We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alyssa Morgan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Alyssa, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I think I probably get my resilience from my mom! She basically raised us three kids solo, and while we certainly did not grow up rich, she never let us feel that way. We wanted for not and had all the newest toys, clothes, and gadgets that all our friends had. We even took vacations from time to time, but even when we couldn’t afford to travel during the summer, she spent all her free time playing with us, reading to us, cooking for us… basically doing everything a good, attentive mom should do. Looking back on it, she sacrificed a lot so we could live the lifestyle we did, and now I work my hardest to make sure that the life I’m building with my partner is as full of love and the freedom to do what we like together.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I used to be a high school Spanish teacher, actually! I got hired at my dream school right out of college and did that for four years… immediately at the onset of Covid. It was a tough four years, so when my partner got HIS dream job in North Carolina, I was happy for the chance at a fresh start. I job hopped for about a year, going from a sales clerk at a running store to a success coach at a community college before landing my current role as a social media specialist for a university that helps people earn their teaching certification or master’s in education. Since I started doing content creation on the side during my last year of teaching, it grew into a real passion, so it felt like the perfect mix for me when I got my current job! I still do content creation on the side for myself, and love to take on a sort of “digital scrapbooking” approach. I use my iPad to doodle all over my pictures and tell a story, which I find super fun, and it’s a great creative outlet for me! My audience seems to enjoy it too, which is an added bonus. 🙂 I hope to be able to do more of it in this upcoming year, and to work with even more fashion, beauty, and/or wellness brands. Some of my most exciting collaborations have been with Prada Beauty, Cleanjourney, Peppermayo, and Titan Arctic Zone.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think I’m a naturally creative person, and I tend to think I can connect well with others in a way that is genuine and makes them feel seen. When you follow someone on social media, those are two of the biggest reasons you do so (minus any discount codes you may get from them!) and I think that’s why my audience grew to the size it did as fast as it did.
For people who are just starting, it sounds REALLY cliché, but be yourself! People can tell a lot easier than you think if you’re trying too hard to be someone you’re not, even on social media, and it’s not a good look. Don’t worry about being the “coolest” or “prettiest” or “richest” (yes, some people really care about that) influencer/content creator in the room. People want to follow you because you’ve got something to share that others don’t… which means also don’t obsess over following every little trend you see. I tend to think that too many content creators have the same look anymore, and it all starts to blend together in my feed anyway, so stand out!
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Social media, while fun in nature, can be the biggest source of anxiety for a content creator. There are so many times I ask myself, “Why don’t I just give this up if it’s causing me so much anxiety?” When you start to feel this way, ask yourself a few things first:
1. Would you be happier or feel relieved if you deleted your accounts right now, or tomorrow at the latest?
2. Are you comparing yourself too much to other content creators, and feeling dissatisfied with yourself because you don’t feel up to par with them?
3. Are you upset because one post flopped, or are you upset because the entire account is too hard to keep up?
4. Are you only doing this for the money?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I would highly consider taking a step back from content creation for a week. If you miss it, come back to it feeling refreshed! If you feel better without it, delete your accounts, or at least log out of them for now until the time feels right to come back to it. Even if I’m feeling anxious about content creation but not anxious enough to delete my social media accounts, sometimes taking a few days of a hiatus makes me feel a lot better when I come back!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its.alyssa.morgan
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