When Sally Wagner films Instagram videos in English, many viewers think she’s American or British. With no discernible accent and a relaxed, international demeanour, few guess that she actually grew up in Luxembourg City.

“People think I’m lying,” said the 30-year-old, laughing. Years spent in Scotland and Hawaii shaped her worldview more than her language.

Wagner’s story as a content creator begins in June 2023, while she was studying comparative literature in Scotland. Back then, Instagram was simply a way to share her life with friends and family. Her reach was tiny, a few dozen or a few hundred views at most.

Then came April 2025, and the video that transformed everything.

The 30-year-old Luxembourger has built a fast-growing following by celebrating local quirks with global humour © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert

After her wedding, she posted a clip showing the traditional marriage gift from the municipality of Luxembourg.

Historically, brides received a cookbook – outdated by 2025, to say the least. The new alternative? A plain photo frame containing a stock image of a half-naked man.

“It was so absurd. We thought it was hilarious,” she said.

The video struck a nerve. Over a million views. Suddenly Sally Wagner was no longer just a young woman documenting her life, but someone people were listening to.

From Hawaii to Limpertsberg

Her story is as international as her following. Wagner initially studied English history in Trier and spent a year abroad in Cambridge.

During her time in Trier, she met her husband in 2019, an Air Force soldier stationed in Spangdahlem, Germany, and briefly in Ramstein.

She later moved to St Andrews in Scotland, where she studied comparative literature, a passion for the written word that continues to this day, mostly in the form of microfiction and flash fiction. At the same time, she maintained a long-distance relationship with her now-husband.

In 2024, the couple moved to Hawaii, where he was serving. For Wagner, this meant the sea, diving, and a completely different way of life.

As soon as a post has more than half a million views, I usually stop looking at the comments

At the beginning of 2025, the couple returned to Luxembourg, settling in Limpertsberg, where Wagner had grown up.

What does she miss about her time abroad? “From Hawaii, especially the turquoise blue water and the underwater world; from Scotland, pretty much everything, it’s beautiful; and from England, the people.”

“My husband is now a veteran and is settling into his new life here,” Wagner said.

“He likes Luxembourg quite a lot, except for the prices, which are very high. But he’s used to Hawaii prices, they’re actually even higher.” What bothers him more than the costs? The bureaucracy. “All the paperwork, needing permits for everything, rubbish separation, things like that. The fact that he complains about such things basically makes him a true Luxembourger,” she joked.

“He doesn’t like to be in front of the camera,” she said. A boundary she respects, even though he is very much part of her stories.

The European Parliament and the absurdity of everyday life

Her next viral hit came during a visit to the European Parliament. Wagner filmed a scene that seemed almost too absurd: a person was watching Ursula von der Leyen’s State of Europe speech on a laptop, even though the live broadcast played out in front of their eyes.

“It was just a joke for me. I thought maybe a few thousand people would see it,” she said. Almost 12 million people did.

When asked if she often receives negative comments or insults, Wagner said: “As soon as a post has more than half a million views, I usually stop looking at the comments.” At that point, insults are almost guaranteed. But deleting them isn’t her solution. “Others should see what some people say.”

Sometimes she even pins particularly crass or absurd comments to the top. “Then I’m either blocked by the person shortly after, or they delete the comment themselves. So there is some shame involved,” she said.

Content without a strategy

“Another content creator once told me my ‘strategy’ was really good. But I don’t actually have a strategy,” Wagner explained.

Her content is diverse: she talks about Luxembourg’s idiosyncrasies and traditions, frequently uses the Luxembourgish language, shares her observations, and sometimes just posts what she finds funny.

For example, when Luxembourgers complain about everything. “I know, now I’m complaining that others are complaining. But it annoys me, this negativity,” she laughed. Some locals were upset about the change of the throne, for example, because it was expensive. “But these are also the people who complain that there’s nothing going on in Luxembourg.”

Her love of horses also appears frequently in her videos. Although she doesn’t own a horse herself, she helps out on a farm and looks after other people’s animals, a grounding balance to the digital world.

