How She Went From A Corporate Job To Full Time Influencer

You don't have to post on social media to be an influencer. It all depends about your goal and what you're doing. Like you could be just building a personal brand. You could be a content creator for another brand like UGC type thing. Bro, if you don't see that something is working, you need to pivot. But at the same time, you can't pivot too many times. Like you have to be consistent.

Then you'll never know what actually works.

Correct. To me, the fact that I'm staying home with my kids and I'm able to stay home with my kids, to me, that alone is success.

And around here in this area of Texas, we are a little bit behind.

Listen, let me tell you this one thing. We are, but—

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So when I started, like, my content creation journey, it was nothing more than just trying to, in a way, have that creative side of things. You know, I was working corporate and I was like, numbers, numbers, numbers. And I'm just like trying to be like, this is for me. So I started and we're heading towards like, we were getting coffee and this one particular person goes like, I saw your video and you were stuttering and this and that. Mind you, I'm already very, um, self-conscious of my accent. English is my second language, so I was like, thanks, man.

So they were— they saying something about the accent or just like—

well, not necessarily, not directly, but because I am self-conscious about it, I was just like, oh, he's probably making fun of my accent as well. He's just not telling me, right? But it's fine. That was my— that was a me problem, you know? I was like, okay, he's probably making fun of me.

But so, so how many videos in, like, making content were you at that point?

When I, when he said that, um, I would say it was probably like my very first month or two.

Okay.

Like, like just getting started. Like I have no idea what I was doing. That was literally in 2017, '18. So I was just like, oh man. And you just, you're like, oh, maybe I shouldn't do this. Like, what am I doing here? You know? But I was like, nope, I'm not going to let that stop me because they don't know where I'm going. I don't know where this is going to take me and I'm just having fun. And they don't have to pay your bills.

That too.

That too. That too. Even though it started as fun, but I was like, who cares? You know, like, they're gonna make fun of me whether I post it or not, so might as well just have fun. I was having fun, so that's all that mattered to me.

I mean, the same thing I feel like has happened to every person who has posted a video ever. Um, I have haters from all over the world. My content is not like super controversial or anything. And there are people who just hate my guts for some reason. I'm like, dude, it'll be a YouTube video like from 2 years ago and they'll go back and be like, oh, you, you weren't correct about this, blah blah blah blah. Like, look it up next time, blah blah blah. I'm like, dude, this video literally has 50 views. Yeah, on YouTube. And you are a hater anyways.

Yeah, no, it's just I think it also becomes very easy when you're behind a computer or a phone and you're just leaving a hate comment. It's super easy. And then I always feel like the people who are leaving negative comments are the people who are not willing to do it themselves.

Oh yeah, 100%.

I've never seen somebody who leaves like a really negative comment. This is different than disagreeing with something. I believe that there's a way of disagreeing with you and politely say, share your point of view, which I invite. Disagreement or, you know, like share your point of view. But that's so different than just being rude and mean and like, I didn't like your video. Like, okay, then do it yourself.

Like, why don't you at least comment it instead of telling me in person so that way you can help the algorithm? Just comment it on the video instead.

I know, just keep—

So that was a big lesson that I learned whenever I was doing the cash hunts a lot. And we're going to do a little bit more of those, but it's going to be like more coupons and gift cards towards businesses in Abilene just to promote like being local. And I don't hand somebody $20 and they go and buy weed or like, right?

You don't need that, man.

Like, I don't want you to go.

Yeah, yeah. No, I think that's a good idea.

Your addictions with this. But like, I had, I had a lot of people who were on board with it, but also a lot of people who were like, hating on it. And it just made me realize that even if you give away money, somebody's still going to have a problem with what you're doing.

I think everybody's always going to have a problem.

Yeah. And it's just like, and that's such a big wall that any, especially business owners who are trying to create content, like it's a necessity at this point to be present online. But that fact right there. Like, they don't want anybody to judge them or to think that they're weird or whatever. Like, they're not paying the bills. So, right, people ask me all the time, and I, I don't have a big following locally. A lot of people are starting to realize mine, what we do, and that was the whole goal of it. And so they're asking me like, oh, you trying to be an influencer?

Well, so what?

Like, no, I'm trying to get you to buy my services, right? And so they already know about our services by the time we talk, so Mission accomplished, right?

And that's what a lot of people don't realize. Like, sometimes you, you don't have to post on social media to be an influencer. It all depends about your goal and what you're doing. Like, you could be just building a personal brand, you could be a content creator for another brand, like UGC type thing, you could be like creating content for your own business to have exposure. So not posting on social media doesn't necessarily mean that you are trying to be an influencer, and if No, so what?

It's only gonna help.

Exactly. Your life. Like, again, what is the worst thing that could happen, you know?

Like, so I feel like you have— which, welcome to the podcast, by the way, I didn't give you an intro. This is Yelly, uh, content creator, um, mother of 4 kids now. Congrats, that's amazing. Um, you've spent a lot of time studying social media and how to make money on social media. And you're doing it.

Yes.

What are the different ways for, for somebody who has never explored this idea of making money through social media? What are some of the different ways that you've seen that works?

