Jameela pulling up to a Topicals event (Jameela Joie, Pinterest)
Jameela Joie is the dynamic Social Media Strategist behind Topicals, known for crafting bold, engaging content that amplifies the brand’s mission of skincare for every body. With a keen eye for trends and a passion for inclusive storytelling, she turns scrolls into conversations and clicks into community. Jameela’s strategy blends authenticity with innovation, making Topicals a standout in the beauty world. When she’s not shaping digital culture, she’s likely curating playlists or perfecting her next moodboard.
You quit your job as a English teacher in 2021 to begin freelancing and creating “social-first events content”. What was the turning point that made you leave your job and take the unconventional route?
JJ: In 2020, during the pandemic, whilst I was training to become a teacher, the training part had stopped entirely because, of course, nobody knew what to do in that moment. There was no contact, nobody to speak to, and I was approached by the owner of a radio station here in the UK called NoSignal. He asked me if I wanted to be part of this thing—10 songs versus 10 songs, on the radio, just something fun to do—and I thought, well, I have absolutely nothing to do, so yeah, sure, why not? And thus, NS10v10 was born. It was a viral game show. I mean, we were so excited to have 10 listeners in the first week. By the third week, we had about 2,000 listeners across the UK, and by the beginning of May, we had over a million listeners across the world. We did a very controversial episode—WizKid versus Vybz Kartel. Here in the UK, because we have a lot of Black diaspora—Africans and West Indians—it sparked a huge cultural moment. Americans were logging in, West Indians were logging in, people in Nigeria were logging in. We didn’t really understand the impact until the show began. My name was even trending in three different spellings.
When teacher training started back up in September, I was still doing NS10v10 alongside it. I was working a normal 9 to 5 as a teacher and then up until midnight producing the show. By 2021, I got a job teaching at what I thought was my dream school. I had written a speech in year 10 specifically about this school, so for me, it felt full circle. Unfortunately, the working environment was not great. It had nothing to do with the kids—they were amazing and still reach out to me to this day—but I had to work in a hostile environment with very little support. I borderline had a breakdown. I had no backup plan, but I quit. I was living on my own at the time, and by September 2021, I was back at my mother’s house and jobless. I had no clue what I wanted to do, and the passion I had for teaching was gone. I knew I was never going to become a teacher again. But I was scared.
In the UK, party season starts around March when it gets warmer. I had been going to Recess since around 2014. Around this time, TikTok had become a big part of daily life. I’d go to these parties and record my friends, and even strangers—who probably thought, "Who is this person?"— but I just thought it was fun. Afterward, I’d post the videos on TikTok, and it became a thing. People would say, “I hope I’m in Jamila’s video.” I did the same at another party called DLT (Days Like This), and I got my first payment from them—about £200—to record content for their event. That moment made me realize, “Wait, I didn’t know I could do something like this.” From 2022 to last year, I can confidently say I made monumental steps to change the way people looked at event content. Back in the day, people hated club photo albums on Facebook. This felt much more personal. It made me become more outgoing. I also got paid to shoot content at DLT Malta—a party holiday—with performances by artists like Shenseea and WizKid. Eventually, by 2023, I became the social media manager for Recess.
So the turning point quite literally was the pandemic. That’s what caused everything.
US beauty brand Topicals took 12 influencers to Ghana (Topicals)
You’ve been vocal about the limitations of traditional social media roles, but at Topicals, you’re clearly helping redefine what’s possible. How has your time at Topicals allowed you to reimagine and expand the traditional role of a social media manager into something more creative and culturally aware?
JJ: I always say to my friends, what’s that Young Thug quote? “I just needed the platform.” That was all it ever was, I just needed the platform. It’s about to be a year since I started at Topicals, and some of the ideas I had even in the beginning were just things that had been bubbling in my mind. I’d just been waiting for the right moment to use them. When Topicals launched in the UK, they did a collaboration party with Recess, which is actually how I got on Olamide's radar. I literally ordered these fisheye lens tools for iPhones the day before the event. I thought, I’m going to record everyone at the party wearing eye masks, and the only way to get an eye mask was to let me record you. I recorded that content with Fresh Islands, and she loved it. I did something similar when she collaborated with Recessland—I created a lucky dip where people could pick stuff out of a box to see what they could get from Topicals. That was the kind of creative angle I brought.
