December 30, 2025 • 38 mins
What if your content didn’t have to perform—just work? In this episode, we sit down with Brittany Hennessy to unpack how social media shifted from a scrapbook to a search engine, and what that means for founders building visibility without burning out.
We break down why clarity now beats consistency, how “real work” content outperforms polish, and why the smartest creators treat their feeds like living systems—not highlight reels. Brittany shares how to build momentum with limited time, what actually converts attention into trust, and how to use AI as a tool without losing your voice.
3 Takeaways:
• Visibility beats virality — Consistent, clear signals outperform one-off hits.
• Systems scale creativity — Batch once, reuse smartly, and let process replace pressure.
• Boundaries build trust — Showing less, but with intention, creates stronger connection.
Our Guest:
Brittany Hennessy is a social strategist and creator known for helping founders turn everyday moments into high-impact content. With a background in digital media and brand storytelling, she helps entrepreneurs build sustainable visibility—without chasing trends or burning out.
Host Emily Blumenthal is a handbag industry expert, author of Handbag Designer 101, and founder of The Handbag Awards. Known as the “Handbag Fairy Godmother,” Emily also teaches entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is dedicated to celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of building iconic handbag brands.
Find Handbag Designer 101 Merch, HBD101 Masterclass, one-on-one sessions, and opportunities to book Emily Blumenthal as a speaker at emilyblumenthal.com.
Youtube: / Handbagdesigner101-ihda | Instagram:/ Handbagdesigner
TikTok: / Handbagdesigner | Twitter: / Handbagdesigner
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
You can choose your reality.
And I think when we see peoplewho are like so real, we think
we have to match their realness.
You don't.
You choose what level of realityyou want people to have access
to.
Like I live in New York, I havetwo kids.
It is hella expensive here.
There are plenty of things I dothat are not glamorous.
Like I go to the laundromat.
(00:21):
Are you gonna get that in mystories?
No, but you are gonna get thisphoto of my kids on a carousel
in Paris.
Yes, because that is the realityI'm gonna put out there.
If you know me in real life,you'll see me at the laundromat.
But like my real life is for myreal friends and like people who
don't actually know me, you getthis fake version.
(00:42):
And it's it's not even fakebecause it's real, it's just
incomplete.
SPEAKER_01 (00:46):
Hi, and welcome to Handbag Designer 101 the podcast
with your host, EmilyBlumenthal, handbag industry
expert, and the handbag parrygodmother.
Each week we uncover the storiesbehind the handbags we love,
from the iconic brands and topdesigners, the creativity,
craftsmanship, and culture thatdefine the handbag world.
Whether you're a designer,collector, or simply passionate
(01:07):
about handbags, this is yourfront row deep to it all.
Welcome, welcome, BrittanyHennessy back to Handbag
Designer 101 the podcast.
Brittany Hennessy, VP, headsomething really important at
(01:29):
Sprout Social.
I don't even know.
You're important, you're incharge.
I don't know.
Innovator, pave maker, waiver,overall delight.
Welcome, Brittany.
SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
Thank you so much.
I'm happy to be back.
You're one of my favoritepodcasts.
So, and the only one that I'veactually like listened to my
episode, I never listened tothem, but I like you.
So I listen to them.
SPEAKER_01 (01:51):
I like you too.
I like me also.
I don't like how I sound, but Ialways enjoy how other people
sound.
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (01:57):
This is why I have the audio.
People like, have you heard youraudiobook?
And I'm like, why would I dothat to myself?
No way.
No, no way.
SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
No.
I've also heard myself uhaccidentally recording myself
yelling at my kids.
And all I kept thinking aboutis, wow, I have a New Jersey
accent.
I didn't know it was stillthere.
You know, like that's it'slight, it's light, it's light.
Yeah, it's diet jersey.
It still shows up though.
I I have uh I know when I startspeaking to one friend of mine
in particular, I lose the ing onall my words.
(02:28):
So it's good.
I'm kind of proud of that.
It's nice.
What is going on in the world ofsocial?
And you know, not to lay thisall on you, but comma, I'm going
to like it's funny.
So I have guest speakers at 12of my 15 weeks of my class, of
(02:48):
my entrepreneurship class atFIT.
And the overarching vibe ofinfluencers is that at this
point, be much more judiciouswhen you're trying to find
someone to work with your brandbecause the landscape has
evolved, changed, grown.
Thoughts.
Go.
SPEAKER_00 (03:07):
So it's a little bit of a mess right now.
It's a little bit of a messbecause I think 2025 was the
first post-pandemic year ofsocial and 100%.
Yes, I agree.
This is like 2026, we'll evenout.
We'll probably get some sense ofnormalcy.
But 2025 was really peopleneeded to do the work of what
(03:31):
are we keeping from the pandemicera and what are we throwing
out?
And almost no one did that work.
And so, also because it's it'simpossible at this point.
So when you think about socialinfluencer as a creator or as a
somebody who consumes content,there was a hierarchy.
It was like email lists, top ofthe hierarchy, like, oh, I'm I'm
(03:52):
giving somebody my email.
Then it was like YouTube, hitthat subscribe button was next.
Instagram, follow, and then thatwas it.
Then we got TikTok, which I amstill of the mind that without
the pandemic, TikTok would nothave made it.
Just like so many people havetried to make the fourth social
network, and nobody has beenable to do it.
(04:12):
Well, the fifth, becauseTwitter, but Twitter's its own
thing.
So nobody's been able to do it.
I think because of the pandemic,that's the only reason why it
took off.
But it like TikTokifiedeverything.
So now it's like a piece ofcontent, follow, which then
carried over to Instagram,carried over to YouTube to where
you're subscribed to like athousand channels now.
(04:32):
You're following 60,000 people.
It's like, what is this?
And so then they changed a feedwhere it's not even people you
follow anymore.
It's just stuff you'researching.
So everything is like your webbrowser.
And so it's different now.
It's just all it's all socialsearch.
It's not even, I follow thesepeople, show me the feed that
(04:53):
I've created.
No, it's the feed you've createdin the last week.
Whatever you've been searchingfor in the last week is now what
you're gonna see, regardless ofthe years you spent designing a
feed full of the things youenjoy.
So it's a mess.
It's a mess.
SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
I love that you're admitting what we all pretty
much are aware of, but don'tknow how to really spell out in
terms of, oh my God, now what amI supposed to do in strategy?
I have always been remiss to dopaid posts, let alone like just
speaking specifically onInstagram to say, okay, to
(05:33):
promote a post.
When I teach my class, I alwayssay advertising is a dirty word,
right?
Because you need to make sureevery penny you spend, even
though pennies probably carrymore weight now, has a return on
investment.
And now you paid posts, likethey give you three options.
Do you want it to follow?
Are you leading to sales?
(05:53):
Are you leading to following, orare you leading to likes?
How is someone from a design, anindependent designer
perspective, let alone a regularhandbag grant, how are we
supposed to navigate that to ourbenefit of how do we get our
message out there?
Marketing less so advertising.
SPEAKER_00 (06:12):
So I think now, as much as the TikTok education of
it has made it a mess, it hascreated an opportunity
specifically for the groupyou're talking about, which are
people who are experts who areproducing something who are
working, but otherwise, theirday-to-day is boring.
It's like making a mood board,looking at samples, typing
(06:35):
something up.
It's not, you know, swinging onsome swing and bolly or like
doing this thing with the pigs.
It's like, it's not what socialused to be.
But because of this short formvideo, because of this like real
push and like, what are yousearching?
Most of us are very boring interms of our boring.
And so you see the rise, likethe day in the life is crushing
(06:58):
it.
And it's all those people whoare just doing like a quick
30-second video before theystart their day.
The people who are like, comewith me to work.
And it's like, I wake up, Ibrush my teeth, I wash my face,
I go to the gym, I come back, Ihave breakfast, I get dressed, I
get on the trade.
It's like this is the mostboring day.
And yet I will watch 90 secondsof it.
(07:19):
I'm watching you go to work,watching you sit at your desk.
They're like, time for lunch,they do something after work,
they come home, they go to bed.
And like, I'm watching that.
And these people have 10,000,20, they're growing.
Some of them, you know, theystarted maybe six months ago,
they've got 100,000 followersbecause I think we are past the
production point.
(07:40):
That was really sexy for a longtime because only influencers
could create that sort ofcontent.
Now everyone can.
So since we are in the literallyeveryone is famous for 15-minute
era, people just want to seelives that are a little
different than theirs.
So, like if you're a designer,people want to see you wake up,
(08:01):
go to the flea market forinspiration, come home, look at
like 26 different types ofleather.