Truthfully, there's so many ways. Again, you can build a personal brand and that personal brand will take you to— you can sell guides, you can sell courses, you can host masterclasses, you can literally host groups and like in person, maybe that's your goal. And it doesn't always also have to be like monetized, like money-wise, but it could also be like, I'm literally just looking for a group of people to get together with. I don't know, you might start a nonprofit or something, you know, but you can also create UGC content, which means that you are creating content for other brands that you don't have to have a following. You can literally have zero followers and make content from UGC. And a lot of people ask, how can you start with that? You can literally go knock on doors in your own, own, like, local businesses and say, can I create a UGC video for you? You explain to them what it is. You're essentially making videos for their product or their brand or their business, and then you give it to them. Of course, there comes like all the the user rights, usage rights and all that kind of stuff, right? But you create content for other businesses and they pay you for that. Then you have like the content creation, the influencer side of things where you are monetizing through affiliate links, you're monetizing through your own products. Maybe you have a boutique or, you know, like your own, your own merch. Maybe you're monetizing through collaborations like brand deals, which is for me right now, that's my biggest one at the moment. I'm collaborating with other brands and like talking and promoting other, other super cool brands, which that's been like, that's been really fun to me. And, you know, like I always have somebody like, okay, we got to do this now. So that's, that's been really fun. Other ways of making money on social media could be, I think there's this one, one I'm not very familiar with it, but I've heard about it. It's the Blank Canvas, I think, or Canvas, where you start a brand new Instagram account and you start posting again, like you pretty much create a, like an Instagram account for this particular business. So I need to look into that one. But that's another way.

Are you, are you talking about where they build the, like, following and everything and then they sell it?

I mean, I mean, I guess you just created one too.

I don't know if that's a thing, but no, I mean, I would imagine so. Like, there's, there's— I don't know if you've seen the accounts. There's this one that I've been following, and I think it's the dumbest but smartest thing. That I've ever seen. It's, it's the spoon. It's like every follower is one dig with a spoon and he's trying to build an underground bunker in his backyard. And so like 100,000 people will follow him in like a day so that they can see him keep digging. And it's like it probably close to 4 million followers within a month or two. It's pretty crazy how you take that and like sell it.

I mean, that's actually really smart. Like, you know, people sell businesses. Why can't you sell a— Yeah, a personal page or a business page? Yeah, right. Selling the audience. Correct.

And so now this company has access to 4 million people and followers that they could sell their products to.

That's crazy.

I think like the world that we live in, to be able to do something like that where people will pay a lot of money.

Yes.

To get in front of that audience is like—

but do you wonder why that is though? Like, what are you getting from having like this, a social media, some type of social media presence? It's the exposure. You're getting people to see you. And before, what did you used to do? You probably had to go knock on the door or like pass out flyers or like literally go to all these events that maybe you probably didn't have the time to do or And social media, I think that has opened up the opportunity, the equal in a way, the equal opportunity for any of us to go in there and do our thing again, whether it is by creating a personal brand, whether it is to grow your own business, you have a coffee shop or, you know, you have a boutique or you're again, your personal brand. I consider myself, yes, I'm an influencer, but I'm building a personal brand and or I hope I am where I can take my audience that I care for on every journey where I'm going and where I'm heading. And, you know, I hope that they stick around and they follow along because they trust me as a person.

Yeah, I think it's so cool that anybody has the same opportunity like you were saying. We watched a documentary on— you listen to Noah Kahn, the artist? Have you ever listened to him? So he's like blown up. He's like this folk kind of guy. And he's— I mean, he's probably 26 years old, something. Yeah. Correct me if I'm wrong in the comments, but we watched a documentary over him and he, he started— he put a video on TikTok and that launched his entire career, I think like 4 or 5 years ago. And now he's selling out the Red Sox Stadium doing concerts.

Who was that again?

Noah Kahn. K-A-H-N. Anyway, it's crazy. So like, he just writes music, he puts out an album every now and then. He just put one out like a few days ago, but it's, it's almost getting to the level of like Taylor Swift vibes. It's like people are bought in, and it all started from TikTok. Same thing goes with so many businesses and And like brands, it starts on social media and they have stuff go viral and it launches careers, it launches products, it launches all these things.

All the things. Yeah.

And it's crazy to say, but like even on Netflix, if you're on a reality TV show now or like The Secret— what is it?

The Secret Life of Mormon Wives.

Yeah.

Or whatever.

Blows my mind because now they've been— they're celebrities.

Like, where did they start? TikTok.

TikTok. And like Mom Talk, right? Isn't that what it was?

Yeah.

And so now they have their own show, they have all these businesses, these sponsorships, these brand partnerships. Mind-boggling, right?

Um, and it all started with social media.

Yeah. So like, this is the power. And, and around here in this area of, of Texas, um, We are a little bit behind.

Listen, let me tell you this one thing. We are. But I think the name has gotten out because, you know, like, she's from Texas. Like, I don't know why she brought him— Ella Langley brought her man to Abilene.

Yeah, yeah. What the heck?

But I mean, like, the name of the town is getting out there or got out there with that song.

About that and then like the data centers, not to like the AI stuff.

I don't wanna be famous over that, but yeah, people are starting to notice this area and it's like a lot of the locals are, you know, if I was an actual, like a business, like a local business or like trying to grow possibly like, you know, I don't share my location a lot, but, um, I would definitely be using leveraging the fact that that song is incredibly popular and incredibly famous, and it says the name of a town or a city that— what was happening 6 months ago, you know?

Exactly.

Like, now it's top, like, rated, or is it like the 10 best cities or something to live?

Really?

Yes, it was like to live in or something like that. It was like a top 100. Yes.

People are like, oh my gosh, that's not true. Like, it's a pretty good place to live, but it is. Besides the fact I wouldn't be here. Yeah, yeah, we wouldn't be in this area.

