An insatiable ball of energy, Inès Nayli breaks all the clichés one may have about poised women influencers. The 24-year-old Algerian, who was recently selected as an EU Goodwill ambassador in Algeria under the #InTheirEyes campaign, says she stumbled into the world of food blogging “completely by accident”.

“There was a small restaurant across from my university, where I spent most of my time between classes. One day, they launched a contest to win an iPhone, and I decided to use my creativity -and food- to win it!” A happy incident that made Inès one of the most influential Instagrammers in Algeria, with more than 700K followers and partnership deals with some of the biggest food industry multinationals. “I sometimes cannot believe I went from making small home crafted videos with the lousiest material to being invited on press trips all around the world!” But far from simply posting pictures of food for entertainment, the young woman has a bigger purpose: to teach people how to speak up. “In Algeria, there is a culture of staying quiet, even when something is wrong. I want to fight that, even if it means starting by telling a restaurant that its burger is not properly cooked!”

Inès does not deny the difficulties she faced -and still does- but “this is what happens to anyone who does not fit the typical box. I never conformed to what people expected of a woman influencer and I will never stop going for what I want!” She hopes to inspire people with that mindset. As she says: “I don’t call myself an influencer because, to me, everything and everyone is a source of influence to one another.”