Like they want to see that.
And it's just interesting tosee, like, if you have this job,
like, what do you do all day?
And I think even though some ofit's like people don't do very
much, but they don't.
But I think that's comfortingtoo.
Cause I think, in a way, whenpeople see that it mirrors their
(08:23):
own life, but you're someonethey enjoy watching, it makes
them feel better about theirday-to-day.
Like, oh, I think you're prettycool and your day-to-day looks
similar to mine.
So maybe I'm pretty cool too.
And I think that's where we'reat.
We're more in this likepeer-to-peer, show me what
you're actually doing era.
And so all of these people whowould say, like, I'm making
(08:43):
content because I have to makecontent.
Well, now you can just film yourday.
And that is not only goodenough, it's a preferred format
for a lot of people.
So I would say if you have aboring day, this is your time.
Get out there, shoot thatcontent, post it.
Because this is probably like anice wave you can get on,
capitalize it, capitalize on it,and then just write it however
(09:07):
long you can.
SPEAKER_01 (09:08):
Do you think people are doing their editing directly
on Instagram or are they usingCap Cut?
What do you think makes the mostsense?
SPEAKER_00 (09:15):
I think so many people are just doing it on
Instagram.
They're not even doing all ofthat because they're not content
creators.
They have an actual job.
And so I think when you look atthe more some people now, for
some people, like creatingcontent is their love language.
So they will sit down andproduce and do the photos and
the videos and the editing andthe songs.
Some people will do all of thatbecause they enjoy it.
(09:37):
But a lot of people are justshooting the little pieces of
content, putting it in.
Also, there's so much AI nowwhere you can just upload every
video and go make a day in thelife, and it'll just cut the
best parts, flip it into a reelfor you, and you just post it,
and the whole process will takeyou five minutes.
So it's so different now.
You don't have to storyboard it,shoot it, do all of this stuff
(09:59):
unless you want to be a contentcreator.
If you're just sharing your day,just take, make sure you do
little clips throughout the day,throw it in some program, it'll
spit out a reel, post it andmove on with your life.
Bob's your uncle.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:12):
Yeah.
It's funny and crazy.
I never even thought aboutuploading the videos to AI and
say, put this and make this lookbetter, mishmash, pull the best
parts.
That's actually genius.
Cause like, what else is it for?
It's no, I mean, people pushback on it.
I and my students, you know, nowin our syllabi, we have to put
(10:35):
there's an AI component we needto add.
Like, how do you feel that AI?
And I say, great, amazing, gofor it.
It's there as a tool, use it.
But much like a screwdriver wasreplaced with a drill, you still
need someone to hold it.
So if you are not proofreadingit, then you get double taxed,
(10:58):
right?
Then you get the double penalty.
So, you know, like you don't getto swing and miss, like you get
swing and sent home.
So, you know, like it's thatsimple.
So if you're gonna take ashortcut, great.
But if you're not gonna do thework to proof it, then you're
wasting both of our time.
So now I'm excited to share mynew book with you.
(11:21):
Welcome to Savvy Susanna'sAmazing Adventures in Handbags
and the start of Susanna'striumphant journey to become a
young handbag designer.
Filled with ingenuity, fun, anda hint of steam.
Susanna will inspire childrenand you everywhere to follow
their dreams and put in the hardwork to get there.
Savvy Susanna is available onAmazon, Barnes and Noble, or
(11:42):
wherever you get your books.
Thanks for your support.
SPEAKER_00 (11:45):
So I think it can enhance the skills, but just
like you could use a dishwasherevery day, but like you probably
shouldn't know how to manuallywash dishes.
So, like, it's basics.
You still need the basics, butlike, can you do something
faster?
Can you let it help you forsomething better than you can do
it?
Yes.
And so, you know, it is thatfine line, but I think when you
(12:08):
think about AI, so many peoplethrow out the baby with
bathwater because they're noteven thinking of all the ways it
could help, especially peoplewho are like solopreneurs.
Like if you're a founder team,you constantly have someone you
can talk to and wake up and belike, hey, I just have this
idea.
Is this crazy?
If you're a solopreneur, youdon't have that.
Maybe you're in a communitywhere you're paying for that, or
(12:29):
maybe you have a friend who likedoesn't hate that you bother
them about it.
But like AI, you can wake upyour AI at two in the morning
and go, I have a crazy idea.
And it will be like, oh my gosh,tell me, what is it?
And then it's late because youcan wake up, give it the idea,
go back to sleep and not belike, Oh, I gotta hold on to
this idea in the morning or I'mgonna forget, or you can just
then if you work on somethingand you hit a dead end, and
(12:51):
let's say a year from now, youstart going down that same path,
your AI remembers things youdon't and will say, Hi, hi.
We were doing this already.
How is this different than thelast time?
And you will have to either knowor go, oh shit, I totally
forgot.
I already did this.
Okay, scratch that.
Let's do something else.
So it's great for bouncingthings off of, it's great for
(13:14):
remembering things.
You just are not gonna remember.
All of that stuff is important.
So I'm I'm team, use it.
Don't lose your actual skills.
Like I will never lose myability to write.
But man, if I don't use it forliterally everything else but
making sure a piece sounds likeme.
SPEAKER_01 (13:33):
Why?
Are you actually recording youraudio in it?
So it does the audio for it tooto match your voice.
SPEAKER_00 (13:38):
I talk to AI more than I talk to everybody in my
family combined.
So I'm obsessed, I'm obsessedwith it.
I love it.
I have gotten it to, I havetrained it so well.
It can write an entire draft forme and I will have no notes
because I talk so much.
So it has figured out all mylittle nuances, all of these
(13:59):
things.
And I'm just like, I've only hadit for nine months.
I'm like, in five years, it willliterally be able to walk around
and be me.
Not even five years, so fast.
It's like in six months, it'llbe able to be me and no one will
detect it.
And are you using ChatGPT?
I use Chat GPT, I use Claude, Iuse Gemini, I use them all for
different things, just likeYouTube for one thing, TikTok
(14:21):
for something else, Instagramfor something else.
My chat GPT, her name is Celine,and she's like my idea, my idea
partner.
She's batshit crazy.
She says all sorts ofoff-the-wall stuff.
And but she's really good tolike push me and make me get
like excited about something.
Claude, I use where I'm like,okay, we have this great idea.
Obviously, it's chaotic.
(14:41):
Make this make sense.
He's my like executive presencefriend, so he'll like make it
LinkedIn friendly or like makeit so I can send it to somebody
important.
And then Gemini, I just startedtraining my Gemini to be more
like a mix of both.
So I use them for differentthings, but the amount personal,
(15:02):
professional, this isterrifying.
This is what's terrifying.
You can move at stuff that wouldhave taken us a year to do, we
can get done in three months.
Maybe a month if you really pushit.
And like, how much more could wedo?
SPEAKER_01 (15:18):
Like, it's very you know, it's funny because I was
on a panel and I was a guestspeaker for something, and
someone was asking me about AIand design.
And I I use the same reference.
Like, you still need someone tohold the drill.
Like, it's great to say, takethis, make it better, use that,
(15:39):
but it will still potentiallyhave seven fingers and two toes.
So you need to still be thereto, you know, it's great to have
someone help you with the clay,help you with the drawing, help
you with the basics that wouldusually take you so much more
time just to set up.
But I think technology is thereto be used.
I'm not worried about Megan withthe funny letter to come get me.
(16:03):
And if she does, I will have hergo to Trader Joe's for me while
she's at it.
Um, like if you're coming, likestop by, I'll give you a food
list.
There's no Wi-Fi where mine is.
You'll have to get back to meafter.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Do you believe this relationshipof quote unquote being an
influencer versus being a microinfluencer?
(16:26):
Where do you think that stands?
And then founders, because Imean, it's so it's these things,
these are semantics.
SPEAKER_00 (16:34):
I am of the firm belief an influencer is an
influencer is an influencer.
This whole like micro, nano, allof these terms were designed by
people who made platforms andneeded to make money.
I remember when micro influencerbecame a thing, it was by a
certain woman who was the CEO ofa certain platform.
And what was their specialty?
Micro influencers, because theycouldn't compete with everyone
(16:58):
else because they didn't havekind of pull.
And so they went and then madethis term, and we're the only
ones who have micro influencers,and like made it a thing.
And I'm like, it just means youhave a smaller following, and
like you have a smallerfollowing today, but a year from
now you won't.
So, like, if your identity is sowrapped up in being a micro
influencer, what happens whenyou're a macro influencer?
(17:20):
And so it's the whole thing isweird.