Yes. Going back to what you were saying, I think Abilene is a little bit behind when it comes to content creation. Yes, I agree. I even like not long ago, I was like looking to try to possibly help, like hire somebody to help me out with, you know, certain things on the social media side of things and It's like, I think I only saw a couple of people, you guys including being one of them, on a certain part of it. And I'm just like, we don't have this. Like, businesses could be benefiting so much from this right now. Like, getting your name out there, getting your, you know, like, even if you're like a local boutique or something, like, if you sell like a physical product, you can ship it out. Like, a lot of, a lot of influencers they create their own products or merch and they ship it out everywhere, you know, at least in the United States. A lot of them partner up with like boutiques, for example, and, and they just like pretty much put their name behind it and they start just creating all these things. And it wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for social media. You don't know who's watching. You literally do not know who's watching your content and who you're changing either their life or who's going to want to buy your product.

And especially if you have something that can be sold all around the country. That's one thing that I— so like our Howdy Media stuff is a service-based business, right? And we are kind of limited to geography, right? So I've had to navigate creating content for local reach. And I also want to— because if I just do local, then I'll never grow past a certain number. So I have to also make content that is appealing to the masses, like, right, worldwide, right? And so there's like a balance there. But if you have a product, I mean, you could go on a TikTok Live and make bank.

I know. And there's creators— TikTok Shop is another way of making money nowadays.

So like, have you played with TikTok Shop much?

Yeah, um, not as much. Uh, when it just launched, I would you know, post a few things, but I'm not too big on the affiliate. Yeah.

Um, you know, because I, I, and I might be wrong, but you can go pick any product and promote it, right?

Pretty much.

And just make a video on it, and anybody who buys through that, you get a commission.

Yeah, just like Amazon. Amazon is pretty much the same thing except that that one is through, like, directly through TikTok.

Like, I can buy it on the video?

Correct. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I think it's— I mean, a lot of people are making a lot of money from TikTok Shop. And I mean, again, that's another opportunity. I think the biggest thing when it comes to social media is like being focused at least on one thing at a time, you know. Like, had I started whenever I started taking social media more serious after I left my corporate job and try to do all the things at once, I don't think I would be where I'm at right now. Like, and I still feel like there's so much more growth that I can do and more than growth, learning. I feel like as a business owner or a brand or anything, if you're not learning, I, you're not growing in my opinion. Like if you're not willing to learn to pivot and to adapt there, I feel like there's going to be a cap.

Yeah, there will be. And it, And if you have a team too, like, your team will be capped as well. Trust is the foundation of every single great business, and the Better Business Bureau exists to protect that. So the Better Business Bureau helps consumers find businesses they can trust, offers scam prevention resources, and supports local business owners through accreditation, networking, education, and visibility opportunities. Brittany Brown, she's the CEO. She's been serving serving the big country. And she says strong communities are built by strong businesses. Whether you're trying to grow your business or make a smarter purchasing decision, the Better Business Bureau is in your corner. Visit BBB.org to learn more.

Correct. And so, right. See, and that's my thing. I— my goal. So it's pretty funny because when I left my corporate job, I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do. It's not— you know, circumstances during that season of our life just left me with no choice but to just walk away from my 10-year career in the finance, finance banking industry. And I didn't have much other than like I had grown some type of following on social media from posting many years prior to. And that's the thing, it, it sometimes it takes you a long time and it's a lot. It's— I feel like social media is a long-term game. I feel like if we go into thinking, if I don't grow in 3 months, then I'm gonna quit. I mean, even if you're working out, you're not going to see a big difference in like 3 months. You might see a difference, small. Yeah, right. But it's like consistent going at it all the time. So if I, if I hadn't started a little bit on social media and then taking it more seriously, our life's like just You know, I've, I've been able to stay home because of that. And I, I'm, we're, I'm happy where I'm at. I'm like able to stay home with my kids. I don't know what my life is going to look like in 5 years, but for now this makes sense. Like I'm able to stay home with my kids, 4 of them, um, because of social media. Yeah. And that, that, that was a dream 5 years ago. So it might not be the flashy dream where like, oh my gosh, like she's going on all these, you know, but it is the dream of something that I prayed for 5 years ago, 6 years ago. And it's like, because of social media.

Yeah. So like, I mean, for us, that's a similar situation. So I've been running this thing for 4 years now. And really the only reason this runs is because of social media. Yeah, I would have. I moved to this town. I knew nobody. Like, I had just started college. I had very few connections to actually launch something. So what did I do? Being a Gen Zer, I started posting online and I didn't know there was any other way of getting the word out, right? Because I had kind of grown up with it. And so I was like, okay, this is the natural next thing I need to do is just start making videos and start making content.. And that's how I started building these relationships and these clients.

That's how I found you. Yeah.

Yeah. That's how we found each other.

I was like, wait a minute, we're in the same town. He's another creator again, because there was a lack of ID creators in this town to connect because it's so nice to be able to like— and I know you've been building a little bit behind the scenes on like getting creators together and as a whole, you know, brands, businesses, creators. Um, but yeah, I remember I saw a story and I was like, wait a minute. Yeah, like that was too— a little bit over 2 years ago. And look how much you've grown since then.

And that was when I had just moved into the old studio. So we had a 2-year lease there and we started that in the beginning of 2024. And I think that's around the time you came on the podcast the first time. Yeah, maybe it was a little later in '24. Or early 25. But like, we've been able to progress and do all these things. And I also wanted to add my wife. We recently had a baby as well. We don't have 4, we have 1. I have to do this crazy, but we have 1. I have a daughter, she's 10 months old.

