SOCIAL MEDIA AGENTS OF CHANGE PROJECT: LIVESTREAM KATYA

Hi everybody, it's Donna Brown. I am a business mentor and intuitive strategist, and I have with me today Katya Varbanova, who is the queen of live streaming and the queen of Periscope. I've nominated her queen, even though, you know, so I hope she accepts the crown on my behalf. We're here today to talk about the Agents of Change project, which is Leveraging social media for social good. And, uh, okay, Livestream Katya. I've been corrected already. Livestream Katya. That's it. So we can find her. And I'm going to get her to put in all the little where to find her and all these links and everything so I can read them out for you at the right time so that you know where to find her. She's Livestream Katya. Yes. Um, So back to the Agents of Change project. What is it? It really is teaching people and inspiring Facebook group leaders, Periscope, people who have huge Periscope followings, on Twitter, social, whatever social media platform you're on, to leverage your communities and to involve them and galvanize them for social change. And there are so many amazing ways that this can be done. And some of the people, the influencers I've spoken to about this idea and project have already adopted it and have already brought in tens of thousands tens of thousands of dollars for various charities, to gender equality, literacy, social change in war-stricken areas of the world, and so much more. So this is really just the tip of the iceberg if you consider that on Facebook alone there are 1 billion people in groups. So, Livestream Katya, am I— do I have to call you that all the time now? Is that your title? Queen Livestream Katya.

No, no, that was just instead of the Vabanova.

Okay, so Katya is a powerhouse. For anybody who has— hasn't— for anybody who— for— I can't understand who hasn't met her, but for anybody who doesn't know her, she is just as beautiful on the inside as she looks on the outside. So, and has been able to galvanize this group, Ippari 10K, It's an amazing group of people who are on obviously Periscope. And as part of that group, I have been a part of that group and it's so— everybody is very, very supportive, very kind. They have this very strong sense of community amongst themselves, but also that, you know, a rising tide lifts all boats. So she seemed one of the perfect people to bring in to talk about this idea and this project also because I know she has a big heart and big plans for How she can move in the world in this way. So thank you, Katya, for joining us, and thank you for the livestream Katya correction. Tell us

a little. You are not meant to say it to everyone. It was meant to be just a little secret. I was like, "I'm just gonna tell her to." That's all right. People are like, "What?" They don't. Yeah, it's very difficult, my surname.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

So, um, a little bit about myself. Oh gosh, um, well, where do I start? I grew up in, um, I grew up in a country in Eastern Europe called Bulgaria. And I say this all the time, until I was 18 years old, I lived in a 1-bedroom studio with my parents, and I literally slept with my dad until I was 18 years old. Never had my own room, never had my own space. I was literally like It was, it wasn't— let's just say I got used to it. But now looking back, I wonder how did I, how was I able to do that? Like, how was I able to live like that? Mm-hmm. But it was a great perspective that I was given at the time to, to have the, the contrast of what it's like to have nothing and what it's like to have a lot of things. And, you know, one of the reasons I moved to the UK in 2010 was because I wanted to escape that. I wanted to get out of that poor country. I wanted to— I felt like the Western world had so much to give. As a result, it had so much more opportunity, and as a result, so much more ways that I can grow, develop, and then eventually be able to create something amazing. And I got into the livestreaming world back in 2015 when livestreaming was like brand new, at least the way that it is today. I know that the whole idea of live streaming isn't anything new. It's been for years. But the 2015, the Periscope revolution was really something new. It was really something exciting. And I was working in banking at the time. Got on Periscope, started broadcasting. And I remember at the beginning, I only listened and I only watched. And I just felt so inspired by these people that I just saw the power of being on video. And the power of how one message and one person at the right time can really hit you hard. And I think that was really attractive for me because I always wanted to be able to lead a group of people to a change and to just create something powerful. And I saw that was the way to do it. So I started my community, Peri10K, which originally was just a Periscope group, but now it's like a whole other— like, it's got— we're on Facebook. We're on Instagram. We're pretty much everywhere. And the idea of Peri 10K was actually, it was actually to create change in a way that we wanted to prove to the world that if we all collaborated, the world is going to be friendlier. Everybody would succeed and we would all be happier if we did that. So my mission with that community was I wanted to prove a point. I wanted to show And to me, the way to show that was to gather a bunch of people, collaborate together. We get to the 10,000 number because if you have 10,000 followers, that's when you really start getting traction. That's what we were focusing on. And that's how the community was created. And, you know, it's been 2 years now and it's growing even stronger because of that strong mission. And I truly believe that If you're doing something with a big purpose, then more people resonate to that. And that's what makes it even more powerful in a way. And one of the things that we're doing, like for example this week, that it just really inspires me, is it's Mental Health Awareness Week. And we are— we have a daily livestream show that we show up on as Perry TNK members, and we would come and discuss one particular topic. And this whole week we have dedicated to mental health. We have, you know, dedicated to talking about the issue, even though I've been fortunate enough to never experience it or to never— like, I've never had anybody in my family to experience any mental health issue. But I feel like as the leader of this group, it's my responsibility to make sure that I don't just look at what I need, but I also look at what my community needs. And a lot of them have gone through these kind of things, which was kind of a no-brainer. So that's what's happening right now. Fun fact, I've been living in the UK 7 years, but I'm now moving to Malta because I've always dreamed to live in a hot country. I've always dreamed to be on the beach, and it never used to be possible because we could never be location independent before. But now that Now that things are doing well, today is my partner's last day in his job and he's not getting a new job. He's like, he's retired. He's retired, as they say, retired. And very, very exciting stuff are happening, Donna. So I'm so glad we're having this conversation now.

