Following Their Lead

Meet the influencers behind @somethingwhitty and @whatgracebought

By Valerie Hardy I Photos by Victor Hilitski

With the advent and subsequent expansion of social media like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok over the past quarter century, many previously unimaginable professions have emerged. Among these are online content creators and marketers known as social media influencers. These predominantly female entrepreneurs, who are largely self-taught in an industry that is still in its infancy, cultivate considerable audiences and significantly impact their followers’ opinions and purchasing behaviors. Influencers often become household names and sometimes even feel like trusted friends to those who consume their blog and video content.

While influencers are based throughout the nation and across the world, you just might bump into a couple recognizable influencers from your social media feeds at the Downers Grove Farmers Market or elsewhere around town. Whitney Buha (@somethingwhitty and @somethingwhittyeats) and Grace Ginex (@whatgracebought and @whatgraceboughtbaby) both moved to Downers Grove in 2020 and have spent the past four years building community not only in their neighborhoods but also online.

Buha has amassed 205,000 followers on Instagram, and Ginex isn’t far behind at nearly 175,000 followers. Among Ginex and Buha’s thousands of followers are none other than one another. Someone tagged Ginex in response to one of Buha’s posts, and Ginex asked Buha if she wanted to meet for lunch. The two became fast friends, which Ginex said is “such a blessing.”

Downers Grove Magazine’s associate publisher Anne Healy and contributing editor Valerie Hardy had the opportunity to join Buha and Ginex at Cellar Door during one of their recent lunch dates to talk about their work and their lives beyond the Reels.

Downers Grove Magazine: As an influencer, do you have a particular niche?

Grace Ginex: My bio says “Your Amazon Fashion Bestie,” but I don’t think that personifies me perfectly. I show a lot of my life – lifestyle and Amazon. Once I have my baby this fall, I’ll be sharing more about his baby products.

Whitney Buha: It’s more lifestyle-focused for me. I share some fashion and some home content. I share some family stuff, too. I also share a lot of recipes.

DGM: Do you have a target demographic for your social media content?

GG: Instagram will tell us our demographics. Mine is 99 percent women, ages 25-45.

WB: Mine is also almost all women, and 25-44 is the age demographic. You can see the locations of your followers, too. Mine’s majority U.S., with Chicago always in the top three cities, and the others are New York, Houston, and sometimes Dallas. Those change.

DGM: What was your pathway to becoming an influencer?

GG: I was working in another career – paid social advertising – when I got started. The biggest company I worked for was Mindshare, and my last job was at Mediaocean. I was just so unhappy working 9-5, though. I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life, not having the autonomy to do what I wanted with my time. I was obsessed with Seventeen Magazine and Cosmo growing up. I used to cut pictures out and scrapbook. When I saw another girl sharing Amazon finds I thought, “I could do that!” I started off posting Amazon screenshots for a couple years but wasn’t posting my face until 2021.

WB: I started seven years ago as a creative outlet. I was working full time in event planning and marketing at the parent company of Snapchat, Snap Inc. I just wanted to do something else, though. I like fashion and clothes, and my friends would often ask where I got something. I created a blog and a website (there were no reels, no video content, just photos). It was a hobby at first. I didn’t really take it seriously for a long time. I didn’t realize you could make money in it.

DGM: How did influencing shift from a hobby to your primary career and source of income?

GG: I’ve never gone viral or had a million followers overnight, so it was slow growth for me. At first someone reaches out and asks if they can send you a free water bottle or something. I remember getting sent something and thinking, “I can’t believe someone wants to send me something.” Now, I set my own rates… You get to the point where you need a manager. There are still a few opportunities I’m willing to take for free because it will lead to different opportunities down the line.

