Concerted Effort: sseoul.sam’s Journey
Source: Samantha Voon
Samantha attends girl group IVE's Show What I Have Encore concerts in Seoul in August 2024, months after attending the Singapore stop in February 2024.
Concert and travel vlogs, video calls with K-pop idols who recognise her, product unboxings… Samantha Voon is leading the life that many would envy.
Samantha, or @sseoul.sam, is a local K-pop, K-travel and K-beauty content creator in her early 20s, who has over 58,000 and 19,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok respectively.
But how’d she get to where she is, and what’s the content creation life like? I caught up with her over a video call to find out more.
At 16, Samantha had a passion for videography, and decided to pursue a diploma in film studies, before obtaining a degree in mass communications majoring in journalism, developing skills in filming and video editing along the way.
“I started as a content creator in December 2021, right after the COVID-19 pandemic, when I flew to Korea for a month for my graduation trip and started to post some travel videos. For quite some time, I posted very casually just for fun, and only started to get more serious from 2023 onwards, posting regularly for about a year now,” Samantha shares from her home, which was decorated with BLACKPINK posters and POP MART’s trendy Labubu dolls.
Along the way, she’s gotten plenty of interactions with K-pop idols, and she actually danced with one back in 2022.
Source: Samantha Voon
Samantha at one of Chung Ha's fansigns in 2022.
This happened while she was undergoing summer school at Hanyang University in Seoul, Samantha attended a signing event, or “fansign”, for soloist Chung Ha.
Samantha recalls that, during the fansign, a fan in his military uniform asked Chung Ha if he could do a dance challenge with her. Chung Ha agreed, and invited more fans to join them, so Samantha seized the opportunity as she knew the choreography.
And if that wasn’t good enough, it happened again at another fansign, with both instances being captured and shared on Chung Ha’s official social media platforms!
Speaking of fansigns, when I first met Samantha in June 2024, we were at a fansign she was covering which featured Kiss of Life, a rising rookie girl group who were in Singapore to promote their then-newest release, Midas Touch.
The track is based on a term that nowadays, refers to the ability to effortlessly make everything one is involved with successful: something many associate content creators with, given the perfect lives they seem to lead on social media.
However, for Samantha at least, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.
Source: Samantha Voon
Samantha falls asleep while waiting for her parents, at a hotel lobby in Korea after a tiring day of K-pop activities.
Source: Samantha Voon
Samantha at the Jentle Salon pop-up at Marina Bay Sands in April 2024, which featured sunglasses that were designed by BLACKPINK's Jennie and fashion eyewear brand Gentle Monster.
“This isn’t really talked about much, but there’s so much going on behind-the-scenes and I hope in the future, people can be more respectful towards seeing being an influencer and content creator as a genuine profession. It’s not easier than other people’s jobs; it’s equally as challenging, I would say.”
Samantha, who also works full-time as a content specialist in a media and marketing agency, explains that, off-camera, there’s plenty of unseen factors in the industry that need to be considered when planning content. Factors like politics, brand or client requirements, and influencer competition. And that’s not including the personal expenses and annual leave she sacrifices to attend events and create content, in Singapore and overseas.
“I think people think I’m earning big bucks from content creation, but genuinely, I’m not,” Samantha confesses during our conversation, half-jokingly comparing her side hustle to an unpaid job.
On weekdays, Samantha gets up at around 6 to 7am, editing videos for a few hours until her full-time job takes over from 10am to 7pm. Afterwards, she’ll have dinner before shooting and editing content, ending the day at 1 to 2am. Her weekends are often occupied with events like concerts, fanmeets, photoshoots and brand events.
“So many times, I wanted to give up. It was always a constant battle, wanting to give up either my job or content creation to make my life easier. Sometimes I question why I make my life difficult myself, but I continue pushing through because it’s my passion,” Samantha says.
Despite her hectic schedule, Samantha is grateful her full-time job provides her with flexibility over the brand deals she can accept as a content creator, as she chooses not to promote products she doesn’t personally use or believe in.
Beyond that, she also finds the time to give back to her audience and the K-wave community, through means like organising events, or making freebies for fans who may not be able to purchase official merchandise.
In October, she organised an event to celebrate the 32nd birthday of her idol and Queen of Tears actress, Kim Jiwon, at The Tree Cafe in Marina Square. The event, which saw Samantha connecting with her audience and Kim Jiwon fans, required over two months of preparation.
Though it wasn’t easy, Samantha said she wanted to host the event for local fans, and felt touched that she brought together a community of fans who love Kim Jiwon and K-pop.
When asked why she admires the Descendants of the Sun star, Samantha explains: “I really like Jiwon a lot because of her personality. I think her introverted personality is really cute, and the way she is so kind to her fans and staff is what made me like her a lot.”
Additionally, Samantha enjoys going out of her way to support lesser-known K-pop artists, believing that they too deserve encouragement from fans. She recounts a memory from August 2024, when she flew to Korea and attended rookie group UNIS’ fansign.
Knowing that member Gehlee’s birthday fell on the next day, Samantha made sure Gehlee felt appreciated, showering her with love and plenty of gifts so she didn’t feel left out. Samantha also unexpectedly bumped into Gehlee’s parents afterwards, who thanked her for supporting Gehlee after hearing of Samantha’s story and passions.
“UNIS is a K-pop girl group that debuted from a survival show called ‘Universe Ticket’. The members are all relatively young, and I can’t imagine having to start a career and go through all of that stress and pressure from such a young age,” gushes Samantha about the girl group whose ages from 13 to 23.
Fast forward to November 2024, Samantha wins a video call with UNIS… and Gehlee recognises her! As a testament to the impact of Samantha’s work and how far she’s come, Gehlee even stated that she has seen Samantha’s videos, leaving Samantha visibly elated.
Elaborating on the experience, Samantha says: “Honestly, I didn’t expect Gehlee to remember me as it is only our second time meeting. But the fact that she remembered me goes to show how idols really treasure and appreciate their fans.”
As for what the future holds, Samantha intends on closing 2024 by organising more year-end pop-ups, before producing more travel content in 2025, primarily in Korea and Thailand. Further down the line, she hopes to start her own company that can provide her with more flexibility over her work and content creation.
Through our conversation, I’ve definitely learnt a lot more about Samantha and what it takes to become a content creator. Though many online often feel envious of influencers and chalk up their success to luck, handling this profession is no easy feat. Samantha certainly has had her fair share of difficulties, sacrifices and hate comments, but despite all that, she still has a heart of gold, choosing to give back to the community that has supported her along the way.
“I really enjoy making videos, so I started creating content as a hobby. I didn’t expect that it would grow into what it is now, but for that, I always feel really thankful and appreciative that people actually enjoy watching the content I create.”