She's precious.

And thank you.

She—

our dream and what I have always been yearning for and desiring for for most of my life is to be in a position to have my wife stay home with our kids. I didn't know what that looked like.

Right.

Whenever we found out we were pregnant, it was not making— like, it did not make sense on paper. Right. But for some reason, we felt like that's what we were supposed to do. The Lord was calling us to do this. And Katie quit her job. She worked in the school system. She quit her job. Um, and she picked up art again. She did art a long time ago in college, but she picked it back up, and she's been able to— she makes more from this while she stays at home than she did at her full-time job.

Um, same.

And, and like, literally just using social media, she'll make a post, and that one post can generate $1,000 just like in a day, right? And it's like nothing else can do that, right?

I mean, right? So I mean, it's like mind-blowing.

There's a lot of people who have a similar story. It's of that, but just another like testimony of how powerful this stuff is. And that's the whole reason I started a business around it.

Yeah.

Um, there was a video I saw this morning of Well, I actually posted a video talking about it. It's, you know, one of the guys off of Shark Tank. That one, Kevin O'Leary, I think is his name. But he's going around and he's talking about how being a creator and having the skill to create now is like the most valuable skill.

Well, think about it. How, how did brands get their name out there before? Newsletters, or not just magazines, uh, billboards, television. That's, you know, and radio, that too. But it's not that it doesn't exist anymore, it's just not as popular. What do you do whenever you're bored? You grab your phone. We literally have these things and they're just like grab my phone. I've been influenced to either purchase or learn or do something because of my phone. So yes, I think that he is correct. I mean, I don't think— I mean, he's an expert in business, right? So I know that he is not wrong. Like, it's posting— either you posting or you finding a team to post or create for you is incredibly important. Especially because as much as we like it or not, social media or technology is not going away anytime soon. If anything, it's probably gonna get more, more involved. Correct.

So one of the things that he was saying in, in this video is like he, I, he said, I used to pay these people $48,000 to $60,000 a year. To do the same exact thing. Now these people are making $600,000 to $1 million a year for, for client acquisition is how he worded it. And so it made me think, like, at the end of the day, if you can go out and find unlimited leads and clients for a company via content and videos, that is a very, very valuable skill to have. And all the creators who have built things and utilize it successfully, I feel like the value is just out the roof. I mean, it is because I feel like— and correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like you could go work for any company and immediately 100x or 1,000x their social media presence.

Correct.

Which in turn leads to more clients because if an extra 100,000 people see their stuff, like, well, it does.

So at some point I wanted, or my goal was to be a loan officer. Um, and again, I, life took me a different way. God had a different, um, goal for me, you know, and path. But I always think if I ever were to go back to work and if I were to be, you know, um, a realtor or a lending assistant or something, I could literally use my brand with me, and I wholeheartedly believe that it would come with me and it would be a good thing for, like, for my business, you know, because my— the name is out there. And same thing, like I was saying, whenever you're building a personal brand, not only can you pivot, but like, it just brings more opportunities for so many more things. And you just said that, like, when you have the social media presence and then you go and work at an X, whatever, just making a post of— if you just so happen to mention the brand or where you work, the company, it's like, wait a minute, you know what I mean? Like, it's getting exposure. Same again, exposure is getting your name out there one way or another.

Yeah, if somebody wants to go and put an ad on Joe Rogan's podcast, it's gonna cost a lot of money, right? But you're also going to get exposed to millions of people, right, who listen to the podcast.

So, right. Okay.

So what would you say to business owners who are like, I want to get into influencer marketing, but they have no idea what that looks like? From your point of view, what does that look like? And how do they find somebody who would be a good fit for them?

I would— I always try to think, start with your people local. You know, it's maybe that's just the way I think, but I always believe like keeping the business local is quite important. But also just going, I would say going to like Instagram or TikTok and searching for a very specific thing that you're looking for or content creators getting started or, you know, like you see there's a bunch of like stay-at-home moms wanting to create content and like trying to literally make a little bit of extra income. Whether it is to pay groceries, or it doesn't matter. Again, you could be successful on social media and not be making $1 million every single year. Facts, you know? Yeah, because I think the only person who determines your amount of success is you. To me, the fact that I'm staying home with my kids and I'm able to stay home with my kids, to me, that alone is success. Now, if we're talking money-wise, yes, I'm making probably more than what I was doing in my full-time corporate career where I was there for a while, you know. But so if I'm— if I were to have a business and I'm looking for content creators, I would go Instagram, TikTok and start searching for them. Let's just— let's just say I'm a boutique and I'm looking for stay-at-home moms who are like dressing up or sharing bits and this and that. Then I would reach out to them like, hey, either ask them for the rate or like, hey, I have a budget of X amount of money. Would you be willing to create content for me like X amount of videos. You know, this is directly from the business to the, to the content creator or the influencer.

Yeah.

