Inside The Life Of An Asian Influencer: Zoey Phoon On Diversity Quotas And ‘Trendy’ Inclusivity

Malaysian-Chinese influencer Zoey Phoon opens up on the world of influencing as a minority and using her platform for good.

“You have a voice, use it,” Malaysian-Chinese influencer Zoey Phoon urges aspiring influencers of colour.

Phoon meets me at an open-plan, bustling central London shared office space, a sight which is undoubtably comforting in its familiarity despite it being two years since my last face-to-face interview.

The 23-year-old , who works out of the office for her day job in PR (influencing is her self-proclaimed “side hustle"), greets me warmly offering me both a drink and a grin.

She starts off by explaining how she moved from Malaysia to Bristol during the second year of her Journalism and PR degree back in 2018 and has since moved and fallen in love with the 'city that never sleeps' - London.

Her content broadly consists of lifestyle and travel but Phoon prides herself on responsibly speaking out on important issues via her Instagram account, which is home to a legion of 41,900 followers.

Credit: @ZoeyPky on Instagram

We start by exploring what it means to be an influencer in this day and age and she's clear to differentiate herself from others, verbally underlining that whilst “anyone can be an influencer if you just have a high following” it really depends what you’re influencing.

“I mean, you can be like half naked and have high following but what are you actually influencing besides like cute selfies and some cleavage?

"So for me, I would really like to push obviously, issues that I stand for. So [on] my page definitely I talk about issues like racism, feminism and things like that. I studied it, so technically, I should be able to talk about it," she adds.

The social media success goes on to explain that growing up in Malaysia meant sex education was “not a thing” - so she felt a responsibility to openly speak out on these topics with her own online community.

“When I opened up about my birth control and like sex and all that, it was daunting at first, but it was so nice to hear from other people. [I would get] feedback from them [like], ‘oh, my God, I never could find anyone to talk to about this and I found you and now you just screaming it out loud," she tells me.

We dive into the importance of Phoon being a person of colour representing a minority on social media, something she feels strongly about.

“[It’s] definitely really important because our experiences and issues are all different from the white majority. I think having a voice in that community for the rest of people who can't, it's really important, especially if you have a high following I can't stress it enough,” she tells me.

“You really have to have some sort of responsibility to bring up issues that people aren't willing to talk about because, you know… stigma.”

Credit: @ZoeyPky on Instagram

It appears that being a minority on social media translates offline too as Phoon admittedly recounts feeling “really small” in a room full of majority white people, a notion she has now developed a tactic for.

“I feel like in the beginning, when I was uncomfortable, I felt really small in a room full of white people and I feel like that's just me,” she says.

“Like, am I just making myself more insecure when no one else is actually thinking of me? So right now, when I walk into a roomful of majority white people, I kind of make myself feel like I'm important as well. That's how I usually come in with the mindset and my confidence boost with alcohol and then I start talking, so that's usually great.”

The statistics, sadly, back up Phoon’s observations.

Last year Vogue Business reported that white influencers took most of the sponsorship opportunities in 2019 (61 per cent), a decrease from 73 per cent in the five years prior, according to Magnetic North.

Earlier this year it was revealed that over half (57%) of influencers interviewed (275) cited their ethnicity as a factor in the fees they can levy for brand partnerships.

Speaking about diversity when it comes to brand work, Phoon can’t help but highlight that whilst many companies are taking steps to be more inclusive the change is perhaps not taking place in the most educational way.

“A lot of people and brands are actively trying their best but not necessarily maybe in the most educational way,” she says, fighting over the noise of the lunch rush.

“I mean, if you really wanted to be helpful to people of colour as a white person then you should definitely read up on research papers and actively follow pages that are by people of colour, for people of colour.”

She is quick to note Blackout Tuesday as an example of this. Blackout Tuesday, which saw businesses and everyday people alike share only a single black square on their social media for the day, took place on June 2 2020 and was created to take a stand against racial inequality following the death of George Floyd in police custody.

The movement sparked debate amongst people who argued that many were ignorantly sharing the black square as part of a “trend” instead of educating themselves on the true meaning behind the Black Lives Matter movement and racially motivated violence against Black people throughout history.

Credit: @ZoeyPky on Instagram

“Like the Blackout Tuesday, posting a black square without actually researching and just hashtagging. Like, you're just doing it for the trend instead of actually reading and providing the resources and sharing it to your followers. I think there's a stark difference in that,” Phoon explains.

Exploring the possibility of brands actively showcasing minorities because it’s trendy, Phoon says the line is “really fine” because its hard to tell if they’re “truly invested” in change or instead are simply being advised by PRs to “get on the bandwagon.”

Pay gaps have remained one of the many sticking points in the ongoing fight for equality.

This has led to the rise of the @influencerpaygap Instagram account, created by Adesuwa Ajayi. The account, which currently boasts 60,700 followers, provides a platform for influencers from minority groups to anonymously share their experiences of collaborating with various brands whilst highlighting the disparity in their pay and opportunities.

Whilst acknowledging that more companies embracing diversity is beneficial, Phoon looks visibly dejected as she talks about how hiring influencers of colour should be about skills and capability instead of filling a “quota.”

Her advice to brands? “Read up and actually research so that you can get a sense of like what you actually need to do instead of what you have to do.”

This is part os a series we're working on where we're speaking candidly with big time influencers on important topics - from monetisation, diversity, pay gaps, mental health and much more.