Latest / Influencer Confidential / Travel Creator of 10+ Years @NicoleIsaacs Shares All - [Creator Currency Ep. 9]

Transcript

Travel Creator of 10+ Years @NicoleIsaacs Shares All - [Creator Currency Ep. 9] · Influencer Confidential

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, everyone, Welcome, Welcome to today's episode. I am
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: so excited for this because it's with a friend and
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: someone who I totally admire in this industry. Nicole Isaac's
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: powerhouse creator, entrepreneur, travel lifestyle expert, all of that. I
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: think she's built an iconic presence online. She's been doing
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: this forever. You guys are going to learn a lot
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: more about her.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: I actually met.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Nicole on a campaign with the Costa Rica Tourism Board
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: ages ago, and the rest is history. Since then, we
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: have hired her actually for campaigns for other brand clients
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: and have always just kind of remained close. I even
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: got to go to her wedding this year, which is
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: one of the most epic weddings, actually the most epic
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: wedding I've ever been to, and I will go on
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: record saying that. But Nicole, like I said, she has
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: done so much amazing work in this industry. She's worked
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: with the biggest brands that you can imagine. I mean,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: thank Samsung, thank Rich, thank Nutrientina. I think McDonald's my
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: personal favorite. Her work has taken.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Her all over around the world. She travels.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: But we're going to learn a lot more about her content,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: how she's shifting. She's been doing this forever and recently
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: her own clothing line, Kadema, so she is at it. Nicole,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the show.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Wow Net, thanks for that amazing intro. I should like
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: play that every morning right when I wake up.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: My God, I just actually wish we recorded our whole
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: section you guys before we jokeed on here. First of all,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: I went to her wedding this year, you guys, And
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: this isn't even questions that I have prepared, but no
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: I have told her. I was like, Nicole, your wedding
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: was legit, like the most beautiful experience, and something that
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: I actually had on the list of things I wanted
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: to talk to you about was your personal life because
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: your husband is not in this.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Industry, right he is. I don't even know.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Really what he really How does he feel about your world,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: your career, like what you do, especially because you don't
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: really include him in any of the content.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, not only is he not in my industry, he
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: couldn't be farther from my industry. He like doesn't even
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: have Instagram, so he couldn't be farther from my world,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: which I kind of like, there's an aspect that I like,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: and then there's also an aspect of it that I
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: guess is challenging, but nothing that like he can't learn,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: and he has learned so quickly already, and he's been very,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: very supportive, and as soon as like he sees all
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: the perks, he's like, oh my god, like this is amazing.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Like he's just like all on board with everything and
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: super supportive, but he's also like, I don't Just to
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: give you a little bit of history, like we dated
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: in my early twenties for four years. He was like
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: my first true love. He was with me at his
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: parents' house when I started my first blog post in
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: two thousand and nine, so he has been around since
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: the very beginning. And I remember he used to go
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: to restaurants with me all around LA and New York
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: whenever we would travel, and he would take pictures of
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: me at restaurants when I would be like writing reviews
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: about restaurants. So he was like my OG day one
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: Ride or Die supporter. So he understands, like as much
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: as he's not in this world, he has followed my
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: journey and my like for all these years. Because we
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: had broken up for twelve years and he kind of
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: watched from Afar and he always told his fan man
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: and his friends that he's like so proud of me
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: and that I'm doing amazing things. So he's definitely a supporter,
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: even though he's not in my world. But like, yeah,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: it work better.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie a great I'm like team like
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: separate lives also probably grounds you in ways like that
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: you don't even realize because we're always on our phones
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: and maybe we're just always working. And he's I think
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: it's actually really good Yang to the Yang, So I'm
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: here for you.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Agree. I agree, it's good. Balance. He'll remind me how
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: much I love it though, because sometimes we'll be away
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: and if it's not a workship, he'll be like, it's
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: not a workshop. You don't have content to submit. I'm like,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: I know, but like I love it so much, like
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: I want to capture everything. And so he's seen that
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: side and he's like, wow, it's amazing that you also
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: really love what you do. And I've also learned about myself,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: like I don't want to stop capturing, Like I'm really
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: good at turning off when I'm home and I'm not traveling,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: like I'm really good. I just like hibernating and turning
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: off and like the balance of work and play and
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: just meditation and living kind of living slow, like slow living.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: But then when I'm on a trip, I just get
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: so inspired and I want to capture everything. So I've
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: learned that too, Like I can't. It's hard for me
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: to turn off. But yeah, because I love like though.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm sure there's like you know, there is
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: that element, you know, boundaries around like just being on
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: and stuff. I'm sure he's like.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: A little he had soundboard for you in that he is.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: But speaking about something you mentioned perks, I want to
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: talk about it because you have I'm sure there's a
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: lot of perks.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: So what are some of the perks, Nicole? Well, I
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: get a lot of free stuff, and he loves that.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Eric loves that. But he you know, the free trips
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: and all that stuff. But I mean just getting to
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: go on these amazing trips around the world, and whether
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: they're paid or free. I mean sometime sometimes I still
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: take free trips because if it's an amazing opportunity, I'll
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: be like, okay, fine, But so he like he's all
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: about that. Look, I created my dream life. So I'm
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: working with my dream brands. I'm like working with products
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: that I use already every day that I'm actually like
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: now getting paid to you. So it's just like, yeah,
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: it's just there's so many perks in this world. I
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: get free meals, I get free. I mean it sounds
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: like I feel like it sounds so personal, no time
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: ledge to talk about, but no, but it's I mean,
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: it's part of it.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: And I think sometimes we complain about the free because
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: we want to be paid, right, And that's something I
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: know you've been really vocal about. Yeah, And then there's
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: parts that it's like, Okay, well I do get a
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: lot of benefits, like, you know, things that people don't realize.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: And I think it's actually refreshing to hear it because
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: a lot of times creators aren't very outright with Yeah,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: there there are perks, like in any job, right, soce
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: some jobs have other perks, like some jobs have different
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: perks around this and it's a perk of being in
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: this space and posting every single day for ten years,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Like there's perks, you know, of building your business. I
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: think that's something that I really wanted to chat with
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: you about. Too, because you've been doing this literally forever,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: like I mean before so many platforms even existed, right,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: and so in over a decade, I know you mentioned
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: briefly like you started in two thousand and nine, that's
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: when you started your blog, right, Yeah, so you've been
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: doing this for a while, Like I'm obviously like Nicole
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: og creator, which is wild because not that many creators
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: can actually say they had that type of longevity. Right,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: So you've seen a lot of shifts, You've seen a
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: lot of changes in this space. Like what's what has
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: stood out as something that you see that has changed
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: from what maybe we've started versus where things are now.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Right, I think that there's just so many more creators.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Even when I quit my job in twenty fifteen and
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: I went full time in like content creating and traveling,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: like there were already content creators obviously and influencers. Now
