January 1, 2025 • 33 mins
I’m so glad to have my friend Josie Elysia back in the studio. Josie is an amazing content creator who has evolved since the pandemic. What started out as makeup tutorials have turned into so much more.
Find out a few tips and tricks from Josie and give her a follow cause watching her in action will definitely help you out on how to gain followers, products and friends.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josie_ely/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@josie_ely
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BarelyaMillenial
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@josieelysia
#youtubepodcast #podcast #ontariopodcast #interview #influencer #producttester #producttesting #productreview #youtuber #youtubevideos #socialmediamarketing #socialmedia #makeup #makeuptechniques #makeuptutorial #tiktok #socialmediatips #socialmediatrends #beautyhacks #beautytips #makeuphacks #learnsocialmedia #contentcreator #contentcreating #howtobeacontentcreator
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Okay, a lot of people love social media and a lot of people want to be on social media
(00:12):
beat. Influencers or content creators, well today on YQG In Bloom I have a good friend
of mine, Josie Elysia, and hi, how you doing? Hi, I'm so good. Awesome. And my name is Tracy
Martens if you haven't watched my program yet. We're going to talk about this phenomenon of
(00:34):
the UGC and how to get into becoming an influencer because there's a lot of kids that they have these
grandiose ideas, oh I'm going to get on Snapchat or I'm going to get on TikTok and I'm going to
have a million views. And they don't realize that you work at it. She has, I just checked 40,000
(00:56):
followers on Instagram. Now how hard was it to get that type of a following? I wouldn't say it's
hard per se. I think that there does take a certain amount of discipline and consistency,
but I don't know if I want to use the word hard because I love what I do so much that even though
I do so much every single day and that might be hard work for some people, I love it. I love it
(01:23):
because it really was just a passion project that turned into sort of more of a hobby and now I'm
actually making money out of it so it's like a little part time job. About nine months ago I did an
interview with Josie and it was great and that's when I found out that you started this during
COVID because you couldn't work. Yeah, it was so interesting because I mean I feel like I grew up
(01:45):
with social media. I had like my, well even before MySpace there was like this weird little website
called PIXTO which doesn't even exist anymore. Oh my god, I've never heard of it. Yeah, I tried to
find my website and I'm like, oh it'd be so cool to see myself in the past, all my friends. No,
they sold the website to someone else, what's completely different. But I was never a stranger
to social media but I always just kind of used it, I think as most people do, like a personal
(02:10):
diary. You're just kind of like throwing bits of yourself out to the world and helping your
friends see it, maybe you've got some cryptic messages, whatever. But yeah, during COVID I was
working at the hospital or actually for I guess a subsidiary of the hospital and I ended up losing
my job because a lot of the funds were redirected to the front line, you know, made sense at the time.
(02:32):
Of course. And I was stuck at home just doing nothing, not allowed to see anybody, not allowed
to go out and do the things I love to do. And you're a pupil person. I'm very much a
people person. Like I need to feel like an energy vampire. Like I got to go out and like
suck the energy so like I feel good because if I just sit by myself I'm like, I'm just
(02:54):
draining, I'm just like, oh this sucks, I get depressed, I get anxious, it's terrible. And so
that's kind of what COVID was for me was just being stuck inside and being the shell of myself.
And I don't know if it was my mother, she might have told me about this first, she's always
putting me on to like different things. But she told me about this live streaming application
(03:18):
that was hiring people and they were going to pay them a base pay, which was nothing we'd
ever seen before, nothing I've ever heard of before. And I was like, you know what? It's
kind of weird, but I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. Why not? Right? I'm at home,
I'm doing nothing. Let's try it out. So it turns out this app was very, very popular in Asia and
with COVID they wanted to get into the American market. And so that's why they were paying people.
(03:42):
Smerk. Yeah, they're like people are at home, people want to do something, they need things to
watch. We're going to pay people to be entertaining and interesting online so that we can get more
eyes. So it worked because so many people joined, myself included. And I guess to keep your audience
kind of captivated you need to have a skill of some sort or you didn't and you just showed a lot
(04:04):
of skin, but I wasn't really into that part of it. I'm like, what talents do I have? So I'm like,
I can play music and I can sort of do makeup. It wasn't very good, but I'm like, I can, you know,
put on my face, I have some at home. And so that's what my my live streams were primarily about. It
was, you know, we're going to do like a little makeup tutorial or I'm going to do my makeup and
(04:24):
talk to you about my day, ask you about your day, just like interacting with people really and truly
or karaoke where I would play my guitar and I was still pretty bad at this point. But well,
you're pretty darn good now. I'm okay. I'm okay. But people would essentially just tune in and watch
you for your personality and like the fun things that you were doing. And if they wanted to gift
(04:47):
you, which was like always the, I guess the ideal thing, right? They you want them spending money
because then you get money, more money anyways, you could have like requests. So for example,
like what color eyeshadow should I be wearing? And if someone wants to comment, they're saying
green. I'm like, okay, well, I could do green, but throw something at me being a gift. Yeah,
exactly. So it became kind of like a game that was lucrative and fun. But to, I guess promote
(05:14):
these streams because you know, you want to tell people when you're going to be online. I would
always have to have like a full face of makeup, hair done, outfits on, take some pictures, whatever,
make a little graphic in Canva and then post it up on social media. So I was trying to get those
people to also come to the app and be like, Hey, like, this is cool thing, whatever. And I want
(05:35):
to say I did that for about a year. And then I got sick of it. But I still liked putting on makeup
every day. So I was like, you know what, why don't we just do videos on like Instagram or whatever
about my makeup and like different products I have and like how to do like these simple tutorials.
And that's really where it all started was just in that. How often are you posting makeup tutorials?
(06:00):
Because I know you have so many different interests in that is a fair question. I do not do makeup
tutorials on the daily anymore. I used to do makeup every single day. And then it started to go to
about every third day. And I had like a little pattern going on in my fee where like I'd have a
close up of my eyes was always like intricate make it it took so long. It took so long. And
(06:24):
eventually I was like, I don't want to spend like four hours doing my makeup like I do want to like
spend some time with my family. I do want to like go out and do things. And I think that's kind of why
I tapered off of the intricate kind of makeup and got more into fashion because I mean dressing up
is fun. It's a lot faster or like doing unboxings again, I'm just showcasing things or like product
(06:46):
reviews, that sort of thing. And then I realized, you know, why can't I just encompass all things
beauty? Right? So I know beauty generally when you refer to the term, it's like makeup, skincare.
But I'm like, there's so many other ways you can beautify your life by like dressing up your body.
Maybe it has to do with wellness because now you're feeling beautiful on the inside or like your
(07:06):
hair. I really tried to like expand that term because I'm like, I want to do all these different
things. And she honestly, she really does. You do your makeup and you do the clothing. And then you
tried that it wasn't Ozempic. Oh, yes. Okay. It's a peptide that's very similar to Ozempic. So
Ozempic is the biggest one. It's the one that everybody knows and it works on, I believe one
(07:29):
receptor. I'm not a doctor, don't quote me. Terzapotide, which is what I was trying for a month
there through kind of promotion, that kind of thing. It works on two different receptors.