Yes, I'm so grateful for your time. And as I said, what you said, this power of community, the power of collaboration. Which is really why, as I said again, why I wanted you here, just because the very sort of the roots of your business really come from that sense of community and that sense of collaboration. And everybody will be happier if we all do pull together. And the Shareathons, which are these amazing— when you're in them, like, I always got very sort of like, whoa, I felt like I always felt like I was on a roller coaster. But still, that's the sensation, like, just to make sure it's like a relay race, really. So you pass it on to the next person. So I was always very nervous and about the responsibility of that, but they're so much fun. And again, the sense of community. So this is, we're all about community and, and with all the groups that are intertwined and interconnected on all the different platforms and all the, and the, all the Facebook groups, you know, are intertwined in some way. They're always sort of these 6 degrees of separation. But again, they move through all the platforms because I said you've moved, seen seamlessly from Periscope to Instagram to Facebook. And your message and your company and your community has really just grown stronger and stronger and more and more interesting and more and more diverse in some ways. Or we've been all allowed to show our diversity very, very freely. It's a very open and supportive place. And so let's move into sort of the core of what the Agents of Change project is. And that is really helping community leaders, social media people who have followings, which is really anybody, right? Anybody who has a following, even if there are 15 people, you are leading a group of people if you choose to. How you feel about that, your role there in moving things forward on, let's say, a social plane as far as change and charity work, or call it whatever, or philanthropic work, or whatever you wish to call it.

Yeah. So I have to say that I feel like the helping in general, like giving and delivering value to people, is just something that we naturally just do every single day. I mean, yesterday on the Shareathon, when we were talking about mental health again, one of our speakers actually received a phone call out of the blue, and it turned out it was one of our viewers on Periscope who found her name.

Oh.

Tracked her down, like he went on the internet to look out for her number, and he called her to say, I just want to call you and just say thank you because you have no idea how much inspiration and how much value are these Shareathons giving me. And, and, and, you know, she shared about this and I'm like, I'm not surprised. This is happening all the time. So I feel like a lot of the time people don't realize the amount of effect they're having. I'm a huge advocate of showing up as the person you are and sharing your truth, because you never know who you can impact with your truth. Of course, sometimes you will face people who are not happy with what you're sharing, but at the end of the day, if you remember that you are impacting somebody, that's what matters. So to me, making a difference online and being charitable and all that kind of stuff is way beyond just giving money on holidays or giving money on Christmas. It's about just giving value every single day through your products, through your services, through your community. And the way that I have built it, I have built— like, here's an example. The show that we have, it's a full-fledged system. Yes. I don't run the show anymore. I have made it very self-sustaining. So that it can always be there on time, so that it can always be there for the need it. And you know, for some people that's the boring work. Well, systems aren't sexy and all that kind of stuff. But when you have that in place as a business owner, you are allowing that to be showing up consistently. And I just love how I just love how it's. It's impacting people without necessarily having to, you know, oh, you have to write a massive check in order to make a difference. Not necessarily. Not necessarily. And I think making a difference also has a different definition to everybody out there. And yeah, pretty much.

Yeah, that's so true. There are so many different things we can, you know, we can give of our time, we can give of resources, we can give our talents, etc. experience, and even sometimes even just listening. But as you say, we never know who we're going to impact, and we're so much more powerful than we think, right? And I know that, and before we went, we started to record this beautiful interview, you told me that you have a little secret wish of something that you would love to do, to be, to, that really is a blending of your big heart and your expertise to help move some causes forward. And I'd love it if you could share with the audience, because I think it's really important to give ideas to people. Often we know what we— we know we want to do something, but we're not always sure of what. So I'm always asking people to— the people who come on the interviews to share their ideas, their projects, because the more the merrier. I mean, the more people that do the same kind of thing, the better it is.

