Sitting down with content creator Estare Areola isn’t something I imagined I would get the chance to do. Her account - currently boasting over 339k followers and a feast for the senses - is home to travel content, fashion reels and snippets into life with her son, affectionately dubbed ‘Koko’ and has been a space that I have admired and followed for some time now. 

Estare’s latest project involved a collaboration with Instagram called Black Perspectives. Her initiative, Creator Quest, was a one-day workshop that featured “all things content creation” last month, including a masterclass on the business side of content creation. The participants also received direct mentorship from Estare and two other Black content creators.

Creator Quest was one of four projects commissioned by Instagram under Black Perspectives. It’s Instagram’s hope that the mentors will be able to champion future talent in their specific fields both “on and off” the platform. 

Oftentimes, I feel as though Black creatives are overlooked when it comes to creating tangible brand deals and partnerships off their followings, so it was great to know that Estare felt like she was really getting the recognition she wholly deserved.