It's like there's contentcreators and then they're
influencers.
Every influencer is a contentcreator, but every content
creator is not an influencer.
It's like some people makecontent to entertain people, to
showcase their work, to doself-promotion.
Other people are trying to makeyou buy shit from brands.
Those are influencers.
(17:41):
Comment for the link, shop thelink in bio, go to my Amazon
storefront, affiliate, brandpartnership, come to this event
at this salon.
Like, those are influencers.
Anyone who's like, read mynewsletter, buy my book, my
coaching session, those arecreators.
You can do both, but they arenot the same.
(18:01):
And then you've got likecreators who just make content
and don't even have to post itbecause I know a ton of CGC
creators, they make content forbrands, they give it to them,
they don't even have anInstagram, they're just
one-person agencies orone-person creative agencies.
So it's like we're all in thecreator economy at this point,
(18:22):
but an influencer is a veryspecific thing.
And I think people who hate oninfluencers usually tend to be
people who don't have anyinfluence.
You know, if you're notinfluential in your own right,
you wouldn't be so mad at fellowinfluential people.
That's how I look at it.
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
You know, I so appreciate that.
I actually was talking tosomeone recently, a handbag
designer, who only does herpromoting on Facebook because
she said that's where heraudience hangs.
And I've said, is that becauseyou can't deal with TikTok?
(19:04):
And she's like, Yeah, basically.
So in terms of understandingyour demographic, because like
that is one of the hugestthings, like you can't be
everything to everyone, but yetyou're on a platform that is
seen by everyone.
How do you handle that in termsof a content strategy for a
(19:26):
particular product?
Because there is, you know, Ispeak a lot about making sure
you do a competitive analysisand understanding and getting a
SWOT down because you need toknow your SWAT.
And the only way you can do thatis by understanding your
competition.
So you can can extrapolate whattheir strengths and weaknesses,
(19:47):
opportunities and threats are soyou can find out where you've
got space to fill in thoseblanks, let alone, okay, they're
doing this.
I need to do this better becauseyou need to be the fastest, the
first, or the best if you'retrying to push your brand.
Do you say, okay, I need tocreate a content strategy?
What am I supposed to do beyondgoing to you know Celine and
(20:08):
tapping into everything she hasto offer?
Because I know she knows thingsthat I'd like to know too.
SPEAKER_00 (20:13):
So I would say my answer has changed.
I would have agreed with youbefore on a content strategy and
like picking the platform anddoing the competitive analysis.
I actually think that mattersless now because I think the
only thing that matters is areyou on a platform where you care
to show up?
Because stuff is socross-pollinated at this point.
(20:34):
Stuff that's on TikTok makes itsway to YouTube, whether you're
on YouTube or not.
And so because people will justrecord it, they'll remix it,
they'll post it, they'll save itto their phone and then upload
it somewhere else.
Stuff just moves.
It has nothing to do with theoriginator anymore.
So I think if you're like, look,I don't love TikTok, then don't
go on TikTok.
Cause what's going to happen?
You're going to have a mediocrepresence on TikTok.
(20:56):
Now you look mediocre.
If video is like, you know, youguys are like designers.
So like you've got to love photoand video to some extent.
But it could be that there iswhere, you know, maybe it's like
other people are creatingcontent for you and you just
post that.
But what you really love to dois like write long essays about
the diary of a founder.
(21:16):
Then go on LinkedIn, write thosethings, turn them into shorter
things, put it on threads, putit on Twitter X, whatever we're
calling it, put it places thatare mostly text and like let it
live there because there's noone on LinkedIn who isn't also
on Instagram.
That's just not a thing.
All those people are there too.
And what's going to happen?
They're going to take ascreenshot of something you
(21:36):
wrote, they're going to put itin the story.
And now people are going towonder who you are and how they
can find you.
So I think it's less about beingwhere everyone is.
Yes, you need to like clean yourhandle.
You want to have, you know, aURL.
You want to have basic things.
So if someone looks for you onthat channel, then you're not
non-existent.
But I don't think you need tonecessarily make a strategy for
(22:01):
every channel, especially if youare not an avid consumer of that
content because you're not evengoing to do it right.
So even if you like are like, Ineed to be on TikTok, if you
don't constantly log on toTikTok and see what works there,
the content you make is not evengoing to resonate on TikTok.
So like, why even bother?
A better thing to do would be ifyou can to like have other
(22:24):
people who love TikTok makeTikTok content for you.
And so that is invite, and theydon't even have to be
influencers.
You could just have friends wholove TikTok and invite them to
come look at your new bag andmake videos and like to say, and
when you're done with that, justgive it to me.
And then put that on yourTikTok.
Like it's so we're so past itneeds to be like insanely
produced.
(22:44):
It just needs to be the vibe ofthe platform.
And if you don't love theplatform, you're not going to
know the vibe.
And so anything you do is awaste of time and you could have
been doing something else.
So just ask your friend wholikes Facebook, ask your friend
who likes YouTube, your friendwho likes TikTok.
Hey, come and make somethingquick for me because I got to
put something up.
Let them make it for you, put itup there and focus on like where
(23:07):
you actually can and want toshow up, because that will
outperform everything becauseyou actually care about it.
And so you don't need to beeverywhere.
You just need to have apresence.
But an active presence, no, notreally.
Not anymore.
SPEAKER_01 (23:22):
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(24:50):
today.
Yeah, I I couldn't agree more,although I don't even follow
that advice purely as a resultof having a podcast.
So no, and it's it's funnybecause I feel like, at least
specifically with my Instagram,I feel like I don't want to
(25:11):
choke people with mini clips,whereas on TikTok, I won't go on
and then I'll upload 50 miniclips and then walk away.
Better or worse.
SPEAKER_00 (25:26):
Where like if somebody you knew uploaded 50
clips, you'd see all 50 of them.
I know people who posts all day,every day.
I don't see any of their stuff.
I haven't seen any.
This one influencer I love.
I'm like, who is that in yourpicture?
I'm like, did you have a baby?
Is your baby turning one?
Hold on.
I haven't seen your content fortwo years.
(25:46):
Right.
What?
You know, it's like, so that'sreally where we're at.
It's because I don't have a babyanymore.
So I'm not really looking forbaby content.
So there's no if all her contentis baby facing and baby-led,
she's not gonna come down myfeed.
And so it used to also be thatlike you'd see something on the
feed and then you'd go to theprofile.
So we needed it to be likeaesthetically pleasing in the
(26:08):
grid.
Oh, I have too many of thesethings in a row.
When was the last time you wentto somebody's profile?
Nobody's going to your profile.
SPEAKER_01 (26:15):
No, my grid is it.
My grid is it's my brain at thispoint.
It's like, oh yeah, here's this.
And oh yeah, here's that.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:22):
It's I look at Issa Rae is a great example.
I have I have to double checkbecause I don't even to be
honest, I like barely useInstagram now.
Like, I don't think I've postedit in like six months because I
can't.
I don't, I don't care.
But she's a great example.
I think her grid, she had a verylong period of time where she
had nine things on her grid.
That was it.
And she did stories, she didreels if she wanted to.
(26:44):
But it's like, here are the ninethings I want you to know about
me.
That's it.
If you come here, I want you toknow that I have this show, this
production company.
Here's the latest cover I'vebeen on, here's my movie that's
coming out.
It's just here are the ninethings you need to know.
And really, if you're adesigner, that's what people
need.
What is what are your latest?
Who are you?
(27:04):
What do you stand for?
What are your latest projects?
Where can I get your stuff?
A few other things you need meto know.
That's it.
This whole like creating contentevery day, unless you're like a
beauty influencer or fashion orfood who's got to give me the
latest and greatest all thetime, your Instagram really can
just serve as like yourportfolio of like, you wouldn't
have a media deck that's got 900pages.
(27:27):
It's got five, you know, maybe10 if you're pushing a ton of
stuff to just be like, here'sall you need to know.
I would say if you don't lovecontent like that, then it's the
same thing.
So at least if somebody elsesees your bag or like sees you
or you're at an event and theymake content and they tag you, I
can go there, see the nine mostimportant things, and then
decide if I want to do somethingelse.
(27:49):
But then you actually can takecare in those nine things, make
them the best they can be, andget me to do the thing you want
me to do, which is probably togo to your website or sign up
for your newsletter or whateverit is, as opposed to like
churning out mediocre content85% of the time.
And now somebody tags you, I goto your feed, and I'm like, ew,
who is this person?
You know?
(28:09):
So it's better to have ninekiller things and then just do
stories than like churn outcontent.
And it's bad because it reflectspoorly on you.