Yeah. So, well, it's worth saying that I believe that money is easy to obtain and that there's a few things that are a lot more priceless than money. One of that is giving your attention, giving your heart, giving your time. So one of the things I'm, I'm really interested in doing in the future is I want to, I want to find charities that I'm actually passionate about. See, there's a lot of people who just give out money to charity just for the sake of them saying they've given money to charity. I'm more interested in finding a charity that I am aligned with and that I can see, I can see beyond the cash. I can see beyond the fundraising goal. Like, okay, that's your fundraising goal, but what else? You know, what else is there behind it that you are doing to make an impact? Because there's always a way to make an impact with money and without money. So one of the things I want to do is obviously use my expertise to demonstrate to them what they can do. For example, you know, speaking of live streaming, which is my real passion and my real, you know, zone of genius and using video to reach more people, to get exposure, to get more viewers, to get more sales. I would love to partner with 2 or 3 charities who are aligned with who I am, who would give me, and I would give them the time and they would give me their trust to experiment with their big Facebook following, to experiment with their big Twitter following, so that I can create some content for them, some videos, some livestream content that is going to not just hit their fundraising goals, but like crush their fundraising goals out of the water. And I think that, that idea really excites me for 2 reasons. One, because they're probably gonna, they're probably gonna think, Oh wow, we should have done this way earlier. And I can go and say, well, that's because live streaming is powerful. And I can share that as a case study to everybody in my community and I can inspire them even more. But 2, it's because it's something that doesn't really require a lot of effort. All that is needed is the right kind of sunglasses on. You know, it's like—

Mm-hmm.

It's like I've reached out to lots of companies who, let's say, have They have millions of followers on Twitter. They're not going live on Periscope. And I'm just thinking, guys, if you just went once a month, you could be reaching so many more people with whatever it is you're trying to do. And it's just, I think it kind of— I feel, I feel almost responsible that not everybody is aware of the opportunity that they have in their hands. And How much they're taking it for granted, and I kind of I kind of want to almost want to smack them in the face and wake them up. Hey, people,

wake

up!

Wake

up! Like I I I I want to be that person for them because that's what happened to me when I was on Periscope watching for a while. Those people were smacking me in the face. They weren't saying it to me, but they were showing it. Yeah. By showing up, by getting results, they were showing me that, oh my God, there is something powerful about this. And I want to show it to them, and I want to help them actually utilize it in a way that is not going to cost them anything. You know, I want to do it for them. One, because I love it, but two, because I think I get a kick out of winning, and I get a kick out of getting like big results, you know, I've always been the— I blame my parents. They were like, they were all, they were A-star students back in the day, so they put all the pressure on me. You have to be the A-star student too. So that's kind of been ingrained in me that I want to give them A-star results by using my expertise. And I'm very, very excited about what that could lead to. And that's something that would help both of us. It's gonna help their company, it's gonna help their fundraising goals, it's gonna help me too because I'm gonna feel more confident in my strategies. I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna feel more empowered to do even more bold things. I'm gonna be like all geeking out and playing with it and getting excited. And, you know, and I will be, and I will be the person behind some 8-star results. So it's, it's, it's a no-brainer pretty much.

Yes, absolutely. And what you said, people really don't realize— when you said they don't realize the opportunities they have, that's exactly my point with the Agents of Change project, is that people do not realize how powerful we are, how much— how little it takes to make an impact. We are always— we sort of have this old-fashioned idea that it has to be the big charities, the big companies, the big organizations, the big everything to make a difference, and it is absolutely not true. You know, it can begin with the smallest thing because if 1,000 people do one small thing, that's 1,000 small things that becomes one big thing. So I don't think that we should ever, you know, I agree with you, I don't want to smack their faces, but I can kind of relate to you, you kind of want to shake them though, right? If you don't smack their face, at least shake them a little bit, like take them by the collar, like guys, like do you even see what's in front of you? So to me, this is a big part of it and I love that you feel that way, because it is true. We just have so much. I think it's almost so big. Like, when I sat there and realized that there are a billion people in Facebook groups, 1 billion, that's 5 times the United States. Wow. 5 times. And thinking, if everybody just gave once, $1, you'd have a billion dollars. You can do a whole lot with a billion dollars. And now all the business people will talk about a 3% conversion rate, well, that's still $30 million. That's a pretty big chunk of money, right? That's like, get all picky here, right? Because when I noticed that, for example, in some of the other activities that other people have done as group leaders, there will be people who give $100 and people who give nothing. And that's why we're sort of balancing it out at the $1. So I just, I sat there though, I was really in shock. Like I thought, that is, nobody has even noticed it. It's like, It's right in front of us and nobody has even noticed that this is a possibility. How could we have not seen this? And again, as you say, I think it's so— sometimes it's so simple. Yeah. And it's so powerful and it's so simple that we can't even believe that it's that simple and that powerful. So we almost don't see it, like we can't recognize it. So I can't wait till you unleash your talents on, on some amazing causes. I know you'll find the perfect ones for that. Do you have any plans? And I know that you're doing this Mental Health Week and you've done other themes too as well. So this is sort of a recurrent theme with your Shareathons and in the Perry 10K group. Have you considered doing something as a group or have you ever done anything as a group to come together over any kind of initiatives? Or is that something that you've sort of got on the back burner for the future?

