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Emilia Taneva, a beautiful Bulgarian import, has managed to organically amass a whopping 655K+ Instagram followers at her handle @bubbly.moments in just a year and a half! Her luxury lifestyle blog by the same name is also exploding —resulting in major corporate sponsors from Clinique and Olay to Pantene, Macy's, and FabFitFun to line up to work with her. Turning her passion for travel into her own cottage industry, Emilia has circled the globe in rarefied luxury, chronicling her adventures draped in the latest fashion and accessories. What's more impressive, is that she has managed to accomplish this in parallel to a thriving career as an orthodontist and expert on dental genetics. Originally a successful dentist in her native, Bulgaria, Emilia came to the United States on a student visa to get her orthodontics degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Along the way, she fell deeply in love with her now husband, and her brand, Bubbly Moments, was born out of the pair's penchant for romantic globetrotting. In this interview, Emilia Taneva shares her story and her well-honed tips for achieving superstar blogger and social media status. When you got your student visa to come to the states to study dentistry, had you also set your sights on being an entrepreneur and social media influencer, or did that come after? Emilia Taneva: That came later on. I came here to study orthodontics. I was already a dentist in my native, Bulgaria. About three years ago, my husband and I were traveling a lot and I had a lot of content that I realized I could use. Traveling was always one of my passions. I saw other people doing their blogs and realized that I could turn this into a brand and make it a source of income. At the time, I was following a few bloggers, namely, @nomadicmatt and @theblondeabroad. I was focused on the website first and then came Instagram. How did you put your team together to build and optimize your blog, BubblyMoments.com? ET: I have website design experience going back many years, so I was able to do everything myself. I've built other websites in the past, and I love the technical part of working on my website. I studied, I Googled, and I read a lot of manuals about SEO. It's a field that is changing constantly, so I am always brushing up on the latest trends and methods. People want to know how you managed to grow your Instagram following to over 650K followers in such a short period of time. What's your secret? ET: It's important to have a niche when you are first building your following. Figure out what you are passionate about. Is it beauty, fashion, food, travel? Invest a great deal of time. I spend 4 or 5 hours per day just reviewing photos that are going to be published on Instagram, and I invested my own finances to build this brand. Just like with any other brand or business, if you want it to be successful, you have to treat it like a business and put in the time. After your following grows you can expand and start posting images that reflect other parts of your life and other interests.