How @StephShep Balances Her Kardashian-Affiliated Instagram Fame
"If you were to look at my Explore feed, it's literally all just Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, dogs and Asian babies."
There are a few things you probably already know about Stephanie Shepherd. For one, she’s frequently referred to IRL by her URL Instagram handle, @StephShep. Two, she’s the former assistant to Internet-breaker Kim Kardashian. (The world was convinced that the duo had a falling out in 2017 when Steph left her job after five years, but the feud rumours were debunked in a recent video published to Kim’s website. Sorry haters!)
If you’re one of the 1.1 million people following @StephShep on social media, then you also already know that she has a killer body, freakishly beautiful long hair, an A+ wardrobe and a growing network of famous friends. These assets are frequently showcased on her feed—as, you know, you’d likely expect from a full-time influencer.
But in-between the bikini pics, #sponsoredposts and mirror selfies with celebs, Stephanie Shepherd shares images that address the causes she cares about. Whether it’s a call to end the use of cotton pads or a repost of a witty protest poster, the Kardashian family-affiliate has shown herself to be a politically aware and environmentally minded individual. Which is why when Square One was looking for a partner to help launch their rooftop beehive initiative, they tapped Shepherd for the job.
After a rooftop workout beside Square One’s new beehives, we sat down to chat with Stephanie Shepherd about political posts, pesky trolls and curating an Instagram feed that doesn’t make you feel like shit.
I always knew that you were someone who posted politically and socially minded content, but it wasn’t until I went scrolling through your feed that I realized how much of it there is.
Well that’s good, that means I’m not being too annoying. I feel like sometimes social media — especially Twitter — is a lot to handle. In this political climate, there’s something happening everyday. There are so many things that need attention; so many fights that need to be fought. But I think it’s important for me to use my platform to talk about the things that are important to me.
Do you feel pressure to keep a balance on your feed? You have to give people people the politics, but also the bikini pics?
If anything it’s the pressure I put on myself, because I want my platform to be that. I want people to look at my feed and say, ‘oh, she’s bringing about awareness to a cause I didn’t know about before and that’s really cool.’
For me, that’s the most important. Those are the things I want to talk about and use my platform for. So you know, maybe in the beginning people come to my feed for beauty and fashion, but I want to plant little seeds.
As a women’s fashion magazine, we sometimes get people online telling us to stay in our lane. Do trolls react the same way when you dip your toes in politics and social justice?
Yeah. Which is so wild because on the flip side, they’re allowed to comment and talk about whatever they want. Still, it does hurt my feelings. So I’ve had to kind of look to Chrissy [Teigen]. She’s even more outspoken than I am; she, like, trolls the president. So she gets a lot of backlash.
I’ve just realized if you have an opinion—and especially about something that’s controversial—trolls are part of the territory. So I can’t let them stop me from posting something again.
One of the best examples of this Internet outrage is when your old boss, Kim Kardashian, met with President Trump.
That’s the other thing: even if people don’t agree, you can’t shut them out. Everyone just wants to argue—it’s what the Internet is for these days. And it’s not helpful! Because in the end, whether you agree with [Kim] or not, she got some major change made. She got shit done, and you can’t fault anyone for changing someone’s life.
She’s very smart; she knows what she’s doing. She wouldn’t just take a meeting if she didn’t have an end goal that was more important than any bad press she was getting.
It’s so easy for followers to look at your Instagram and think your life is perfect. But then you post these captions about having anxiety, and about how your online life isn’t as glamorous as it looks. Do you feel a responsibility to keep it real?
Definitely. As a social media user, I have those feelings. I look at certain feeds and think, ‘her life must be perfect, she looks perfect all the time, ugh I feel like shit.’ And then you feel guilty! So I recognize those feelings within myself and I’m in the business: I know the smoke and mirrors; I know that life is not perfect. But I’m a grown up. Imagine what these young girls must feel.
They’re so impressionable!
Soooo impressionable. When I was that age, I wanted to be Britney Spears. Like when she did the Pepsi thing, I wanted to drink Pepsi. And I don’t even like soda! I’ve never liked the taste, never drank it in my life! I was so impressionable that I drank something I didn’t like because I idolized someone so much. So I feel a responsibility to those people who look to me with admiration.
Can we talk about the people you’re following on Instagram? The feed you curate can have a huge impact on your experience with social media and how it affects your mental health.
I fully mute a lot of people, let’s keep it real. I’m very vocal about how much I love that feature. It can be awkward to unfollow someone.
And I’m very much still impressionable! What I see affects my mood and thoughts; you scroll through and see all these things, and it can really affect your day. So it’s nice to curate things that are thought provoking, that make you happy, that make you laugh.
I went creeping and noticed that you are following @tinygentleasians….
It brings me so much joy seeing those cubby little babies. It’s so great, it’s one of my favourite Instagrams.
Do you have others that you’d recommend people follow?
