need to know
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Influencer Hannah Krohne, who posts as @hannahlizzy on Instagram and TikTok, quit her full-time job in the fashion industry to become a full-time fashion influencer
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While she was initially nervous about making the switch, Krohn said she “fell in love with being an entrepreneur”
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However, like starting any new job, there’s an inevitable learning curve, and she tells PEOPLE what surprises her the most behind the scenes as a content creator today
In September, after a year and a few changes in the corporate fashion world, influencer Hannah Krohne quit her full-time job, taking a leap that’s becoming increasingly common in the ever-changing world of social media.
Krohne, who previously worked in strategy and marketing at British fashion retailer ASOS, has been posting fashion and lifestyle videos online since her sophomore year of college.
Driven by the desire to share her budding love for fashion with the world (and maybe have the chance to score some free clothes while doing so), Krohne grew her following throughout her undergraduate career, gaining more and more followers and brand deals and income from affiliate links, until she felt it was safe to reduce her corporate job to part-time hours.
However, deep down in her heart, Colon had decided that she wouldn’t adapt to corporate life for long. When she moved to New York for a job at ASOS, she almost immediately started getting invited to brand events and became a growing social media presence.
“My social media side just started falling in love with being an entrepreneur,” she explains.
Krohn admits that when she first cut back on her hours, she was hesitant to tell people she was getting into content creation.
“Even though it’s only 20 hours, every time someone asks me what I do – am I dating someone, do I meet this random guy, my third cousin – every time they ask me what I do, I always just say I work at ASOS because… that’s the more acceptable answer,” she explained.
“They might say, ‘Well, she has a corporate job,’ and move on,” she said.
But eventually, Krohne knew she needed to quit smoking, and in September 2025 she took the final step.
Social media content creation is somewhat uncharted territory, and many people may not be aware of the small details that make it a full-fledged career, especially when it comes to finances.
Krohne, who now has over 400,000 followers on her Instagram and TikTok, revealed some of the most surprising things she’s learned about how to support herself as a creator.
Impactful, branded gifts aren’t always “free”
Krohn laughs that when her college friends first encouraged her to start an impactful side hustle during her sophomore year, the idea of free clothes was a major draw for the “obsessed” student.
She shared that as a content creator, she does get PR and can earn some perks through her role. However, she also revealed that what appears to be free clothing is actually a bit more than meets the eye.
She gave an example involving online retailer Revolve, which sent Krohne a set number of clothes each month for her to choose from.
“I maxed out my Revolve clothing fund,” she explained. “This is free clothing from one of my favorite brands.”
However, in April, when Krohne went to do her taxes, her financial advisor told her she owed Revolve $3,700.
“What I didn’t read in the fine print of this Revolve Gifting was that they were giving gifts in exchange for posting,” she said. “So, that is, the clothes are income in exchange for my position, so they tax it like income.”
Crohn made a video about her discovery as it happened, and commenters had mixed reactions — some of whom felt Crohn should have known better, while others shared her similarly confused mindset.
Influencers must pay a significant portion of their income in taxes
Hannah Liz
Another learning curve that came with her impact work was getting used to setting aside a large portion of her income for taxes.
Since almost all influencers don’t work for a company, they are considered 1099s, or contract workers, in the eyes of the government. This means that when it comes to paying taxes, influencers have to work all year to set aside funds for when April rolls around.
“It was shocking,” Crohn laughed about her first time paying taxes as an influencer. “Working for a company, taxes are deducted before you see the money. So the money you get is really yours.”
When you work for yourself, Crohn says, “it just doesn’t work that way.”
“I save 30 percent of everything just to be on the safe side,” she revealed, including money from brand deals, affiliate projects like LTK or ShopMy, and money from the TikTok Creator Fund (although Krohne says she’s not involved in that).
Influencer managers often take 20% of the influencer’s income
Hannah Liz
Many influencers have managers whose job it is to help them find things like brand deals and partnerships.
Krohn, who also has a number of influential friends in New York City, where she lives, said the standard ratio is 20 percent of the deals and partnerships they help bring about.
“My manager doesn’t get 20% of my affiliate revenue. I’m doing that, but all my brand deals and everything else, it’s 20%,” Krohne said.
“This is the industry standard,” she said. “Some managers get more. I’ve never heard of anyone getting less, but maybe they do.”
Influencers can’t just “write off” the purchases they demonstrate in their videos
Hannah Liz
While online viewers may believe that their favorite influencers are able to “write off” taxes on purchases and uses they make in their videos, the reality is less glamorous.
“I think people think I just wrote off everything I own, but you have to be able to prove it was only for business purposes,” Crohn said.
Other content creators have recently been vocal about this common misconception, with popular influencer Madeleine White addressing the issue in an October 2025 video.
“No, influencers can’t write it off just because they put it in an entire video or unboxed it,” White said. She went on to clarify that purchases of anything from clothes to shoes or bags can’t be written off, although she said she thinks “some people are doing that.”
“If they are audited, they will be asked to return the money,” she said.
Next, the content creator, known for his online fashion and lifestyle-related content, explained, “You have to be able to prove that you never used it for personal use.”
“That’s why you can cancel buying a uniform for work, but you can’t cancel buying a solid black T-shirt because you can’t prove that you never wore that solid black T-shirt on any other day in your life.”
Influencers act as their own employers
Hannah Liz/TikTok
In addition to setting aside a portion of their income for taxes, influencers and content creators must also set aside funds for things like 401Ks and insurance.
While this is true for those who work for companies, Krohne said the situation is different for influencers who don’t receive a 401K employer contribution match.
“As my employer, I have to contribute to my 401 plan so that I can have a retirement fund,” she shares.
Fortunately, Krohne, 23, is still on his parents’ health insurance. But she said she had to “figure it out” when her 26th birthday came around and she couldn’t go on like this.
Read the original article on People
