Milly Bannister is not only a social media influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers but she is the founder of GRLKND. Originally from Australia, Milly now lives in LA and travels the world working with multiple billion-dollar businesses.
Here is her Under 25 story!
“My name is Milly Bannister, a digital media expert, podcaster, mentor & girl boss with over 185,000 followers. As the Founder of female-empowerment and education collective, GRLKND, my high-quality curated photos are filtered but my words are not.
I am based in LA and travel the world indefinitely, but I’m still your girl next door. I’ve had the pleasure of working with brands such as BMW, Kia, Google, HSBC, Arnottʼs, LʼOreal, Schick, Olay, Amazon, Nokia. Iʼd love to work with you!
“Milly is a genius when it comes to content creation. Her ability to deliver photos with such panache and elegance is a real art form!” – BMW
In 2017, I left my wonderful life in Australia, full of incredible family and friends to travel the world indefinitely, but Iʼm still your girl next door. Sometimes I work with big brands such as BMW, LʼOreal, Olay, Google, Kia, and sometimes I work with small, local start-ups, but I always support unique, ethical, relevant and female-empowered lifestyle brands for the contemporary young woman.
I am relatable. Iʼm witty. I formulate leading content and delivery strategies for my dedicated audience of females aged 16-24. With a background in photography, a Bachelor’s Degree in journalism/media, and an authentic passion for life, Iʼm an original, professional, thought-provoking, aspirational leader. Iʼm unapologetically Milly!
Real-talk, inspirational, motivational content for young women.
“Milly is the epitome of a virtual BFF. She cultivates a creative community with her articulate, professional, vibrant, larger than life images and connects with the authenticity of what it’s like to be a young woman living in a millennial world. I feel understood, cared for and nurtured. At the very worst, I read, double-tap, comment, and scroll on having learned something new, feeling less alone and inspired. Milly is so real, unapologetic and motivating.”
I started publishing content to social media during my Journalism/Media degree in 2016. Once I graduated in 2017, I had a great public presence, had established myself as an expert in the mentoring space and had already landed multiple brand deals, so I ran with it!”
In a bold move consistent with the nature of Millyʼs fearless mission, GRLKND entered the online education realm for teenage girls in 2018. In a world where everything is designed to make you feel less-than, GRLKND teaches you the rebellious act of loving and accepting yourself. Milly figured out that the vital step before achieving any sort of goal-setting, self-growth and success is GRLKND. This online community, formulated with the professional advice of 15 female industry leaders, is poised to disrupt the silence in which many young women struggle. GRLKND was founded compassionately by Milly, with a social movement in mind, which celebrates and inspires kindness, confidence and self-love.
The GRLKND initiative is the worldʼs first holistic self-growth education community detailed specifically for young, developing females, written by a young female, in an accessible, relatable way.
Following the relentless inundation of cries for help; soul-bearing, advice-seeking communication from young women, Milly decided it was finally time for someone to stand up and do something on a larger to scale, to bring forth the knowledge required to guide these young women back to steadfast self-love and confidence.
Over 11 months, Founder & Director Milly Bannister conducted a multitude of research including surveys and focus groups, to design the most desired, appropriate and practical program outline, before seeking professional contributions from outside her official knowledge obtained from a Bachelorʼs degree in Journalism, Media & Communication and professional experience in the industry, (and personal experience as a young woman).
Traveling between Australia and each coast of the United States, Milly gathered an unparalleled amount of resources to begin writing the GRLKND curriculum in a focused language intended to relate directly to the young female demographic and trigger substantial self-development and lifestyle refinement.
Today, the undeniable love and kindness, having been at the core of the mission, is brought to life through the launch of the GRLKND social movement, which celebrates and inspires kindness, confidence, and self-love.
My goal is to grow my non-profit, GRLKND and host speaker series/ attend speaking events, high schools, and colleges to make an impact on at least 250-500k young women.
“I would choose the wellness industry (including mental health), as even though I touch on it through my current work, I believe it’s the most important knowledge we can acquire as humans! With the majority of us spending so much of our life on screens and indoors, we are so much more susceptible to health downfalls.”
Milly uses her social media influence to help her empower other women with GRLKND. She is undoubtedly making waves in her industry to help inspire other women to set out on their dreams.
The Under 25 section of 1PRCNT is meant to showcase to everyone that there are plenty of young entrepreneurs out in the business world making strides to better themselves and the world around them.
If you are an entrepreneur under the age of 25 and have a story you would like to share then please feel free to email us and we would love to interview you!