I watch a lot of dog videos, and a LOT of royal stuff. I am very invested in Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. I feel like with the press storm of nonsense and bullshit, we need a love story. It’s just so refreshing. So if you were to look at my Explore feed, it’s literally all just Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, dogs and Asian babies.
If you're one of the 1.1 million people following @StephShep on social media, then you also already know that she has a killer body, freakishly beautiful long hair, an A+ wardrobe and a growing network of famous friends. These assets are frequently showcased on her feed—as, you know, you'd likely expect from a full-time influencer.
But in-between the bikini pics, #sponsoredposts and mirror selfies with celebs, Stephanie Shepherd shares images that address the causes she cares about. Whether it's a call to end the use of cotton pads or a repost of a witty protest poster, the Kardashian family-affiliate has shown herself to be a politically aware and environmentally minded individual. Which is why when Square One was looking for a partner to help launch their rooftop beehive initiative, they tapped Shepherd for the job.
so proud to be a part of @shopsquareone’s environmental initiative- their installation of 4 urban beehives will help pollinate the city and repopulate the bees! ? if you are in Toronto you can purchase the honey thats harvested at @shopsquareone to help support the cause! ? #SQ1
A post shared by STEPHANIE ANN SHEPHERD (@steph_shep) on Jul 17, 2018 at 10:28am PDT
After a rooftop workout beside Square One's new beehives, we sat down to chat with Stephanie Shepherd about political posts, pesky trolls and curating an Instagram feed that doesn't make you feel like shit.
I always knew that you were someone who posted politically and socially minded content, but it wasn't until I went scrolling through your feed that I realized how much of it there is.
Well that's good, that means I'm not being too annoying. I feel like sometimes social media — especially Twitter — is a lot to handle. In this political climate, there's something happening everyday. There are so many things that need attention; so many fights that need to be fought. But I think it's important for me to use my platform to talk about the things that are important to me.
Do you feel pressure to keep a balance on your feed? You have to give people people the politics, but also the bikini pics?
If anything it's the pressure I put on myself, because I want my platform to be that. I want people to look at my feed and say, 'oh, she's bringing about awareness to a cause I didn't know about before and that's really cool.'
For me, that's the most important. Those are the things I want to talk about and use my platform for. So you know, maybe in the beginning people come to my feed for beauty and fashion, but I want to plant little seeds.
As a women's fashion magazine, we sometimes get people online telling us to stay in our lane. Do trolls react the same way when you dip your toes in politics and social justice?
Yeah. Which is so wild because on the flip side, they're allowed to comment and talk about whatever they want. Still, it does hurt my feelings. So I've had to kind of look to Chrissy [Teigen]. She's even more outspoken than I am; she, like, trolls the president. So she gets a lot of backlash.
I've just realized if you have an opinion—and especially about something that's controversial—trolls are part of the territory. So I can't let them stop me from posting something again.
One of the best examples of this Internet outrage is when your old boss, Kim Kardashian, met with President Trump.
That's the other thing: even if people don't agree, you can't shut them out. Everyone just wants to argue—it's what the Internet is for these days. And it's not helpful! Because in the end, whether you agree with [Kim] or not, she got some major change made. She got shit done, and you can't fault anyone for changing someone's life.
She's very smart; she knows what she's doing. She wouldn't just take a meeting if she didn't have an end goal that was more important than any bad press she was getting.
It's so easy for followers to look at your Instagram and think your life is perfect. But then you post these captions about having anxiety, and about how your online life isn't as glamorous as it looks. Do you feel a responsibility to keep it real?
Definitely. As a social media user, I have those feelings. I look at certain feeds and think, 'her life must be perfect, she looks perfect all the time, ugh I feel like shit.' And then you feel guilty! So I recognize those feelings within myself and I'm in the business: I know the smoke and mirrors; I know that life is not perfect. But I'm a grown up. Imagine what these young girls must feel.
They're so impressionable!
Soooo impressionable. When I was that age, I wanted to be Britney Spears. Like when she did the Pepsi thing, I wanted to drink Pepsi. And I don't even like soda! I've never liked the taste, never drank it in my life! I was so impressionable that I drank something I didn't like because I idolized someone so much. So I feel a responsibility to those people who look to me with admiration.
Can we talk about the people you're following on Instagram? The feed you curate can have a huge impact on your experience with social media and how it affects your mental health.
I fully mute a lot of people, let's keep it real. I'm very vocal about how much I love that feature. It can be awkward to unfollow someone.
And I'm very much still impressionable! What I see affects my mood and thoughts; you scroll through and see all these things, and it can really affect your day. So it's nice to curate things that are thought provoking, that make you happy, that make you laugh.
I went creeping and noticed that you are following @tinygentleasians....
It brings me so much joy seeing those cubby little babies. It's so great, it's one of my favourite Instagrams.
Do you have others that you'd recommend people follow?
I watch a lot of dog videos, and a LOT of royal stuff. I am very invested in Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. I feel like with the press storm of nonsense and bullshit, we need a love story. It's just so refreshing. So if you were to look at my Explore feed, it's literally all just Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, dogs and Asian babies.){kind=link}