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: it's like I feel like so many more people are
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: content creators. It's like, especially since COVID, I think COVID
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: till now is when I saw the biggest shift. And
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: I think because a lot of people just were at
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: home and their jobs kind of stopped or they were
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: working from home and they had more time, so they
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: people downloaded TikTok you can, started doing more of that
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: and eversions of TikTok. I think that's when, really like
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: our industry changed, because there were so many new creators
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: that just kind of blew up and went viral on
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: TikTok and just short form video too, and the lot
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: since COVID till now, like there's just been so much
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: change since twenty twenty. I think it's only been five years,
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: but I really feel like there's just so many more creators.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you feel that way, but I
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: just feel like everyone now is like, like, I want
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: to be a content creator, And maybe before was more
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: of like an unattainable goal for a lot of people
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: because they had nine to fives and desk jobs and
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: they had to go into work all day. But then
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: COVID happened and everyone started working from home. Like I said,
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: everyone just started downloading TikTok and making videos and became
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: viral and they had thousands of like followers within days,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: and then the whole industry changed.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Well, let's be real, it's a guts game too. It's
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: not just busy. People didn't think this was a real job.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: They didn't think there was money. They thought this wasn't
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: you know real at you guys, the OG creators were like, actually,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: we're going to go out there and we're going to
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: be first to market and we're going to kill it.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: And that's what you guys did, and that's why you
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: worked with some of the world's biggest brands, because there
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: there is an advantage being first, right when you jump on
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: that wave kind of before the masses come to it.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: And I do see a big rise of creators and
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: I think I've always said there's room for everyone. But
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: at the same time, you know, the people that do
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: it now, it's because they have proof that it works.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: And when you did it, there was no proof. There
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: was no this is shore fire, like you took a
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: full on risk on yourself, you know, because it could
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: have been the big fat flop. Yeah, it really could have.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Not to say that it's easier now by any means,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: but there's more surefire ways for building out a business
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: around this or setting up your own UGC studio like
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: this is. I think it's I think there's data that
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: shows like eighty five percent of US based companies are
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: using influencer marketing that's in twortant twenty five. It wasn't
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: like that before, right, It was riskier.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: You know, right. I think, Yeah, the brands have totally
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: got like come on board of seeing how powerful influencer
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: marketing is. From like twenty fifteen. So much has changed
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty. And then I saw, like I was
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: crazy busy twenty twenty during COVID, Like I got so
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: many brand deals from like beauty brands and skincare brands
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: and home brands just because brands were like, oh my god,
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: like what are we going to do, Like we have
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: to pay influencers like our only way to like have
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: marketing this year because everything shut down. I do think
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: that there's something with kind of people who started like
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: a long time ago, like the OG influencers. I feel
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: like they their audience is like so die hard and
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: like loyal and engaged and trusting, and that's like I
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: would say, like the one benefit one of the benefits
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: about starting so long ago is like my audience has
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: been around for so long and they followed my journey
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: for like ten plus years, like fifteen years now actually
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: like back in like my misfoody dot com days where
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: I started food logging, like they have been around for
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: so long that like they see my journey, they're super invested.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: And I feel like even though I don't have millions
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: of followers, and I feel like my client has been
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: very gradual, Like I've never peaked, that never went crazy
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: like with so many tons of viral reels getting hundreds
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: of thousands of followers super quickly. But my followers have
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: been around since the very beginning, and I think that's
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: like very very value. There's something to that.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Someone once told me, a creator once told me that,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: you know, it's like three hundred thousand people having your
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: phone number. It stuck with me because it was like,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: imagine my dms, Imagine the comments, imagine the amount. Do
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: you ever feel overwhelmed by the sheer of comments? Engaged mins? Dms?
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: The other it feels kind of feel overwhelming, like truly
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: to not in a bad way, because of course you're
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: grateful and you love the people, but like, how do
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: you manage engaging with comments, engaging with your people? Like,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: at at what point does it become too much?
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: If it doesn't, it doesn't, Yeah, I don't know. I
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: guess I hear a lot of people say that, and
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: I truly like if I felt like if I felt that,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: I have no problem admitting that. I don't know if
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: I feel ever like overwhelmed, Like I really take my
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: time to like respond to people. If I don't get
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: to somebody, I try not to let it stress me out,
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Like I really try to be engaged with like my community.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: I have such like a really supportive and like positive community,
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: like not a lot of haters. So I actually really
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: enjoyed being online. I enjoy like interacting with everybody, and no,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: I think like I'm really good with just like feeling
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: and being grounded and not letting it get to me
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: and feeling overwhelmed. I think if you would have asked
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: me this a few years ago, I might have said
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: something different. It was more like stressful for me to
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: keep up with all the platforms and posting consistently than
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: like really engaging with people in their messages, and because
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: that to me is like the fun part, Like I
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: love talking to the people that support me. That's not
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: stressful for me, it's for It was more like feeling
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: like I had to keep up and post every day
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: and like make sure my TikTok was like I was
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: posting on TikTok, I was putting my Instagram, like I
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: was putting on my YouTube shorts. I was like keeping
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: up with everything. That kind of stressed me out. I
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: would say, now it doesn't like I've really really got
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: to a place where, like I go at my own pace.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: And I think that's the key, because I've experienced burnout before.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: I know we talked about it, but in twenty nineteen,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: it was like the busiest year for me, and I
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: was traveling back to back like I had tripps back
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: to back. I probably was home for a total, like
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: a month total in twenty nineteen, and I got to
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: the point where at the end of the year, I
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: was going to Hawaii and beautiful places for brand trips
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: and I didn't want to be there, like I wanted
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: to go home. And that's when I knew, like I
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: can never let myself get into this space, like mental
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: space ever again. And I have not burnt out since.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: And I think that's the key to just like feeling
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: positive in this industry and like not getting burnt out
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: and not feeling overwhelmed and going at your own pace,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: because like the slower you move and The more you
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: take your time and kind of do it at your
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: own pace, the more you're just inspired and you want
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: to be you want to show up like you want
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: to show up for your community. You're you're inspired, You're
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: not like deflated, which I think is really important.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: You mentioned the pressure of, you know, keeping up with
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: the perobial jones is of all these platforms and the
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: you know, the posting on so many Now you say
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: you've been able to get a grip on that, But
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: is it just like an intentional choice to be like
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to do less or I'm not going
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: to post this on TikTok, or like how do you
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: stay on top of repurposing all your content?
