The Oxford student who’s given up on law career... to be a star on Instagram
She attended a £9,600-ayear nursery and no fewer than four public schools, then won a place at Oxford.
But well-heeled Grace Beverley, 21, has now shelved plans for a career in law – to become a full-time ‘Instagram influencer’ instead.
Under the name GraceFitUK, she already has more than a million followers online, where she shares exercise tips in tight sportswear. She uses social media to sell her own fitness products – and endorse other brands with sponsored videos.
Miss Beverley went to Oxford after getting an A*, an A and a B at A-level at the prestigious St Paul’s Girls’ School in west London. This followed periods at three other private schools during a six-figure education that began at a bilingual nursery, La Petite ecole Francaise, which now costs £9,600 per year.
her father, Peter, runs his own business consultancy while her mother, Victoria, is a senior curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. however, instead of pursuing a highpowered professional career like many of her peers, Miss Beverley hopes to emulate the likes of Zoella – the British social media superstar worth an estimated £2.5million.
Social media stars – or ‘influencers’ – earn money through partnerships with brands which pay them to advertise their products. They can make up to £100 per post if they have up to 10,000 followers, while for those with a fanbase of 100,000, the money can rise to £350 per post.
Miss Beverley, who already posts around four sponsored videos a month, has 366,000 followers on YouTube and 837,000 on Instagram – meaning she could be commanding considerably higher fees.
The Oxford music student is due to complete her degree at St Peter’s College next year, and had intended to take a law conversion course afterwards. however, she has now decided to pursue her web career instead.
The undergraduate began posting photos online during her A-levels to track her exercise progress, and even blocked ‘around 400’ people she knew from accessing the page out of embarrassment. ‘I wanted to get fit for summer and didn’t expect it to continue,’ she said. Miss Beverley insisted that her social media commitments have not affected her studies. ‘If it’s a really stressful week and all I can post is a selfie then that’s that, it’s not the end of the world,’ she said.
‘I will never give the university a reason to think that they are not my top priority.
‘I’m extra-careful and extradiligent and try extra hard in all my work. I can handle it and I can handle the stress. I like being busy. I’ve worked so hard to get to this point ... I don’t want to look back and think “I could have done so much better”.’