There is now an even newer one. I want to say it's called retroglutide. It's something weird
stress with an R. Works on three different receptors. So each one that they're coming out with is
supposed to be more effective than the last and have less side effects. Okay. Essentially. I mean,
(07:54):
everyone's heard about Ozempic by now, right? Like everyone's on L. The celebrities are just like
super skinny now. We're like, Oh my God, let's go crazy. And they're like, Oh, it's Ozempic.
And as everyday people to actually obtain something like that is very expensive, or you have to have,
you know, certain health conditions, a certain BMI, different comorbidities, whatever it is,
it worked on you. Yeah, it was, it was an interesting one because I did a little research
(08:18):
on it beforehand because I had the option to either request Ozempic or this new one, Terzapotide.
And I've read like a bunch of things and people were saying, you know, you kind of get nauseous on
both. Like I got like really sick on Ozempic or like it really spit out my heart rate, like things
like that. And I was like, Oh, okay. Weird. I'm going to try the other one. I like my heart.
(08:39):
Exactly. And so with this one, it is a weekly injection. So like that was kind of scary because
like, I don't do kind of stuck for the whole week. Yeah. And it's like, I hope it works. That works well.
Kind of scary. But they're very small, like insulin style syringes. So it's not painful or
anything like that. It's just more daunting because like most people are injecting things into
(09:03):
their bodies. But it's a weekly injection. You start out at the lowest dose. And for me, the first
day, I want to say I was a bit sick. So like immediately after taking the shot, I didn't
feel hungry, which was new. And I didn't have any sort of like what they call food noise. So it's
when you're like thinking about food, ruminating about food, what should I eat? Should I eat this?
(09:27):
Maybe I shouldn't eat that. Oh, but that would taste really good. I kind of want it. Like those
sorts of feelings just gone. It was just radio silence. And I was like, this is weird, whatever.
I went to bed that first day after I woke up, I had some cramping in my stomach. So like a little
bit of like GI issues, almost as if I ate something bad, but it didn't hurt. I just had to go to the
(09:49):
bathroom multiple times that day. It was cleaning out your system. It was cleaning it. I'm like,
where is this all coming from? Like 20 pounds and just waste. But after that, I felt great all week.
It was just weird to not have an appetite or even like be thinking about food. Like I didn't
(10:10):
realize how much I thought about food until I didn't. And so that was refreshing and eye opening.
Week two, again, same amount of injection, whatever. But this time I was sick for two days. So I was
like, oh, I don't like this because I was nauseous and I had like the runs. I was actually like
vomiting. I'm like, oh my God, what have I done? I'm done. I'm done to myself. I'm dying. So like I
(10:37):
did call my doctor and they were like, no, no, no, like it's fine. Like these are just like the
symptoms. Like they're very common. You know, just make sure you're drinking water so that you're not
getting dehydrated. This was the thing. So pretty simple. And after that, I decided to half the dose
for the third week. Perfect response. No side effects, maintain the weight. Fourth week, I went back
(10:58):
up to the regular, uh, triation. No side effects. And I had enough to do a fifth week. So I was like,
okay, this is cool. So again, the regular dosage and I was fine. So I think it might have just had
to do with it being a new substance in my body and like your body has to get used to it, that sort of
thing. I liked it. I really did. I really liked it. Um, food. And I think just like the intake of it,
(11:25):
the regulation of it, I've always struggled with it. So it's always been like this constant, like
up and down, up and down sort of battle where it's like you're eating too much or you're not eating
enough or you're just being obsessive with food. And so to have something that takes all of that
away. So you can just focus on, okay, well, I know I need to eat a lot of protein today. So let me
make some meals around that made it so much easier to just like stick to a plan. I'll be happy. I know
(11:51):
they're talking about, uh, oral form. Yeah. And I'll be happy with that. Cause I mean, my problem
with the weight is other than the age is the fact that I quit smoking in my early 40s. And I,
I started smoking. I was in grade eight, grade seven, grade eight. So I smoked for years. So
(12:14):
I was used to being able to eat. Like if I wanted to eat too big max, I ate too big max. I was still
102 pounds. Size zero. I could eat anything I wanted, drink anything I wanted. And I was fine.
And to be able to do that until you're 43. Yeah. And then to try and change your entire habits.
(12:36):
That's hard. It's such a communal thing too. Like you don't even realize like people come over,
you're like, okay, I got to get food. I'm going to go out. Oh, okay. What am I going to eat?
But like, it's just always there. I had to go to her house to try on an outfit for an event we
were going to. And what do we do? We're good at the bakery. Let's get some treats. We have to have
treats before you try on clothes. Right. Cause that makes sense. The flip didn't. Oh my goodness.
(13:03):
So you, you do have a lot of perks of being a content creator or an influencer. How do people
start to get the, the viewers in so that they can go to these companies and say, Hey,
you know, give me a shot. No, that's a fantastic question. And it's interesting because I think
(13:24):
everybody's road is going to be slightly different. But the biggest advice I can give
is be consistent and be cringy, be cringy. Sometimes I'm out in public and like I have my little like
gimbal, my phone and like I feel dumb cause I'm like, everybody's looking at me. They're like,
Oh, what is she doing? Why is she filming? And I'm like, you know what? It doesn't matter. It doesn't
(13:47):
matter because I know where it's going to go. I know what it's going to get me. It's going to help me
achieve my goals essentially. So unfortunately, if you plan on doing anything outside of your house,
you have to get used to that cringe factor. And then after you've, you know, put together your video
or taking your photos, whatever, and you've edited them, don't be scared to post. Don't be scared
(14:09):
to post. So many people I hear, especially even students of mine, they'll say that they have a
lot of this content that they've taken, but they just, they can't post it. They're scared.
Trying to figure out the reels. And what I found with reels, and I'm going to tell people right
now is they don't have to be perfect. They don't. The editing. And that's what was at first is I felt
(14:35):
being a photographer that all of the cuts had to be exact and all the lighting had to be perfect
in this and that. So then I wouldn't do the reels because it's like, that's just too hard to make
all these cuts. And then I realized that people were still watching them. I 100% agree with that.
I think that there are some. I'm not saying be sloppy. No, but there's definitely some accounts
(15:00):
where they are picture perfect. And it's a certain niche. Like that is like an aspirational kind of
niche. People watch it as a form of like escapism, right? Like there's there's accounts I watch where
I'm like, wow, I wish I could go on that vacation. I could never afford that vacation. But those are
the kinds of videos where they're perfect. They're hiring external talent to like light them and shoot
(15:23):
them and edit it. And I'm like, that's great. If you want to do that, I don't want to do I don't
have the budget for that. The thing is people are looking at these carefully curated accounts.
They got to remember that these people have all of these viewers. They're getting paid
exactly because of having all these viewers. So that's why they can afford it. So it's just a
(15:46):
matter of, you know, it's building it up. Yeah, don't put the cart before the horse. Exactly.
