A social media sensation, Instabraid is the hottest new hairstyle Instagram account. The founders and bloggers, Sophie Rose (’14) and Shir Ben-Zikry were both students at WYHS! The duo was recently featured on Good Morning America, where the two had a chance to talk about their business and even show off some awesome braids they crafted themselves. We recently sat down with the creators to chat about the inception of Instabraid and where they see the account going in the future.
Did you have a predetermined goal when you created the account?
Ironically, no. We created the account completely as a joke, merely because we loved this account instablonde and thought it would be fun to create an account of our own. We got lucky, however, with our timing because we created our account just as Instagram was first starting, so we like to say that in a way we grew with Instagram.
What’s one tip you can give to an aspiring Instagrammer?
Patience. It’s never easy, and it never happens immediately. It took us a few months before even making popular page for the first time, but just know that once you do hit that certain point, Instagram is an amazing platform to take off.
What was the hardest part of following through with your idea for Instabraid?
We would definitely say the hardest part was continuously posting. Our account isn’t an account that just posts a couple photos a week, we post a couple photos a day! Therefore, it obviously gets very tiring always coming up with unique captions, photos, and styles for our pictures.
What are your plans for Instabraid in the future?
Wow, this is a tough question. We have so many ideas on the table but at the moment are still trying to figure out which we want to intensely pursue. We are highly leaning toward advancing our website [instabraid.com], turning it into a more “blog-like” site with posts at least once a week.
How did you find a balance between creating a business and keeping up with school?
For some reason, this was never really a problem for us. We had a really good system down between the two of us and have always been very good at covering for one another whenever we need. When school got stressful and we both really needed to focus on our work, we would easily come to a mutual understanding that we would put instabraid on a short pause, obviously keeping up with our posts yet putting the business aspect on a temporary standstill.
Please tell us about your Good Morning America experience! How were you chosen? How did it feel to be featured on the show?
Our appearance on Good Morning America was an experience that we will truly never forget. It all began when the producer of the show contacted us via email asking if we would be interested in appearing on their show. We couldn’t believe it at first! Within just a few days, we booked our flights to New York and a week later we shared this unbelievable experience. We were so excited but also very nervous about the fact that we were going to be featured on live television. During our short stay of two days, we managed to film the recorded segment, hang out backstage at the Times Square Studios, meet different interesting people/celebrities, and tour the city. We had an incredible time and are so grateful for being given the chance to see our work in the media.
Check out some of our fave posts directly from @Instabraid!
– Shuli Mayer, Rachel Gittler