Noor de Groot, a.k.a Queen of Jet Lags. It would be a disgrace if you don’t know her because it would mean that a. you don’t read Amayzine and b. you don’t use Instagram, because not only is Noor the Queen of Jetlags, she is a queen of Instagram too. With 177k followers and the prettiest account you can think of. That’s why we’re super ecstatic to crown her as our pop-up editor this week.
Welcome Noor! You’ve been one of our closest online friends and always up for sending us a look of yours or letting us peek into your designer bags. And this week you’re ours too. Do you actually have any time in your hectic Christmas schedule?
‘I always make time for you guys, we’ve been online BFFs for as long as I can remember. But I have to be honest, this week is an extremely busy one. We’ve been trying to work ahead so we have the holidays off and I won’t have to secretly be checking my phone during family dinners.’
We’ve known you for quite a while and know you well, but we have a confession to make; we don’t know too much about your entry into the digital world because as far as I remember, you had a different college major…
True, I studied Museology. At first glance people always think that it’s something completely different but I view my site as my own personal museum. When I was still a college student I definitely learned a lot about aesthetic quality development, but most of the content is very different. I always adored photography and since I was always on tour with Sander, I always took photos of our lifestyle and all the traveling we did. I posted a lot of these photos on Facebook and figured some people probably hated all my photo spam so I decided to upload everything onto a blog which was the birth of Queen of Jetlags.’
And then suddenly your Instagram account skyrocketed. How do you do it? Become an insta hit?
‘Back when I started blogging and using Instagram, I think it was much easier to distinguish yourself as a blogger. The amount of bloggers with good content was scarce. There were platforms like ootdmagazine and Lookbook for you to upload photos onto and I had already built up quite a following on those sites. They had about a million followers and would feature your looks and account on their platform. Because of all those Insta-features I would gain more followers on my own Instagram account which proved that the snowball effect really works. The more followers you get, the faster new ones would arrive.’
They’ve said that the life of an insta-girl is a lonely one but I have a feeling that that’s a statement you don’t agree with.
‘I’ve actually never heard of that one before. There are definitely girls who spend all day and all night taking photos thinking that they’ll be hoarding likes, but I try to keep it all very simple. If I’m not doing anything fun or interesting, I’ll just post an old photo or nothing at all.’
Take me through a day in the life of Noor. You wake up and then… what does your day look like? And yes, I want to know everything.
‘Oh, I always find this question hard to answer. My work days are never the same. I’m either traveling, which means I’m usually busy shooting and creating content on my laptop or, when I’m in Amsterdam, I start my mornings off in my office answering e-mails. I then check all my social media channels to see how people react to certain posts, I check Google Analytics and I write posts, edit photos and make future plans, and so on. I pretty much have appointments or events every afternoon and then head back to my office afterwards to work until about 7 PM.’
You’ve been able to wear a ton of different labels and you’ve snooped around a lot of designer gear, but picture this, fate has decided that you have to throw out everything you own besides one outfit. What items would you keep?
‘I would definitely keep basics that never go out of fashion; a good pair of jeans, my nude Chanel bag, black ankle boots and a good quality knit and black leather jacket!’
Which bag has your most cherished memory?
‘My black Dior bag which I got about four years ago from my boyfriend on Valentine’s Day when we were traveling through the Middle East.’
So what do you have in store for us this week?
‘I’m going to give you guys a bit of insight as to who I am as a person through interviews, introducing you to my boyfriend and a bunch of personal stories and pictures. I’m looking forward to it!’
Noor de Groot, a.k.a Queen of Jet Lags. It would of course be a disgrace if you don’t know her because that means a. you don’t read Amayzine often or b. you’re not on Instagram, because Noor is not only the Queen of Jet Lags, she is also the queen of Instagram. With 177k followers and the most beautiful account you can imagine. That’s why it is with pleasure and pride that we crown her as our pop-up editor this week.
Noor, rapapa, welcome. You’re our regular friend and never too shy to share a look with us or let us peek into your new designer bag. But this week you’re ours. Did you have time for that in this crazy Christmas period?
‘I always make time for you guys of course, we’ve been online BFFs for so long. I must honestly say that it’s an extremely busy week. We’re also trying to work a bit ahead so that I don’t have to secretly check my phone during family dinners at Christmas.’
We’ve known you for quite a while and well, but we actually don’t even know how it all started with you and the digital world. Because I remember something about you studying something completely different…’
Yes, that’s right, I studied Museology. At first glance, everyone always thinks that it’s completely different, but I actually see my website as my own museum where I am the curator. I did learn a certain way of aesthetic quality development during my studies, but a large part is of course very different in content. I was always completely crazy about photography and because I went on tour with Sander a lot, I took many photos of our lifestyle and the traveling itself. I always posted a lot on Facebook and thought that people might find my photo spam annoying, so I decided to put everything on a blog which became Queen of Jet Lags.’
And then suddenly you became big on Instagram. How does one become that, big on Instagram?
‘In the time when I started blogging and Instagram, I think it was still a bit easier to distinguish yourself as a blogger. There were simply fewer and the girls who made good content were also scarcer. There were many accounts where you could send photos to like ootdmagazine.com and Lookbook, where I already had many followers. Those sites feature your photos and account and they already had a million followers. Because of all those Instagram features, I gained more visibility and followers myself and on Instagram the snowball effect is really happening. The more followers you get, the faster new ones come.’
It is sometimes said that the life of insta-girls is lonely. I think you have a totally different opinion about that.
‘Yes, I’ve actually never really heard that. There are girls who are really busy day and night taking a nice photo that they think will get a lot of likes and maybe go a bit overboard with that, but I always try to think simply about it. If I’m not doing anything fun or interesting, I either post an old photo or just nothing for a day.‘
Take me through an average workday of yours. You wake up and then… What does your day look like? And yes, I want to know everything.
‘Ah, I always find that such a difficult question! Not a workday is the same actually. Either I’m traveling, which usually means I’m more busy shooting and creating content than working behind my laptop or I go, when I’m in Amsterdam, to the office in the morning, where I start by answering emails. After that, I check all my social media channels to see how people react to my new post, I check Google Analytics and I continue with writing posts, editing photos, making new plans, and so on. I almost go out every afternoon for appointments or events and then I go back to the office later in the afternoon to work until about 7 PM.’
You’ve been able to wear a lot of different labels and have snooped around a lot of designer gear, but imagine, fate wants you to keep only one outfit of everything you have. Which items would that be?
‘Those would be basics that never go out of style: a nice pair of jeans, my nude Chanel bag, black ankle boots, a good quality knit, and a black leather jacket!’
Which bag holds your dearest memory?
‘My black Dior bag that I got four years ago on Valentine’s Day from my boyfriend when we were traveling in the Middle East.’
What are you going to do for us this week?
‘You’re going to get to know me better this week through interviews, an introduction to my boyfriend, and a bunch of personal stories and photos. I’m looking forward to it!’