Exactly. Like I look back at some of my I've posed so much, but when I really go back to the beginning
of my feed, it's not great. Like it's not that good, but like I was out there thinking like you
have to kind of be a little bit delusional to make this industry. You gotta take yourself with a
(16:09):
grain of salt and think you're perfect. Yeah. I'm like, these videos are amazing. They're so good.
My makeup looks awesome. And now I look at it and I'm like, whoa, I put that out there for
like people to see. Okay. Okay. But then, whoa, they liked it. They did. Right. Like, and it's
a part of growth. I think people like seeing someone like relatable. Like I'm not a makeup artist.
(16:32):
Like I don't know how to do like all the intricate things. I even matching foundation to my skin.
I still struggle with it. I'm like, what's my undertone? I don't know. But how, how would somebody
get into say getting the freebies? Ooh, so the freebies. Because you get a ton of them. I do.
Even with this postal strike, which might be still going on. I'm not sure. Oh yeah, it still is.
(16:56):
As of today. Oh, wild. I've been getting packages to my door like every other day,
because there's so many companies that will ship like DHL, PureLitter, FedEx, UPS, UPS,
whatever. So I don't necessarily have to like wait on Canada Post for all those goodies.
There are some that are stuck in transit that like I'm a little bit salty about.
Because those are the good ones. Yeah. I'm like, whatever. As long as it's before Christmas,
(17:22):
I'll be, you know, happy. I'll be happy. But what I would say is if you are trying to get free
things, free items, maybe invitations, what have you, you want to figure out the niche that you're
in. So for me, when I first started, I was really interested in makeup. And I was like,
I would love to have more makeup, but I don't have a lot of money to buy all these things I'm
(17:44):
seeing the creators use online. So I think I bought one palette to start that had a bunch of different
colors. And I guess for the creating with that, with the intention that I wanted more, I wanted
more, but for free because I couldn't afford it. So if you want to get into beauty, just use what
you have at home and create a bunch of content with it. Once you have content up that you can
(18:07):
refer back to or point people to, you now have your social proof of what you can do potentially.
And you obviously take the makeup. You can take the makeup, especially if it's that brand that you
want to work with. I'm trying to remember who I had juvious place. It was juvious place. I was
really interested in them because I think at the time, I didn't realize this at the time,
(18:28):
but they obviously had a campaign going on and they'd given a bunch of makeup to people. So it
was being heavily promoted online. If you see a lot of people using the same thing, it's because
they got it for free for a promotion. It's not because everybody has it. I didn't know that.
So I'm like, okay, this must be the best company I've ever been to buy it,
bought their palettes started to take them and everything else I was using. I'm like, okay,
(18:50):
well, I have a Morphe brush. Let me take them. And my shirts from this company. So let me take
them just taking these brands because it helps you to get on their radar. So this is the same.
And it gets you used to, I think speaking to a brand rather than just putting things out to
into the ether. What about hashtags? Hashtags can be very useful. I find for
(19:17):
connecting with people who are interested in what you are doing. So I was using a lot of beauty
hashtags. Because I was hoping that people who were interested in beauty and were already kind
of searching these hashtags or using those hashtags would be able to then see my content
more easily. Some brands will have hashtags specific to their communities. ColourPop, for
(19:38):
example, another makeup company, theirs is like ColourPop me. So if you use that hashtag on your
post, they go through that hashtag and they will like look at different people's posts. If you
happen to stand out, they might even contact you for like PR or to go get on to like their crew,
things of that nature. So they're super helpful. One other thing that I thought was really useful
(19:59):
for starting out as a creator was Facebook, strangely enough. So a lot, there's a lot of
brands like there are probably millions of different brands that we don't even hear about
because they're small. They're just, they're so indie, maybe they're new, maybe they're struggling,
whatever the case may be. But those are the brands that need promotion the most. Exactly. The big
(20:23):
companies, we already know who they are. They just throw things out to everyone because they're like,
ah, we don't care. Money, we don't care. Small brands, they have to be a bit more particular.
So they probably aren't going to pay you, but they will tend to just send you their products. So
you can start to use it, you can review it, you can create for them. So the very first partnership
I ever did, I had, I want to say like around a thousand followers. So it was a small account.
(20:48):
It was primarily just like people I had met in life from, I think, high school onwards. I've had an
Instagram for quite some time. I just didn't really post as a creator. But when I decided to get into
makeup, I kind of deleted a lot of the past, they, or archive them. I can still find them, but nobody
else can. And I switched to that makeup stuff. But I approached a brand who was in the Facebook group.
(21:14):
They were in the States and they had, they had said something to the effect of, I have a line
of lipsticks that I want people to try out. Like if you're interested, DM me. And I dig, because I'm
like, you know, I like lipstick. I'd like to try your lipstick. I DM them. And because they were
such a small brand, they only really wanted to work with small creators. They were giving people like
(21:37):
me a chance. And so yeah, it was very nice. I'm like, Oh my God, like they actually said yes.
It was an ecstatic feeling. But that's why I think Facebook is so useful because there are so many
little groups that you can find. And it's really just typing in like brands looking for people,
(21:58):
makeup groups are like whatever your niche is. So the, these young people that probably won't
see this. But if they do, make sure that you go on Facebook. It's not just for grandparents. It's
not for old people. You can still get makeup and freebies and stuff. 100%. I think Facebook is a
(22:20):
great place for that because of how groups function and because you can create groups really and truly.
The other apps, while they're great for just kind of doom scrolling and seeing content,
it's a lot harder to build communities on them. Yeah. You know what? I never even thought of
looking at Facebook for different groups. That's a great idea. Oh yeah. Like I'm in so many groups
(22:44):
on Facebook. And it's funny because like I don't really use Facebook other than like I'll go in
the groups and I'll see like, you know, who's posting what. And then I use marketplace and
messenger and the events. I like the events. Oh yeah. The calendar. I'm like, Oh yeah,
put them on my calendar. But yeah, I'm like people sleep on Facebook. Truly. I'm like,
(23:04):
it's very useful. You have to learn what are the useful things for you. Exactly. So you are on
Facebook and Instagram and TikTok. Are you on YouTube as well? I am on YouTube, but like for
completely different reasons. We post our music and stuff on YouTube. Okay. You and your mom.
(23:27):
Yeah. So we have like a little joint account. I believe it's silk.ecos. See, I don't even know
it. That's how like little I use YouTube. It's terrible. But I've always been told that I should,
I should take my content and put it over there. And I think that's what's really cool about
YouTube as a platform is your content is good forever. Yeah. Forever. It's very different than
(23:50):
Instagram or TikTok where you constantly have to be putting out something new because people aren't
going back to go view my videos from like a year and a half ago, less there, you know, creeping
and stalking. But for the most part, it's all the newer stuff that people seem to be most interested
in. Well, and if you are doing YouTube, the one thing I will say is make sure to like and subscribe
(24:14):
or follow because a lot of people even with this, they will watch the videos. It's hard to get people
to actually subscribe and you need so many subscribers. My keys, click the button. Yeah,
you need so many subscribers as well as view hours in order to monetize. Not that hard, I think,
(24:35):
if you were to do something like what you do, I think you could probably make some good coin doing
that. Yeah, I know. I'm just like, I have to film a landscape and I have to edit long for.
