Our series “The Idea That Changed His Life”
At the age when her high school classmates would negotiate going out for a few hours, she shuttled between pubs and “filming” “Evenings on Barges” to Paris with other stars of the web. Since adolescence, Zoe Tondut has been getting paid for posting photos and videos on social networks. Dozens of brands invite her to exotic locations and social gatherings. At 22, “Juste Zoë,” as she calls herself, is already addicted to the high life.
On this June morning, the social media pro is wearing a lightweight white top. The young woman became a VIP even before leaving her high school in Angers (Maine-et-Loire). In 2017, he published a book about his life, from the age of sixteen. This minor publishing success sold over 13,000 and began a tour of bookstores in France. On each date, everyone is surrounded by “hundreds” of fans.
Today, the influencer has around 4 million subscribers across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Mostly girls his age. Away from the glitz and glam sold by Dubai and other content makers, Zoey is simple, without scandals, without “bad buzz” or conflict. In the image, ultimately, of the girls who follow her. The recipe for its success? Zoey shouts: “I arrived just in time. I liked filming and it worked out. ,
“We couldn’t believe it,” says his mother Adele.
At 13, alone in her room, this teenager like the others – mother nurse, father doctor – publishes her first video on her pet shop, the little figurines of animals we break in playgrounds. “I stopped showing my head, I reproduced fashionable challenges and I started shooting my beauty”, says the eldest of a sibling of four children, a little embarrassed by these amateurish beginnings.
In 2015, a humorous makeup video would help her celebrate her 10,000 subscribers: “She buzzed and over 500,000 views. It was amazing! The first invitations and partnership offers fall. First salary too. “At first, we didn’t believe it. We were very surprised to see that she could make money,” says Adele, her mother, who now has a part-time job at her daughter’s company to manage the accounts.
At that time there was a flurry of successes on YouTube. Like other rising celebrities – Sundi Jules, Sullivan Gwedd or Clara Marz -, Zoey soon takes on major projects. Within a few years, the brown-haired teen with the physical appearance of a good friend becomes a hottie. She publishes several magazines, diaries featuring her image, puts her name on “two collections of bags” and lends her image to a global poster campaign for a British ready-to-wear brand. In October 2022, his fully made-up face was pasted in the corridors of the Paris Metro during a collaboration with a jeweler.
several tens of thousands of euros for materials
Within the walls of her Parisian apartment, she has just packed her suitcase: Zoë has been invited for two nights in Tarn by a beauty brand of which she is the “ambassador”. Staying in Hawaii, Singapore, Coachella in California, Roland-Garros or going to the NRJ Music Awards… “I never stay in the same city for more than two days! she laughs. Last week, she was still walking the streets of Santorini in Greece, before heading to Angers and the island of Ray for the weekend, where her family lives.
Every day, the influencer with smartphone in hand alternates between his personal publications and publications ordered by advertisers to present their products. In turn, the fees set by its two agents can reach several tens of thousands of euros. All have been paid into the coffers of a company set up for her by her parents in late 2016.
Zoey prefers to be discreet with these amounts. She claims to pay herself a “reasonable salary”, without revealing an exact amount for fear of a negative impact on her image. Two years ago, an influential person bought a three-room apartment in Angers. She recently rented a beautiful 70 square meter apartment in Paris. Its rooms are still empty. “I didn’t have time to fix it,” she apologizes.
Youth not keeping pace with others
You just have to scroll through her pictures to see the rhythm of her life. First time on an Australian fine sand beach. Another one with singer Ed Sheeran. Or this one, all in sequins, on the steps of the Cannes Film Festival. Behind this crystal, the girl admits to walking in step with her friends outside the world of influence. No college days or student parties: “I can’t go because everyone recognizes me. ,
On the social network, Zoey’s life has some secrets. Tales about her family, stories during her many train journeys, videos of her returning from a three-month trip in tears… “She shows a lot of things and sometimes she has the impression that she has to justify herself if she wants to keep some of them”, confirms one of her friends, Clémence Bertrand, also an influential person.
Since high school, Zoë has been 100% devoted to her business. Now his goal: to keep up with the times. To achieve this, it intends to “professionalise its content” online with a dedicated production and editing team, before building one or more companies within “three or four years”. No exact idea at the moment. The young entrepreneur is relative. After all she is only 22 years old.