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: I feel like there's some videos that I'm like, Okay,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: this is a TikTok video, and like this is an
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Instagram video, So like I don't always cross promote, but
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: sometimes if I have something for Instagram, like I'll just
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: for me. It's easy for me to be like, Okay,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I'll just post it on TikTok too. But it's more
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: so like that than posting on TikTok and then being like,
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: let me post on Instagram. I'm a little more like
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: picky with like what I put on Instagram aesthetically and
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: TikTok is more. TikTok honestly has become really fun for me.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: I was reluctant and I was fighting it for so long.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: I did not want to get TikTok, and I was
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: like seeing emergence of like how crazy it became during COVID,
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: and I was like please, like just go away, like
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: I don't want another platform. And then I finally just
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: started experimenting and posting and I just had fun because
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: I didn't care as much. So it was just kind
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: of like I don't care if I have hundreds of
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: thousands of followers on here. I'm just gonna post what's
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: fun for me and see what happens. And that's exactly
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: what I did. I just started like posting, like repurposing
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: my travel videos and maybe just posting things that I
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: want to post on Instagram, and then I started going
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: viral and gaining some followers, and then it just became
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: a fun place. So I don't look at it as
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: like oh good, I have to post on this this,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: and then it's just like now it's just a fun
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: place for me. I love this energy. Of social being fun.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: This is so refreshing because I feel like maybe I'm
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: just around.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: A lot of complainers, but I think that I really
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: appreciate the energy of like, listen, we're blessed to do
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: what we do. We are so beyond lucky to have
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: this type of job, to be able to choose what
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: our days look like. You know, yes, there's the burden,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: but there's so much benefit and blessings that do come
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: with it. So this is such a refreshing outtake. So
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: we were talking about this before, just kind of like
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: how a lot of creators do you feel this sense
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: of like wanting to give up, especially when you've been
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: doing anything for ten years, Like any job, right, you
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: could be a dentist, Do I want a creaorship? People
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: get bored? How do you, I guess, how have you
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: been able to say light when people feel a little
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: bit more dark?
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: Like really just loving what you do that no matter what,
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: even if everything burned down tomorrow, like you're still going
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: to continue doing just like I was doing this before Instagram.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: I'm even if Instagram burned down tomorrow, Like I'm going
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: to continue doing this because it's something that I truly,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: truly love so where I tell people who like want
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: to do what I do, Like the first piece of
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: advice I give them is like, you have to love it.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: You have to love it because it gets overwhelming. It's
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: not as glamorous as it looks. There are pros and cons,
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: and it's like it's like people have nine to fives
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: and then they're off the It's like this is a
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: twenty four to seven job. Like you have to be
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: built for this, you have It's not for the fan
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: of heart. You have to really truly love it. And
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: so I love it so much and I'm really just
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: not saying this like maybe if you caught me a
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: year ago or maybe a few months from now, maybe
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: my mindset would be different. It really just depends on
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: where I'm at. But like I'm in a really good place,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: and I think like the key for me is because
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: of me just cherishing the slow like the slower pace
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: and like the slow living and just not feeling stressed.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: And honestly, in twenty twenty two, I kind of hit
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: a wall and I like had this spiritual awakening I
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: guess as you would put it, and that's when I
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: really got into meditation and I really like just started
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: like living slower and just feeling more grounded and like
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: going on trips that were more meaningful for me and
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: curating my own trips and kind of going back to
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: the roots of why I started traveling in the first place,
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: and like, maybe this is why I have this like
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: refreshed mentality of this whole thing, because I did hit
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: a wall in twenty nineteen at the end of the year.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: I did hit another wall in twenty twenty to where
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: I felt like everything was like cringey to me, Like
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: everything everyone that made me cringe. I started feeling like
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: everyone was posting things just to go viral and getting
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: on these trends and getting on these TikTok trends and
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: like posting it on Instagram, and they were sacrificing like
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: the art form of like why we started in the
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: first place, and like their passion to just go viral
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: and get more followers and become famous, and it was
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: just becoming such an eye roll for me, and I
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: was like, I don't like this, Like I don't want
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: to become that. And I've always stay true and I've
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: never I've never went that direction. And I think that's
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: why here I am in twenty twenty five, like sitting
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: here feeling refreshed, feeling inspired, not feeling burnt out, not
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: feeling all the things that you said, Like, I really
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: am in a good space. But I think by allowing
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: myself and I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but by allowing
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: myself that grace, by allowing myself to kind of remind
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: myself why I started doing this to begin with, and
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: curating trips that really sparked my passion and my love
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: of what I do, really just got me to where
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: I am today, and I'm in a good place.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: I love that you're not rambling at all. I'm like inspired,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: I'm like you feel like I'm going to therapy. I'm like,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: oh my god, I feel better now. Only because it's
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: it's a good mindset to have. It's so easy to
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: go dark. I always say, like, it's on the same coin.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: You can wake up being like what you know, what
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: am I grateful for? You can wake up and say
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: what do I not have? You know, it's a choice,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: And I feel like you've made a choice to just
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: kind of, you know, go slower. And I think it
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: reflects in your content. Your content has had a shift
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: for those of you that don't know well, I think,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: like she mentioned, a lot of her content now is
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: more mindful, travel a lot more intentional. I feel like
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: you're in your content also reflects that shift that you
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: you're kind of also going to and you can see that.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the word of twenty twenty five for me is intention.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: So like I told myself, like, make decisions with intention,
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: say yes to opportunities with intention, go on trips with intention, Like,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: don't just say yes, yes, yes to everything and then
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: get burnt out. Really feel like what aligns with your
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: where you are in your life right now. If it
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: feels like it's authentic to where you are and it
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: feels aligned, then go on the trip. If it's an
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: opportunity that feels good for your soul, like say yes
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: to it. If it doesn't, say no. And I've learned
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: another really important thing is just to say no if
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: it's something that is not serving you or if they're
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: not you know, respecting and paying you your worth, Like,
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: say no. It's okay to say no. I used to
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: just be scared to say no because I was I
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: was like, what if I get to the point where
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: I don't get these opportunities or opportunities anymore. And so
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: that just made me say yes to everything that was
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: so scared that it was going to end. And so
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: now I'm like not worried about that. I'm just like,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: do what feels right in aligned And even if you
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: have to say no, as hard as it is for
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: an amazing trip, Like if they're not respecting your worth
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: and wanting to pay you for your time and efforts,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: then it's okay to say no. And so maybe I'm
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: home a little bit more then I'm used to lately,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: But I'm also like at peace with saying no to
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: brands that are not like respecting my work.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Speaking of brands that aren't respecting one thing that I
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: know you've gone off on on threads smoke Combos anytime
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: we posted anything. You've just been very vocal about the
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: importance of creators charging because you look at us as
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: a community. You're like, and one person says I'll do
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: it for free, then it hurts all of us. I
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: really had a very vocal stance on that because you
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: see us as this collective and I know what that
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: influx of creators coming into the market and a lot
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: of them doing stuff for free.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: It hurts everyone.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: So what do you want to kind of say to
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: the creators that maybe are new and starting and afraid
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: to say no and not getting paid doing it for
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: free kind of how that can affect the industry as
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: a whole.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: There's two sides. So that's because look, I, like I said,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: I was on the other side in the beginning. I
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: would I would jump on for a free trip, you know.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: So I understand people just starting out. I'm wanting to
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: get that opportunity and add to their portfolio and create
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: content and a beautiful destination. Like I get that. I understand,
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: And look for me if it's like in a crazy,
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: amazing opportunity somewhere that I've never been before, and it's
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: like wow, like my dream brand and they're willing to
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: fly me and a plus one out there, and it's like,
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: you know, I the trip of a lifetime and it's
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: not paid. I'm like, I've been doing this for fteen years.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: I'm not afraid to admit like I'm gonna say yes,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: so that I'm gonna say yes to that trip. It's
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: a free trip. It's an amazing opportunity if it aligns
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: with my schedule, I'm gonna say yes, So I don't
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: there's two sides to this, but like if I get
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: invited to Mexico, for instance, literally like fifty times of
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: the year, like to work with different hotels and everything,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: it's like how many free trips to Mexico? Like do
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: I have to do? Like? No, I should be paid
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: for my time. It's just like you know, if it's
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: something that's just like a hotel and you know, and
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: it's also like brand, like it matters the brand, Like
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: if it's a big global brand that you know, has money,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: like they should be paying you if it's like a smaller,
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: more boutique brand, because look, I have my own clothing brand.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: I know how hard it is to own a brand
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: as like like a small business brand and you can't
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: just like shell out money to a ton of influencers.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: It's super super hard. And I'm all about supporting small
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: business too, So like I there's like really two sides
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: to this, because if a small business, you know, reaches
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: out to me, and especially if it's a woman owned,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: I want to support you. It's like a woman owned
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: small business, like I want to support you. Maybe you
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: can't pay me, but if I genuinely love your stuff,
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: I have no problem wearing or supporting your brand and
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: like giving you some love. But then at the same time,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: as like when brands reach out to me and don't
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: offer it and they just want to give me free
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: product and they don't want to pay me, but they're
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: a bigger brand. That's kind of when it is frustrating
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: because like, I know you have the money, you're a
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: big brand, Like pay me, pay me for my time?
