I quit my engineering degree because I’m too pretty —now I make money from my bedroom
A British woman says she dropped out of college because she was “too pretty” to pursue a conventional career — and said she’s on track to make a fortune as an Instagram influencer.
Raquel Llorente, 23, studied engineering and product development at a college in Britain, initially enrolling because she felt pressure to pursue a prestigious occupation that could provide her with financial stability.
But the brunette soon became bored with academics and began experimenting with make-up looks instead of writing her essays.
“I never wanted to be there in the first place. I was spending all my student loans on different [cosmetic] palettes and would lose myself in make-up.”
“I was playing around with different looks and all of a sudden I’d realize five hours had passed and I had a deadline at midnight,” she added “When I did submit an essay on time, it was last minute and looked messy — but I looked great”.
Soon, Llorente started an Instagram account dedicated to her different looks — and her follower account exploded.
“I wasn’t even paying attention to the follower count,” the stunner stated. “I was just having fun and doing what I usually do, but I was getting better with make-up and I felt too pretty to not be in front of a camera.”
Realizing she could capitalize on her online fame, the brunette made the decision to ditch college and strike out on her own as an influencer.
“Engineers are important, but I don’t want to build a career in something I would have hated,” the drop-out declared.
Llorente boasts 112,000 followers on Instagram and 70,000 followers on TikTok and has no regrets about abandoning academics.
She says she now rakes in about £30,000 ($34,400) per year thanks to lucrative endorsement deals. For context, the average salary for a full-time British worker between the ages of 22-29 is £24,600 ($28,222), putting the influencer well above most of her peers.
Additionally, the beauty bags thousands of dollars worth of cosmetics from companies who are eager to have her promote their products.
But Llorente insists that being an influencer is just as hard as being an engineer — despite the fact that she can work from her bedroom.
“I spend all my days answering emails, filming and editing,” she stated. “I think from the outside looking in it looks like easy work but when you’re focusing on building a social media career you’re working on it from nine to five.”
“I’m working just as hard as I would have been in a graduate job,” the ex-engineering student concluded.