Opinions expressed by Digital Journal contributors are their own.
Sydney-based beauty influencer Isabelle Clarke started her business journey with a deep desire to help others by connecting with her audience personally. She uses her platforms, Sunflower Avenue and Sunflower Babies, for more than expert self-care and fashion advice. She is recognized as a thought leader in social media and raises mental health awareness through personal stories.
Isabelle has experienced heartache, health issues including endometriosis, and career highs. She openly shares these stories on her platforms to help others, which is one of her life-long aspirations. She advocates blending authenticity with the digital world, sharing a journey that resonates with many.
Sunflower Avenue
Sunflower Avenue and the Instagram page, Sunflower Babies, are based on the saying “no rain, no flowers” and charitable causes like Full Stop Australia. It is a comfortable space where Isabelle connects with her followers through personal stories, mental awareness, and self-care advice. As a female business owner with endometriosis, she spends many days in comfy clothes that sometimes hold her back from looking beyond how she is feeling in the moment.
Sunflower Avenue enables Isabelle to connect with her audience, which is beneficial to her and the ones who follow her. The platform led to her creating a page, Sunflower Babies, a community of mainly women who get together for picnics, with several followers even flying across the nation to spend Christmas together.
Isabelle and her brand have been featured in many high-profile red-carpet events and collaborations with L’Oreal Paris and White Fox Boutique, among others. She also attended the royal opening of the Atlantis the Royal and was exclusively invited to watch Beyonce perform.
Personal story
Isabelle and her mother have always been close, and when she was a child, she saw how hard her single mother had to work to support them. This impacted Isabelle’s resilience and determination, leading to where she is today. She earned a 98.95 ATAR score and pursued a law degree. However, she realized that this career track would not be her story. Her degree would not accomplish the impact she desired to make on the world.
Throughout school, she published makeup videos, not realizing that this would bloom into the viral sensation she would soon become. Her new path presented itself when she had her first Contra gifting collaboration, and she put her law degree on hold. Her social media presence became the vehicle she needed to share her story to help others.
Fan connection
Isabelle started treating her followers as her best friends and opened up to them about her vulnerabilities. She shares her hardest moments from broken relationships and scary medical appointments and is open to any mental health topic. Her philosophy is that being an influencer carries more responsibility than many realize and transforms her platforms into a place of comfort rather than one of superficiality. One fan got a tattoo of Isabelle’s handwriting, “sunflowerbbys,” and Sunflower Avenue’s motto, “no rain, no flowers,” showcasing the personal impact the brand has on its followers.
Future outlook
Isabelle Clarke envisions her future with new Hero product launches and expanding Sunflower Avenue into a global brand. She wants to immerse herself in the industry by traveling the world and continuing to build her strong, engaged community. She sees herself as a dancer, one of her earliest dreams.
