Rebel, a US university now offers a degree in becoming an influencer, price tag attached. AMS coach Paulina Folaron joins Fab to unpack the $142K influencer marketing degree, why influencing has always been real work, and a price anchoring campaign worth celebrating.
About Paulina Folaron
Paulina Folaron is passionate about anti-hustle ways of working, helping people scale their businesses and streamline operations. She specialises in analytics and creating sustainable marketing strategies that prevent the dreaded digital burnout, helping her clients build businesses without being on all the platforms, all the time.
- Website: paulinafsolutions.com
- Instagram: Click here
A $142,860 Degree In Being An Influencer
Arizona State University now runs a Content Creation BA, and it comes with a price tag most marketing degrees don’t.
- The degree runs around $142,860 over four years, with the final project being: grow a real social following
- 57% of Gen Z say they want to be an influencer, so the demand for a formal path clearly exists
- The open question Fab and Paulina sit with: is this capitalism commodifying the dream of internet fame, or genuine legitimacy for work that has always been real?
Influencing Was Always Real Work, It Just Wasn’t Taken Seriously
Long before it had a degree attached, influencing was dismissed as a joke job.
- Peoplecoded it as a “joke job”, disproportionately done by young women, and dismissed along the way
- The same work gets rebranded and taken seriously the moment it becomes a book, a podcast or a coaching business
- A university degree is an interesting, gendered flip on a job that was mocked for so long
- Paulina and Fab’s read: the skills were always real, it is the labelling that has finally caught up
The Price Anchoring Campaign Worth Celebrating
Not every price trick is worth celebrating, but Paulina makes the case for one that is.
- IKEA Belgium’s “moment price” campaign priced products down to the cost per use, like a sofa at a fraction of a cent per jump for joy
- It is price anchoring done well: playful, transparent about the maths, and it never feels manipulative
- Paulina’s takeaway: anchoring isn’t inherently icky, the difference is whether the comparison respects the customer or tries to trick them
Influencing has always been real work. Whether a $142K degree makes that more legitimate, or just more expensive, is the conversation worth having.
Paulina’s back a few weeks later in our episode on rust out, burnout’s quieter cousin, if you want more from her.
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