Wellingborough Instagrammer gains thousands of followers from her body positive posts

A student from Wellingborough has gained thousands of followers on Instagram during lockdown thanks to her inspiring body-positive posts, all while finishing her degree, running a business and a podcast.

Charlotte Emily Price, 21, who went to Wrenn School, started blogging when she was 14 and now has almost 22,000 followers on her Instagram page and another 10,600 subscribers on YouTube and shares posts on fashion, beauty and body positivity as well as her university life in Lincoln where she studied forensic science.

It was last year that Charlotte started focusing on body positivity. She said: "Last summer I had a bit of a travel craze and went to a few different places.

"I was in Bali with my boyfriend for my birthday and I was in a bikini. I have struggled with body confidence and I felt really confident, I just took a photo and there’s a photo still on my Instagram that triggered the whole thing.

"It made me feel good and I wanted to push and make other people love themselves."

In one of her Bali posts, Charlotte wrote: "Love yourself from every angle, for every mistake and ever decision you make. Our bodies are keeping us alive yet we always find a way to be so harsh on ourselves.

"It was only until a few weeks ago that I found out the lil podgy area under our belly buttons is a protective layer for our uterus??!! I've spent years of my teenage life hating that lil podgy area yet it's looking after a vital part of my body."

Charlotte added: "It's probably the first real time I've not been ashamed or worried about standing in swimwear for everyone to see."

Since that wave of confidence, Charlotte has carried on posting body positive images and messages and her following has grown and grown. Since lockdown, she has gained more than 8,000 followers.

She said: "It's mad. I was on 13,000 at the end of March. I'm still confused like how this happened, I feel like a bit of an imposter!"

Charlotte's message is clearly resonating and she has posted a number of positive images and captions during lockdown, including one of her in a bikini with calling out commentary on 'weight transformations.'

In the post, she wrote: "I just wanted to show that you don't have to be a certain size, weight or shape to live your best life.

"I'm honestly so sick of the toxicity I see on social media, particularly Twitter...because no amount of memes about weight gain during quarantine or how we should all be using this time to lose weight will make me laugh."

Charlotte said: "I get that it is funny for someone else, but it can be really triggering. We are way more than what we look like."

Putting herself out there has led to a lot of positive comments for Charlotte, including messages that can make her emotional. She said: "It's mad that people say I'm inspiring them, I don't feel I am just from photos but I get so many messages."

Along with the positive comes some negative trolling, but Charlotte said: "That did get to me at first, but I just delete it now, so I cannot go over it in my head.

"Its usually older people. YouTube is probably the worst for it." Charlotte's approach to negativity is to let it inspire her to continue sharing the positivity.

The hard work online is paying off and Charlotte signed with a talent agency last year. The agency help set rates for paid partnerships and advertisements, including a recent post for Braun's new epilator.

"When I first started, I got sent products to review and over the years I have built relationships with brands," Charlotte said.

After signing with an agency, work on Instagram has picked up for her and given her more options after completing her degree.

"A lot of people do think whenever they see my Instagram, a lot of people presume that I have done fashion marketing or something like that, but forensic science was very different!

"I think I am going to stick to social media for now because of the current climate. It's one of the only industries still thriving, I've still been able to get some work."

Charlotte is also working hard with a friend on a new business called Consistency, which is a digital business offering advice on how to organically grow your social media followings.

She also works on a podcast called 'The S Word' with four friends from university, which covered taboos and student experiences. Charlotte says they now hope to cover the transition from student to working life, particularly as it might be a challenge in the current climate.

You can find Charlotte on Instagram under the username @charlotteemilyprice, on YouTube as Charlotte Emily and her blog is called Scarlet Slippers.