Promotional photo Instagram @imbiaben
At 20 years old, Bia Ben became a successful digital influencer after going viral on social media. With over 1.3 million followers on Instagram and 33.4 million likes on TikTok, Bia shares her daily life and routine with her son Benjamin, who has already started working with significant brands in the feminine and children's beauty industry alongside his mother.
But Bia's journey to success began after a difficult moment in her life. When she was 17, her husband Samuel was brutally murdered in Rio de Janeiro, leaving her alone with their still-infant son, who was only three months old at the time. She fell into a deep depression, but found the strength to carry on in God and her son.
Today, the influencer has already partnered with important brands and is being considered for possible roles on television. Bia Ben shows a real life and encourages female empowerment on her social media, leaving an important legacy for her followers.
We, from Hooks International Magazine, came to Brazil for an exclusive interview with the artist, check it out now:
1- Currently, you have over three million followers on social media. How do you feel about the sudden fame you have achieved?
I feel very grateful and very happy. I know that it is something that God already had for my life, so I know that what I have achieved is mine and what I am going to achieve is very big. And do you believe that I don't consider myself a famous person? Actually, I consider myself a known person in some places. I believe that with the work I am doing, one day I will get there.
And fame itself doesn't interest me that much, what matters is the message and legacy that I will leave, through my postures and actions. But I feel very grateful and happy, not only for my followers, but also for my mother, who raised me as a person, because it is my essence that makes me conquer everything I have achieved.
2- How was dealing with the loss of your husband and how did it influence your trajectory as an artist?
When Samuel died, I was 17 and we were about to get married, the papers were already at the registry. It was a huge shock because I had Benjamin, who was only 3 months old. I saw myself alone at that moment. When I was 6, my father was also murdered. It was like a trigger that brought all that pain over his loss again.
In a way, I entered a bubble and became very sad and upset about everything that had happened. I have a very strong connection to the spiritual world, and I remember that God spoke to me at that moment. And around me, when God spoke to me that it was time for me to stop suffering.
I remember when I was 12, I participated in a talent show and won singing "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone. I had to say what I would like to be when I grew up and I said I wanted to be as big as Oprah Winfrey. It was in that moment of great sadness that God spoke that I needed to rise because my moment of pain was over and that I would be the next Oprah. That was when I got up and realized everything I could achieve through the essence that God had placed in me.
The loss of Samuel was very heavy, it was very difficult to bear, but in a way, it matured me a lot.
3- How do you balance motherhood and your career as a digital influencer?
From the beginning, I always had Benjamin with me in my videos, and actually, my career as a digital influencer is not something I created separate from my life. My career as a digital influencer is my life, you know? What I show on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and all my social media is what I live, it's my evolution. For example, I was a girl who lived in the favela, didn't have money, was very poor and sometimes didn't have anything to eat. Today, I see that I have had immense growth compared to what I used to live. So, that's what I show on social media: my life, my evolution, and my growth. I am happy because there is still a lot to come. So, I will continue sharing my journey, dragging these people along, because they identify with me and have me as a reference. When they look at me, they think: "if Bia could do it, then I can do it too."
4- We, as fashion magazine, need to ask you: How do you see fashion and the role of social media in its influence on the female audience?
Fashion fascinates me. I like that very personal fashion, when someone creates something because it's very much them, and in my opinion, it looks really good. I like fashion because it brings you various aspects, and the clothes say a lot about us, so I know that through my look, I can express who I am. Recently, I've been able to imprint a bit more of my identity on my style, and I'm very happy about it because I realize that I influence people.
Currently, I have a more street style, I like loose-fitting clothes, low-waisted, and I enjoy a more 2000s vibe. And I like those clothes that are so wonderful because they're simple and they highlight what you have best.
5- How do you choose the brands you work with, and what are your criteria for that?
So, whenever I have to choose brands to work with, there are brands that we already like, that we've heard of, that we already know. And there are new brands that introduce themselves, and we study the entire brand strategy, all the content, the entire proposal that the brand conveys and its idea. My criterion is quite basic: if that brand aligns with what I have as an ideal for my life, then great, I'll do it. For example, if it's a hair brand that's related to my hair, I have this issue of testing the products beforehand because I like selling the truth, and I like being sure of what I'm passing on to my followers because I believe that the truth is what matters. My criterion is that if that brand pleased me, I believe it will please the people who are following me.
6- What are your tips for other mothers who want to start a business on the internet?
The first point is that yes, you can start a business on the internet, and you can grow a lot. I think the biggest tip I can give to anyone who wants to start a business on the internet is: be yourself and have your essence. Because a person's essence makes them stand out from others, because if you follow a formula, you end up being like everyone else. So you need to know what your essence is, what you have to show that is good, unique, personal, I think that's what captures the audience.
And in this question of being a mother and starting a business, I confess it's not easy because sometimes we feel absent from our children, but the main thing you can do to have a good relationship with your child and make them understand everything you're going through is to involve them. For example, I talk to Benjamin a lot.
So I think it's in that sense, you have to have your essence to show people that you need to stand out by being unique, and including your child in your work. Don't suffer alone and try to save money because they won't understand and think you're the culprit. So if you go through a crisis, explain to them: "look son, now we're going through difficulties, so mommy won't be able to buy such and such a thing," and he will become much more your friend and partner.
7- How do you deal with haters and negative criticism on social media?
I think I never uplifted a hater, I never gave much confidence, because there are criticisms that are constructive, and these criticisms I normally receive from people who are close to me, who really know me, know my negative and positive points. So, usually, when I receive criticism, it's from my mother, from people who work with me. People who only follow me on the internet don't know anything about me and there are things they say that I can't take as truth.
We tend to focus more on the negative, but I have evolved a lot, and whenever I have something good that I know how to do, I invest in it, and I improve my flaws daily. But never invest in what's bad in you, invest in what you think is good, that makes you soar.
8- How do you choose the clothes you wear in your social media posts?
Actually, I don't make choices, everything I do on my social media is spontaneous and very natural. But it can happen to create some script, but normally I have a creativity that is very fast, and I already execute it.
9- What can your fans expect from you in the near future?
I definitely want to sing, I'm working on it, but there are many things I want to do like acting and presenting, so these are paths that we are building until they become closer to living. I'm very happy because I realize that I'm in constant evolution, and that's important.
I confess that evolving is not easy, because evolution is change and it's much easier for humans to stay in comfort. My life is not comfortable, because all the time I'm taking risks and putting maybe things that bring me stability at stake, but I always think positive. One of the things that helps me a lot is to put a lot of good energy into everything I do, so I believe I have many things I can do and I consider myself a person of multiple talents. I'm always open to listening to advice from elders, and in the end, I realize that I can grow and evolve.
10- Finally, I would like you to leave an inspiring message or quote for our audience, something that you consider important to highlight.
Everyone, thank you very much for your participation. I was very happy, and for those of you who are reading this, I want to say that YES, everything you dream and build can happen. You just have to believe in yourself, believe in your essence. And you know, at the moment when I was the saddest in my life, at rock bottom, thinking my life was going to end there, I had God's support. He said I could do it and put something in me that was unique. And that's it, everyone has something inside them that is unique because we are all so different, and your essence is just yours, and that's what will make you grow and stand out.
So believe in yourself, believe in your ability. If you don't know, learn, always try to evolve all the time, because that's what life is, evolving until the day we die. And I feel very happy with everything I've managed to achieve, and I know that you can achieve whatever you want. So believe in yourself, be yourself, don't change for anyone, and when people say no to you, say yes to yourself. A kiss on your hearts.
