him.
You can find Zephan Clark on YouTube or Instagram. His website is www.shopbyzmc.com