Don't they have the shorts now that are 60 seconds another. True. Yes. The YouTube shorts,
they're not so bad. Now, do you get free clothes? I do. So almost this entire outfit was free.
(25:00):
All the things that matter anyway. So my sweater was free. My pants were free. I wish my shoes were
free. They weren't there by Nike. I would love if Nike sponsored me though. I wear a lot. I wear
almost exclusively sheen mostly because I don't like to spend money. I really don't. So when I do
spend money, I try to like do experiences, whether it's like usually locally, really and truly like
(25:26):
local experiences, local events, things like that. But I hate to spend money on these necessary
things. Like I have to dress my body, but like I don't want to buy expensive clothes.
And so it's this perfect little partnership with sheen and mom. How did you get sheen for free?
(25:47):
Let's think about this now. Okay. So I have quite a few friends that are also in the creator sphere.
So like, I guess they're digital friends because most of them I've never actually met in person,
but we do similar things. So when we come across a contact that might be applicable to the other
person, we'll share. Because I'm like, oh my God, like I just got, I just got an email from,
(26:09):
I don't know, let's say it's a good one. That's a good one. Canadian tire, who knows, right? And
they're looking for a bunch of creators to do like their Black Friday posts. Like it's pretty open.
You're in Canada. You should email them and pitch them. And that's what we do because it's an industry
where a lot of gatekeeping happens because people don't want you to take what they think is theirs.
(26:34):
But if you, if you find a nice close knit group of friends and you understand that there's more
than enough to go around, then you share the ones that are relevant. This is where Facebook groups
would come in as well. Yeah, Facebook groups would be amazing for that because then you could have
like a group of content creators maybe in beauty and then another one in fashion, another one in tech
(26:56):
and who knows whatever it is, but then you can all help each other grow and with tips. Yeah, it's
like, you know what, these colors are not for me, but you know what, they'd be fabulous on you. So
why don't you contact them? Yeah, a hundred, and we've done things like this where like I get like
a whole kit of like lipsticks. And I'm like, look at that last one that you got with NYX. Oh, yes.
(27:20):
Holy shit. It was a haul. That was a lot. Like she pulled out the box and it's just layers upon layers.
I think they went to shoppers and just took one of everything. That's what it felt like. And some
of these like PR packages are just like, they're so extravagant over the top and like I love them.
(27:41):
I truly do. But I'm like, I can't wear half of these colors. So now I'm like, okay, well,
who do I think would look good in this? I think I got a blush and a bronzer out of that. Yeah. And
a blue, which I did wear that blue eyeliner. Yes. And it was sparkly. Yeah, because the stuff is
always so pretty. It's just not everything's gonna work on every skin tone. I know. Like, oh, you
(28:04):
know, whatever. But maybe they're hoping for that. Oh, well, yeah, we've read the word. She's gonna
give it to people and they're gonna say, oh, now you also teach at St. Clair College. It's a local
college in Windsor, Ontario. And you teach in the media department. Yes, I absolutely adore it. So I
teach in the public relations and journalism programs. They have a very heavy social media
(28:29):
component because it's just such a necessary skill for those, I guess, disciplines nowadays. And so
I do teach kind of, I guess, how to use the platforms with the platforms are for where you
can find your target audience. That sort of thing. Pretty much, you know, it's mandated by like the
province, all like the bar and stuff. But then closer to the end of the semester, when we have a bit
(28:52):
more time, and I've got a bit more freedom, I like to talk about like how you can freelance. I like
to talk about how you can make your own media kit, how you can pitch brands and what a pitch should
look like, how you should, you know, label your subject lines to kind of stand out. So not only
aren't these students getting, I guess, an education and, you know, just how to be a content creator
online, but also how to sell yourself to brands as a content creator or a freelancer. Because it's,
(29:18):
you know, it's the same skills. And at the end of the day, we want our skills to make us money, right?
It's good for small businesses. Yeah. To have at least somebody take a course in that. Yeah. Because
this is where your advertising is. Print is very expensive. And even throwing out ads on Facebook
(29:42):
and all of them can get a little pricey. It's more reasonable. But learning how your online
presence affects your business in getting the people that you want. Oh, 100%. It's funny,
we were just doing a class today on like branding, what it means to have like a personal brand.
I'm like, you don't have to be a celebrity, but your brand is what people say about you
(30:04):
when you're not there. So how do you want to be perceived? It's the same thing online. You can
show up however you want to, you can be whoever you want to be, you can be the expert, but in
actuality, you're just kind of like a noob who knows a little bit from YouTube tutorials. It's
all in how you present yourself. People will see it, they'll receive you. And then perhaps you can
do collaborations that way. Like when I started, I wasn't great. I thought it was great. So I was
(30:29):
presenting as like, yeah, guys, I know exactly what to do. Here we are. Do a cut crease. Like,
I don't know. Like, I hope this works. Oopsie. But that's the kind of air I wanted to give off.
It's someone who knows what they're doing, but it's still kind of like fun and bubbly and relatable.
But you know what? It worked. You know, even if you look back now as it's cringy, it worked.
(30:53):
Exactly. And it got people's attention, whether it was because it was cringy or because it was
informative, it doesn't matter. So funny. But yeah, no, it's true. And that's why the biggest thing
is even when you think the content is not great. Post it. Post it and stay consistent.
Do you think this is probably going to be my last question that your Instagram page has to be this
(31:17):
carefully curated? Like, you know how some people, businesses will do it in all of the pictures,
they all kind of blend in together. Do you need to do that? Or can you just post and it just be
you? What do you think would work better? I think that nowadays, the overall layout of your grid,
(31:40):
I don't think it matters as much. I don't. I think that what you want is for your work to be
easily distinguishable from someone else's work. So if you're a photographer, that might be that you
have a lot of saturation in your images. And so every time when people are just doom scrolling,
they see a highly saturated image and they're like, Oh, I know who that is. And then it is, it's you.
(32:01):
But when you, when you have a very carefully curated feed, which I've seen some people still
do, it's just not as, I think prevalent anymore. Thank God. It's hard to upkeep. It's hard to
upkeep. Like there are some people who like it, you know, like maybe the aspirational people,
the escapism sort of people, like they like that very polished look. But I think that's
(32:23):
becoming a smaller and smaller subset of the online community. People like real people,
they like real stories. They want to feel like you're almost like an internet best friend who
they know, but they also don't really know. Yeah. So it's basically just go out there, shoot it,
just, just be yourself and do something that you like, something that you love, whether you're
(32:48):
funny, whether you're serious, but be yourself. And that'll bring in the people, get back on Facebook.
