# The Materialist : Laura Herbert

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-materialist-a-podcast-from-at-present-7020202/the-materialist-laura-herbert
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-materialist-a-podcast-from-at-present-7020202/the-materialist-laura-herbert.md
Podcast: [The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-materialist-a-podcast-from-at-present-7020202)
Published: 2025-09-02T23:36:31+00:00
Episode link: https://atpresent.substack.com/p/the-materialist-laura-herbert
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/172617459/f4cab93b0739c910b7130ac8412f3d04.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-materialist-a-podcast-from-at-present-7020202/episodes/the-materialist-laura-herbert
Duration seconds: 3020

## Resource

On Instagram, it looks effortless: the infinity pools in the Maldives, the safari sunsets in South Africa, the couture fit checks against a perfect backdrop. Laura and Nicolas Herbert — known to their hundreds of thousands of followers as @laurandnicolas — seem to embody the ultimate lifestyle: global travel, editorial style, and a business powered by beauty. But as Laura reveals in this week’s episode of The Materialist , the dream is much more complicated. From Antwerp to Everywhere Laura began her career in Antwerp’s fashion world. But a six-month trip with Nicolas — meant as a sabbatical — changed everything. They started an Instagram account to document their travels, posted every single day (sometimes setting alarms for 2 a.m. to catch the right window), and slowly transformed a personal experiment into a professional platform. Hotels began reaching out. Fashion brands followed. And eventually, the couple built a dual business: influencer distribution and commercial photography for luxury clients. The Cost of Beauty What looks like vacation is actually work. For every perfect sunrise photo, there’s a wake-up call at dawn. For every dreamy campaign, there are countless emails, logistics puzzles, and the stress of feeding an algorithm that rewards relentless output. Laura admits to burnout, to losing the ability to see some destinations as “vacations,” and to the ongoing negotiation of how much intimacy to share with an audience that feels they know you. “It’s our job to make it look like a vacation — but it rarely is.” Style, Mystery, and the Magazine Magic Laura also reflects on how Instagram has changed. Once it was about editorial photography, thoughtful composition, and images that felt like magazine spreads. Now, the push is toward photo dumps, immediacy, and…

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## Transcript

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