Now, of course, when you are a different scale or whatever, you can go directly to marketing agencies and you tell them like, I'm looking for this specific kind of content creator, this is my budget. Then the agency goes and finds the creators. And like speaking on my side of things, that's exactly how a lot of like brands find me. You know, like I'm looking for a content creator who is doing this, this, this, and that. And then that marketing agency starts reaching out to— in this case, I have a manager, right? So she's like constantly either pitching me to brands or to businesses. And then there's brands coming to the agency and they're like, oh, we have a content creator who does that. So when it comes to like on that side of things, on influence, and I think it's very important to note that you always have to stay true to yourself and to your values and to, um, not necessarily take just everything under the sun. Because for me, the most valuable thing I had on social media is my audience and their, and their trust. And if I don't have that, 100,000, 200,000 followers, a million followers wouldn't mean nothing if they don't trust me for who I am and they don't believe in me. Does that make sense? So I think it's very important on that. But to answer your question, I would— if I was a business, I would just reach out to people that I see creating content. And, you know, you kind of base it off your budget and you offer your budget.

So what is appealing to the creators? Like, if you receive an, like, an inquiry of a business who's like, hey, we want to work with a creator like you, What would you say is appealing to you? Would you rather have an upfront flat rate or would you rather have like a percentage of sales, or what would be more worth it for you?

So there is that— there's a commission side of things where brands definitely do reach out and they say like, hey, we'll send you our product and however many sales you make, then that's yours. For me personally, I'm not— I don't take a lot of commission-based I just don't, especially because of my niche. I'm more on the being more mindful consumer. So I try to be incredibly mindful in what I'm promoting. If I'm promoting something, it's because I use it and I love it. Again, it goes back to having the trust of my audience and, you know, I take that with so much pride. But then they could offer you I guess to answer is it depends on, on what you're wanting at that time. You know, if you're getting started and you're just trying to kind of figure it out, getting maybe your portfolio with your own videos and like, you know, getting all of that, then maybe you could take on some commission and, you know, just knowing that you're probably not going to be paid or you can make millions of dollars like that, you know, or you can just be like, I'll charge you this much money. And I'll create the content for you.

Yeah. So do you have like monthly— do you have any brands that partner with you monthly?

There's some of them, some of them that will, that will do that. I, I don't have one currently in my queue that I'm doing monthly with, but I did a couple of years ago with Ford. So I worked with Ford for a whole entire year. That was like a dream brand, especially I was like getting started-ish as a content creator, that was an incredible, amazing opportunity. That was like a whole year of contract. So I—

so how did that— was that like a flat fee too?

Yes.

Type of deal?

Yes. Yeah. So the way that it works is like for a lot of brands on the, on the influencing side of things, a lot of brands would pay you net 30, net 60, net 90. So that's another thing, you know, like how you get paid. But like, when we're talking about maybe local businesses, like brick-and-mortar type of businesses, they're just trying to get their content out there, I would probably not do net 30 or net 60, you know. Like, you do the job and then you get paid on Friday, or, you know, that week. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

And I, I think of boutiques, and because you keep bringing up boutiques, but like I really don't. I don't know. I feel like it would be hard for me to market a boutique, but I feel like that industry is insanely profitable. Like, so the profit margins, like, if you're a female especially watching this or listening to like this video, try, like, if you have a boutique or a business similar to that, try to sell online. Using something like TikTok Live or TikTok Shop.

Yes. Because, you know, there's a lot of boutiques, like I was saying earlier, they partner with influencers and they're like, we're going to launch the line for— I don't know, let's just throw a name, Hailey and Hailey Brand X and, you know, whatever the boutique name is. And then they start selling it with the influencer's name. Why? Because the influencer has the audience. And the trust. So the boutique is partnering with them and they're just like, okay, well, this is something Hailey would wear, you know, like, yeah, yeah.

So they're, they're borrowing the trust.

Correct. In a way. Yes.

And the audience.

Correct. Yes.

They're paying for it, which is—

but again, it's getting them exposure.

Yeah.

So sometimes you have to invest money in order to make money.

Yeah. 100%. Okay.

So that's the thing with social media. Sorry, that's the thing with social media. Sometimes when you're even starting with social media, it might cost you nothing to get started. It's free, but you are paying with your time. And then later on, it, you know, like you're not paying with your time. Maybe you're paying somebody to help you out, but you're investing. And when I started with social media, I was invested. I said, I'm going to give myself one year. Like, I don't know what this is going to look like. And man, did God provide, like, It did. Yeah, he did. He was, he was good. But, um, life completely changed. I mean, I just cannot express enough how life changed by just saying, I am gonna do it. I don't care what people say. I'm gonna start messy. I don't know, like, it doesn't— I started with my iPhone 12. Like, I got a newer one because the other one broke and I couldn't talk, so I was like, I can't make videos like this. So I did have to upgrade a couple— a year almost 2 years ago.

Daron, you got to buy something you were going to buy anyways.

Yes. Right, right. So, and it's my work phone and my personal phone. So it's not like I have a phone for each. No, like I have pictures of my kids and like all my videos there. So it literally costs you little to nothing.

Yeah.

Like even when I did photography, because I did photography for a while as a little side hustle, I still had to invest like $3,000-$4,000 in a camera.

Before you could make money.

Yeah, yeah, that's— and, and, you know, photography is a very like low investment type of business. You literally just buy the camera and then the software.

Yeah, and that's what I mean. I started doing this type of work, the video work, um, with an initial investment of probably $3,500. Yeah. Which I didn't have at the time. Um, but that's how I got started and then I had to basically do work until I made up the difference.

Yeah.