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: What industry? Like, it's basically like asking for wedding photographers
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: to fly to your wedding, pay for their flights. I mean, sorry,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: you're gonna pay for the flights, You're gonna pay for
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: their food, You're gonna give them a whole weekend trip,
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: but you're not gonna pay them for their wedding photography.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: Like that is unheard us. Why do we have to
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Like why are we saying okay to it? Like wedding
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: photographers are not gonna work for free, even if you
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: pay for their flights and their food, So like, why
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: do we have to do that. We're still editing photos,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: we're still capturing content, we're still working hard. How is
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: this okay?
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: You know? So it's not it's not it's not okay
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: because it feels really unfair. Do you feel like you
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: have friends in this industry that you can be like, oh,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: you like transparency around money because I know sometimes a
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: creator will be like, wait she got paid this what
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: and then there becomes this like rumor mill of finding
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: out what other people get paid, like or even a
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: good way to soundboard be like, oh wait, I'm going
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: to charge because so and so worked with them and
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: they charge seven thousands, so I'm going to charge that.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Like do you feel like you have resources or friendships
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: that you can bounce so sort of like I do
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: you know to kind of because there's nothing worse than
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: doing something for free and finding out someone else got paid. Yeah,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: like which I hate. Yeah, I've had that happen before.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: We're like really big corporate resorts when brands would reach
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: out to me offering me a free trip, but I'm like,
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: I know they paid my friend, So it's like how
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: does that even work? Like how how does that? Like
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: they're like, yeah, it's too often there's two different offices
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: that actually like were like the press office and that's
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: like the actual like resort office. Like they'll say things
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: like that, but I'm just like, yeah, it's it's crazy.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: That's why it's really nice to have friends in the
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: industry that you can kind of ask and kind of
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: bounce off ideas of which we do all the time,
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: you know. But it's it's it's crazy to me that
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: brands will just like reach out to some people and
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: pay them and then not It's like the same following too,
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: like how do they even assess that? It's so it's crazy.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: It's like we're also going to top yeah exactly. But
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: you know what's even crazier is like you're on a
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: press strip and you're sitting at table and you're sitting
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: at dinner with everybody, and you know, some people got
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: paid and some people didn't. Like that's happened so many
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: times too, where like I feel like some of them
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: are not paid, and then like I'm paid, or then
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: I find out that like one of them's paid and
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: then we're not. It's just like the most awkward thing ever,
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Like how are you going to bring all these people
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: together in the same room and pay some and then
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: not pay the others? So awkward.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: I actually want to speak about the travel industry in
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: particular because your brand portfolio is massive. You've worked with fashion,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: you've worked with beauty, you've worked with tech, you've worked
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: with travel, and I think there's a glamour around being
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: a travel influencer, especially in my position. I see a
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: lot of creators wanting the travel, travel, travel, and I
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: always have to pop the bubble to be like, travel
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: does it always pay? I like to use the word always,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: because I don't want to always say never, But it's
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: hard to get paid in travel when they're compying your
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: hotel and your airfare and your food and your beverage. Yes,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: there are instances that it does. So what would you say,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: like in terms of partnerships that have been the most
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: successful or fruitful for you, what industries.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: Have they been in?
