Women To Watch 10.12.25 - Flipbook - Page 35
Why women dominate
SOCIAL
INFLUENCING
For many women on social media,
relatability, vulnerability
and emotional intelligence
are keys to success
By Brooke Conrad
W
hen Pikesville resident Cheryl Feinberg first started
posting on Instagram more than a decade ago, she
stuck with pretty pictures and nice quotes.
But to really build a following, you have to be
authentic, Feinberg said.
She started to open up about her personal life — about overcoming
a cocaine addiction years ago and moving across the country to be
with her boyfriend before a painful breakup. Earlier this year, she
shared with her thousands of followers about persevering with yoga
practice after an unrelated injury.
“Falling — whether out of a pose or stumbling in life — isn’t a
failure; it’s a chance to re-evaluate, adjust and try again,” reads the
caption underneath a contemplative photo of Feinberg in yoga
clothes, propped up on one hand.
For Feinberg and many other women on social media, relatability, vulnerability and emotional intelligence are keys to success.
While men tend to dominate other online spaces, like conversations
about the news — 63% of news influencers are men while 30% are
women, according to the Pew Research Center — women have the
upper hand on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
According to influencer marketing platform Collabstr, 72% of influencers are female, while 28% are male, and female influencers also
have a larger share of followers.
Allyn Rose
For Allyn Rose, opening up about one of the biggest challenges in
her life — losing her mom to breast cancer just after her 16th birthday — partly led to her success as an influencer. After winning Miss
Maryland USA in 2011 and Miss District of Columbia in 2012, Rose
made national news after announcing that she planned to undergo
a preventive double mastectomy, completing the surgery at age 26.
“I’m very raw and honest with what it was like for me to undergo
this sort of procedure, what it was like living without a mom all
WOMEN TO WATCH | 2025 | 35
