Victoria Hargreaves is an Instagram influencer with over 96,000 followers better known as thecraftyfox.uk. Described as ‘unfiltered thoughts from a potty mouthed Mama navigating the peaks and troughs of parenthood’ we have watched Victoria’s influence rise since we first met her at HERlarious over a year ago. She returns as one of our guest panellists at the next HERlarious – Comedy, Wellbeing and Confidence for Creatives on Wednesday 13th November at LinkedIn’s London headquarters. Here’s a taste of more to come!
Funny Women: We met you at the first HERlarious event a year ago. Did this help or inspire you?
Victoria Hargreaves: Absolutely! I’m not a very confident person, and the thought of public speaking usually makes me want to vomit but I came away from the event having performed my first ever improvised ‘sketch’ in front of a room full of strangers – totally scared the shit out of me but gave me such a buzz and left me feeling more confident about my capabilities and wanting more!
FW: How did you get started with your public profile as a social media influencer and how much of this is based on the ‘real’ Victoria?
VH: I started my account on maternity leave with my first child as a means of escapism from the mundanity and boredom of motherhood. I started sharing funny moments and anecdotes from my day to day life with a baby and soon found myself a part of a community of like-minded women, trying to survive being a parent and seeing the funny side of life. I’ve never been anything but myself, but unlike ‘real’ life where I often feel like I have to be a filtered version of myself to be socially accepted, my account is the raw deal with no fear of judgement!
FW: When did you realise that The Crafty Fox was really taking off?
VH: I can’t really pinpoint an exact moment because it’s grown pretty steadily, but I’d say my following started to change and become more ‘mum’ heavy when I shared my gender reveal video which involved me shooting a confetti cannon and a doll out my vagina to announce the sex of my little girl. I saw a massive surge in followers and had a few of the large ‘Mum’ accounts follow me off the back of it.
FW: What did you do before becoming a social media influencer?
VH: I still work full time in admin but I’m on maternity leave.
FW: Have you always used humour and have you any background in comedy or performance?
VH: I have no professional experience of comedy or performance, I just love to dick about and make people laugh. It’s helped that both my parents are hilarious so I grew up with the ability to see the funny side of any situation, no matter how shit, and hone the ability to take the piss out of myself with gusto.
FW: How do you find juggling the demands of family with being an influencer with such a huge following?
VH: It can be tricky, especially when I’m working with brands and I have deadlines but the baby/toddler is teething/sick/generally being a bellend and demanding my full attention. But I make it work by locking myself in the bathroom for an hour and working in the evening and during naps. My husband is a brilliant support on this front and gives me time to work when I need to.
FW: What does your husband/partner and kids think about The Crafty Fox?!!!
VH: The little ones are too young to understand but my husband is my number one fan. He’s been such a massive champion of The Crafty Fox and encourages me every single day. He also helps with the production of my videos a lot of the time and even makes the odd guest appearance.
FW: How many followers do you now have across all social media platforms and how often do you post?
VH: I have 96K followers on Instagram and it’s the only platform I use. I post on average twice a week but I do stories almost daily.
FW: What advice would you give to anybody who wants to become an influencer?
VH: All of this has happened by accident, I’ve never had a ‘strategy’ to become an influencer. I guess my advice would to be authentic – don’t try to fit in or to portray the perfect, ideal ‘Instagram’ life – people are getting a bit sick of that now. Honesty and authenticity seem to be the key!
To meet Victoria in person join us on Wednesday 13th November for HERlarious – Comedy, Wellbeing and Confidence for Creatives from 6.00-9.00pm. Book here.
