At 16, Influencer Moved to the U.S. and Didn't See Anyone 'Who Looked and Talked' Like Her, So She Created Her Own Path (Exclusive)
At 16, Influencer Moved to the U.S. and Didn't See Anyone 'Who Looked and Talked' Like Her, So She Created Her Own Path (Exclusive)
Meredith WilshereSun, April 19, 2026 at 8:00 PM UTC
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Achieng AgutuCredit: Chad Salvador/Variety via Getty -
Achieng Agutu created her platform to provide representation for women who share her experiences and background
She balances vulnerability and positivity online, inspiring followers to embrace self-confidence and celebrate personal milestones
Agutu credits her family and friends for supporting her through challenges, including her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit shoots
When Achieng Agutu moved to Indiana at 16, it was quite the culture shock.
The Kenyan-born influencer tells PEOPLE she didn't see many people "who looked and talked" like her — and it was no different in the media. She didn't see "much representation" of women who had similar "life experiences that I had on social media or the media in general."
"I couldn't wait for another Lupita Nyong'o to pop up," she shares. "I wanted to find that somewhere, and I was like, 'Why am I gonna wait for somebody else to do it? Let me do it. Let me be the representation that I want for myself.' "
So, she started sharing videos from her college dorm, slowly growing her account as the self-titled "confidence queen" and "internet bestie" to an audience of millions.
Ultimately, Agutu is glad she did, noting that "it has healed me in ways that I feel like I could not have believed I would have healed or grown, or I think it has made me experience life in womanhood and girlhood and the powers that come with being independent."
Achieng AgutuCredit: Brianna Bryson/WireImage
"It's made me experience those things in such fun, beautiful, interesting ways," she adds. "That's where the inspiration for starting my platform came, and in hopes that you can inspire other people and that I can find my own peace and growth, and that hopefully other people can as well."
When people first come to her social media page, where she boasts over 2 million followers combined, she wants them to know that she lives her life "very unapologetically."
"I'm very vibrant and vivacious. I'm loud, but I'm an extrovert with introvert tendencies," she shares. "I get energy from people, but I also love being in my own space and taking care of myself."
"I've really strived to make my platform a space where people can come and feel motivated and inspired to do something exciting with their lives," Agutu adds. "It is a safe space for people to feel seen and celebrated. With my platform, I want people to leave better than when they first met me, or when they came to my page."
She focuses on making content that feels true to herself, honoring the fact that "bad bitches have bad days too."
"Sometimes when I create the content that I create, sometimes I do it for myself, and it happens to inspire other people," she shares. "A lot of the content I do when I'm hyping people up or telling people to wear that outfit, that's really, truly what I wanna hear that day, and saying it out loud really helps me."
Getting messages and comments from her followers helps Agutu feel affirmed that she's doing what she's "supposed to be doing."
"I get messages from 18-year-olds and mothers and their daughters and even older women who say, 'I turned 50 and I've never gone on a vacation by myself, and I went because I saw you did this trip,' or 'I had a baby and I haven't been wearing a bathing suit because I've been afraid of the way my body's been looking and I decided to put a bathing suit on.' Things like that might seem small to people, but really are milestones in other people's lives, and the fact that what I'm doing has that level of impact and people are, is really special," Agutu shares.
Achieng AgutuCredit: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty
Agutu feels comfortable being so open and honest online thanks to the support and inspiration of her family. After moving to the United States to pursue her education, she earned her master's degree in International Marketing & Business Analytics from Hult International Business School in Boston.
While juggling school with the early days of content creation, her brother was her big source of inspiration.
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"At first it was really hard for my parents to support me because they wanted me to be stable and safe, but once they've seen me be in my element and do my speaking engagements and see me on the cover of magazines and on TV and they said, 'This is actually something that you're really good at and you should continue doing it,'" she shares.
Agutu emphasizes that it has been "really affirming for me that I'm doing my life's purpose."
"I also grab a lot of my inspiration from Black women in the industry and women all over, and how they're like moving, and shifting the status quo and creating blueprints for fashion, lifestyle and travel. I aspire to be like many of these women," Agutu says.
Not only is Agutu a content creator, but also one of the hosts of Amazon Prime's talk show INFLUENCED, a Gen Z version of The View produced by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine.
On top of that, this is the fourth year she has posed for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
While her photos for the famed spread are all glitz and glamor, the model tells PEOPLE that one year, she got really sick right before the shoot. However, thanks to years of speaking confidence into other women, Agutu had all the tools to get through it.
"I called my parents and cried for a while, and was afraid I wasn't able to show up as the best version of myself," she admits. "I did my thing, moped, took my medicine, took a shower and stood in front of the mirror for probably 20 minutes, hyping myself up like I never have."
"I was telling myself, 'Girl, you are doing big things. Hard things happen, but you can still push through.' I really had to pull the strength of a thousand women."
She walked into the shoot knowing she had other women behind her, supporting her. She called her closest friends and they had a pep talk, telling her she was "built for strong things" and that a bad moment doesn't have to turn into a bad day.
Achieng AgutuCredit: Chad Salvador/Variety via Getty
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"It was a lot of rallying, but we rallied, and I walked into that shoot with the tribe of women and my parents and my brother behind me, and we killed it," Agutu shares.
While her loved ones helped her in the moment, Agutu says it can be hard to balance exactly how much she shares online in those moments.
"You post the things that you want commentary on. With my vulnerability online, I show people that I'm real and having a not-great day, but I don't fully post my worst days," she admits. "That's something I don't want people commenting on, because everybody has an opinion. If I'm posting something really tough online, it has to be very specific."
Rather than airing everything online, when she's having a tough day, she will have what she calls an "up and out," which could mean going for a walk, taking herself out to dinner, watching a movie or shopping.
"I have an up and out because I can have a bad moment, but it will not dictate the way I continue to live or the way I continue to show up," Agutu says.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