Get back on Facebook, find the groups. If you're looking for freebies and
then you want to curate into a certain niche, that would probably be the best way to get where
(33:10):
you want to go. Yeah. It's a great way to get started. You got to start somewhere, start small,
you'll grow. Yeah, she has. I'm slowly getting there. But Josie, thank you so much for taking
the time to hang out with me and give us a little insight into how to up our game.
(33:32):
Anytime. Thanks for having me. Well, you have a great day, everybody. And my name is Tracy Martins,
and this is Waikijian Bloom Podcast. See ya.
Okay, a lot of people love social media and a lot of people want to be on social media
(00:12):
beat. Influencers or content creators, well today on YQG In Bloom I have a good friend
of mine, Josie Elysia, and hi, how you doing? Hi, I'm so good. Awesome. And my name is Tracy
Martens if you haven't watched my program yet. We're going to talk about this phenomenon of
(00:34):
the UGC and how to get into becoming an influencer because there's a lot of kids that they have these
grandiose ideas, oh I'm going to get on Snapchat or I'm going to get on TikTok and I'm going to
have a million views. And they don't realize that you work at it. She has, I just checked 40,000
(00:56):
followers on Instagram. Now how hard was it to get that type of a following? I wouldn't say it's
hard per se. I think that there does take a certain amount of discipline and consistency,
but I don't know if I want to use the word hard because I love what I do so much that even though
I do so much every single day and that might be hard work for some people, I love it. I love it
(01:23):
because it really was just a passion project that turned into sort of more of a hobby and now I'm
actually making money out of it so it's like a little part time job. About nine months ago I did an
interview with Josie and it was great and that's when I found out that you started this during
COVID because you couldn't work. Yeah, it was so interesting because I mean I feel like I grew up
(01:45):
with social media. I had like my, well even before MySpace there was like this weird little website
called PIXTO which doesn't even exist anymore. Oh my god, I've never heard of it. Yeah, I tried to
find my website and I'm like, oh it'd be so cool to see myself in the past, all my friends. No,
they sold the website to someone else, what's completely different. But I was never a stranger
to social media but I always just kind of used it, I think as most people do, like a personal
(02:10):
diary. You're just kind of like throwing bits of yourself out to the world and helping your
friends see it, maybe you've got some cryptic messages, whatever. But yeah, during COVID I was
working at the hospital or actually for I guess a subsidiary of the hospital and I ended up losing
my job because a lot of the funds were redirected to the front line, you know, made sense at the time.
(02:32):
Of course. And I was stuck at home just doing nothing, not allowed to see anybody, not allowed
to go out and do the things I love to do. And you're a pupil person. I'm very much a
people person. Like I need to feel like an energy vampire. Like I got to go out and like
suck the energy so like I feel good because if I just sit by myself I'm like, I'm just
(02:54):
draining, I'm just like, oh this sucks, I get depressed, I get anxious, it's terrible. And so
that's kind of what COVID was for me was just being stuck inside and being the shell of myself.
And I don't know if it was my mother, she might have told me about this first, she's always
putting me on to like different things. But she told me about this live streaming application
(03:18):
that was hiring people and they were going to pay them a base pay, which was nothing we'd
ever seen before, nothing I've ever heard of before. And I was like, you know what? It's
kind of weird, but I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. Why not? Right? I'm at home,
I'm doing nothing. Let's try it out. So it turns out this app was very, very popular in Asia and
with COVID they wanted to get into the American market. And so that's why they were paying people.
(03:42):
Smerk. Yeah, they're like people are at home, people want to do something, they need things to
watch. We're going to pay people to be entertaining and interesting online so that we can get more
eyes. So it worked because so many people joined, myself included. And I guess to keep your audience
kind of captivated you need to have a skill of some sort or you didn't and you just showed a lot
(04:04):
of skin, but I wasn't really into that part of it. I'm like, what talents do I have? So I'm like,
I can play music and I can sort of do makeup. It wasn't very good, but I'm like, I can, you know,
put on my face, I have some at home. And so that's what my my live streams were primarily about. It
was, you know, we're going to do like a little makeup tutorial or I'm going to do my makeup and
(04:24):
talk to you about my day, ask you about your day, just like interacting with people really and truly
or karaoke where I would play my guitar and I was still pretty bad at this point. But well,
you're pretty darn good now. I'm okay. I'm okay. But people would essentially just tune in and watch
you for your personality and like the fun things that you were doing. And if they wanted to gift
(04:47):
you, which was like always the, I guess the ideal thing, right? They you want them spending money
because then you get money, more money anyways, you could have like requests. So for example,
like what color eyeshadow should I be wearing? And if someone wants to comment, they're saying
green. I'm like, okay, well, I could do green, but throw something at me being a gift. Yeah,
exactly. So it became kind of like a game that was lucrative and fun. But to, I guess promote
(05:14):
these streams because you know, you want to tell people when you're going to be online. I would
always have to have like a full face of makeup, hair done, outfits on, take some pictures, whatever,
make a little graphic in Canva and then post it up on social media. So I was trying to get those
people to also come to the app and be like, Hey, like, this is cool thing, whatever. And I want
(05:35):
to say I did that for about a year. And then I got sick of it. But I still liked putting on makeup
every day. So I was like, you know what, why don't we just do videos on like Instagram or whatever
about my makeup and like different products I have and like how to do like these simple tutorials.
And that's really where it all started was just in that. How often are you posting makeup tutorials?
(06:00):
Because I know you have so many different interests in that is a fair question. I do not do makeup
tutorials on the daily anymore. I used to do makeup every single day. And then it started to go to
about every third day. And I had like a little pattern going on in my fee where like I'd have a
close up of my eyes was always like intricate make it it took so long. It took so long. And
(06:24):
eventually I was like, I don't want to spend like four hours doing my makeup like I do want to like
spend some time with my family. I do want to like go out and do things. And I think that's kind of why
I tapered off of the intricate kind of makeup and got more into fashion because I mean dressing up
is fun. It's a lot faster or like doing unboxings again, I'm just showcasing things or like product
(06:46):
reviews, that sort of thing. And then I realized, you know, why can't I just encompass all things
beauty? Right? So I know beauty generally when you refer to the term, it's like makeup, skincare.
But I'm like, there's so many other ways you can beautify your life by like dressing up your body.
Maybe it has to do with wellness because now you're feeling beautiful on the inside or like your
(07:06):
hair. I really tried to like expand that term because I'm like, I want to do all these different
things. And she honestly, she really does. You do your makeup and you do the clothing. And then you
tried that it wasn't Ozempic. Oh, yes. Okay. It's a peptide that's very similar to Ozempic. So
Ozempic is the biggest one. It's the one that everybody knows and it works on, I believe one
(07:29):
receptor. I'm not a doctor, don't quote me. Terzapotide, which is what I was trying for a month
there through kind of promotion, that kind of thing. It works on two different receptors.
There is now an even newer one. I want to say it's called retroglutide. It's something weird
stress with an R. Works on three different receptors. So each one that they're coming out with is
supposed to be more effective than the last and have less side effects. Okay. Essentially. I mean,
(07:54):
everyone's heard about Ozempic by now, right? Like everyone's on L. The celebrities are just like
super skinny now. We're like, Oh my God, let's go crazy. And they're like, Oh, it's Ozempic.