WW: I agree. At first you need to be willing to work for free. You begin sharing more organically, and a brand would then reach out because they know you like their brand. Now, even though a brand directly reaches out to me, I have to send it through my manager. Think of [an influencer’s manager] like a talent manager or sports agent. They already have relationships established with various brands, so they’ll pitch you with their brands [that are a fit with your brand as an influencer]. The industry standard is that the manager gets a percentage of what you take in. It helps you grow, because they know the right people.

DGM: What, if any, challenges have you faced being in the public eye?

WB: It can be very vulnerable. I felt this way especially when I had my first child. I was very open – talked a lot about my pregnancy, having a baby, being a first-time mom – but as sad as it is, the mom community can be pretty awful. I was in a pretty fragile place being a first-time mom, and I was getting all these negative comments. I had my second baby last year, and I appreciate that people want to know, and I do still share some things, but I’m not nearly as open as I was the first time around. Someone once told me, “You block, and you bless.” If people are personally responding to me and being mean, I just block them and move on.

GG: You just can’t care too much. I get so many hateful comments. We’re not coalminers – our job isn’t physically hard like that – but, mentally, there are so many things you need to think about on a daily basis and emotionally it can be hard. It helps to have friends who are also doing this that you can cling on to. You’d think it would be so competitive, but it’s so supportive, open, and honest.

DGM: What has changed since you got started in the social media influencing realm?

WB: The biggest change was when Reels became all the rage. First, I was just posting static photos, then I began posting Reels and videos. That’s the way to grow, because that was the content getting pushed out, but it’s so much more time consuming.

GG: One of the other big changes is that before, everything needed to be perfect. Now I come on without makeup sometimes, or not in a cute outfit. I can be super raw There are some girls out there that still put on this perfect persona, which is fun too, but there’s definitely less pressure now to showcase this perfect life.

DGM: What about being an influencer might surprise people?

WB: We work for ourselves, and we work when we want, but I definitely work more doing this than I did at my full-time job. The editing takes forever!

GG: There are definitely people who don’t understand what I do. They think I watch “Love Island” all day, but we’re a full-production company of one person. We’re the business, the creative, the camera, the hair and makeup, the steamers. There’s really no such thing as a vacation, because the key is posting consistently.
DGM: What were some of the most purchased items you promoted?

GG: It’s always the item you never think it’s going to be! Last year, we put up permanent Christmas lights at our house. The lights can change colors with the season. Govee was the brand.

WB: If I think about Reels that blew up, it was all the baby things that people wanted to know – newborn must-haves, 3-month must-haves. The random thing was this nail polish that is a nail concealer (kur Illuminating Nail Concealer by Londontown). It lasts 7-10 days, it only costs $20, and every time I post it, everyone wants to buy that.

DGM: What advice would you give to aspiring influencers?

WB: Besides posting consistently to generate interest, I’d recommend always signing a contract for brand deals. Know what you’re being paid for.

GG: Protecting our intellectual property is everything! I’d also tell aspiring influencers to be authentic. I’m a millennial, and a lot of the clothes Gen Z women are wearing, I’m not comfortable wearing. I fell into that trap [promoting fashion I wasn’t comfortable in] for a while though.

DGM: How do you spend your time outside of your work?

GG: I like to work out. I’m also a big Bravo girl – all the trash reality TV! I also enjoy traveling, reading, skincare, and spending time with my husband, Joe.

WB: I like to go walking with my family (husband, Nick, and 2.5-year-old and 11-month-old daughters Delaney and Sasha) and hang out with my dog, Josie. I also like shopping at Trader Joe’s, occasionally reading, and traveling. I’m excited about our home – decorating, and we’re finishing our basement right now.
DGM: What do you enjoy about Downers Grove?

GG: Being able to walk into town is such a luxury. We love that there are people out at 8:30 in the morning on Saturdays for the Farmers Market, and walking down Main Street on Sunday with everyone out to brunch… it feels like downtown Chicago.

WB: We haven’t done a lot yet – it’s hard with two little kids who go to bed at 7 p.m. – but everything we have experienced has been great. That’s the consensus: everyone loves it here!