We have done a couple of things. One of the Well, we have— we do very often, we do stuff for the community. So for example, we have this member of ours, Lynn. She is a phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal woman, and she's been having some health issues recently, which is why she hasn't been able to participate in the Shareathons. So, you know, one of the things that we gathered together to do was we got together and said, let's all send her something in the post, whether it's a card, whether it's flowers, something, because she's gonna go through this amazing— through this really tough surgery that, you know, has, you know, quite a few risks. And I think in that moment, being able to empower somebody to feel like they are adored, to feel like they matter, I think that gives them some kind of— it gives them a reason to fight. Gives them a reason to fight. And, and I know that by doing that for her, she's then going to come back even more powerful to impact all her women. Like, she helps women, helps women with confidence issues. So I know that by us doing that, she's going to do that. Um, another thing we've wanted to do— this is funny, but I'm going to share it. Go for it. We've thought about doing a naked share-a-thon for being happy with your body. Like, yes, we've thought about doing naked—

Are you allowed to?

Just, well, we wouldn't show nipples. We'd just be like taking—

And other bits, you know, nipples and other bits, right?

Yeah, like we just show small bits. We wouldn't show like nudity or something.

What about all the trolls?

That's fine, we block them. Our fingers are really fast, we've gotten used to dealing with those. But, you know, something that was like to empower people to just love who they are and to inspire them to just do something today that just feels good, even though other people may look at them and judge them, like, you know, being naked or whatever it is for other people. So We do a lot of things about that. And yes, we've done some— we've had some ideas about creating big giveaways as well. Very similar to what we chatted about earlier about doing giveaways where we all contribute some sorts of trainings or products or materials and then we go out and sell these and give profits to— well, some of the profits to charity, which is just a very simple way of doing it as well. It's super simple. Yeah, way can be done. So yeah.

It's lovely that you're supporting someone in your community. And as— and again, you know, what we're always thinking of the community coming together to support something else, but you can also support each other. And let's say a particular—

if

there's a particular, you know, somebody's struggling their, maybe their child or a family member has a particular, some challenges at that time, to support them. I think there's just so, there's just so much that can be done. And I'm just excited to spread the word. And thank you for helping me do that. Just to spread the word that there's so much that you can do. And don't forget that they're called virtual communities, but we're real people. So you have a community of real people that don't meet in person very often or ever. Right? Yes. Yeah, some people can meet up, but it just, you know, this thing about virtual community, it almost, it's like it takes the energy and the power away from it. Whereas we're real communities of real people who are capable of moving, moving mountains and moving. We can even, we can move virtual mountains and we can move livestream mountains. But I just wanted to thank you so much for joining me. And so tell us a little bit, just remind us where we can find you. Livestream Katya, but you know, and your community and where we can find you and all that nice stuff.

So you can find me, Livestream Katya, literally on every single social media platform: Periscope, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat. Oh God, any platform that you can think of, I'm there. Livestream Katya. And I also have a, I also have a Facebook group that obviously I'm a leader of, that you can find if you go to livestreamincome.com. You'll be able to find it there too. And my community is all about, as I said, it's all about making the world more collaborative through collaborating through live streaming. So live streaming for me is really just a vehicle. It's not the means, not the end, just the means to the end. People think that, oh, you just have, you know, people just think that I just teach them live streaming, but, but actually I just help them to use it as a vehicle to whatever it is that they're trying to achieve. And that's what the point of is. So if you're, if you, if you're watching this and if you're like, gosh, I want to help more charities or I want to reach more people, then live streaming is one of the best ways to do that. Absolutely. So that's what the community is about. It's about using live streaming for whatever you need. Whether it's making more sales, fundraise, whatever your goal is, that's what it is. So they can find it there.

Lovely. Thank you so much for joining me. And for those who would like to know more about the Agents of Change project, I've created a toolkit with sort of— that explains the whole project, the reason behind it, and different things and suggestions as to how you can choose your charities, how to galvanize your group. It's obviously free. And you can find that at donnabrown.com. And you can find me at Big Bang Business Strategies on Facebook. And of course, as well as my own business page on Facebook. So thanks everyone so much for watching, for listening. And thank you, Katya, so, so much for sharing your beautiful community, your, your lovely message, and your beautiful personality. It's been a joy as usual. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you for your kind words and for having me, and let's do it. Okay.