Marcel Winatschek

Jen Selter

Around 2013 or so, Instagram figured out that fitness content could drive attention like almost nothing else. Jen Selter was the person everyone noticed first—just a young woman posting workout videos, nothing revolutionary, but then Rihanna followed her account and suddenly she was a moment.

Not a movie star, not a traditional celebrity, but someone the algorithm had decided was interesting enough to show to millions of people. That’s where Instagram was heading, and she was the vanguard of it. The sponsorship deals and brand partnerships came after that, inevitable really. She became proof of concept for an entire economy that didn’t exist yet.