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: You don't have to name numbers or names, but is
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: it the travel brands that are paying or do you
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: find that do travel brands pay? Let's start that, you know,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: like versus, because again, people always think that, at least
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: the creators that I talk to, they're just like, oh, yeah,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: the hotel, I want to work at hotels and tours
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: and boards. I'm like, okay, but do you want like
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: a free trip or do you want to get paid,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: and I know that they pay for content and stuff
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: like that, But do you think there are other niches
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: that are maybe more profitable.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely, pretty much every single other niches more
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: profitable than travel, I think. I mean, unless you're really
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: working with a tourism board or an airline, those are
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: the companies that have the money. Usually don't have money.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: It's like, yeah, it's like resorts don't want to pay.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: They're giving you a room, they're giving you fights, and
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: I'm giving you food. They don't feel like they have
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: to pay at the most. Yeah, I would say, like
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: the most successful I've been with, like within travel is
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: like working with a brand that I can, like if
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: I'm already going on a trip anyways and I'm working
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: with a brand that's like a paid collab, like I
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: would use that trip to go shoot so like anytime,
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: like like when I used to or if I still
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: do accept a free trip here and there, like it
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: only makes sense for me to go and like shoot
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: a demo or shoot a brand that's paying me and
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: get like baby for your buck, still too bang for
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: the best bang for your buck exactly, So like I
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: would say, like tours and boards have money, airlines have money.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: But like other than that, it's really hard for a
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: hotel to pay like just full transparency. I would say
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: every other market in our industry is like an easier
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: market to monetize, whether it's skin skincare. I mean, like,
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: I know people that have had kids and they're making
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: triple the amount of money then when they were just
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: like not doing family content and they were just traveling
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: and doing more like influencer like solo kind of travel stuff.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: They had babies and they started posting more family stuff
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: and they're tripling their income with like baby brands and
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: family brands and even home brands and stinkcare beauty, all
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: of that. All of that is way easier to make
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: money in than the travel industry, for sure.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: I think that's important to hear from a travel creator,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: you guys, who has worked with and gotten paid from
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: your top travel brands in the industry. But it is harder,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: right because they're camping these big trips. So it seems
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: like other niches you know, will pay for like Hunn
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: of Cole saying, maybe she'll use this free trip but
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: then shoot for product for a brand that she's already
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: on with so in terms of like brand deals now
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: versus brand deals when you first started, you know, how
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: has that kind of shifted for you? And also I'm
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: just curious if there's any sort of like campaigns that
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: you think, like that did really well that you're really
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: proud of or contact, because I mean, imagine telling Nicole
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: fifteen years ago the brand decks that I just revealed
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: on the bio. I mean, it's pretty impressive. You've worked
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: with like Global, you know, multimillion billion dollar brands, So
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: is there anything that you're particularly proud of as well
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: some of the brands or shit campaigns that you would
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: feel like you'd want to share.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, I've worked with pretty much like all my
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: dream brands except Delta. I'm still waiting for that one
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: to come through Alta Anna literally like it's been years.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: But I also don't really see them working with anybody,
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: so that at least there at least that makes me
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: feel a little better. I don't think that they do
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: anything like I've seen it very rarely. But yeah, like
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: I would say, working with like high fashion brands which
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: I never would have thought I would ever work with,
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: like jivan Chi to like biggest beauty brands like nutugena
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: Ola have been like a dream. But also like I've
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: worked with airlines, like you know, I've worked with four Seasons,
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: have been some like a brand that I really a
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: chain that I've really loved working with, and like American Express, McDonald's,
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: like all these brands, and I'm just like, like I
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: would never think that I would ever work with these
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: crazy big corporate brands, but I would say, like I
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: just wrapped a campaign with DGI, and like I love
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: working with camera brands like Cannon things like that because
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: like it's kind of adventury and they want like adventure content,
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: which is all right, Alley, so I can go and
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: do all my diving content, my adventure content and all
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: these beautiful places, and like it makes sense with my content.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: I'm already shooting on an action camera anyway, So like
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: I love a campaign where I'm already doing, like I'm
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: already shooting with your stuff anyways, and now you're paying me,
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Like it's a dream. So I just wrap that up
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: and yeah, I have some others in the works. Like
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: it just when it aligns, it's just like the best.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: It's the best when you feel like you have and
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: like I say no, like if it's something that I'm
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: just like, I don't know how I'm gonna like this
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: is hard, Like this is gonna be hard. It needs
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: to make sense for me. It needs to be already
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: aligned with like what I already do. And then that's
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: when it's like the stars align and you're just so
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: excited to work with that brand because you use their
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: product anyways.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, versus you know, really putting a stretch out there.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: I know I also mentioned you're just a lot more
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: selective and now you're a lot more focused on brands
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: that come to you. I think a lot of people
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: have fallen for what I like to call shiny coin syndrome,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: which is when we see something and we think it's
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: gonna make us a lot of money. So I kind
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: of put managers in that bucket. I don't know what
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: your opinion is about having management. I don't know if
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: you've had management, but I know a lot of creators
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: feel like, I'm going to get a manager. My life
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: is going to be amazing. They're going to get me
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: all the jobs. It's gonna be awesome. What is your
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: take on management, Like, do you have one? Do you
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: feel like it's something a creator should be investing in
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: or looking for. When do you get one, give us
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: your opinions on that. Just as someone who's again in
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: the field doing this day to day.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: I can tell you, like my personal experience, I've been
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: with so many different management companies, especially when I first
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: started out, and I just didn't feel like they were
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: bringing much value to me. Like I've gotten a few
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: jobs from a management company that have been great, but
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: I felt like I always felt like I was bringing
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: more to them and they were bringing to me. And
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: I was just like, I'm also like a control freak,
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: so I'm like, let me just like handle this myself.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: So for the past few years, I've I just worked
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: with one person who handles my day to day. She's
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: somebody very close with me, and she's just like a
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: personal manager of mine and she handles like my all
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: my emails and incoming clubs and contracts and stuff, instead
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: of working with like a management company, because I just
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: feel it's hard to get that one on one like relationship,
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: and they I feel like they just pitch you to
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: like they they basically pitch you and along with everyone else,
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: the same brands, and they don't tailor it to like
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: what your niches and like what your specialty is. So
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: it's like, don't pitch me to all of the same
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: brands that you're pitching everybody else that like doesn't even
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: really go with my brand, Like I want you to
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: look at my brand and see, like, wow, Nicole would
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: be perfect working with this, this, this, and this brand.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: Let me pitch them, oh, instead of just being like, oh,
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: I'm already like pitching to this, this, and this for
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: all these other people, and let me just throw Nicole
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: in there, Like it doesn't make sense. So I just
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: feel like my personal experience with management companies are it's
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: ever been really really successful, and I've worked with some
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: of the best ones. So I just found that, like
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: I like to just work one on one with somebody
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: that I trust and kind of keep it smaller, and
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: I like to do it myself. I don't know, But
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: then people say, like, look, you can get way more
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: money with a manager the company. Could brands respect the
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: fact that they have a management company and they feel
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: like they need to pay you more because you're represent
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: and by a management company versus just like a personal manager,
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: which a lot of people have. So I don't know.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: I don't know what you think about it.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I actually agree. I feel like I talk again
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: to creators all day, the creators, creators making seven figures
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: a year on brand deals and the amount that told
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: me they have brought it in house that they're tired
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: of giving a cut of their business to someone when
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: most of the business is inbound leads anyways, when it's
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: just like what this is my inbox, Like you're not
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: even getting anything, like oh my gosh, this company's coming
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: to me. They're offering me this, and now I have
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: to give you a cut when I could just handle
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: it like yeah, So I've seen, oh I've heard that
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: there's probably I would say eighty five to ninety percent
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: of the creators that I'm friends with have ended up
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: bringing it back and they're not happy with management. I
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: only recently talked to one girl and she's like, I
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: love my manager, and I was it was like the
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: first person I've ever heard say that. So it was
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: like a refreshing I'm hearing that. You know, I'm open
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: to it.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: It all depends on who you're signed, like who your
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: personal manager is assigned, Like if you have a good one,
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: assigned to you that you click with and like you
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: just like that she really or he really just believes
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: in you and like you rock together, and like some
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: people have been with the same manager for years. More
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: power to you. I just feel like it's hard to
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: find that right fit, you know, like you need that
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: right fit, and it's sometimes really to take years to
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: find that. So unless I can that falls in my lab,
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: like I'm open to it, I just feel like I
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: haven't found that. Yeah, no, I'm again same.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: I'm not a manager hater, but I have yet to
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: see I've only seen very few circumstances when the creator
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: feels so empowered by their management, right, versus like feeling
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: like they're giving all their leads you know, yea at
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: the end of the day. For a lot of creators,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: I don't know if this is for you, but brand
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: deals is the most significant part of their income. Like
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: they're making money in other ways, but when you look
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: at like the piece of the pile, like brand deals
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: is like eighty percent. Yes, there's other ways to monetize,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: but when eighty percent of your income comes from a
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: specific category and a lot of those come from inbound,
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: you know, it gets a little tricky to have to
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: hand that over, right, It's hard.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: I think. I definitely think so too in terms of,
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: like I guess you mentioning you know your business, and
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: I think you've always kind of looked at this as
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: a business. Right now, you're slowing down in so many ways,
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: right You're you're being more intentional twenty twenty five, your
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: choices and also your RAM partnerships. So would you also
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: agree that, even just like with pitching in general and
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: putting yourself out there, are you just kind of like
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: waiting for brands to kind of come to you and
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: kind of just really sitting back and manage Like is
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: it because I'm curious to hear where your energy kind
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: of goes to for that monetization side. I know there's
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: kademon I really want to talk about that as well,
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: But from a brand deal perspective, are you kind of
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: just taking a sit back approach at the moment? Yeah?