And that's not even your maingig.
You're a designer, you're not asocial media content creator.
So, like, that should not bemajority of where you spend like
your time or effort.
It just shouldn't be.
SPEAKER_01 (28:29):
What do you think about the fact that I know for
models now for them to getpicked up, they need to have a
strong following.
For authors to get picked up,they need to have a strong
following.
Broadway hackers, yeah.
I think I mean brands with, butit's brands with fans.
And yeah, designers are nodifferent, right?
(28:52):
So I've heard buyers say, Well,we're checking your following,
we're checking your traction,what are your sales?
What and everything is all kindof looped together.
So it's you know, Issa Ray canget away with nine things on her
platform.
I don't think the average personcan.
SPEAKER_00 (29:10):
I think you need to pick, you need, but that's why I
said on your feed.
Then if you've got to havethings that make you grow,
because the things you poststatic to your feed don't make
you grow.
Making a ton of reels is whatmakes you grow.
That's why I said the firstorder of business is can you
just do really simple day in thelife, clip it together?
So you've got the nine things onyour feed, but if you tap over
(29:33):
into reels, now you've got a tonof day in the lives because
that's what reels are but reelsare posts.
So they're but I think so thenthat's story.
You also you can also can hidethem.
You can keep reels on the reelstab.
They don't actually have to showup the first thing, you can make
it so that people have to clickinto it, and then it doesn't
have to be so gorgeous.
(29:55):
But I think it's more like Iwould say you need like nine
pieces of like polished content,and then the rest can just be
like, look at me going off to dothese things.
And I think too, it's a littledifferent now because if
somebody's gonna buy somethingfrom you, they want to know who
you are.
And so I think it is a less it'sless about all my content has to
(30:18):
be about me as a designer, andmore that like I want to know
who you are as a person.
Like people who I buy stufffrom, I I'm more likely, all
things considered, to buy aproduct from a mom than a
non-mom, just because I'm like,oh, she's mom, let me help her
out, you know?
And so I think there's a lot ofthat too, where it's like, yes.
And you had said before, likethe influencer founder, like so
(30:39):
many of them, yes, they areconstantly pushing, you know,
they they're trying to selltheir product to their audience,
but at the same time, they'rejust being a person because if
people want to root for you,they're happy to buy your thing
because that's what will makeyou successful.
I think I own three pairs, likethree different fake eyelashes,
(31:00):
like falsies.
I don't even wear them, but Ilike the person who was selling
them and I want them to succeed.
So I bought them.
I'm just like, let me give you,let me give you a thing.
But it's just because I likeyou.
Now, if all your content wasabout these eyelashes, that
doesn't give me a reason tosupport you, especially if I'm
not a Target demo.
So I think the stories, even ifyou make like a fun little reel
(31:20):
about how you went and pickedout a Christmas tree, like
everything doesn't have to beabout the fact that you're a
designer.
Maybe those nine pieces are, butthen when you've got reels on
the reels tab or stories, you'rejust like being a person.
SPEAKER_01 (31:34):
And like that, do you think stories carry some
stories carry that much weightversus reals?
SPEAKER_00 (31:40):
I think no, because stories are for people who are
already following you.
I think Instagram has made thatvery clear.
Like, that's the only personwho's ever gonna see your
stories, if even those people.
I have 25,000 followers.
And if I post a story, 135people see it.
I'm like, uh, what?
So, like, if you need to growbecause you've got that hanging
over your head that you need Xamount before it will talk to
(32:02):
you, then the fastest way to doit is to just do the day in the
life.
And when you look at a lot ofthese day in the lives, there is
an efficient way to do it, whichis just you make a bank of
clips.
So let's say you have one day toyourself, walk in and out of
your elevator six times, go getcoffee more than once, like
(32:23):
just, and then you just have allthose clips and then every day
just remix them.
I'm not gonna realize that thisis the same hand that got coffee
in your Thursday video.
Nobody cares.
And when you look at theinfluencers who do that the
best, if you study them, which Iwill sit and watch all of their
content, you'll see that theyall have about a hundred clips
and they just repeat them.
They just get mixed and matchedinto new reels because even they
(32:46):
don't have time to make all thiscontent and full-time content
creators.
So it is a lot of that fourdifferent clips of you filling
up coffee, fill make fourdifferent cups of coffee at your
house with different mugs.
Now, great, you can just cycle,cycle through those.
You know, so it's so clever.
It's about just being strategic.
That's it.
SPEAKER_01 (33:06):
Yeah, I I wouldn't have even, you know what, you
get so sucked in to what you'redoing that you don't even
realize that, like, wait asecond, I could probably do that
too.
And it's funny when you'resomeone who's an expert, it's
like I've had publicists, I'vebeen through this rotation, and
they've all said, Oh, you needto show more about your life,
(33:28):
you need to show more about yourlife.
And I'm like, I've been veryreluctant.
I never wanted to put my kidson.
I don't think my kids wereinterested.
I had an opportunity to have myown TV show a couple of times.
And I had someone who was tryingto get me to be the next Bethany
for handbags, which is kind ofcomical.
And I said, God bless her, she'sa powerhouse, but she will be
(33:49):
very rich and very divorced.
I don't think anybody's marriagecan handle that level.
Yeah.
No, nobody, no.
I I my hat is off to her forwhat she's been through.
But I like I knew, you know, youknow what goes on behind the
scenes in your home.
SPEAKER_00 (34:08):
Yeah.
That's what it can be superboring.
Of here's me filling up a cup ofcoffee.
Here's here's me taking a selfiein the elevator.
Here's me, here's me tapping,you know, here's me like going
through the turnstile for thetrain station.
Like, that's what so much ofthis stuff is.
Plenty of these people, theyhave kids, they have significant
others.
(34:28):
You all bunch of them I knowlive with their parents.
You never see these peoplebecause it's not about them, you
know.
And like you can choose, you canchoose your reality.
And I think when we see peoplewho are like so real, we think
we have to match their realness.
You don't.
You choose what level of realityyou want people to have access
(34:50):
to.
Like, I live in New York, I havetwo kids.
It is hella expensive here.
There are plenty of things I dothat are not glamorous.
Like, I go to the laundromat.
Are you gonna get that in mystories?
No, but you are gonna get thisphoto of my kids on a carousel
in Paris, yes, because that isthe reality I'm gonna put out
there.
If you know me in real life,you'll see me at the laundromat.
(35:12):
But like my real life is for myreal friends and like people who
don't actually know me, you getthis fake version.
And it's it's not even fakebecause it's real, it's just
incomplete.
So the more, the better you knowme, the more of a complete
picture you have of who I am.
And I think everybody canoperate with that.
Your spouse knows things aboutyou that nobody else knows, and
(35:34):
that's the way it's supposed tobe.
Some random person on theinternet should not know the
intricate workings of yourmarriage because you're always
talking about it.
That is weird.
You don't need that.
So it's like the further peopleare from you, and like people on
the internet as far away as youcan get, because they're even
worse than strangers becausethey are strangers who think
they know you, which is reallyweird.
(35:55):
Oh, yeah, it is.
You don't owe them anything butentertainment.
And so I think if you're amodel, yes, here's me going to
the gym and getting a smoothieand on my way to a shoot.
Here is not me crying because Ididn't get called back or you
know, crying because someonetold me I'm too fat and these
women are not fat at all.
(36:15):
It's like they're not gonna giveyou that, and they don't owe us
that.
We just get the sexy part.
And to be honest, if I want tosee people cry, like that's what
community is for.
I have friends who I have todeal with their bullshit.
I don't want to be watching astranger cry on the internet.
I don't have the bandwidth forthat.
I gotta save that for people Iknow in real life.
You and your problems, like,don't you have friends?
(36:37):
Like, why are you crying to uson the internet right now?
SPEAKER_01 (36:41):
No, hashtag not what I asked for.
I'm not here for that.
No, no.
I saw, yeah, this is not that.
And that's what I'm here to say.
Brittany Hannessey, thank you somuch for just sharing the
nuggets of gold, as always.
I could mono station with youforever till the sun goes up and
down.
How can we find you, follow you,see your words of wisdom on
(37:04):
LinkedIn?
Because I hang out there too.
SPEAKER_00 (37:06):
Yes, follow me on LinkedIn.
I mean, I'm on Instagram.
I'll probably, I'm not gonnalie, I'll probably make a return
because for my birthday, all Ireally want is meta ray bands.
And if I get meta ray bands, Iwill be insufferable on
Instagram.
Because I'll just be like, metarecord this, meta record that.
And I think like we'll make areel for you.
