Join us for our Soulful Sessions with Sally on July 14 - RSVP & Register here

When Sally Javadi’s parents immigrated from Iran to Denmark, her mum was given a choice: she could either go into the medical profession, or she could focus on raising her children, but she couldn’t do both. It’s a scenario that feels a long way from Sally’s own experience, who studied psychology at degree level all while building a sneakerhead Instagram account that, today, is a fully-fledged business with over 281K followers and counting. And though it may seem a far cry from the academic study of how our minds work, the skills required to build such a dedicated following do seem to require a few psychological sleights of hand: for one, Sally’s users feel like they can relate to her on a personal level, even though she has always kept her face hidden in her artistically-assembled posts.

“I’m the youngest in my family. My parents are Persian. They came to Denmark back in the 80s from Iran. My mom was 19 at the time, and she had my oldest sister with them, who was a baby. They had an incredibly hard journey, all on foot, and they got their money stolen by smugglers. It was really difficult. Education has always been very important to my Mum, because she had to put aside a lot of her own dreams and ambitions.

“When I was older, I wanted to study psychology, so I worked really hard. But when I got in to university to do so, I remember telling my Mum, ‘I can't be the bookworm I was in high school, because it's all too much. If I have to manage university flawlessly, I'm never gonna be able to make it.’ So I had a different mentality going into university.

“The year I was finishing my degree, I had a high school friend come over, to check out my sneaker collection. We had just found out that both of us were into the same thing. She was speechless! Like, ‘Sally, why don't you share your sneaker collection, you probably have one of the wildest collections here in Denmark.’ I've always been into fashion, I've always collected and loved sneakers. I was hesitant – I was afraid that it might compromise my integrity and authority in being a psychologist. And, I've always appreciated having my privacy. So we had the idea to keep it anonymous. She gave me the tools to do it. It was a lot of work, but I would say that at that time, the algorithm was a lot fairer.

“Soon, I had crazy engagement and crazy growth. Sneaker culture is still very small in Denmark, so for me it was insane to have the opportunity just to speak with people that had the same interest as myself. My friend got a job in a different city, so I started doing the posts on my own. And though at the time I was still writing my thesis, I felt like the creative world of Instagram, and my sneakers, became my free space. And the idea of me being able to make a career from it and actually build a brand became more and more realistic.

“I still keep my identity hidden, but that's just because I'm waiting on the right opportunity to step out. With building a brand, for me, it's very important that I can bring my duality and my ethnicity. I want my reveal to be meaningful, and to be a part of me and who I am.” – Sally Javadi

1) What does a typical day look like for you?

Well, waking up and drinking coffee is the first thing! And then usually, if I know I'm busy and booked for the week and have a lot to do, I try to do content in advance. But I also like to be inspired day-to-day, so doing content in advance can sometimes be a mood kill. I also usually have a chat with my agency, which is actually based in London. I speak with them about the plans and agreements we have with brands. And just spending time with my friends and family. Currently looking after our new puppy, as well! As a creative, it's important to kind of have a bit of structure to not become too stressed.

2) One thing you wish you'd known when you were starting out?

I think that it's very important that you remember to do what you want and what you love, and not just living up to what your followers are expecting from you because it can easily become very centered around likes. There is a lot of gatekeeping in the community, especially by older men that feel entitled and like not everyone is allowed to collect sneakers.

3) Who is someone on-the-rise in your field you think people should know about?

Nadia Idder is my good friend, she’s from the Netherlands. She's great. We spend a lot of time discussing different matters, and talking about releases, what to get and what not to get. It’s very important to have someone around you that has an understanding of your work and what you do.

- Written by Claire Marie Healy

Join us for our Soulful Sessions with Sally on July 14 - RSVP & Register here

Featured