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: To answer your question, I definitely am not sitting and
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: pitching myself all day to brands like that was something
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: that I did in the very beginning and I don't
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: do that anymore. It's more so, yes, waiting for opportunities
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: to come to me because I am focusing on bigger
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: projects right now, Like I'm filming a documentary like a
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: special series that's really close to my heart. It's like
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: a passion project of mine. So I'm focusing on that.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: I'm focusing on Kadeema more. I'm focusing on just like
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: bigger projects. And then like I'm going on a really big,
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: big trip that I'm excited about in June. I'm actually
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: curating and I'm it's it's I'm working like I'm pitching,
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: like in that regard to work with certain brands for
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: that trip specifically because it's one of those trips that
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: remember when I went to the jungle in Indonesia. It's
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: like one of those special trips that like I'm pitching
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: certain refources like to make the trip come full fruition.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: But so if I'm already going somewhere anyways, like if
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: I'm if I have to go somewhere or travel somewhere,
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: and then that's when I'll kind of pitch. If I
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: decide to be like, Okay, let me see if this
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: hotel is available instead of me us paying for a hotel,
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: Like I'll pitch when it comes to like stuff like that,
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: and I'm already curating my own trips. But no, I
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: on a day to day like I don't sit here
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: and like pitch to brands anymore. Like I it's all incoming.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I'm focusing on just the bigger projects.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: I love that. So just like slower, bigger projects. I
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: feel like that's a big central theme too, especially because
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: we I've been doing this for so long. Maybe were
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: less go go, go, push push push. Maybe for when
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: you first got started what you were really probably going
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: one hundred miles per hour like all of us traveling
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: going in it, were there certain like investments made, whether
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: they're like financial or time or sacrifices that you felt
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: you had to do to get to the place that
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: you are now? Do you like, I don't know how,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you would feel comfortable sharing that.
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, no, no, yeah, of course I always
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: tell people it's like blood splint tiers to get to
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: where I am today. For sure, I spent so much
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: of my money traveling to create content, so much of
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: my money paying photographers for content, so much like just
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: investing my time and energy into just traveling and creating content,
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: and like working with different photographers and like buying cute outfits,
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: and like I would be a crazy person in my
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: roball day, like pitching myself to different brands, different hotels,
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: just to like make things come a lot, like just
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: to work with anybody. I was so excited to work
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: with any brand, you know. I remember like getting so
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: excited when someone would say yes to me, you know.
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: And this was back in twenty fifteen, and I was
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: like on a mission when I first started, like when
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: I quit my job, and I was in twenty fifteen.
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: I moved all my stuff into storage in my parent's house.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: I broke up with my boyfriend. Out of one my
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: ticket to Italy. I worked with the photographer I've never
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: traveled with before. I put everything on the line. I
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: didn't even know I bought a one way ticket. I
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: didn't even know when I was coming back home. I
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: said goodbye to my family and friends and said, I
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: don't know when I'm going to see you again. But
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: like wish me luck, and like I put everything on
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: the line, like for me, like I could not fail,
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: like I was on a mission, and for I would
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: say like the first few years, I just went nuts,
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: like I barely slept I was like jet lag twenty
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: four to seven all year long, Like I was in
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: different places and sleeping in different hotels and just like
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: waking up for sunrises and shooting every single morning. Like
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: I was relentless. I did not want to fail, so
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: like I did that for so long. My life was
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: so insane because I didn't want to come home and say,
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: like this didn't work and I didn't and I failed
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: and I wasn't successful at this, So yeah, I would
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: say and even now, like I'm still investing in things,
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: like like it never stops, Like it just never stops.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: Like you're always investing in yourself. Like if you get
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: to a point where you have to stop investing in yourself,
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: like I would have questions, Like you're always trying to elevate,
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: You're always trying to get to the next level. You're
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: always trying to become better. So there is never a
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: point where you're gonna ever stop investing in yourself. You're
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: always buying the next best camera, You're always trying, you know,
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: like I don't know, starting your own brand, like you
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: never stop.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: Like the motivation, where does it come from? Like where
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: does it come from? Like to keep motivated for so long?
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: Is it?
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: I know you said it's passion of doing it, but
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: is there do you have Like I don't know, are
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: you a podcast girl? Like do you read? Do you
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: wake up early? Like a is routine important? Like I
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: know you mentioned meditation, but like how do you say
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: so motivated to like keep going? That's the one thing
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: that when I see really successful people in this space,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: they just keep going. They just had a call with
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: someone recently, and like that stamina. It's like where does
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: this come from? Maybe it's like an innate born with it,
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: competitive like push.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: You know, but if you saw me on a day
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: to day basis, you wouldn't see me like wake up
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: and like let's go to the gym and like let's
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: go listen to this podcast and let's be the best
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: version I can be and like let's do this, let's
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: do that. Like that is not me, Like it takes
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: me four hours to even leave the house in the morning,
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: Like I'm super super slow. I like don't like I
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: like silence for hours right when I wake up, Like
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: I'm very very slow in the mornings. I don't try
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: to like rush and do like everything during the day,
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Like when I'm home I'm telling you my life is
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: super slow, and I think that is why that when
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: I do have a job, or I have to create
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: content or I'm going on a trip, I'm like so
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: excited and pumped and like because I like I'm giving
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: my time. I'm like balancing, Like I'm really good with
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: balancing now. Like I'm home. I'm home, Like I'm giving
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: myself that time to sleep eight to nine hours a night,
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: you know, I'm like not rushing to put in content
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: every day, Like I'm really taking my time to edit
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: all my stuff and like be intentional with what I
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: put out there and what I post. I think the
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: key is to not burn yourself out so that when
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: you do create, you're like inspired in your mo And
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: like that's what I keep telling people. It's not a race.
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: It's like a gradual jog. Like probably in the next
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: ten years, I'm still going to be climbing. So I'm
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: like I'm always growing, you know, Like it's always a
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: gradual climb. I'm very much like not racing to get
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: there and just like doing it at my own pace.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: I love that I am up and down. I'm all
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: I'm critic I love hey, I love critic.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: I love this, Like, no, that's okay, and that's normal.