Hot on the heels of Xavier Bettel

With around 41,500 followers, Wagner is one of the larger Luxembourger accounts.

For comparison, well-known Luxembourgish TV presenter and actress Désirée Nosbusch has just under 60,000 followers, while lifestyle influencer Anne Faber has around 22,000.

Wagner doesn’t quite match figures such as Xavier Bettel with 96,000 or Melodie Funk with 375,000 followers. But considering she has been active as an influencer for only about six months, her reach is impressive.

But the word influencer is still strange to me.

“Until a few months ago, I actually hated the term influencer,” she admitted. “However, I have now reached the point where I accept that I actually influence people with my recommendations, for example of books, and that they then also buy the product,” said Wagner. “So I do ‘influence’. But the word is still strange to me.”

A video about Rieslingspaschtéit? Suddenly, people write to her saying they’ve tried it for the first time. A hiking video featuring the Guide auto-pédestre? The comments are filled with people who now want to hike or share their own experiences.

Hiking is one of her favourite leisure activities, alongside watching series and going to the cinema, although she regrets that cinema tickets in the city are expensive.

When content becomes a job

Wagner has been highly active on Instagram since April, posting several videos and even more stories every day. Initially, this was partly due to boredom while searching for work after returning to Luxembourg. Since July, she has been employed at the Alinéa bookshop in the capital, but not in sales.

“I applied for a job as a sales assistant,” she said. After a trial day, the owner told her she was too sensitive for direct customer interaction.

But here’s the twist: the owner had seen one of her videos through a friend and needed someone to create that type of content for the bookshop. Wagner’s content creation activity landed her the job.

The position is only 16 hours a week, leaving her time to make her own videos. “Nevertheless, I’m still looking for a full-time or second job,” Wagner said. Finding work isn’t easy at the moment.

Does she earn money on Instagram? No. Unlike YouTube or TikTok, creators don’t earn directly from Instagram unless they collaborate with brands or are invited to Meta’s special bonus program. “I’ve thought about YouTube, but I think I’m just too old for TikTok,” she said.

Could she imagine working purely as an influencer if it were financially viable? Hesitantly, she said: “I enjoy it a lot, but I’d like a more monotonous job to balance it out. Something repetitive would feel relaxing as a contrast.”

Even in Luxembourg, making a living solely as an influencer is difficult. “Many companies still focus on traditional marketing and rarely work with influencers. The result? High-quality videos that get hardly any views. I sometimes think, ‘I could do better.’ But only if I’m paid accordingly. I’m not an idiot,” she laughed.

She still has many ideas for videos, but elaborate content requires editing, which takes time. “Other creators hire editors, but since I haven’t made money from my content yet, that’s not an option for me.”

Sally Wagner unexpectedly became an influencer. Her online activities have even landed her a job in a bookshop © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert

When strangers suddenly become friends

Wagner is now invited to influencer events in Luxembourg – by the Philharmonie, Luxlait, and several times by the EU Parliament. “It was strange at first,” she said. Unlike many influencers, she doesn’t actively approach companies; her reach makes her appealing to them instead.

Other influencers she has met are very kind, and friendships have developed. As for her audience: “People sometimes send me very personal messages, thanking me for distracting them with my videos. They tell me about their lives. It’s very sweet.”

“People are always nice, but I don’t always know which video they’re referring to.” After all, she publishes dozens of videos each week.

What’s next?

The future? Wagner deliberately leaves it open. Her full-time job search continues, content production goes on, and she has more than enough ideas. Whether it’s YouTube, collaborations, or a return to a traditional professional career, Sally Wagner seems ready for anything.

What remains is the realisation that the most authentic stories resonate the most: an absurd wedding present, a humorous look at everyday absurdities, and the honest observation of a Luxembourger who has seen the world and returned, offering a perspective that is neither purely Luxembourgish nor purely international, but somewhere in between. And that’s exactly what makes her story compelling.

When it comes to herself, Sally Wagner shares a lot with her audience on Instagram, but keeps her family and husband out of it as much as possible.  © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert

(This article has been first published on the Luxemburger Wort. AI translated, with editing and adaptation by Lucrezia Reale.)