(37:27):
Oh, so I will let you know ifthat hack ends up working,
because then you can add it toyour show notes of like, hey,
hack, just get these glasses,record random moments of your
day, it'll spit out a reel.
So if that is true, I'm gonnaexperiment and then and then
you'll know.
But I'm on LinkedIn all thetime, on Instagram sporadically,
and I repost really funny stuffon TikTok, but like I don't
(37:50):
actually make content therebecause with what time?
No way.
Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01 (37:54):
And it's Brittany with two T's and Hennessy with
two N's, just for fun.
Correct.
Yes, she's double double.
Although I love her.
Yeah.
Well, I love you more.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Thanks for having me, Emily.
Thanks for listening.
Don't forget to rate and reviewand follow us on every single
platform at handbagdesigner.
(38:14):
Thanks so much.
See you next time.
You can choose your reality.
And I think when we see peoplewho are like so real, we think
we have to match their realness.
You don't.
You choose what level of realityyou want people to have access
to.
Like I live in New York, I havetwo kids.
It is hella expensive here.
There are plenty of things I dothat are not glamorous.
Like I go to the laundromat.
(00:21):
Are you gonna get that in mystories?
No, but you are gonna get thisphoto of my kids on a carousel
in Paris.
Yes, because that is the realityI'm gonna put out there.
If you know me in real life,you'll see me at the laundromat.
But like my real life is for myreal friends and like people who
don't actually know me, you getthis fake version.
(00:42):
And it's it's not even fakebecause it's real, it's just
incomplete.
SPEAKER_01 (00:46):
Hi, and welcome to Handbag Designer 101 the podcast
with your host, EmilyBlumenthal, handbag industry
expert, and the handbag parrygodmother.
Each week we uncover the storiesbehind the handbags we love,
from the iconic brands and topdesigners, the creativity,
craftsmanship, and culture thatdefine the handbag world.
Whether you're a designer,collector, or simply passionate
(01:07):
about handbags, this is yourfront row deep to it all.
Welcome, welcome, BrittanyHennessy back to Handbag
Designer 101 the podcast.
Brittany Hennessy, VP, headsomething really important at
(01:29):
Sprout Social.
I don't even know.
You're important, you're incharge.
I don't know.
Innovator, pave maker, waiver,overall delight.
Welcome, Brittany.
SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
Thank you so much.
I'm happy to be back.
You're one of my favoritepodcasts.
So, and the only one that I'veactually like listened to my
episode, I never listened tothem, but I like you.
So I listen to them.
SPEAKER_01 (01:51):
I like you too.
I like me also.
I don't like how I sound, but Ialways enjoy how other people
sound.
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (01:57):
This is why I have the audio.
People like, have you heard youraudiobook?
And I'm like, why would I dothat to myself?
No way.
No, no way.
SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
No.
I've also heard myself uhaccidentally recording myself
yelling at my kids.
And all I kept thinking aboutis, wow, I have a New Jersey
accent.
I didn't know it was stillthere.
You know, like that's it'slight, it's light, it's light.
Yeah, it's diet jersey.
It still shows up though.
I I have uh I know when I startspeaking to one friend of mine
in particular, I lose the ing onall my words.
(02:28):
So it's good.
I'm kind of proud of that.
It's nice.
What is going on in the world ofsocial?
And you know, not to lay thisall on you, but comma, I'm going
to like it's funny.
So I have guest speakers at 12of my 15 weeks of my class, of
(02:48):
my entrepreneurship class atFIT.
And the overarching vibe ofinfluencers is that at this
point, be much more judiciouswhen you're trying to find
someone to work with your brandbecause the landscape has
evolved, changed, grown.
Thoughts.
Go.
SPEAKER_00 (03:07):
So it's a little bit of a mess right now.
It's a little bit of a messbecause I think 2025 was the
first post-pandemic year ofsocial and 100%.
Yes, I agree.
This is like 2026, we'll evenout.
We'll probably get some sense ofnormalcy.
But 2025 was really peopleneeded to do the work of what
(03:31):
are we keeping from the pandemicera and what are we throwing
out?
And almost no one did that work.
And so, also because it's it'simpossible at this point.
So when you think about socialinfluencer as a creator or as a
somebody who consumes content,there was a hierarchy.
It was like email lists, top ofthe hierarchy, like, oh, I'm I'm
(03:52):
giving somebody my email.
Then it was like YouTube, hitthat subscribe button was next.
Instagram, follow, and then thatwas it.
Then we got TikTok, which I amstill of the mind that without
the pandemic, TikTok would nothave made it.
Just like so many people havetried to make the fourth social
network, and nobody has beenable to do it.
(04:12):
Well, the fifth, becauseTwitter, but Twitter's its own
thing.
So nobody's been able to do it.
I think because of the pandemic,that's the only reason why it
took off.
But it like TikTokifiedeverything.
So now it's like a piece ofcontent, follow, which then
carried over to Instagram,carried over to YouTube to where
you're subscribed to like athousand channels now.
(04:32):
You're following 60,000 people.
It's like, what is this?
And so then they changed a feedwhere it's not even people you
follow anymore.
It's just stuff you'researching.
So everything is like your webbrowser.
And so it's different now.
It's just all it's all socialsearch.
It's not even, I follow thesepeople, show me the feed that
(04:53):
I've created.
No, it's the feed you've createdin the last week.
Whatever you've been searchingfor in the last week is now what
you're gonna see, regardless ofthe years you spent designing a
feed full of the things youenjoy.
So it's a mess.
It's a mess.
SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
I love that you're admitting what we all pretty
much are aware of, but don'tknow how to really spell out in
terms of, oh my God, now what amI supposed to do in strategy?
I have always been remiss to dopaid posts, let alone like just
speaking specifically onInstagram to say, okay, to
(05:33):
promote a post.
When I teach my class, I alwayssay advertising is a dirty word,
right?
Because you need to make sureevery penny you spend, even
though pennies probably carrymore weight now, has a return on
investment.
And now you paid posts, likethey give you three options.
Do you want it to follow?
Are you leading to sales?
(05:53):
Are you leading to following, orare you leading to likes?
How is someone from a design, anindependent designer
perspective, let alone a regularhandbag grant, how are we
supposed to navigate that to ourbenefit of how do we get our
message out there?
Marketing less so advertising.
SPEAKER_00 (06:12):
So I think now, as much as the TikTok education of
it has made it a mess, it hascreated an opportunity
specifically for the groupyou're talking about, which are
people who are experts who areproducing something who are
working, but otherwise, theirday-to-day is boring.
It's like making a mood board,looking at samples, typing
(06:35):
something up.
It's not, you know, swinging onsome swing and bolly or like
doing this thing with the pigs.
It's like, it's not what socialused to be.
But because of this short formvideo, because of this like real
push and like, what are yousearching?
Most of us are very boring interms of our boring.
And so you see the rise, likethe day in the life is crushing
(06:58):
it.
And it's all those people whoare just doing like a quick
30-second video before theystart their day.
The people who are like, comewith me to work.
And it's like, I wake up, Ibrush my teeth, I wash my face,
I go to the gym, I come back, Ihave breakfast, I get dressed, I
get on the trade.
It's like this is the mostboring day.
And yet I will watch 90 secondsof it.
(07:19):
I'm watching you go to work,watching you sit at your desk.
They're like, time for lunch,they do something after work,
they come home, they go to bed.
And like, I'm watching that.
And these people have 10,000,20, they're growing.
Some of them, you know, theystarted maybe six months ago,
they've got 100,000 followersbecause I think we are past the
production point.
(07:40):
That was really sexy for a longtime because only influencers
could create that sort ofcontent.
Now everyone can.
So since we are in the literallyeveryone is famous for 15-minute
era, people just want to seelives that are a little
different than theirs.
So, like if you're a designer,people want to see you wake up,
(08:01):
go to the flea market forinspiration, come home, look at
like 26 different types ofleather.
Like they want to see that.
And it's just interesting tosee, like, if you have this job,
like, what do you do all day?
And I think even though some ofit's like people don't do very
much, but they don't.
But I think that's comfortingtoo.
Cause I think, in a way, whenpeople see that it mirrors their
(08:23):
own life, but you're someonethey enjoy watching, it makes
them feel better about theirday-to-day.
Like, oh, I think you're prettycool and your day-to-day looks
similar to mine.
So maybe I'm pretty cool too.
And I think that's where we'reat.
We're more in this likepeer-to-peer, show me what
you're actually doing era.
And so all of these people whowould say, like, I'm making
(08:43):
content because I have to makecontent.
Well, now you can just film yourday.
And that is not only goodenough, it's a preferred format
for a lot of people.