Um, but with that being said, you talked about your family some. I wanna know, how do you navigate that right now? Because we were talking about it earlier a little bit, but how do you decide, like, okay, I'm gonna be working because you're at home with the kids. Yeah, like, okay, I'm gonna work these hours, or I'm gonna be with the kids these hours. Like, how do you navigate through that? Shout out to today's sponsor, Graze Craze, Abelin. If you haven't seen one of their charcuterie boards in person, you're missing out. Madeline and her team build these gorgeous handcrafted boards and boxes for everything— client gifts, corporate events, birthdays, grays, you name it. They're in the Chimney Plaza off South 27th with free local delivery on top of pickup. Order online now at graze.com/avalon-texas. Here's the best part: mention this podcast when you order and get 10% off your next one. So go check out Graze Craze and let's get back to the episode.

So actually, a lot of the things that I share on my channel is like my channel, my social media. Yeah, it's like on Simplifying Life because I have also found myself at some point of my life where I simply couldn't keep up. And, you know, that's literally how my growth on social media started, by sharing like our decluttering journey, even though I thought I was a minimalist. But then you marry a maximalist, it does not go together. So that was the consequence of like, you know, so I started setting systems and right now I've been having I wouldn't say that I have more workload because I added one more baby. What's been a little bit harder for me this postpartum season is the not sleeping because we're still waking up every 2 hours at night. Like, I saw somebody say that they were part of the 5 o'clock club, and I'm like, I'm part of the 2, 3— what is it, 12, 2, 4, 5?

The brutal one.

Yes. I'm like, girl, I'm up all night. But so the way that I'm structuring my days right now is I wake up maybe 30 minutes. Usually on a good day when I sleep a little better, I normally wake up about 2 hours before the kids. I do have to admit that my kids don't sleep the first year of their life, but they're really good sleepers after that.

Yeah, good. Yeah.

So they wake up between 7, 7:30. So that's, that's good. So that, you know, if I wake up at 5:30, that gives me about 2 hours to get ready, get everything ready, and then I work a little bit on like social media, like replying emails and just kind of like comments and all that kind of stuff. I actually love replying to comments. I love like connecting with people and I'm sorry if I haven't responded to your messages. A girl struggling right now, but yeah. And then the kids wake up, we do our morning routines, which I share a lot of those. Like, it's chaos. It's a beautiful chaos. We're running around listening to music. I'm just like trying to stay as regulated as I can. So that's what we do. And then normally when they go to take a nap, that's when I work a little bit more. And then we go on about our day again. And when they go to sleep, 7:30-ish, then I work for another 2 hours.

Are y'all— do y'all homeschool?

No. So our oldest one is in school.

Okay.

And then my second one is about to start school. So by next school year, I'm going to have only 2 at home. Sadly.

So you got to go. Do you drive them to school or?

Uh, sometimes they'll, my oldest one will take the bus and then I'll take her to school. There's, you know, we've been trying to balance that out and, you know, she was like, there's one time where she goes, I wanna ride the bus. And I was like, okay, well, that's fine. We'll do that. So, you know, she's been having fun and I know one day she's not gonna want to and I'm totally here for that, you know? So we're just kind of riding pretty flexible.

Yeah. Do you just work around their schedule basically?

Pretty much right now, yes. I am pretty much working around their schedule and not the other way around. Now, if I have deadlines for like brands that I need to do like videos for and submit things, then yes, unfortunately that does take priority. I don't necessarily like that too much, but I, I don't have a lot of help. You know, my mom lives with us seasonally and I don't expect her to help me all the time. And then there's when she's gone months at a time, so I literally have no babysitter, nothing. Um, but I have been in the process of, um, you know, looking for some extra help, you know, either, uh, you know, like a Mommy Helper type thing, and, or just somebody to help me on the social media side of things. Yeah, because it's gotten to the point where you're like, okay, um, yeah. It's a little too much and it can be stressful. Um, there's a lot that goes behind it, but at the same time, I think about it 3 years ago, like it was just me. And now I'm thinking about hiring help and it's like, what a freaking blessing, you know, like to be able to bring somebody in with you. And that's something that I prayed for, you know, like have somebody with me and give somebody else the opportunity or them give me the opportunity to work together, you know, I think that's, that's pretty, pretty cool.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's, that's awesome. So, um, I wanna talk a, a little bit about kind of your, your strategy and your philosophy, or if you would say, say you're like, okay, this is a new week. You're trying to figure out what you're going to post. What does the creation process look like? Do you have a specific thing that you do to get these videos ready, or is it more of like on the go? You have an idea and you just film it.

So I can't say I'm perfect on that sense because I would be lying.

But what is perfect though? There's no—

Correct. Yeah. See, that's the thing. So with my schedule and how unpredictable it can be, again, with the kids and all the things and, you know, like not having a lot of help, it's— or solo doing it, let's just put it that way. Um, I try to theme my week of like, for example, last week I was talking about like a certain topic of like what our life was like a few years ago and like the things on the decluttering side of things. So then the next week I try to focus on something else because I try to record things maybe a week prior, and those videos sit until like I'm actually editing and recording the whole thing. So I just try to in a way theme that. But there's also the ones that I'm just like, you know what, I'm just going to record this right now and we're just going to go with it. Like the other day I shared a vlog of going spring clothing shopping and I was like, let's just do a vlog, you know, like might as well. And I think that sometimes just being spontaneous and like shows your personality, which I think that's really huge. And I feel like that's going to be the thing that's going to make us different than AI.

Oh, oh yeah, 100%.

