Justin Slater on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Justin Slater. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning Justin, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
Social media is a career where you have to put yourself out there and be your most vulnerable, authentic self. So, while people may think they saw my grind and growth, there’s more to it behind the scenes than people might think. When you first put your mind to being consistent on social media, you have no idea what might come from it or if you’ll be lucky enough to be successful. You have the tough decision of noticing what does well for others and copying that, or being unique and following your gut on what you think will perform well. Before you can find your niche, there’s a lot of strategizing, planning, filming, editing and much more that goes into creating not only high-quality content, but content that will gain traction and show you that you’re heading in the right direction. I’ve hit road blocks where content that was performing well, stopped completely and I needed to pivot. This is where I realized that social media really does change everyday and you need to change with it. I’m proud of the support system that I’ve built not only for the success of my content creation journey, but in my life, and that’s something nobody sees.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Justin Slater and I have been creating content on social media for almost 10 years. Throughout my time, I’ve seen the various changes social media has gone through, and I’ve had the opportunity to change and learn with it. Aside from content creation, I’m always looking for a fun project and opportunity whether it’s working with brands on creating a scroll-stopping ad, or a business that I think will benefit the lives of others. Starting out creating content, I had no idea where to start. I grew up in a small town in the middle of California where being an “influencer” was something that was laughable. Once I moved out of that town and mindset, I found others with the same goals as me that I could learn from and flourish in my passion.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
On social media I post a variety of niches, but most prevalent is street interviews. I could list a plethora of instances that I’ve seen content ideas get in the way of friendships and bonds between creators. I have a circle of creators that also are in the street interview niche, and things can get hairy sometimes. We all borrow ideas and make them our own with a little twist. But what happens if you create a video based solely on another creator’s unique concept? A bond is broken. People say in any type of relationship, communication is key, and I think that still applies for relationships with other content creators. People forget so easily that we are all chasing after the same dream and. goal.

For example, I was the first creator (to my knowledge) to ask the question “What language do you speak” and follow with the participant saying something to me in their native- or learned- language that the audience can take part and translate the phrase in the comments. I was so proud of this idea and the fact that I was the first to do this, it’s a special feeling. Soon after that I saw creators from around the world creating content verbatim to what I post. It didn’t bother me that people I didn’t know were doing the same thing as me, I saw it as a compliment. But, when people I knew personally and were close to did the same thing, it was a different feeling. I no longer felt appreciated, admired or complimented, instead I felt as if my close friends were copying me for their own personal gain, and I felt like a pawn on a chess board.

It all comes down to communication. We had an unspoken rule in our small circle of street interview creators, where you reach out to the person who originated that trend/idea and not ask permission per say, but acknowledge their creation and give them a heads up they might see a video similar to theirs, but with a twist.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of failure has always been with me. In school, I was never a straight A student, I wasn’t on honor roll or any of that jazz. In fact, I was a bit of a trouble maker with no clear career path in mind. All I was focused on in my childhood was having fun. On any given day you probably would’ve seen me going up and down the street on a bike, digging a random hole or just being outdoors in general. Growing up with the idea that I was already failing in school, I felt like I was behind in life by the time I graduated. Social media wasn’t really a thing yet where content creation was a career path you’d see a booth for at a school job fair.

As time went on, I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I worked random, crazy jobs like at a carrot factory 1.5 hours away from home overnight. It wasn’t a super busy job, I had a lot of time on my hands so I would watch a lot of YouTube. Something clicked for me; people are making money creating videos about themselves, their life, their hobbies, you name it. They didn’t have to go to college, be successful in school or have a niche skill they’re good at. From then on, I switched my entire focus to being successful on social media. Of course, the thought of failure still is always in the back of my head, but I’m lucky enough to have a great support system that is louder than that failure ever was.

Any career path you choose, you have to be willing and open to growing with the changes that might come. Roadblocks will pop up, but it’s how you choose to handle them that will set you apart and further your mindset. Like I always like to tell myself, no struggle, no progress.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
First and foremost, anyone’s social media page is that person’s highlight reel. We all put our best foot forward when it comes to putting a video/picture of ourselves online for millions of people to see, create opinions on, and judge you. I try and be my most authentic self on social media and share the real me, but I’ll admit; I put on a nicer outfit than I had on before I started filming, I might mess with my hair a bit, and a VoiceOver I did for a 30 second video probably took me 20 takes before I felt like I got it just right.

Outside of social media, I do suffer from anxiety. People that I have just met probably see a different version of me than my close friends, and it’s not something I do consciously. With people I’m close and comfortable with, I’m loud, I speak my mind and I’m enthusiastic about almost anything. But once I step outside the comfort of my home, I feel a need to be quiet, confined and non-opinionated. Anxiety is something new to me and I’m learning to navigate it as I go, so doing street interviews talking to strangers for a video, is definitely out of my comfort zone.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days. 
Going from food deliveries to social media full time definitely keeps me tap dancing to work. Especially once I saw just a sprinkle of the success that I’m working towards. One of my biggest goals with content creation was to avoid having a job I have to clock in and out of and be on a specific schedule, so for this to be my reality, keeps me motivated and always striving for more.

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