PROFILES

She shares the façades of Nice, the palm trees of the Promenade des Anglais and the winding alleyways of Vieux-Nice across the rest of France and internationally. She is Lison Sebellin, a 28-year-old better known as @lisonseb. In late 2018, when she was still working as a nurse in the retirement home sector, she began sharing her photos on Instagram and was spotted by several of the city’s boutiques, which hired her for their photo shoots. Her girl-next-door image, with her cascading bob and natural look, made her an overnight success. “More and more brands were contacting me. But it was becoming too much: taking up too much time and too much energy. I was no longer able to be professional enough to work my twelve-hour days as a nurse. I had to make a choice.” After the first lockdown she decided to concentrate on her Instagram career and leave the nursing profession, although not without guilt. “The medical profession, where you hide behind a white coat, is the opposite of what I do now – a superficial, image-based job. But I love it. I adore fashion and photography. I’ve been doing this full time for a year now, and I have no regrets!” she says. By “this”, she means influencing. Lison has 259,000 followers with whom she shares part of her life and her favourite fashion picks. The young woman prefers to describe herself as a content creator on Instagram for carefully selected brands that include jeweller APM Monaco, street wear brand Modetrotter, and Armani Beauty. “I prefer to offer high quality content, even it if means having fewer contracts.” When she started at the end of 2018, she was one of only a few bloggers on the French Riviera, along with Ines Duhard, from Cannes. Now there are many women across the region posting content in the hopes of success. “From the outside it looks like a dream job, but it takes a lot of work and commitment. I never switch off, even on holiday. It’s more than full time.” An energy-intensive job, then, with no clear career path. “How long is this going to last? Obviously we all ask ourselves the same question. Not forever, that’s for sure! So, we take advantage of all the opportunities we are offered.”

By Raphaëlle Elkrief