You know, like showing our personality has a lot to do with it. Sometimes you buy some something out of business that you don't necessarily think it's either the most convenient place or the best of the best, but you love the culture of the company or you love the culture of like theirs or their setup or whatever. And maybe you saw it on social media, you're like, I love those vibes, you know, like I want to go there even though you might have another place that's much closer to you, but you're going to go there because you love the vibe. You know, like there's this one specific coffee shop that I go to and I absolutely love the owner. She's amazing. She's so sweet. I love their social media. I think like they're just very approachable and I feel very welcomed every time I go there. It's not the closest to me, but I'm like, I'm willing to drive extra mile to go to this specific place because I think for me it's worth it. And it's all because of like their social media. Their social media was what brought me in.

Yeah. Their brand.

Correct. Their brand.

Which created a feeling.

Correct.

Of trust.

Yes. I feel every time I go there, I feel special. I feel something, you know. And same thing for any, any business, honestly. Like, you feel something. A lot of people, when they follow me, they tell me, like, you make me feel seen. You made me feel like I can do it. You made me feel like it— like you can accomplish. You made me feel— and you see what I'm saying? Like, it's feel. And I feel like we all are trying to, in a way, like, belong to something. So when you have the same feeling, you're, you're sharing the feeling with the same, you know, with people. I think that's very important.

It's like a tribe. It's just like human nature, right? We had tribes, right, back in the day. Yeah, like a clan of people that just live and experience life together.

Correct.

Yeah, creating the same effect. Online, right? That's why I think communities, online communities, are huge. Yeah, they're growing very quickly. Um, yeah. Do you do any community stuff, uh, like locally, online community?

Uh, no. Well, kind of. I have like what they call the channels, and then I have my email list where I feel like that's more of the community side of things where I get a little bit more in depth. Are trying to. Yeah, I've been slacking a little bit with my email list.

I'm sorry, guys, but that's a hard thing.

Yeah, it's just, uh, yeah, a lot of people have been understanding, like, oh, we know you have a lot going on. It's not an excuse. But yeah, I think— but no, I don't necessarily have like a, like a community, although I've been thinking about it because I have a community or something. Yeah, like just something where we're all sharing the same, I guess, like struggles, or like we're all trying to get to the same goal. I've been really, really considering that one. And again, it just boils down to like, okay, I am at capacity right now personally. And, um, there's only so much that I can do. And if I'm gonna do something, I wanna give it my all. So I don't wanna just like, eh, whatever, you know? Yeah. Like it's not fair for, it wouldn't be fair for my community.

So, yeah, 100%. So what would you say to somebody who's on the fence about starting to create content, or maybe they've been creating content for a little while and they aren't seeing any results. Like, what would you say to that person?

Well, if you're getting started, just do it. And if you've been doing something and it's not working, pivot. You, you, you can't grow. And like, you can't grow if you don't see that something is working. You need to pivot. But at the same time, you can't pivot too many times. Like, you have to be consistent.

You'll never know what actually works.

Correct, correct. That's why whenever you're getting started on social media, a lot of people will tell you to post like 3, 4, 5 times a day, which I think that's a lot. But if you have the time, yeah, or if you have the means to like hire somebody to make that much content for you, definitely do it. So I have like, I would say like 3 different styles of video, like the short videos, And then I have like my vlogs where I'm like chatting, which I can chat, by the way. And then I have more like my voiceovers where it's more like educational. So I noticed like the short ones definitely get more exposure because they're shorter. People, it loops, people just like, okay, and they're reading. The vlogs are more personal. People are like getting to see my real life, like what's behind it. And then my like voiceovers are more like educational where I'm teaching naturally, or, you know, like trying to make people feel something. Um, but yeah, if you're getting started, definitely just do it and learn what's sticking and what's not. So if you're going to be doing content and then pivoting every month, I would tell you no. Like, no, try it, try something, try something, stick with it. And then, and then if you feel like, okay, it's been months and this is not working at all, definitely you need to like start pivoting a little bit.

I think it's working too. Study, study, study. Become a student of social media.

That, and learn what the trends are.

Yeah, I feel like whenever I turn the switch on to become obsessed about learning how this thing runs and works is whenever I started to learn, yeah, the differences between a good piece of content and a bad piece of content, right? And after doing it for a little while, at this point, like thousands of videos I have created, not just for me, but like for everybody that we work with too. I can tell you pretty darn close to like, okay, this is going to perform well versus this is not.

Yeah.

And looking back, it's crazy to see like the transformation that takes place within that process. Yeah. But it's so obvious to me now what was not obvious even 3 years ago, 2 years ago. And so become a student.

Definitely. Like I said, I think right at the beginning, like if you're not willing or if you're not constantly learning, being a student, then like, you know, like there's always room for, for learning and growth.

So how would you recommend somebody say like, okay, I want to start learning about this stuff. What would you say? What is the best place to go or best thing to do to start learning?

YouTube or by doing it. That's how I learned. Well, no, I did say I spent like $10,000. I'm not proud of that.

Um, it's kind of a flex nowadays though, like, oh, I spent $10,000 on myself to—

well, that wasn't on myself. Uh, kind of, but it was like, what was I thinking? There was this like this marketing course that I bought. It was like—

Did you learn anything from it?

No.

Oh dang. I was gonna say if there's one thing that you learned, then that should have been—

I did. I learned that I needed to take action and get out of my freaking head and start doing it and not like think that by buying all these things, courses, it was going to make me do it. You know, it was like watching a video of like how to get abs and just watching it like, girl, you gotta do it, you know, like, so do it, take action, or them things are not gonna grow.

If you want to save $10,000, there's the advice that if you take that advice, then you don't have to spend $10,000 to learn. Correct. This video just became $10,000 more valuable.

