Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Infiniti Gilyard is a first-generation college student attending the City College of New York on a full academic scholarship with a major in Business Management with a minor in Communication. She is also a Certified Eyelash Technician, owner of Byond Infiniti an online clothing boutique, YouTuber/Content Creator, and social media influencer. She started her entrepreneurial journey at the young age of 18. Growing up in the foster care system has played a huge role in her being goal-driven and visionary on all that life has to offer.
“What’s for you is only for you and no one can take that away from You.”
Behind Infiniti Gilyard’s Brand
Behind Infiniti Gilyard’s Brand
Tell us how you first got involved in becoming an entrepreneur and influencer.
I got involved in becoming an entrepreneur when I was 14. I remember getting $10 for the week for allowance and thought to myself how can I make more? From there, I bought a shirt, got a design printed on it, and sold it for $35. While only investing $10, which got me the shirt from a store called Primark at wholesale price, I went to a spot that I knew did printing at a low cost of $5.
My journey of becoming an influencer started the moment I told my foster mom I wanted to start doing YouTube. Once I started doing YouTube and had to reach a threshold to get my account rolling, I then started building all my platforms across the board, which meant me posting consistent content, and figuring out what my niche would be.
In navigating this journey, how have your life’s experiences inspired your career path today?
My life experiences have inspired my career path today in numerous ways. At 14 selling my first shirt, it showed me I can start my own business. Now, I have my own business I’m currently revamping, but I have been able to invest money and make a profit also. I’m currently a college student and that experience at 14 years old has helped me determine at a young age that I wanted to be in the business realm.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a content creator? How did you overcome it?
Something that has been the biggest challenge as a content creator is learning the social media algorithm. When I first started creating content, I had no idea that using artist music would get me copyrighted on YouTube, which then hindered my videos’ success.
Experience is a teacher and as I continued creating content, I discovered so much and made sure to write these things down to share with my peers on their own journey.
When you are creating content, what does storytelling mean to you? How do you convey that story?
Storytelling to me is sharing my story from the lens of my eyes, and I do this by really being transparent with my audience. People love to see transparency and authenticity, so I always keep in mind to keep everything raw but of course making sure it’s relatable and entertaining.
Some women often struggle with coming up with topics and consistency in posting to their blogs and/or social media, how do you come up with content for your platforms? What do you struggle with and want to share as a motivational factor for yourself and readers?
I come up with content for my platforms by watching what’s currently trending and determining where I would fit in. But I really stick to things I love doing, such as Self-care Sundays and Vlogs, because people love to keep up with others, so giving them a film of your daily life is entertaining in itself.
Who’s one of your favorite companies that’s getting content right online? What content do you think is lacking in this beauty and influencer industry?
I didn’t have many challenges surprisingly. It was really just being able to share my story how I wanted It to be told and creating my own narrative along the way, so people could love infinity.
What mantra do you live by? How do you implement it in your everyday life?
What’s for you is only for you and no one can take that away from YOU. I have this written on my whiteboard in my room and on a sticky note on my mirror as a constant reminder.
What keeps you struttin’?
What keeps me going is my faith because God didn’t bring me thus far to turn me back.
Favorite social media platform and why?
YouTube. Your videos can be super long and this reminds me of TV. This platform for sure keeps me entertained and the best part about it is that it gives everyone a chance to grow.
Connect with Infiniti Gilyard
Interested in learning more about Infiniti? Follow her journey and YouTube channel on social below:
- Instagram: @infinitiayko
- YouTube