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: That's super normal. Honestly, Like I'm sure talking about that
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: is also very relatable because I'm sure a lot of
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: people can relate to that, and I think it's important
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: to talk about that too, if that's what you're feeling.
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: And there Look, there are days where I get discouraged.
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: There are days where I get frustrated because people that
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: have started years after me have way more followers than me. Now,
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: like you think that, I that's like that's a real feeling,
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: Like I'm human, you know. Also, just like comparing yourself
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: is like also a really big thing. Like I really
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: have to stop myself sometimes, Like if I let myself scroll,
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: which I really try not to anymore, If I let
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: myself scroll and I'm comparing myself to other people, that's
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: when like my mind kind of starts going a little
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: dark and I'm like like, okay, I need to I
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: need to stop and I need to get off because
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: like what I do have and like what I have
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: created for myself is amazing and like stop comparing, so.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: Lad, And it's still imperting because social media's infinite ites,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: like Tinder, you could like literally just keep scrolling, keep scrolling,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: keep scrolling, and be like, my life isn't good enough.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: It's not this, it's not that. Even someone like you,
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: who's like you again from the from the looking in,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: you're like, she literally has everything. You know, we're all
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: all comparing ourselves to everyone constantly because.
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: Of the beasts that we're in. You know.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: So I do want to before we wrap up because
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: I want to be mind full time, but I do
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: want to talk about Kadema and the shift to building
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: your own business. And I think a lot of creators,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: once they hit a certain level or maybe a certain
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: zone and their business, they're ready to take on their
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: own project and become the brand. Can you walk us through,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: like just jumping over to the other side, you know,
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: what inspired you to kind of launch this brand? How
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: did it kind of come together? And how has being
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: a creator also helped you as a business owner, because
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: I'm sure there's like a lot of.
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: Cross Yeah, it's so interesting to be on both sides
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: now and I've learned a lot. It's been very eye opening.
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: It's like, you know, man, I would say that like
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: when people, I think when people have a built in
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: following they're like, yeah, like the smartest thing for me
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: to do is like start a brand, like come out
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: with the product, you know, And it's like yeah, of course,
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: like if you have that built an audience, that's so valuable.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: But like no one tells you how hard it is
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: to start a brand and to maintain it and to
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: keep it going, Like no one talks about how hard
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: that is. It's like especially when you don't put one
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: hundred percent of your efforts and your time and energy
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: into it. Businesses are not successful when you don't put
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: one hundred percent in it. And so Kadeem has been
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: something that like it took me years to figure out
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: what I wanted to do, Like do I want to
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: just come out with a product, Like do I want
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: to have my own swim line? Do I want to
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: have my own you know, skincare product? Like what what
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: is like what is calling me? You know? I didn't
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: want to just come out with the product, to come
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: out with the product and have it just be like
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: just a money making thing for me, Like I wanted
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: to be passionate about it. I wanted to feel true.
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: I wanted it to be have longevity and knew that
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: it had to be something that I loved truly for
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: it to have that longevity and have that success. So
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: it took me years to figure out what I wanted
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: to do and what I wanted to come out with.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: It happened in twenty nineteen. I was walking the streets
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: of a Malfe with my sister and we were like,
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: why don't we come out with And it's so special
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: to do it with my sister too, and not just
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: do it alone, Like we're so close, and it's just
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: so nice to have somebody that like you do it with,
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: Like it's so much better and easier when you have
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: a partner than doing it by yourself, because it's so much.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: I can't even tell you how much it is, but
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: like resort wear and like travel where and like things
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: that I already wore when I was on vacation, and
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: like we incorporated jewelry, so we haven't incorporated swim, Like
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: all these things were seamlessly incorporated with my life as is,
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: and it was so easy to be like, yes, this
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: is perfect, you know, I will say, like I'm constantly learning.
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: I'm still I think a brands that had been around
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: for decades and they're successful and like big global corporate
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: brands are still trying to figure out this influencer marketing
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: thing too, because they don't. It's like trial and error
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: for the most successful brands or versus even like a
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: small business or if you're a successful, crazy global brand,
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: Like it's all about trial and error, especially when it
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: comes to influencer marketing and working with creators, because it's
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: like the people you think that are going to move
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: the needle for you and you think that are gonna
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: sell don't do anything. Like they literally can't sell a piece,
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: versus like someone that are maybe has like a lot,
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: like a lot smaller following that, you're like, hmm, I'm
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: not really quite sure if this person's gonna sell anything
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: ends up selling stuff and you're just like, how are
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: you supposed to know this? It's like brand I mean,
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: there are platforms. I know, there's like databases where you
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: can see people's like rois or like engagement rates and
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: stuff like that, but even then it's like depends on
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: what they post. They could post a product that like
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: really hits well with their audience, but then they could
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: post something else. I'm like, it's a complete flop. You
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: just like never know what's gonna hit and what's not
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: gonna hit. And it's like now being on the other
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: side and having like creators pitched to Kadema all the time,
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: and like I'm the one that's ultimately making the decisions
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: on like who we want to work with. It's like
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: I'd rather work with a much smaller creator that is aligned,
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: like with the brand aesthetic, then work with somebody with
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: millions and millions of followers who maybe most of their
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: demographic is men and maybe they just post like sexy
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: photos and like a lot like they're not going to
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: sell most of their majority of their demo is men
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: watching them, you know, it's like I'd rather give someone,
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: you know, clothes that has like twenty five thousand followers,
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: but they take the most epic, beautiful photos that are
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: in line with Kademas brand aesthetic. So I've learned that.
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: So then we tried both, Like we've tried millions people
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: with millions of followers, and we've tried people like micro influencers,
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: and it's like a lot of people surprise you and
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: you're still still learning thing. It's like I don't know,
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: no one really has answers to this, Like even brands,
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: like they don't really know what creator is going to
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: move the needle for them and what It's all a gamble,
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: you know. It's kind of crazy, and like what's the
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: best in marketing? Is it influencer marketing or is it
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: like doing Facebook ads? Like it's all just like trial
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: and error and like learning. It's crazy. Yeah, yeah, it's
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: scary because when you're a small business and you have
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: like very limited money to invest in marketing and advertising,
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: you don't want to make any mistakes, you know, like
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: at least with like big companies, like they have more
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: money to kind of experiment and try this and try that.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: When you're a small brand, everything hurts, Like even gifting
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: clothing hurts you, you know. So it's like it's tough.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: You can feel it. And now you have like that
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: other perspective too, being now on the brand side. It's
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: interesting how that kind of yeah goes to But do
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: you enjoy the product process? Like do you see yourself
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: expanding into other verticals or other products or growing kadema more?
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Like what does that future look like?
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: Hope? So, I mean when life gets busy, just it
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: gets harder and harder to like really focus, like my
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: sister just had a baby, and it's like we have
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: all these dreams and plans for Kadema, Like you want
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: to come out with the men's wear line like we have.