Coming into this role, my mindset was: social media isn’t just social media. People often think anyone can do it, and sure, anyone can. But it’s also a medium that should be studied. It’s constantly being redefined. When I was younger, it was AIM, AOL, maybe Stardoll, forums, MySpace—that was social media then. Now, it’s evolved into this entire ecosystem where you can monetize, create freely, and come up with things no one’s ever seen or imagined before. So for me, even when my title was “social media manager” at Recess, I knew that wasn’t really my role. It was so much more than just managing platforms. It was about knowing what to post, how to post it, the creative approach, the narrative. That’s why I see myself more as a strategist. Being a social media strategist means always having your thumb on the pulse. You need to know what’s happening, what’s relevant, and what’s just a trend. You have to be intentional, like, “If everyone’s doing something, why would I do it too? Let’s do something different.” It’s about creating new experiences, not just content.
“That’s why I see myself more as a strategist. Being a social media strategist means always having your thumb on the pulse. You need to know what’s happening, what’s relevant, and what’s just a trend.”
- Jameela Joie
Each event/launch you cover has its own unique personality. What’s your process for identifying the story within the experience, and how do you translate that into something visually and emotionally engaging?
JJ: The creative team at Topicals, they're so talented. The creative team, the brand team and everyone comes with a huge bank of knowledge. So when we come together, it's very much like bouncing off of each other and creating something a little bit bigger than what we expected. Like, someone might come with a nugget of an idea, and we end up building on that idea until it's a whole meal. When I think of, for example, Bermuda, and I think about Nigeria, and I think about soft life ski. Each idea, of course, is brought to the entire team, and then from there, that's how I reposition, but, what is the message we want to get across here?
I think because I came from an events background, I know it's so easy to think all you need is a recap video. And it's really not. There are different ways you can approach it. For example, when we did the Close Friends event in December for the launch of Cognac, we launched it across 3 different cities. That was London, New York, and LA. I knew I didn't want the same thing over and over. I knew it was going to be boring because people don't want to see the same thing that they've seen already. So for me, London, the thought was to bring back the fish eye lens, have that sort of halo effect, again, on the cognac eye mask, which I also named.
Even with New York, we had Polaroids, so it felt like it was very intimate. Then in LA, Donye who used to work at Topicals, I had her do a video of people sitting in the exact same spot applying the masks. Because I was like, “These different kinds of content, even though it's for the same thing, same launch. It doesn't have to look the same.” I think the moment things start to look the same is the moment it gets really, really boring. It's a constant process, because even the first idea I have might not be the last idea. But it just means constantly going back to the drawing board.
Jameela in full work mode (Jameela Joie)
You’ve mentioned that “virality” isn’t the goal, that you’re more focused on impact and legacy. How do you identify creators who can tell deeper stories that go beyond the trend cycle? What advice would you give to emerging creators who want to set themselves apart online and build something that lasts beyond the algorithm?
JJ: I joined Topicals 6 months after they went viral in Ghana and I think often people think the idea is to replicate that. The problem with that is that you cannot control virality, it will go viral or it won't. And if you're too busy chasing that idea, you're not going to get to where you need to in terms of your strategy.
When it comes to creators who can tell deeper stories, sometimes it's actually a luck thing. Some people, you don't actually know if they're going to tell deeper stories. Some people, you can tell immediately, I can name off the top of my head, at least here in the UK, we have people like — Melissa's Wardrobe, Uche Natori, Golloria in the US. These kind of creators are much bigger than just themselves because of what they represent. And they also have very engaged communities, and those are the kind of creators that go deeper than the trend cycles. Those that are memorable, that you can call them by name and people will know who they are. I think that’s what sets people apart. I always say to emerging creators, you need to not only engage with your community, but you need to speak. People need to know you by name, if people do not know you by name, then you're doing it for nothing. You're just another face in a sea of creators that want to make it.
What role does representation play in helping the next generation believe that their dreams and aspirations are truly possible?
JJ: I'm Nigeria and we have a saying when you see someone doing something, you just say, “They don't have two heads.” The meaning of that is that nobody is better than you. There's nobody anywhere across the globe that is better than you that can't do what you can do, and you can't do what they can do. It's just about applying yourself. Well maybe Beyoncé.
If you allow those limitations to stop you, you then start to think less of yourself. I think the first important part is always confidence, and knowing that if the next person can do it—who looks like you, who thinks like you, who's from the same city as you, same country as you, same background as you—if they can do it, then you definitely can do it. There's no two ways about it, there's nothing really stopping you. You just have to keep trying. It might take a little longer, you might have to take the long way around. But you can do it, and I think keeping that in mind, that they don't have two heads every time you want to do something will get you the results you need.
Want to hear more amazing stories like this? Check out our “More of Us” series! If you want to connect with Jameela and support the work she is doing, follow her on Instagram, you can support her work with Topicals by clicking here.