Today we’d like to introduce you to Ambra Washington.
Hi Ambra, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started blogging in 2012 when I relocated to Seattle, WA after being recruited for a corporate position. Upon moving as, a natural hair girl who loved all things self-care I struggled with finding service providers for hair, nails, and brows and immediately thought what am I going to do to maintain this aspect of my life I enjoyed so much. So, I did what any natural creative would do… figure it out on my own! So, I binged YouTube, fell in love with makeup, and started teaching and learning at the same time via my YouTube channel originally called “Ambra Emerald Eyes” I saw it as a perspective of living in the Emerald City through a transplant’s eyes…get it LOL
Being the new girl in town, I shared my experiences navigating the beauty space in a not-so-diverse environment and immediately gravitated to other like-minded creatives and so my online presence began. In 2018 I rebounded to “The Ambra Life” since, I have collaborated with beauty and lifestyle brands such as Fenty Beauty, Juvia’s Place, Garnier, Nordstrom, and more!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not a smooth ride, it took quite some time to build my following and keep them. I went through some very heavy personal shifts during this time and I had to figure out a way to be authentic to who I was and take the time to step away (which I did for a year) but also give the girls what they came for so balance (which I don’t think exist) was my biggest struggle. So, when I decided to let go of the control and just be me transparent, authentic, and raw self my page grew tremendously. Also getting a DM from the Fenty Beauty team (which I thought was spam) turned out to be an amazing experience taking over their IG stories for a beauty tutorial and allow me to be in front of their 3.5M followers and it just legitimized me as a true creative in this space.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
for over 15yr I have professional worked as a Marketing professional in the retail space. This was pinnacle in my personal brand development because in a way I had the behind the scene grasp on what brands I aspired to work for were looking from content creators. I knew how much to ask for when negotiation brand deals, I knew how to story tell and shoot content.
I would say I am known for the 15min beat, a mom on the go. Feel confident and put together to slay the day all awhile orchestrating lunches, pick up and extracurricular activities my children participated in
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
REAL will always get you far. Your audience is following you because they have built trust. Trust that you will not always be picture perfect (I get online in a bonnet at times, with a. baby on my hip) They see themselves in you, how to power through but always with style and grace.
I take my presence online as a huge responsibility. I acquire the attention of young impressionable young women and I be damned if I have them take the journey I took. They will hear its actually NOT necessary to dim your light. Make room and have a seat at the table; BUILD it even
Contact Info:
- Email: ambra@themabralife.com
- Website: www.theambralife.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/theambralife
- Facebook: facebook.com/theambralife
- Twitter: twitter.com/theambralife
- Youtube: youtube.com/theambralife
Image Credits
Gabriella Friedman
