How I Grew My Instagram by Nearly 2,000 Followers in 5 Weeks (As a Hair & MUA, No Guru Advice)
I'm not a growth guru. I'm a Podcaster and Hair & MUA who posts reels of my work. So when I tell you I grew nearly 2,000 followers in about five weeks, I want to show you exactly how, not just tell you it happened.
It started with consistency, not virality
On 18 March this year I committed to posting a reel every single day. Not every second day. Every day. My first proper traction came from a Fashion Week reel that hit around 930 views. Before that I was sitting around the 200 to 300 view mark. Small win, but it told me something was shifting.
Then one reel changed everything
On 8 June I posted a French roll reel from a photoshoot. It hit 34,000 views and brought in 108 new followers. That was the moment I realised repurposing old content, not just constantly filming new stuff, could genuinely work.
Not every reel lands though. I posted a twisty blow wave reel around the same time and it only pulled 1,800 views and 2 followers. Good data, bad reel. That's part of the process.
The hook is everything
Here's the biggest lesson from this whole run: people watch for 7 to 13 seconds. If your hook doesn't land in that window, they're gone.
I took a French roll video I had posted twice before, shortened it, and changed the hook to "Your French roll keeps falling out because of this." Same content. New hook. It jumped to nearly 43,000 views and 259 followers, with 129 saves. TikTok viewers were even annoyed I didn't finish the full style in the clip. That's engagement.
My biggest reel was three years old
My highest performing reel of all, "No Clips, No Tricks, Just Pins and Techniques," was footage of my client Penny that I filmed back in 2023, before I'd even moved to Sydney. This was the third time I'd posted it, and tweaked it.
Result: 224,000 views, 4,000 saves, shared 669 times, and over 1,000 new followers from one reel. Old content, new edit, new hook. That's the formula.
The workflow that makes daily posting possible
Posting every day only works because I've built a system:
I use ChatGPT to help write captions, hooks and the on-screen text prompts. I edit everything in the Edits app. I post to Instagram first, then take the original file from Edits (not a re-download off Instagram, that kills quality) and post it to TikTok. From there I repost to YouTube Shorts. One piece of content, three platforms, way more reach for the same effort.
Going forward, I'm reposting my best performers again with a fresh hook, using ChatGPT to help rework the wording.
If you're trying to grow your own account
Just start. Don't wait until it's perfect. You'll learn your editing style, your hooks, and what your audience actually wants as you go. Collaborating with other creators helps (working with Max on a past episode brought me new followers too), but it's not essential. Consistency is what moved the needle for me.
What's next
I'm planning another full content day, this time with two paid models, a hired studio, a content creator on the day, and an actual shot list and mood board mapped out in advance. I pay my models. I want people who show up and take the day seriously, and I believe in paying for the work.
I've also opened the waitlist for my hair masterclass. Still finalising the exact format, but it'll be run virtually too, so you don't need to be in Sydney or even Australia to join. Get on the waitlist here.
Listen to the full episode here: EPISODE 112