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: We just came out with swim last summer and we
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: dabbled in like you know, sourcing jewelry from around the
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: world and that went really well. But it's like, yeah,
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: they're like the umbrella of things we can do under
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: Kadema is endless, especially with like just our passions with
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: like you know, like we would love to do like
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: purses and just like really fancy, expensive red carpetwear, you know,
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: even like stuff like that. So yeah, we have all
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: these like goals and plans. It's just like we really
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: it's hard. I'm not gonna lie, it's really hard because
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: it's like it's almost like I need to give up
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: my personal brand and really focus on that and give
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: all my energy to that, or I can kind of
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: continue doing it as part time and like, yeah, it's
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: like successful, but it's not reaching its potential that it
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: could possibly reach when I'm giving fifty percent of my
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: time to my personal brand.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: So I feel that so deep in my bones because
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: it's like how do you treat yourself like a client
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: and it's like a baby having your own business as
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: a baby, and it's really hard when you're one foot in,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: one foot out, and sometimes that's all you can manage
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: from a capacity standpoint. So final words as we wrap up,
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: just you know, maybe for creators listening in that have
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: you know that are politicipally new. We've been doing this
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: for a while, especially I you know, you mentioned this
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: at the beginning. It's just so much more creators down
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: There's just so much more people in this industry and
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: people still deal with the imposter syndrome, the comparison games.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: You know's any words of advice for the creator community
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: here at Sidewalker that are probably looking up to you
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: and being like, oh my gosh, I want to do
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: what she's doing. Any sort of like lessons learned or
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: things that you would want to share with anyone else.
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: Before you wrap up, Yeah, keep going and this is
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: something that you truly love and you're passionate about content
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: creating or whatever niche that you're in, Like, keep going
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: because there's always people that can learn from you. And like,
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: I've seen people grow so fast and I'm so proud
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: of them. Like people that were students at Sidewalker that
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: are now like killing it. You know, it's like such
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: an amazing thing to see and like anything's possible, and
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: like we talk about like this influencer marketing and this
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: contcretion world's like it's not going anywhere, Like it's here
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: to stay. And so I just think that it's never
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: too late. And if this is like just just dig
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: deep and if it's something that you truly love doing,
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: like go for it, and just be consistent and put
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: quality content out there and just keep going. And yeah,
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: I love seeing success stories, and I've seen so many
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: with you, and it's just been so amazing to see.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: I love that you say quality content too, because you're
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: probably you know, I talk to people all the time,
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: and we're going to hear different opinions, but it's, like
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: I said, refreshing to hear, Like Nicole, like, your content
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: is so beautiful. And anyone that sees you that doesn't
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: know who you are and goes and checks you out,
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: I'll leave in the show notes all your links to everything,
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: but anyone that is like learning about you for the
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: first time is going to see your content and be like,
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: my god, it's to your point quality, Like that's maybe
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: that's your differentiator, that's like your special sauces. Like for you,
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: it's an art form for you, it's important that the
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: quality is there, whereas maybe someone else is doing more
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: like that fast fast short farm and that's their style
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: and that's their way, and that's fine.
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: Just stay true to who you are, like, don't change
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: based on like being trying to be famous or gain
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: more followers. Like that's when I think people you lose
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: people when you're just like not authentic. I think, like,
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: if I have one piece of advice to give everyone,
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: is like be as authentic as possible and stay true
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: to who you are and like just put things out
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: there that you truly love and people feel that through
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: the screen.
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: And that you can stand behind. I saw this interview
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: recently with like Ed Sharon, and he was talking about
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: just like his music. They were like, oh, do you
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: ever get sick of a song? He's like, no, Like
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: I can stand on behind what I do. So it's
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: like be able to stand behind your content and not
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: just go after the likes and the fame, but creating
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: quality content that you know that you're proud of. Like
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: I feel like you're proud of your content totally, and
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: you're gonna be doing more YouTube, right.
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So I think, like one thing, if someone told me,
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: like fifteen years ago when I started out, if I
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: could go back in time and like do things differently,
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: I think I would have stuck with my YouTube more
• 49:46
  Speaker 2: and posted more consistently on my YouTube, and like now
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: knowing the importance of video, like whether it's short form
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: or long form, I think I would have probably really
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: focused on my YouTube channel and like being more consistent
• 49:58
  Speaker 2: with posting and not posting twice a year just because
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: I'm like being a perfectionist with the editing and like
• 50:03
  Speaker 2: my videos are just like taking six months to edit
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: because I'm like such a anal perfectionist. But I think
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: I probably would have just like posted more and not
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: cared and just kind of grown my YouTube because I
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: feel like YouTube is a whole nother world, and like
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: people on YouTube are making a lot of money and
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: are killing it.
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: I wish on art that you love to make anyways,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: like not necessarily a brand deal or something else, but
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: just monetizing these gorgeous videos and you have the footage.
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and like storytelling and that's like the art form
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: that I truly love the most is like the storytelling
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: aspect of what we do, and so YouTube really allows
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: you to do that. It's not just like a ten
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: second reel that you're not able to, like really like
• 50:42
  Speaker 2: tell a story. It's like on YouTube, you can actually
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: tell a story. And I love it. It's like my
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: most proud work is on that channel. And I just
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: feel like I wish I would have spent more time
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: dedicating to YouTube, but it's okay. Like it's like I said,
• 50:56
  Speaker 2: it's go very too late, and I can I can
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: te ver too late. Yeah, and you can pick it
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: up too, I agree. I always tell people like for me,
• 51:02
  Speaker 2: YouTube is like a breath of fresh air. I think
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: I have like twelve hundred videos on them for some
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: but it's only because of I can really just not censor.
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: I can just be long winded.
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: That's who I am. I like conversations. I cannot be
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: fit into ten seconds. It's so hard for me short form.
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: I've struggled with short form. I love just yapping away
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: and YouTube is giving me the space and the people
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: that want to hear me yup, go to YouTube or
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: my podcast and they can listen to me for hours
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: and be fine with it. And so it's like, also
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: to your point, finding content that brings you joy. Don't
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: just create content because everyone else is telling you. Create
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: content where you feel free, where there's no stress on
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: your neck, where you're just like, I love this place,
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: you know. So I think it's important to find the
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: platform that also aligns with you, and I aligns with
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: the type of creator.
• 51:46
  Speaker 2: You are totally amen to that, Amen to that, well,
• 51:50
  Speaker 2: thank you so much.
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: Nicoles has been amazing. Any links I will leave in
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: the show notes your Nicole, Isaac's on Everything and Kadema.
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: I will also include the links to Kadema below your
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: YouTube channel, your social your website. So I'll make sure
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: to link everything for you guys in the show notes,
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: so you guys can go take a look at Nicole
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: and follow along her amazing journey. And thank you Nicole
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: for shedding so much wisdom and being so authentic and
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: yourself and opening up with us today.
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: Of course, it's always nice and fun to hang with you.
• 52:20
  Speaker 2: I love it. Called thank you