Blogger. Content Creator. Influencer. A mere decade ago, none of these jobs existed, and social media was simply a way to connect with friends and family for most users. Nowadays, pursuing a career in social media is nothing out of the ordinary, though there is still a stigma attached to this type of lifestyle.

If you’ve ever bought into the school of thought that influencers are “lazy” or “freeloaders,” Luciana Couto will make you think again. This social media savvy entrepreneur is living her dream, pursuing her creative passions, and proving that being a blogger and influencer involves a lot more than just posting a pretty picture.

Luciana’s journey to becoming a self-employed freelancer began like many others – working a corporate job that she wasn’t fulfilled by.  

Luciana grew up in Brazil and money was always a topic of conversation during her childhood. She didn’t want to have to worry about her finances when she grew up, so she got her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, an MBA in Marketing, and pursued a traditional career path in the corporate world. She was able to live comfortably in Brazil with the income from her business intelligence analyst job, but Luciana came to the realization that money was not the most valuable commodity to her and that she needed to prioritize her happiness.

After spending a solid five years working her corporate job, Luciana decided to devote more time to her passion – blogging. Blogging is a hobby that Luciana always liked to do in her spare time, and she came to the realization it was something she could monetize. During this time period, she also started providing consulting services to other Brazilian bloggers and decided to make the move to Toronto.

She explained, “My husband and I always dreamed of living abroad in a good country. When we came to Toronto in 2015, it felt like we were home for the first time. I also decided to become a freelancer while we were contemplating the move.”

Six months after their first visit to the 6ix, Luciana and her husband made it their permanent home. With her corporate job behind her and a brand new place to call home, Luciana had the opportunity to start fresh and focus on what really mattered to her. She recounted that “When I left my job I had more time. I used to do work for the blog on the weekend, but I didn’t have the time to think strategically about it. I’ve always loved photography, and I wanted to start doing more creative stuff, so I focused more on the blog and started to pay more attention to Instagram.”

Today, Luciana is fully devoted to her Toronto lifestyle blog, and she recently opened up an online boutique, picked by Lu. The biggest challenge she’s faced since stepping away from the corporate world is having a steady source of income. Like a lot of freelancers, the amount of money she brings in can vary greatly from month to month, but Luciana has no regrets about her decision to pursue her passion.

She explained that “To me, success in life is not about having a lot of money, but having enough money to spend my time doing what I like to do.

"I consider time to be the best currency. I can always get a job and restart my career tomorrow if I want more money, but the time I’ve already lost working for a company that didn’t understand me is something I’ll never get back.”

Another big change in Luciana’s life that happened just a few months ago was joining the Project Spaces fam! Luciana recounted that “I joined two months ago because I wanted to meet new people. I love working from home, but I also want to talk to like-minded people. I tried working out of the coworking space for a day, and I really liked it. I also love the fact that at Project Spaces I have a choice between two locations!”

To find out more about the latest goings-on with Luciana, check out her Instagram page. To join entrepreneurs like Luciana in the pursuit of happiness and personal fulfillment, book a tour of Project Spaces today!