For some, passionate hobbies have a way of resonating and becoming new careers. Such is the case for Sallys Sneakers, the popular sneaker influencer who launched her homonymous Instagram account just three years ago. Now boasting over 280,000 followers, Sally shares her beautiful sneaker attic, on foot pics, and unboxings with the world on a daily basis. Her collection is extensive, but it’s the embrace of her own personal style and interest that have made her a bright and powerful female voice in the male-dominated sneaker space.
Originally intended as a fun side project, Sally started her Instagram account while pursuing a career in psychology. Prior to graduating with her master’s degree, she even played professional basketball in Copenhagen for a short period of time. Her wide breadth of experiences in different professional domains is astounding. A subtle polymath.
Because of her professional aspirations, Sally decided to keep her identity private. But as the account exploded, and quickly became her new full time job, so did the questions about who she really was. In the interest of trying to connect on a deeper level with her audience, she officially revealed her face for the first time earlier this year. Since then, Sally has continued opening up about her personal life in deeper ways, speaking directly to her Persian heritage and convictions. After appearing in StockX’s new commercial, we sat down with her to talk about flying to Mexico City for the shoot, how she owns her craft, and keeping things fun in order to maintain her authentic self.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
StockX: How was your trip to Mexico City?
Sally: I loved it. I’ve never even been to the states. So Mexico is probably the furthest I’ve ever been away from home. For me, visiting Mexico gives you cultural value in a different manner than just sitting at home in your own little square and not seeing how other people live or eat. It was very giving to just be able to see and appreciate life and see how other people live.
Until relatively recently, you’ve been deliberate about not showing your face in your content. That ended up being a big part of StockX’s Own It campaign as well. How did you feel about that as it relates to the campaign and why was something you stuck to for so long?
The “Own It” campaign was a fun way of kind of like going back a month because I had recently done the reveal. So it was actually weird for me going back to the same scenario, but it’s a big part of who I am and I think it’s a good model that you don’t have to see someone’s face to know who they are necessarily. It doesn’t matter at all because we’re all interested in the same thing, in community and in sneakers.
I’ve always had two reasons when people ask me why I’ve hid my face. People always make it about confidence or self-esteem and it had nothing to do with that. The first reason is that when I studied and was writing my thesis, I had a vision of what I wanted to do for work. And I wanted to work with kids. Denmark is a small country, the city I live in is small; I didn’t want it to clash with social media and my authority as a psychologist. I wanted to be able to work with kids and I wanted them to respect me, not as Sallys Sneakers because I know a lot of kids like sneakers and fan-girl that part, but I just wanted my work to be authentic.
My second reason has always been that it doesn’t matter how you look. You can literally, in the space of sneakers, you can be whoever you want to without having to think about that. I think Sally Sneakers was a statement as well that you can be cool, you can grow a platform and you can be whoever you want to be without having to look a certain way.
For me, it was a big statement. [Sallys Sneakers] wasn’t about my face. It never was, it was about the connection I had with my following, with the people in the community.
How did you maintain such an identifiable identity through Sally Sneakers without revealing your face?
I think for me it became about finding things that were part of me. How could I stand out through colored socks or anklets? It started like a whole trend back in 2019, because I was like, I need something to make my pictures scream, “this is Sally” without having a face on it. And then by spicing up with jewelry and transparency, different colored socks, stuff like that.
So, yeah. I think the “Own It” campaign was cool because you could clearly see that with the Sallys Sneakers pose and with maybe even the stuff I’m wearing, that’s Sally and that’s my ponytail. I’ve always had signature stuff.
So, so You can look at a dozen other things and at the end of the day, we’re all united and about one thing, we are all interested in the same thing, regardless of our interest, of our personal hobbies, of who we actually are or how we look.
Who or what has inspired your personal style?
That’s a good question. I don’t know if it’s anyone specific. I think I am most inspired when I actually go out. But I think in the world of social media, you get influenced by a lot of people subconsciously without knowing. Social media is a big part of it as well. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t. I’m only influenced by buildings and nature. And so that’s not true. I get inspired every day by people around me, even by my mom, my sisters, my general family and friends. I am inspired by so many things. Inspired by my friends. Inspired by my social media friends. Inspired by my family.
You’ve created a highly engaged community around your personal style and interests, tell us about what it means for you to own this space?
It means a lot. It means a lot that people follow me for my style and for what I do. But I think for me, it’s also important that people have gradually gotten to know me for who I am. And I think when I started, I had a very set point on the fact that I did not want people to know who I am. I just wanted to be kind of like this mannequin that got dressed and wore shoes and styled them because that was my sole purpose. But I think gradually as you grow, you want people, or you want your social media identity to kind of resonate with the person you actually are.
I feel like it makes me very happy that I’ve been able to build the following I have and that I have so many people looking up to me. But I think with time, it’s gotten more important for me that people actually see me for who I am as a person, a woman. I want to be a forerunner for women in the community. I want to make an influence when it comes to being an ethnic minority and a woman in this space. Yeah, I think for me, that’s what matters.
How do you ensure that you’re being as authentic as possible through your work and in your community?
That’s a very good question. When I realize that sometimes it gets too much like it’s work, like every other person I get tired. And I think when I start perceiving my job as not being fun or forced, it feels inauthentic. So I think a big part of me staying authentic is both keeping my feet on the ground and staying true to who I actually am. I’ve always been very me in everything I do and yeah, I think the main thing is probably just sticking to trying to keep it fun somewhat, even though it’s a job. I know that I have a lot of people that look up to me, the younger generation, so staying authentic. It’s never really something I’ve thought a lot about. I just feel like it’s something that follows me very naturally.
How has boldly embracing yourself, your own interests and your personal style, made you feel more empowered as a creator?
I think it’s given me the confidence to be comfortable in who I am. I think what I have done as Sallys Sneakers has definitely given me more backbone and confidence in terms of what I am able to achieve. And that is not necessarily something that is good, because I should just have that power within me regardless. But knowing that a lot of people look up to you and expect something from you and having people in your community empower you gives you the power to be who you want to be, to feel accepted.
How do you feel that being your personal self has given you the opportunities to create spaces for other people to be themselves in your community?
I’ve had a lot of people coming to me being like “Sally, thank you for building the platform that you have, because you have given me the confidence to do social media without a face.” A lot of people DMed me like, “You doing this without a face has given me the courage to believe that I can do the same thing.” And I’ve had a lot of women especially, because it can be difficult for women to feel like they have a place in this sneaker community. So I think by being a voice of women and being fully me, I am hoping I can influence other women and men to feel like they can be themselves as well without thinking about their appearance or less important things. I always have conversations with my following about being authentic to yourself.
I get the question a lot, “How do you start?” And my answer will always be that you have fun with it because that was how I started. It started for me authentically. I never intended for it to be a job or I never thought in my wildest dream, I would be where I am. Even [starting to] work with StockX back in 2019, that was a dream for me. I jumped up and down. I hope that I can have the effect on people that look up to me, that they can do the same thing. I can give them that reassurance.