And as everyday people to actually obtain something like that is very expensive, or you have to have,
you know, certain health conditions, a certain BMI, different comorbidities, whatever it is,
it worked on you. Yeah, it was, it was an interesting one because I did a little research
(08:18):
on it beforehand because I had the option to either request Ozempic or this new one, Terzapotide.
And I've read like a bunch of things and people were saying, you know, you kind of get nauseous on
both. Like I got like really sick on Ozempic or like it really spit out my heart rate, like things
like that. And I was like, Oh, okay. Weird. I'm going to try the other one. I like my heart.
(08:39):
Exactly. And so with this one, it is a weekly injection. So like that was kind of scary because
like, I don't do kind of stuck for the whole week. Yeah. And it's like, I hope it works. That works well.
Kind of scary. But they're very small, like insulin style syringes. So it's not painful or
anything like that. It's just more daunting because like most people are injecting things into
(09:03):
their bodies. But it's a weekly injection. You start out at the lowest dose. And for me, the first
day, I want to say I was a bit sick. So like immediately after taking the shot, I didn't
feel hungry, which was new. And I didn't have any sort of like what they call food noise. So it's
when you're like thinking about food, ruminating about food, what should I eat? Should I eat this?
(09:27):
Maybe I shouldn't eat that. Oh, but that would taste really good. I kind of want it. Like those
sorts of feelings just gone. It was just radio silence. And I was like, this is weird, whatever.
I went to bed that first day after I woke up, I had some cramping in my stomach. So like a little
bit of like GI issues, almost as if I ate something bad, but it didn't hurt. I just had to go to the
(09:49):
bathroom multiple times that day. It was cleaning out your system. It was cleaning it. I'm like,
where is this all coming from? Like 20 pounds and just waste. But after that, I felt great all week.
It was just weird to not have an appetite or even like be thinking about food. Like I didn't
(10:10):
realize how much I thought about food until I didn't. And so that was refreshing and eye opening.
Week two, again, same amount of injection, whatever. But this time I was sick for two days. So I was
like, oh, I don't like this because I was nauseous and I had like the runs. I was actually like
vomiting. I'm like, oh my God, what have I done? I'm done. I'm done to myself. I'm dying. So like I
(10:37):
did call my doctor and they were like, no, no, no, like it's fine. Like these are just like the
symptoms. Like they're very common. You know, just make sure you're drinking water so that you're not
getting dehydrated. This was the thing. So pretty simple. And after that, I decided to half the dose
for the third week. Perfect response. No side effects, maintain the weight. Fourth week, I went back
(10:58):
up to the regular, uh, triation. No side effects. And I had enough to do a fifth week. So I was like,
okay, this is cool. So again, the regular dosage and I was fine. So I think it might have just had
to do with it being a new substance in my body and like your body has to get used to it, that sort of
thing. I liked it. I really did. I really liked it. Um, food. And I think just like the intake of it,
(11:25):
the regulation of it, I've always struggled with it. So it's always been like this constant, like
up and down, up and down sort of battle where it's like you're eating too much or you're not eating
enough or you're just being obsessive with food. And so to have something that takes all of that
away. So you can just focus on, okay, well, I know I need to eat a lot of protein today. So let me
make some meals around that made it so much easier to just like stick to a plan. I'll be happy. I know
(11:51):
they're talking about, uh, oral form. Yeah. And I'll be happy with that. Cause I mean, my problem
with the weight is other than the age is the fact that I quit smoking in my early 40s. And I,
I started smoking. I was in grade eight, grade seven, grade eight. So I smoked for years. So
(12:14):
I was used to being able to eat. Like if I wanted to eat too big max, I ate too big max. I was still
102 pounds. Size zero. I could eat anything I wanted, drink anything I wanted. And I was fine.
And to be able to do that until you're 43. Yeah. And then to try and change your entire habits.
(12:36):
That's hard. It's such a communal thing too. Like you don't even realize like people come over,
you're like, okay, I got to get food. I'm going to go out. Oh, okay. What am I going to eat?
But like, it's just always there. I had to go to her house to try on an outfit for an event we
were going to. And what do we do? We're good at the bakery. Let's get some treats. We have to have
treats before you try on clothes. Right. Cause that makes sense. The flip didn't. Oh my goodness.
(13:03):
So you, you do have a lot of perks of being a content creator or an influencer. How do people
start to get the, the viewers in so that they can go to these companies and say, Hey,
you know, give me a shot. No, that's a fantastic question. And it's interesting because I think
(13:24):
everybody's road is going to be slightly different. But the biggest advice I can give
is be consistent and be cringy, be cringy. Sometimes I'm out in public and like I have my little like
gimbal, my phone and like I feel dumb cause I'm like, everybody's looking at me. They're like,
Oh, what is she doing? Why is she filming? And I'm like, you know what? It doesn't matter. It doesn't
(13:47):
matter because I know where it's going to go. I know what it's going to get me. It's going to help me
achieve my goals essentially. So unfortunately, if you plan on doing anything outside of your house,
you have to get used to that cringe factor. And then after you've, you know, put together your video
or taking your photos, whatever, and you've edited them, don't be scared to post. Don't be scared
(14:09):
to post. So many people I hear, especially even students of mine, they'll say that they have a
lot of this content that they've taken, but they just, they can't post it. They're scared.
Trying to figure out the reels. And what I found with reels, and I'm going to tell people right
now is they don't have to be perfect. They don't. The editing. And that's what was at first is I felt
(14:35):
being a photographer that all of the cuts had to be exact and all the lighting had to be perfect
in this and that. So then I wouldn't do the reels because it's like, that's just too hard to make
all these cuts. And then I realized that people were still watching them. I 100% agree with that.
I think that there are some. I'm not saying be sloppy. No, but there's definitely some accounts
(15:00):
where they are picture perfect. And it's a certain niche. Like that is like an aspirational kind of
niche. People watch it as a form of like escapism, right? Like there's there's accounts I watch where
I'm like, wow, I wish I could go on that vacation. I could never afford that vacation. But those are
the kinds of videos where they're perfect. They're hiring external talent to like light them and shoot
(15:23):
them and edit it. And I'm like, that's great. If you want to do that, I don't want to do I don't
have the budget for that. The thing is people are looking at these carefully curated accounts.
They got to remember that these people have all of these viewers. They're getting paid
exactly because of having all these viewers. So that's why they can afford it. So it's just a
(15:46):
matter of, you know, it's building it up. Yeah, don't put the cart before the horse. Exactly.
Exactly. Like I look back at some of my I've posed so much, but when I really go back to the beginning
of my feed, it's not great. Like it's not that good, but like I was out there thinking like you
have to kind of be a little bit delusional to make this industry. You gotta take yourself with a
(16:09):
grain of salt and think you're perfect. Yeah. I'm like, these videos are amazing. They're so good.
