Meet Chris

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is something that I have battled with from day one. As someone who grew up mostly before the time of “Influencers,” I felt very weird about the fact that people cared about my opinion and wanted me to come visit their distilleries, locations, etc simply because I have a following online. I struggled with it for a long time, until I started to meet more people in the space – meeting other industry experts and content creators allowed me to realize that they weren’t so different from me. There were plenty of times in conversation that they would misspeak, seem unsure of themselves, or, to put it another way, seem just as “human” as me. I had heard this said plenty of times, but it was that experience that really drilled it home: even the biggest celebrities and renowned professionals are just human. There is something in that that is really motivational as well – if these people reached the pinnacle of their craft, and they have no “special sauce” or divine attributes making them better than me, then I can reach the pinnacle, too. After I realized that, I was able to shift my focus from trying to become one of these “special” people, to simply trying to be better than I was yesterday.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My journey started with the Whiskey Noobs Podcast, aimed at helping people get into the hobby of whiskey tasting and reviewing without the intimidating pretenses. I started using short form content on Tiktok and Instagram (@whiskey_noobs) to advertise for the podcast, and before I knew it, those platforms surpassed the podcast. As my following grew, I began using (and continue to use) the platforms as a means to educate people on whiskey terms, quality brands, and the occasional cocktail recipes.

This journey as a creator eventually led me to develop a first-of-its-kind blind tasting device known as the Solo Blind, which began my career as an entrepreneur. Along with my business partner, I have continued to improve the Solo Blind and develop new ideas for products that will allow hobbyists to enjoy their leisure time to the fullest – some of which I cannot discuss yet. These products will all be launched under the “Just Neat” brand, the same as the Solo Blind.

As the product business continues to expand, so does the content. I have recently launched long-form videos on my Youtube channel (@whiskey_noobs) and am now producing significantly higher quality short form content on Tiktok and Instagram. The podcast remains a strong backbone of the business thanks to the success of my Patreon page, where my patrons get additional podcast episodes, whiskey reviews, and more.

Looking to the future, I plan to make the Youtube videos my latest frontier. I want to get really good at making high quality videos that my subscribers can trust. As “brain rot” culture begins to push people off of short form mediums, I think it is more important than ever to be able to produce high quality educational content on mediums like podcasts and Youtube. With the constant feedback dialog going between my patrons and me, I want to improve both of those mediums to their maximum potential, and use that content as inspiration to launch more products through Just Neat that can take hobbies and leisure to the next level.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

If I had to pick the three most important qualities for a content creator, I would say resilience, compassion, and authenticity.

We are moving into a time where supply of creators is growing rapidly, and demand for content is staying about the same. If you want to grow a following, resilience is non-negotiable. You have to put out high quality content on a consistent basis, and you can’t get discouraged when numbers drop. Your reach, following, etc will always go through periods of decrease – whether or not you make it back to an increase is entirely dependent on whether or not you keep cranking out the best content that you can, even when it isn’t getting the likes that you want.

While I find a competitive attitude can be motivating, at the same time it is important to keep your compassion for both your audience AND your competition. I think a lot of people view creators as competing businesses, but in reality I consider most of the creators in my niche to be genuine friends, and we all try to help each other out when we can. Having healthy relationships with those in your industry is far more valuable than “beating the competition,” and it is more rewarding as well. The same goes for your audience – people will get mad at you, troll in the comments, or sometimes just totally misunderstand the message you are trying to convey – it’s important to approach those scenarios with compassion and keep a positive attitude. If you are creating content on the internet, you are responsible for whether “the internet” is a positive or negative place.

Lastly, and maybe the most surprisingly difficult, is that you have to remain authentic. Like I said, there are countless creators out there. Lots of content to compare to. People are getting good at smelling out the fakes. You might say “I’m not trying to be misleading, and therefore I am authentic,” but it’s not that simple. Authenticity goes deeper than simply not lying – your mannerisms, whether the jokes you make are real or planned, and even your tone of voice all reveal to your audience whether or not you’re being genuine, and it is HARD to keep those all authentic when a camera is running. Practice imagining you are talking to a friend rather than a camera, do practice runs with nothing recording, and find the right balance of scripted to unscripted. I find that I come across way more authentic in videos where I am thinking off-the-cuff, and it reflects in the video performance.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Whether it’s content creation, entrepreneurship, or my personal life, there are plenty of times that I feel overwhelmed. Just recently I had a contract come back to me with some serious changes that the client was refusing to consider, and we were in the bottom of the 9th for getting it signed. Things like that can kick off a runaway train that lead to feelings of being overwhelmed and burnt out. On top of the little things like that, looking at the big picture can add even more pressure to the situation. Even if I get this one contract worked out, what about my plan for the month, the year, my retirement?

The FIRST step is stopping that kind of runaway-train-thinking. As a Christian, I find the best way to stop these thoughts is repeating Jesus’s words in Matthew 6 – “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Simply reminding myself this fact is usually enough to get things under control.

In the long term, it’s about changing your way of thinking. If you are a Christian, call it offering your worries to God. If you are an athiest, call it a healthy dose of stoicism. I have started praying every morning and offering my worries to God as my way of saying “I trust that these things will work out for Your will, and that is enough for me.” Acknowledging this attitude on a daily basis is a great reminder that there are things that are out of our control, but in the end, we should only focus on what we can affect here and now. Worrying about the things that we can’t control or looking too far into the future is going to do nothing to help the situation.

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