By Nicole S. Daniel
Birmingham Times
Becoming a social media influencer is almost possible for anyone with an online presence, but one aspect is often overlooked – contracts.
Kameron Monet Buckner is a Birmingham attorney, influencer marketing consultant, lifestyle content creator and owner of Kameron Monet LLC, which covers all of his businesses.
We help our clients review, edit, draft and consult on contracts for brand deals, modeling opportunities, digital media opportunities, management and more. “The goal is to make sure they understand what they’re signing.” Buckner said.
Contracts are new to many in the influencer space, he said. “While I was working [a Birmingham law firm] Buckner, who became a YouTuber in 2014, said: “I started looking into my own contracts when companies were sending him products to promote on their YouTube channels.”
While attending Cumberland Law School between 2016 and 2017, she learned how to read and draft contracts. “Some of my friends who were creators wanted me to review their contracts and they asked me how much I would charge for reviewing contracts and I said, ‘I won’t.’ I understood that there is a demand.”
Buckner said many creators are complaining online about not getting paid, and “I said if you all just review and negotiate your contracts, it will all be solved.”
He added: “Tik Tok creators are promoting other brands every day but they can’t pay their rent. People don’t understand the importance of contracts and protecting themselves – that’s where I come in.
In addition to helping creators land deals, Buckner is an influencer and creator of lifestyle content covering topics such as fashion, beauty and self-care.
Buckner said being a lifestyle lawyer allows him to show behind the scenes what a non-traditional lawyer does on a daily basis. “It can be like showing off work from home clothes by working in office clothes. It just depends on where I am in life.”
Currently, she is on a self-care journey that she shares with her audience where she shares places she travels, workout routines, and productivity with over 130,000 followers, 50,000 Instagram followers, and 80,000 YouTube followers. “That’s the stage I’m in right now. Next year it might be something completely different, and that’s the flexibility to do the lifestyle.”
Buckner says his daily routine is different and has changed since becoming an entrepreneur. He wakes up around 6:30 a.m. and works out at True40 Fitness Studio in downtown Birmingham.
“My mornings are mine. I have to have time for the day. I don’t talk to anyone until after 10 a.m. I go through my to-do list for the week to see what needs to be done. I shoot for YouTube. I get ready and that includes getting my clothes ready and doing my makeup. After that, I check my emails. From 10am to 12am I’m filming content for YouTube or Instagram. Have lunch alone or with friends And I will be in touch the rest of the day.”
Asked what inspires him on a daily basis, he replied: “I would say two things. The first thing that comes to my mind is my audience, there’s no better feeling than getting a direct message or a comment where someone says, “I’m 35 and I applied to law school because you showed me I could, I thought That’s it. Late. Or people who say, “I went on a solo date night and I can’t remember the last time I got myself anywhere. I love my husband, but I needed a break.
Comments like those just remind me why I do what I do. I do this because my goal is to always inspire and motivate others to work hard and work light and make self-care a priority, that’s all. The second is financial stability. There will always be a salary bar. There’s always a ceiling in a career… but as an entrepreneur, seeing how much money people can make has been inspiring to me. It seemed impossible but I earn more money. And of course my goal is to like to retire my mom because who wouldn’t want to do that?
Being on stage
Buckner was born in New York and raised in Flint, Michigan in a single-parent household with his mother, Michelle. Buckner’s mother involved him in theater programs throughout his childhood. She was involved in Flint Youth Theater, local community theaters and was a part of her middle and high school theaters.
Buckner said being in the theater “felt good.”
“Behind the scenes, in front of the camera and learning about the camera equipment was a lot of fun. It’s something about filmmaking versus performing arts. If something goes wrong, you have to figure it out. I love the thrill of not knowing the performance, but it always went well. “It was always fun and always different,” Buckner said.
I have been in the theater since I could walk. I just loved being on stage. I did mostly musical theater like Shakespeare.
He happens to be a lawyer, and he said, “I think you’d do well in law.” “Absolutely not, that’s boring,” Buckner recalls telling him.
White reminded him that he loved reading and writing plays and was also convincing on stage. I told him, “Oh, you’re right, so I’ll give it a try.”
Buckner enrolled in mock trial classes and fell in love, which led him to join the school’s mock trial team, where students could simulate a real trial during their studies. “I actually write my personal statement with the same feeling I had on the theater stage when I was defending my clients in court.”
Buckner graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in criminology.
He took a year off from school and interned at a debt collection firm. It was horrible, but I loved the people. It was a great learning experience,” he said
At that time, Buckner did not know many lawyers and judges and used this opportunity to build his network. I learned the structure of what law firms actually do and are not like [the television show] law and order Doing research and working with a group of people who provide customer service is literally upside down.
Buckner was able to obtain several internships related to debt collection and personal injury. She knew it would make her resume stand out and soon landed a full-time job at a law firm as a legal assistant and receptionist.
The lawyers there knew I wanted to go to law school. They let me shadow them and sit on depositions, do legal research and write, edit and proofread various complaints and drafts, she said, while taking the LSAT, a standardized college admissions test. I was studying law.
“Studying for the LSAT was challenging for me because I think I underestimated it a little bit. I’ve never been good at standardized tests. The first time I took it I just wanted to see how I did it. I don’t know why I did it, but the second time I took it, the preparation I had more.”
Buckner says he wasn’t good with timing. He felt that it took too long to read and answer the questions.
Cumberland Law School
Eventually, while working, he applied to 11 law schools and was accepted to 7, including Cumberland Law School in Homewood, AL, where the school invited him and other students to an admitted student’s weekend.
Buckner describes his first day on campus for a tour as a family feeling. “I just loved the sense of community,” he said.
Although Buckner had no family in Alabama, he packed up in Georgia and moved to a community just 15 minutes away from Cumberland, where he began his studies in the fall of 2016.
“Honestly, I didn’t get to see how beautiful the city was because I spent so much time studying on campus in the library. It was a great study environment, and I knew I was there for one reason, to focus.
In her second year of law school, she worked with Lynys Washington, who had just been elected DA in Bessemer.
“It was the best experience of my life. I love him. I also worked at the DA’s office in Birmingham so I could see both sides. I wanted to be a DA at the time, but maybe in another life.” Buckner laughed.
He graduated from law school in May 2019 and passed the bar in July of the same year. In 2020, during the pandemic, Buckner quit the 9-5 to be a full-time content creator, while using his law degree to help other content creators navigate the rules of brand deals.
This is another one of my proudest moments. Just having a lot of faith to do it. I was in the game as a lawyer for a year, but I had to trust myself. “I’ve never been a risk taker, but it’s still crazy to me to give up my job and bet on myself in that situation.”
One of Buckner’s goals is to hold a TED Talk, an event that includes a series of short prepared talks, demonstrations, and performances on a wide range of topics. I love speaking and presenting. It brings me back to the performing arts. “I love being on stage and engaging the audience.”
One of his ultimate goals is to create a law book on influencer marketing and social media. “There are none, so this is the best time to write,” he said.
Buckner can be found on social media on Instagram @kameronmo