My makeup looks awesome. And now I look at it and I'm like, whoa, I put that out there for
like people to see. Okay. Okay. But then, whoa, they liked it. They did. Right. Like, and it's
a part of growth. I think people like seeing someone like relatable. Like I'm not a makeup artist.
(16:32):
Like I don't know how to do like all the intricate things. I even matching foundation to my skin.
I still struggle with it. I'm like, what's my undertone? I don't know. But how, how would somebody
get into say getting the freebies? Ooh, so the freebies. Because you get a ton of them. I do.
Even with this postal strike, which might be still going on. I'm not sure. Oh yeah, it still is.
(16:56):
As of today. Oh, wild. I've been getting packages to my door like every other day,
because there's so many companies that will ship like DHL, PureLitter, FedEx, UPS, UPS,
whatever. So I don't necessarily have to like wait on Canada Post for all those goodies.
There are some that are stuck in transit that like I'm a little bit salty about.
Because those are the good ones. Yeah. I'm like, whatever. As long as it's before Christmas,
(17:22):
I'll be, you know, happy. I'll be happy. But what I would say is if you are trying to get free
things, free items, maybe invitations, what have you, you want to figure out the niche that you're
in. So for me, when I first started, I was really interested in makeup. And I was like,
I would love to have more makeup, but I don't have a lot of money to buy all these things I'm
(17:44):
seeing the creators use online. So I think I bought one palette to start that had a bunch of different
colors. And I guess for the creating with that, with the intention that I wanted more, I wanted
more, but for free because I couldn't afford it. So if you want to get into beauty, just use what
you have at home and create a bunch of content with it. Once you have content up that you can
(18:07):
refer back to or point people to, you now have your social proof of what you can do potentially.
And you obviously take the makeup. You can take the makeup, especially if it's that brand that you
want to work with. I'm trying to remember who I had juvious place. It was juvious place. I was
really interested in them because I think at the time, I didn't realize this at the time,
(18:28):
but they obviously had a campaign going on and they'd given a bunch of makeup to people. So it
was being heavily promoted online. If you see a lot of people using the same thing, it's because
they got it for free for a promotion. It's not because everybody has it. I didn't know that.
So I'm like, okay, this must be the best company I've ever been to buy it,
bought their palettes started to take them and everything else I was using. I'm like, okay,
(18:50):
well, I have a Morphe brush. Let me take them. And my shirts from this company. So let me take
them just taking these brands because it helps you to get on their radar. So this is the same.
And it gets you used to, I think speaking to a brand rather than just putting things out to
into the ether. What about hashtags? Hashtags can be very useful. I find for
(19:17):
connecting with people who are interested in what you are doing. So I was using a lot of beauty
hashtags. Because I was hoping that people who were interested in beauty and were already kind
of searching these hashtags or using those hashtags would be able to then see my content
more easily. Some brands will have hashtags specific to their communities. ColourPop, for
(19:38):
example, another makeup company, theirs is like ColourPop me. So if you use that hashtag on your
post, they go through that hashtag and they will like look at different people's posts. If you
happen to stand out, they might even contact you for like PR or to go get on to like their crew,
things of that nature. So they're super helpful. One other thing that I thought was really useful
(19:59):
for starting out as a creator was Facebook, strangely enough. So a lot, there's a lot of
brands like there are probably millions of different brands that we don't even hear about
because they're small. They're just, they're so indie, maybe they're new, maybe they're struggling,
whatever the case may be. But those are the brands that need promotion the most. Exactly. The big
(20:23):
companies, we already know who they are. They just throw things out to everyone because they're like,
ah, we don't care. Money, we don't care. Small brands, they have to be a bit more particular.
So they probably aren't going to pay you, but they will tend to just send you their products. So
you can start to use it, you can review it, you can create for them. So the very first partnership
I ever did, I had, I want to say like around a thousand followers. So it was a small account.
(20:48):
It was primarily just like people I had met in life from, I think, high school onwards. I've had an
Instagram for quite some time. I just didn't really post as a creator. But when I decided to get into
makeup, I kind of deleted a lot of the past, they, or archive them. I can still find them, but nobody
else can. And I switched to that makeup stuff. But I approached a brand who was in the Facebook group.
(21:14):
They were in the States and they had, they had said something to the effect of, I have a line
of lipsticks that I want people to try out. Like if you're interested, DM me. And I dig, because I'm
like, you know, I like lipstick. I'd like to try your lipstick. I DM them. And because they were
such a small brand, they only really wanted to work with small creators. They were giving people like
(21:37):
me a chance. And so yeah, it was very nice. I'm like, Oh my God, like they actually said yes.
It was an ecstatic feeling. But that's why I think Facebook is so useful because there are so many
little groups that you can find. And it's really just typing in like brands looking for people,
(21:58):
makeup groups are like whatever your niche is. So the, these young people that probably won't
see this. But if they do, make sure that you go on Facebook. It's not just for grandparents. It's
not for old people. You can still get makeup and freebies and stuff. 100%. I think Facebook is a
(22:20):
great place for that because of how groups function and because you can create groups really and truly.
The other apps, while they're great for just kind of doom scrolling and seeing content,
it's a lot harder to build communities on them. Yeah. You know what? I never even thought of
looking at Facebook for different groups. That's a great idea. Oh yeah. Like I'm in so many groups
(22:44):
on Facebook. And it's funny because like I don't really use Facebook other than like I'll go in
the groups and I'll see like, you know, who's posting what. And then I use marketplace and
messenger and the events. I like the events. Oh yeah. The calendar. I'm like, Oh yeah,
put them on my calendar. But yeah, I'm like people sleep on Facebook. Truly. I'm like,
(23:04):
it's very useful. You have to learn what are the useful things for you. Exactly. So you are on
Facebook and Instagram and TikTok. Are you on YouTube as well? I am on YouTube, but like for
completely different reasons. We post our music and stuff on YouTube. Okay. You and your mom.
(23:27):
Yeah. So we have like a little joint account. I believe it's silk.ecos. See, I don't even know
it. That's how like little I use YouTube. It's terrible. But I've always been told that I should,
I should take my content and put it over there. And I think that's what's really cool about
YouTube as a platform is your content is good forever. Yeah. Forever. It's very different than
(23:50):
Instagram or TikTok where you constantly have to be putting out something new because people aren't
going back to go view my videos from like a year and a half ago, less there, you know, creeping
and stalking. But for the most part, it's all the newer stuff that people seem to be most interested
in. Well, and if you are doing YouTube, the one thing I will say is make sure to like and subscribe
(24:14):
or follow because a lot of people even with this, they will watch the videos. It's hard to get people
to actually subscribe and you need so many subscribers. My keys, click the button. Yeah,
you need so many subscribers as well as view hours in order to monetize. Not that hard, I think,
(24:35):
if you were to do something like what you do, I think you could probably make some good coin doing
that. Yeah, I know. I'm just like, I have to film a landscape and I have to edit long for.
Don't they have the shorts now that are 60 seconds another. True. Yes. The YouTube shorts,
they're not so bad. Now, do you get free clothes? I do. So almost this entire outfit was free.