So I would say if you have aboring day, this is your time.
Get out there, shoot thatcontent, post it.
Because this is probably like anice wave you can get on,
capitalize it, capitalize on it,and then just write it however
(09:07):
long you can.
SPEAKER_01 (09:08):
Do you think people are doing their editing directly
on Instagram or are they usingCap Cut?
What do you think makes the mostsense?
SPEAKER_00 (09:15):
I think so many people are just doing it on
Instagram.
They're not even doing all ofthat because they're not content
creators.
They have an actual job.
And so I think when you look atthe more some people now, for
some people, like creatingcontent is their love language.
So they will sit down andproduce and do the photos and
the videos and the editing andthe songs.
Some people will do all of thatbecause they enjoy it.
(09:37):
But a lot of people are justshooting the little pieces of
content, putting it in.
Also, there's so much AI nowwhere you can just upload every
video and go make a day in thelife, and it'll just cut the
best parts, flip it into a reelfor you, and you just post it,
and the whole process will takeyou five minutes.
So it's so different now.
You don't have to storyboard it,shoot it, do all of this stuff
(09:59):
unless you want to be a contentcreator.
If you're just sharing your day,just take, make sure you do
little clips throughout the day,throw it in some program, it'll
spit out a reel, post it andmove on with your life.
Bob's your uncle.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:12):
Yeah.
It's funny and crazy.
I never even thought aboutuploading the videos to AI and
say, put this and make this lookbetter, mishmash, pull the best
parts.
That's actually genius.
Cause like, what else is it for?
It's no, I mean, people pushback on it.
I and my students, you know, nowin our syllabi, we have to put
(10:35):
there's an AI component we needto add.
Like, how do you feel that AI?
And I say, great, amazing, gofor it.
It's there as a tool, use it.
But much like a screwdriver wasreplaced with a drill, you still
need someone to hold it.
So if you are not proofreadingit, then you get double taxed,
(10:58):
right?
Then you get the double penalty.
So, you know, like you don't getto swing and miss, like you get
swing and sent home.
So, you know, like it's thatsimple.
So if you're gonna take ashortcut, great.
But if you're not gonna do thework to proof it, then you're
wasting both of our time.
So now I'm excited to share mynew book with you.
(11:21):
Welcome to Savvy Susanna'sAmazing Adventures in Handbags
and the start of Susanna'striumphant journey to become a
young handbag designer.
Filled with ingenuity, fun, anda hint of steam.
Susanna will inspire childrenand you everywhere to follow
their dreams and put in the hardwork to get there.
Savvy Susanna is available onAmazon, Barnes and Noble, or
(11:42):
wherever you get your books.
Thanks for your support.
SPEAKER_00 (11:45):
So I think it can enhance the skills, but just
like you could use a dishwasherevery day, but like you probably
shouldn't know how to manuallywash dishes.
So, like, it's basics.
You still need the basics, butlike, can you do something
faster?
Can you let it help you forsomething better than you can do
it?
Yes.
And so, you know, it is thatfine line, but I think when you
(12:08):
think about AI, so many peoplethrow out the baby with
bathwater because they're noteven thinking of all the ways it
could help, especially peoplewho are like solopreneurs.
Like if you're a founder team,you constantly have someone you
can talk to and wake up and belike, hey, I just have this
idea.
Is this crazy?
If you're a solopreneur, youdon't have that.
Maybe you're in a communitywhere you're paying for that, or
(12:29):
maybe you have a friend who likedoesn't hate that you bother
them about it.
But like AI, you can wake upyour AI at two in the morning
and go, I have a crazy idea.
And it will be like, oh my gosh,tell me, what is it?
And then it's late because youcan wake up, give it the idea,
go back to sleep and not belike, Oh, I gotta hold on to
this idea in the morning or I'mgonna forget, or you can just
then if you work on somethingand you hit a dead end, and
(12:51):
let's say a year from now, youstart going down that same path,
your AI remembers things youdon't and will say, Hi, hi.
We were doing this already.
How is this different than thelast time?
And you will have to either knowor go, oh shit, I totally
forgot.
I already did this.
Okay, scratch that.
Let's do something else.
So it's great for bouncingthings off of, it's great for
(13:14):
remembering things.
You just are not gonna remember.
All of that stuff is important.
So I'm I'm team, use it.
Don't lose your actual skills.
Like I will never lose myability to write.
But man, if I don't use it forliterally everything else but
making sure a piece sounds likeme.
SPEAKER_01 (13:33):
Why?
Are you actually recording youraudio in it?
So it does the audio for it tooto match your voice.
SPEAKER_00 (13:38):
I talk to AI more than I talk to everybody in my
family combined.
So I'm obsessed, I'm obsessedwith it.
I love it.
I have gotten it to, I havetrained it so well.
It can write an entire draft forme and I will have no notes
because I talk so much.
So it has figured out all mylittle nuances, all of these
(13:59):
things.
And I'm just like, I've only hadit for nine months.
I'm like, in five years, it willliterally be able to walk around
and be me.
Not even five years, so fast.
It's like in six months, it'llbe able to be me and no one will
detect it.
And are you using ChatGPT?
I use Chat GPT, I use Claude, Iuse Gemini, I use them all for
different things, just likeYouTube for one thing, TikTok
(14:21):
for something else, Instagramfor something else.
My chat GPT, her name is Celine,and she's like my idea, my idea
partner.
She's batshit crazy.
She says all sorts ofoff-the-wall stuff.
And but she's really good tolike push me and make me get
like excited about something.
Claude, I use where I'm like,okay, we have this great idea.
Obviously, it's chaotic.
(14:41):
Make this make sense.
He's my like executive presencefriend, so he'll like make it
LinkedIn friendly or like makeit so I can send it to somebody
important.
And then Gemini, I just startedtraining my Gemini to be more
like a mix of both.
So I use them for differentthings, but the amount personal,
(15:02):
professional, this isterrifying.
This is what's terrifying.
You can move at stuff that wouldhave taken us a year to do, we
can get done in three months.
Maybe a month if you really pushit.
And like, how much more could wedo?
SPEAKER_01 (15:18):
Like, it's very you know, it's funny because I was
on a panel and I was a guestspeaker for something, and
someone was asking me about AIand design.
And I I use the same reference.
Like, you still need someone tohold the drill.
Like, it's great to say, takethis, make it better, use that,
(15:39):
but it will still potentiallyhave seven fingers and two toes.
So you need to still be thereto, you know, it's great to have
someone help you with the clay,help you with the drawing, help
you with the basics that wouldusually take you so much more
time just to set up.
But I think technology is thereto be used.
I'm not worried about Megan withthe funny letter to come get me.
(16:03):
And if she does, I will have hergo to Trader Joe's for me while
she's at it.
Um, like if you're coming, likestop by, I'll give you a food
list.
There's no Wi-Fi where mine is.
You'll have to get back to meafter.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Do you believe this relationshipof quote unquote being an
influencer versus being a microinfluencer?
(16:26):
Where do you think that stands?
And then founders, because Imean, it's so it's these things,
these are semantics.
SPEAKER_00 (16:34):
I am of the firm belief an influencer is an
influencer is an influencer.
This whole like micro, nano, allof these terms were designed by
people who made platforms andneeded to make money.
I remember when micro influencerbecame a thing, it was by a
certain woman who was the CEO ofa certain platform.
And what was their specialty?
Micro influencers, because theycouldn't compete with everyone
(16:58):
else because they didn't havekind of pull.
And so they went and then madethis term, and we're the only
ones who have micro influencers,and like made it a thing.
And I'm like, it just means youhave a smaller following, and
like you have a smallerfollowing today, but a year from
now you won't.
So, like, if your identity is sowrapped up in being a micro
influencer, what happens whenyou're a macro influencer?
(17:20):
And so it's the whole thing isweird.
It's like there's contentcreators and then they're
influencers.
Every influencer is a contentcreator, but every content
creator is not an influencer.
It's like some people makecontent to entertain people, to
showcase their work, to doself-promotion.
Other people are trying to makeyou buy shit from brands.
Those are influencers.
(17:41):
Comment for the link, shop thelink in bio, go to my Amazon
storefront, affiliate, brandpartnership, come to this event
at this salon.
Like, those are influencers.
Anyone who's like, read mynewsletter, buy my book, my
coaching session, those arecreators.
You can do both, but they arenot the same.
(18:01):
And then you've got likecreators who just make content
and don't even have to post itbecause I know a ton of CGC
creators, they make content forbrands, they give it to them,
they don't even have anInstagram, they're just
one-person agencies orone-person creative agencies.