I just saved people $10,000. But there are, I mean, there are definitely like creators or business owners that sell in the social media world where you can buy their course, you know, maybe $100, $200. I think that's worth the investment, maybe a guide. But again, even as me myself selling a Decluttering and Living More Intentionally guide, you know, being a more mindful consumer, I have a guide. But I'll tell you what, like, you buy it, but I need you to take action. It won't do anything if you buy it and you're not going to take action. Yeah, people can come and buy a guide from you telling them like, hey, this is why social media is so important, but if they don't actually take action, it's not going to do anything for them. And to them, that could, could take— taking action is either by creating the content themselves, content themselves, hiring someone, maybe hiring somebody that they can consult with and like answer those questions. But after even the consultation meeting, you have to still take action. It all boils down to taking action.

And that's one thing that's crazy to me that I have learned, that people have paid me a significant, like, a good amount of money and like, we'll come up with a plan, we'll I'll show 'em how to do everything. Like, this is what you need to do. I'll do some with them and it works. And then after that's done, they, they just don't do anything else.

Right.

I'm like, dude, you, it, yeah. Anyways, so like you have to do it.

Well, you have to have a, some, some sort of self-discipline.

Mm-hmm.

And having a goal, like having your why. For me, my why was like, I am going to give myself to make this work out. And if it doesn't work out the way that I wanted it, then I failed by trying.

Yeah.

And I can look back and say, I tried and I tried my absolute best. If it didn't work out, or maybe things just pivoted or things, you know, like I said, I don't know what my life is going to look like 5 years from now, but as of right now, I love doing this and I find so much joy doing this far beyond beyond how many likes you got, how my— like, how many views. It's how many lives can I impact in one way or another. So, but yeah, taking, taking actions and having a why is gonna be your best friend.

Yeah. So looking forward, I like to talk about vision on this podcast a lot. So what would you say your end goal is in the next few years with how you're running things now? Like, are you wanting to grow in certain areas, bring on team members? What does that look like for you?

I would love to bring team members, um, especially stay-at-home moms that are looking for something to do, because I've been that stay-at-home mom that, you know, on the other side, and just like having a little bit of extra income, you know, of course the ultimate goal would be like having somebody full-time, you know, where how beautiful would that be, you know, and creating, you know, all these things. That would be a, I would hope, a shorter-term vision. And then I would love to create a community or do more like, more like accountability groups maybe where people actually, okay, let's take action on whatever the topic might be that we're doing, you know, more like a community, like you said. And, um, that would be another one. And hopefully one day YouTube. I've been playing with the idea of that. I've had people ask me, like, you, why don't you do YouTube? And I'm like, what am I gonna talk about? Or what should I say?

What should I say? You don't create the content, you just are the content.

Correct. See, but that's, that's where I kind of see, like, everybody, even though it might look like, oh, they have it all figured out, you alone sometimes. Like, and I think that's beautiful whenever you can bounce ideas with other people. So, you know, if you're feeling stuck and you're creating content or you're doing certain things, I think that connecting with others— it doesn't always have to be a competition, but rather a, hey, can we help each other out? Like, how are you doing this? Or how can I do this better? You know, like, like the community. Over competition.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, super valuable. Find local creators or even not local, like just make connections with people who are doing similar things to you.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, I think a school community could be, could crush for you. There are school communities, I mean, you can set it up to be a free community and you can also set it up to be a paid community.

Yeah.

And I've, I've, I've done the math on some of these guys' communities and it's like Even if you have 100 people at $10 a month.

Yeah.

That's life-changing money for a lot of people. It really is. And so even a dollar a month and you have 10,000 people in there.

Right.

That's 10 racks a month.

I know, right? So, no, I, I agree with you, but like I said, the only thing is in my own way, besides, you know, imposter syndrome sometimes. It's, it's just, I feel like I'm at, I'm at capacity, you know, and that's very important to also acknowledge because if I'm trying to pretend that I can do it all, I, then I'm just giving like 50, 50, 50 everywhere and I don't want 50 everywhere. I want to give my all to wherever I'm at. If I am with my kids, I want to be fully present. If I am with my friends, I want to be fully present. With them. If I am with my community, I want to be fully present for them, you know. So I think that's probably my next personal step.

Well, yeah, I'm excited for you. Yeah, that's awesome. I don't know. Um, no, thanks for sharing all of that, um, wealth of knowledge and stories. That's one of the biggest reasons that I love talking to people about this stuff is because you can learn so much, no matter, like, we're in different industries, but I feel like I learned stuff today, and hopefully you learned stuff today, and you learned stuff today who's listening. So yeah, so where can people connect with you if they want to follow you, or even potentially work with you as a creator?

So my social medias are all across yelly.heidecker. That's That's where you can find me.

So all of the platforms, all over, yes, all the platforms, even YouTube, right?

Yes, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram. Um, the only one that's different is Facebook, but yeah, we can connect on Instagram.

What type of, uh, what type of brands do you like to work with? If one's listening, I, I want them to feel like this is a perfect fit.

I definitely love, uh, doing a lot of like on the cleaning side. I do a lot of cleaning. Um, but also I've been having so much fun doing a lot of like the finance side of things because that's my background, you know, that's, so that feels very like, oh, hey, hello. Yeah. So yeah, but definitely cleaning side of things has been my top.

Sweet.

Yeah.

All right. Well, thanks for coming on the podcast today. Hope you guys found some value out of today's conversation. Go check out the other episodes if you haven't. We'll see you in the next one.

Bye.

Peace.