(25:00):
All the things that matter anyway. So my sweater was free. My pants were free. I wish my shoes were
free. They weren't there by Nike. I would love if Nike sponsored me though. I wear a lot. I wear
almost exclusively sheen mostly because I don't like to spend money. I really don't. So when I do
spend money, I try to like do experiences, whether it's like usually locally, really and truly like
(25:26):
local experiences, local events, things like that. But I hate to spend money on these necessary
things. Like I have to dress my body, but like I don't want to buy expensive clothes.
And so it's this perfect little partnership with sheen and mom. How did you get sheen for free?
(25:47):
Let's think about this now. Okay. So I have quite a few friends that are also in the creator sphere.
So like, I guess they're digital friends because most of them I've never actually met in person,
but we do similar things. So when we come across a contact that might be applicable to the other
person, we'll share. Because I'm like, oh my God, like I just got, I just got an email from,
(26:09):
I don't know, let's say it's a good one. That's a good one. Canadian tire, who knows, right? And
they're looking for a bunch of creators to do like their Black Friday posts. Like it's pretty open.
You're in Canada. You should email them and pitch them. And that's what we do because it's an industry
where a lot of gatekeeping happens because people don't want you to take what they think is theirs.
(26:34):
But if you, if you find a nice close knit group of friends and you understand that there's more
than enough to go around, then you share the ones that are relevant. This is where Facebook groups
would come in as well. Yeah, Facebook groups would be amazing for that because then you could have
like a group of content creators maybe in beauty and then another one in fashion, another one in tech
(26:56):
and who knows whatever it is, but then you can all help each other grow and with tips. Yeah, it's
like, you know what, these colors are not for me, but you know what, they'd be fabulous on you. So
why don't you contact them? Yeah, a hundred, and we've done things like this where like I get like
a whole kit of like lipsticks. And I'm like, look at that last one that you got with NYX. Oh, yes.
(27:20):
Holy shit. It was a haul. That was a lot. Like she pulled out the box and it's just layers upon layers.
I think they went to shoppers and just took one of everything. That's what it felt like. And some
of these like PR packages are just like, they're so extravagant over the top and like I love them.
(27:41):
I truly do. But I'm like, I can't wear half of these colors. So now I'm like, okay, well,
who do I think would look good in this? I think I got a blush and a bronzer out of that. Yeah. And
a blue, which I did wear that blue eyeliner. Yes. And it was sparkly. Yeah, because the stuff is
always so pretty. It's just not everything's gonna work on every skin tone. I know. Like, oh, you
(28:04):
know, whatever. But maybe they're hoping for that. Oh, well, yeah, we've read the word. She's gonna
give it to people and they're gonna say, oh, now you also teach at St. Clair College. It's a local
college in Windsor, Ontario. And you teach in the media department. Yes, I absolutely adore it. So I
teach in the public relations and journalism programs. They have a very heavy social media
(28:29):
component because it's just such a necessary skill for those, I guess, disciplines nowadays. And so
I do teach kind of, I guess, how to use the platforms with the platforms are for where you
can find your target audience. That sort of thing. Pretty much, you know, it's mandated by like the
province, all like the bar and stuff. But then closer to the end of the semester, when we have a bit
(28:52):
more time, and I've got a bit more freedom, I like to talk about like how you can freelance. I like
to talk about how you can make your own media kit, how you can pitch brands and what a pitch should
look like, how you should, you know, label your subject lines to kind of stand out. So not only
aren't these students getting, I guess, an education and, you know, just how to be a content creator
online, but also how to sell yourself to brands as a content creator or a freelancer. Because it's,
(29:18):
you know, it's the same skills. And at the end of the day, we want our skills to make us money, right?
It's good for small businesses. Yeah. To have at least somebody take a course in that. Yeah. Because
this is where your advertising is. Print is very expensive. And even throwing out ads on Facebook
(29:42):
and all of them can get a little pricey. It's more reasonable. But learning how your online
presence affects your business in getting the people that you want. Oh, 100%. It's funny,
we were just doing a class today on like branding, what it means to have like a personal brand.
I'm like, you don't have to be a celebrity, but your brand is what people say about you
(30:04):
when you're not there. So how do you want to be perceived? It's the same thing online. You can
show up however you want to, you can be whoever you want to be, you can be the expert, but in
actuality, you're just kind of like a noob who knows a little bit from YouTube tutorials. It's
all in how you present yourself. People will see it, they'll receive you. And then perhaps you can
do collaborations that way. Like when I started, I wasn't great. I thought it was great. So I was
(30:29):
presenting as like, yeah, guys, I know exactly what to do. Here we are. Do a cut crease. Like,
I don't know. Like, I hope this works. Oopsie. But that's the kind of air I wanted to give off.
It's someone who knows what they're doing, but it's still kind of like fun and bubbly and relatable.
But you know what? It worked. You know, even if you look back now as it's cringy, it worked.
(30:53):
Exactly. And it got people's attention, whether it was because it was cringy or because it was
informative, it doesn't matter. So funny. But yeah, no, it's true. And that's why the biggest thing
is even when you think the content is not great. Post it. Post it and stay consistent.
Do you think this is probably going to be my last question that your Instagram page has to be this
(31:17):
carefully curated? Like, you know how some people, businesses will do it in all of the pictures,
they all kind of blend in together. Do you need to do that? Or can you just post and it just be
you? What do you think would work better? I think that nowadays, the overall layout of your grid,
(31:40):
I don't think it matters as much. I don't. I think that what you want is for your work to be
easily distinguishable from someone else's work. So if you're a photographer, that might be that you
have a lot of saturation in your images. And so every time when people are just doom scrolling,
they see a highly saturated image and they're like, Oh, I know who that is. And then it is, it's you.
(32:01):
But when you, when you have a very carefully curated feed, which I've seen some people still
do, it's just not as, I think prevalent anymore. Thank God. It's hard to upkeep. It's hard to
upkeep. Like there are some people who like it, you know, like maybe the aspirational people,
the escapism sort of people, like they like that very polished look. But I think that's
(32:23):
becoming a smaller and smaller subset of the online community. People like real people,
they like real stories. They want to feel like you're almost like an internet best friend who
they know, but they also don't really know. Yeah. So it's basically just go out there, shoot it,
just, just be yourself and do something that you like, something that you love, whether you're
(32:48):
funny, whether you're serious, but be yourself. And that'll bring in the people, get back on Facebook.
Get back on Facebook, find the groups. If you're looking for freebies and
then you want to curate into a certain niche, that would probably be the best way to get where
(33:10):
you want to go. Yeah. It's a great way to get started. You got to start somewhere, start small,
you'll grow. Yeah, she has. I'm slowly getting there. But Josie, thank you so much for taking
the time to hang out with me and give us a little insight into how to up our game.
(33:32):
Anytime. Thanks for having me. Well, you have a great day, everybody. And my name is Tracy Martins,
and this is Waikijian Bloom Podcast. See ya.
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