So it's like we're all in thecreator economy at this point,
(18:22):
but an influencer is a veryspecific thing.
And I think people who hate oninfluencers usually tend to be
people who don't have anyinfluence.
You know, if you're notinfluential in your own right,
you wouldn't be so mad at fellowinfluential people.
That's how I look at it.
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
You know, I so appreciate that.
I actually was talking tosomeone recently, a handbag
designer, who only does herpromoting on Facebook because
she said that's where heraudience hangs.
And I've said, is that becauseyou can't deal with TikTok?
(19:04):
And she's like, Yeah, basically.
So in terms of understandingyour demographic, because like
that is one of the hugestthings, like you can't be
everything to everyone, but yetyou're on a platform that is
seen by everyone.
How do you handle that in termsof a content strategy for a
(19:26):
particular product?
Because there is, you know, Ispeak a lot about making sure
you do a competitive analysisand understanding and getting a
SWOT down because you need toknow your SWAT.
And the only way you can do thatis by understanding your
competition.
So you can can extrapolate whattheir strengths and weaknesses,
(19:47):
opportunities and threats are soyou can find out where you've
got space to fill in thoseblanks, let alone, okay, they're
doing this.
I need to do this better becauseyou need to be the fastest, the
first, or the best if you'retrying to push your brand.
Do you say, okay, I need tocreate a content strategy?
What am I supposed to do beyondgoing to you know Celine and
(20:08):
tapping into everything she hasto offer?
Because I know she knows thingsthat I'd like to know too.
SPEAKER_00 (20:13):
So I would say my answer has changed.
I would have agreed with youbefore on a content strategy and
like picking the platform anddoing the competitive analysis.
I actually think that mattersless now because I think the
only thing that matters is areyou on a platform where you care
to show up?
Because stuff is socross-pollinated at this point.
(20:34):
Stuff that's on TikTok makes itsway to YouTube, whether you're
on YouTube or not.
And so because people will justrecord it, they'll remix it,
they'll post it, they'll save itto their phone and then upload
it somewhere else.
Stuff just moves.
It has nothing to do with theoriginator anymore.
So I think if you're like, look,I don't love TikTok, then don't
go on TikTok.
Cause what's going to happen?
You're going to have a mediocrepresence on TikTok.
(20:56):
Now you look mediocre.
If video is like, you know, youguys are like designers.
So like you've got to love photoand video to some extent.
But it could be that there iswhere, you know, maybe it's like
other people are creatingcontent for you and you just
post that.
But what you really love to dois like write long essays about
the diary of a founder.
(21:16):
Then go on LinkedIn, write thosethings, turn them into shorter
things, put it on threads, putit on Twitter X, whatever we're
calling it, put it places thatare mostly text and like let it
live there because there's noone on LinkedIn who isn't also
on Instagram.
That's just not a thing.
All those people are there too.
And what's going to happen?
They're going to take ascreenshot of something you
(21:36):
wrote, they're going to put itin the story.
And now people are going towonder who you are and how they
can find you.
So I think it's less about beingwhere everyone is.
Yes, you need to like clean yourhandle.
You want to have, you know, aURL.
You want to have basic things.
So if someone looks for you onthat channel, then you're not
non-existent.
But I don't think you need tonecessarily make a strategy for
(22:01):
every channel, especially if youare not an avid consumer of that
content because you're not evengoing to do it right.
So even if you like are like, Ineed to be on TikTok, if you
don't constantly log on toTikTok and see what works there,
the content you make is not evengoing to resonate on TikTok.
So like, why even bother?
A better thing to do would be ifyou can to like have other
(22:24):
people who love TikTok makeTikTok content for you.
And so that is invite, and theydon't even have to be
influencers.
You could just have friends wholove TikTok and invite them to
come look at your new bag andmake videos and like to say, and
when you're done with that, justgive it to me.
And then put that on yourTikTok.
Like it's so we're so past itneeds to be like insanely
produced.
(22:44):
It just needs to be the vibe ofthe platform.
And if you don't love theplatform, you're not going to
know the vibe.
And so anything you do is awaste of time and you could have
been doing something else.
So just ask your friend wholikes Facebook, ask your friend
who likes YouTube, your friendwho likes TikTok.
Hey, come and make somethingquick for me because I got to
put something up.
Let them make it for you, put itup there and focus on like where
(23:07):
you actually can and want toshow up, because that will
outperform everything becauseyou actually care about it.
And so you don't need to beeverywhere.
You just need to have apresence.
But an active presence, no, notreally.
Not anymore.
SPEAKER_01 (23:22):
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today.
Yeah, I I couldn't agree more,although I don't even follow
that advice purely as a resultof having a podcast.
So no, and it's it's funnybecause I feel like, at least
specifically with my Instagram,I feel like I don't want to
(25:11):
choke people with mini clips,whereas on TikTok, I won't go on
and then I'll upload 50 miniclips and then walk away.
Better or worse.
SPEAKER_00 (25:26):
Where like if somebody you knew uploaded 50
clips, you'd see all 50 of them.
I know people who posts all day,every day.
I don't see any of their stuff.
I haven't seen any.
This one influencer I love.
I'm like, who is that in yourpicture?
I'm like, did you have a baby?
Is your baby turning one?
Hold on.
I haven't seen your content fortwo years.
(25:46):
Right.
What?
You know, it's like, so that'sreally where we're at.
It's because I don't have a babyanymore.
So I'm not really looking forbaby content.
So there's no if all her contentis baby facing and baby-led,
she's not gonna come down myfeed.
And so it used to also be thatlike you'd see something on the
feed and then you'd go to theprofile.
So we needed it to be likeaesthetically pleasing in the
(26:08):
grid.
Oh, I have too many of thesethings in a row.
When was the last time you wentto somebody's profile?
Nobody's going to your profile.
SPEAKER_01 (26:15):
No, my grid is it.
My grid is it's my brain at thispoint.
It's like, oh yeah, here's this.
And oh yeah, here's that.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:22):
It's I look at Issa Rae is a great example.
I have I have to double checkbecause I don't even to be
honest, I like barely useInstagram now.
Like, I don't think I've postedit in like six months because I
can't.
I don't, I don't care.
But she's a great example.
I think her grid, she had a verylong period of time where she
had nine things on her grid.
That was it.
And she did stories, she didreels if she wanted to.
(26:44):
But it's like, here are the ninethings I want you to know about
me.
That's it.
If you come here, I want you toknow that I have this show, this
production company.
Here's the latest cover I'vebeen on, here's my movie that's
coming out.
It's just here are the ninethings you need to know.
And really, if you're adesigner, that's what people
need.
What is what are your latest?
Who are you?
(27:04):
What do you stand for?
What are your latest projects?
Where can I get your stuff?
A few other things you need meto know.
That's it.
This whole like creating contentevery day, unless you're like a
beauty influencer or fashion orfood who's got to give me the
latest and greatest all thetime, your Instagram really can
just serve as like yourportfolio of like, you wouldn't
have a media deck that's got 900pages.
(27:27):
It's got five, you know, maybe10 if you're pushing a ton of
stuff to just be like, here'sall you need to know.
I would say if you don't lovecontent like that, then it's the
same thing.
So at least if somebody elsesees your bag or like sees you
or you're at an event and theymake content and they tag you, I
can go there, see the nine mostimportant things, and then
decide if I want to do somethingelse.
(27:49):
But then you actually can takecare in those nine things, make
them the best they can be, andget me to do the thing you want
me to do, which is probably togo to your website or sign up
for your newsletter or whateverit is, as opposed to like
churning out mediocre content85% of the time.
And now somebody tags you, I goto your feed, and I'm like, ew,
who is this person?
You know?
(28:09):
So it's better to have ninekiller things and then just do
stories than like churn outcontent.
And it's bad because it reflectspoorly on you.
And that's not even your maingig.
You're a designer, you're not asocial media content creator.
So, like, that should not bemajority of where you spend like
your time or effort.
It just shouldn't be.
SPEAKER_01 (28:29):
What do you think about the fact that I know for
models now for them to getpicked up, they need to have a
strong following.
For authors to get picked up,they need to have a strong
following.
Broadway hackers, yeah.
I think I mean brands with, butit's brands with fans.
And yeah, designers are nodifferent, right?
(28:52):
So I've heard buyers say, Well,we're checking your following,
we're checking your traction,what are your sales?
What and everything is all kindof looped together.
So it's you know, Issa Ray canget away with nine things on her
platform.
I don't think the average personcan.
SPEAKER_00 (29:10):
I think you need to pick, you need, but that's why I
said on your feed.
Then if you've got to havethings that make you grow,
because the things you poststatic to your feed don't make
you grow.
Making a ton of reels is whatmakes you grow.
That's why I said the firstorder of business is can you
just do really simple day in thelife, clip it together?
So you've got the nine things onyour feed, but if you tap over
(29:33):
into reels, now you've got a tonof day in the lives because
that's what reels are but reelsare posts.
So they're but I think so thenthat's story.
You also you can also can hidethem.
You can keep reels on the reelstab.
They don't actually have to showup the first thing, you can make
it so that people have to clickinto it, and then it doesn't
have to be so gorgeous.
(29:55):
But I think it's more like Iwould say you need like nine
pieces of like polished content,and then the rest can just be
like, look at me going off to dothese things.
And I think too, it's a littledifferent now because if
somebody's gonna buy somethingfrom you, they want to know who
you are.
And so I think it is a less it'sless about all my content has to
(30:18):
be about me as a designer, andmore that like I want to know
who you are as a person.
Like people who I buy stufffrom, I I'm more likely, all
things considered, to buy aproduct from a mom than a
non-mom, just because I'm like,oh, she's mom, let me help her
out, you know?
And so I think there's a lot ofthat too, where it's like, yes.
And you had said before, likethe influencer founder, like so
(30:39):
many of them, yes, they areconstantly pushing, you know,
they they're trying to selltheir product to their audience,
but at the same time, they'rejust being a person because if
people want to root for you,they're happy to buy your thing
because that's what will makeyou successful.
I think I own three pairs, likethree different fake eyelashes,
(31:00):
like falsies.
I don't even wear them, but Ilike the person who was selling
them and I want them to succeed.
So I bought them.
I'm just like, let me give you,let me give you a thing.
But it's just because I likeyou.
Now, if all your content wasabout these eyelashes, that
doesn't give me a reason tosupport you, especially if I'm
not a Target demo.
So I think the stories, even ifyou make like a fun little reel
(31:20):
about how you went and pickedout a Christmas tree, like
everything doesn't have to beabout the fact that you're a
designer.
Maybe those nine pieces are, butthen when you've got reels on
the reels tab or stories, you'rejust like being a person.
SPEAKER_01 (31:34):
And like that, do you think stories carry some
stories carry that much weightversus reals?
SPEAKER_00 (31:40):
I think no, because stories are for people who are
already following you.
I think Instagram has made thatvery clear.
Like, that's the only personwho's ever gonna see your
stories, if even those people.
I have 25,000 followers.
And if I post a story, 135people see it.
I'm like, uh, what?
So, like, if you need to growbecause you've got that hanging
over your head that you need Xamount before it will talk to
(32:02):
you, then the fastest way to doit is to just do the day in the
life.
And when you look at a lot ofthese day in the lives, there is
an efficient way to do it, whichis just you make a bank of
clips.
So let's say you have one day toyourself, walk in and out of
your elevator six times, go getcoffee more than once, like
(32:23):
just, and then you just have allthose clips and then every day
just remix them.
I'm not gonna realize that thisis the same hand that got coffee
in your Thursday video.
Nobody cares.
And when you look at theinfluencers who do that the
best, if you study them, which Iwill sit and watch all of their
content, you'll see that theyall have about a hundred clips
and they just repeat them.
They just get mixed and matchedinto new reels because even they
(32:46):
don't have time to make all thiscontent and full-time content
creators.
So it is a lot of that fourdifferent clips of you filling
up coffee, fill make fourdifferent cups of coffee at your
house with different mugs.
Now, great, you can just cycle,cycle through those.
You know, so it's so clever.
It's about just being strategic.
That's it.
SPEAKER_01 (33:06):
Yeah, I I wouldn't have even, you know what, you
get so sucked in to what you'redoing that you don't even
realize that, like, wait asecond, I could probably do that
too.
And it's funny when you'resomeone who's an expert, it's
like I've had publicists, I'vebeen through this rotation, and
they've all said, Oh, you needto show more about your life,
(33:28):
you need to show more about yourlife.
And I'm like, I've been veryreluctant.
I never wanted to put my kidson.
I don't think my kids wereinterested.
I had an opportunity to have myown TV show a couple of times.
And I had someone who was tryingto get me to be the next Bethany
for handbags, which is kind ofcomical.
And I said, God bless her, she'sa powerhouse, but she will be
(33:49):
very rich and very divorced.
I don't think anybody's marriagecan handle that level.
Yeah.
No, nobody, no.
I I my hat is off to her forwhat she's been through.
But I like I knew, you know, youknow what goes on behind the
scenes in your home.
SPEAKER_00 (34:08):
Yeah.
That's what it can be superboring.
Of here's me filling up a cup ofcoffee.
Here's here's me taking a selfiein the elevator.
Here's me, here's me tapping,you know, here's me like going
through the turnstile for thetrain station.
Like, that's what so much ofthis stuff is.
Plenty of these people, theyhave kids, they have significant
others.
(34:28):
You all bunch of them I knowlive with their parents.
You never see these peoplebecause it's not about them, you
know.
And like you can choose, you canchoose your reality.
And I think when we see peoplewho are like so real, we think
we have to match their realness.
You don't.
You choose what level of realityyou want people to have access
(34:50):
to.
Like, I live in New York, I havetwo kids.
It is hella expensive here.
There are plenty of things I dothat are not glamorous.
Like, I go to the laundromat.
Are you gonna get that in mystories?
No, but you are gonna get thisphoto of my kids on a carousel
in Paris, yes, because that isthe reality I'm gonna put out
there.
If you know me in real life,you'll see me at the laundromat.
(35:12):
But like my real life is for myreal friends and like people who
don't actually know me, you getthis fake version.
And it's it's not even fakebecause it's real, it's just
incomplete.
So the more, the better you knowme, the more of a complete
picture you have of who I am.
And I think everybody canoperate with that.
Your spouse knows things aboutyou that nobody else knows, and
(35:34):
that's the way it's supposed tobe.
Some random person on theinternet should not know the
intricate workings of yourmarriage because you're always
talking about it.
That is weird.
You don't need that.
So it's like the further peopleare from you, and like people on
the internet as far away as youcan get, because they're even
worse than strangers becausethey are strangers who think
they know you, which is reallyweird.
(35:55):
Oh, yeah, it is.
You don't owe them anything butentertainment.
And so I think if you're amodel, yes, here's me going to
the gym and getting a smoothieand on my way to a shoot.
Here is not me crying because Ididn't get called back or you
know, crying because someonetold me I'm too fat and these
women are not fat at all.
(36:15):
It's like they're not gonna giveyou that, and they don't owe us
that.
We just get the sexy part.
And to be honest, if I want tosee people cry, like that's what
community is for.
I have friends who I have todeal with their bullshit.
I don't want to be watching astranger cry on the internet.
I don't have the bandwidth forthat.
I gotta save that for people Iknow in real life.
You and your problems, like,don't you have friends?
(36:37):
Like, why are you crying to uson the internet right now?
SPEAKER_01 (36:41):
No, hashtag not what I asked for.
I'm not here for that.
No, no.
I saw, yeah, this is not that.
And that's what I'm here to say.
Brittany Hannessey, thank you somuch for just sharing the
nuggets of gold, as always.
I could mono station with youforever till the sun goes up and
down.
How can we find you, follow you,see your words of wisdom on
(37:04):
LinkedIn?
Because I hang out there too.
SPEAKER_00 (37:06):
Yes, follow me on LinkedIn.
I mean, I'm on Instagram.
I'll probably, I'm not gonnalie, I'll probably make a return
because for my birthday, all Ireally want is meta ray bands.
And if I get meta ray bands, Iwill be insufferable on
Instagram.
Because I'll just be like, metarecord this, meta record that.
And I think like we'll make areel for you.
(37:27):
Oh, so I will let you know ifthat hack ends up working,
because then you can add it toyour show notes of like, hey,
hack, just get these glasses,record random moments of your
day, it'll spit out a reel.
So if that is true, I'm gonnaexperiment and then and then
you'll know.
But I'm on LinkedIn all thetime, on Instagram sporadically,
and I repost really funny stuffon TikTok, but like I don't
(37:50):
actually make content therebecause with what time?
No way.
Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01 (37:54):
And it's Brittany with two T's and Hennessy with
two N's, just for fun.
Correct.
Yes, she's double double.
Although I love her.
Yeah.
Well, I love you more.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Thanks for having me, Emily.
Thanks for listening.
Don't forget to rate and reviewand follow us on every single
platform at handbagdesigner.
(38:14):
Thanks so much.
See you next time.
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