We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mariah Switzer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mariah below.
Hi Mariah , so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today.
Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
Growing up I just never really thought I could do or accomplish a lot mostly cause I was scared of being told that I wasn’t good enough or being constantly judged but as I got older I just learned that you can’t just assume that your incapable of doing things especially if other people try to tell you can’t do it cause you can , also if you’ve never really even tried to accomplish them , you have to set goals within yourself make a list of things you want to accomplish and start doing them step by step and start manifesting your dreams, I have also realized that the key to success is consistency if you are not constantly going after what you want then how do you expect to get it ? , to get where you want to be in life to be consistent and humble , if you want that job ? go after it , you want to travel the world ? Make that your goal. You want to run a fundraiser ? Do it, be consistent. I am a part time content creator and my experience is that the more you post your content the more opportunities you get to collaborate with brands you love, also not letting what people say and acts of kindness plays a big Roll in success you never truly what people hide behind them I don’t like to put my personal life on social media because people are always so up In your business and like to ruin things . Also people automatically think just because your life seems “so perfect” online it means you don’t and can’t have any personal problems in life , we all have battles we try to fight. Also I try to be positive on social media I don’t like to bring personal friendships or family relationships to social media unless it’s for spreading awareness for example My stepdad has leukemia and I want to able raise awareness about that or posting about my dogs or post, aesthetic photos , stuff for brands , making grwm/gdwm, posting about my outfits, make up/skin care routines nature, food , working out , supporting my friends and family for achieving something that I’m proud of or posting a birthday post for them or if I’m just having a genuine good time with them I will post because it’s positive and I like to show my appreciation for them but other then that I like to keep most of it lowkey , cause it’s really no one’s business at the end of the day , I think it’s important for people to know if they want to pursue social media as a career that you can maintain and keep your real life on the down low while still trying to maintain your social media but this is also why social media is fake because people only show what they want to show and the happy parts , they don’t show the weaknesses.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
When I was a little girl I have always loved everything about fashion I use to watch the shows Americas next top model , project runway and what not to wear , I was just always amazed at how creative people are with how they put together a outfit I enjoy seeing all the outfits during fashion month all over the work and seeing what people come up with , in junior high to high school I took fashion classes just for fun and I love to Sew , fun fact I use to knit as well not very many people know this about me I made hats and scarfs my mom bought me this knitting kit and this Nintendo ds fashion game when I was young and I was addicted to them . I actually tried to make a website to sell those hats and scarfs but I didn’t know what I was doing at the time , I have always loved shopping for clothes and I have always enjoyed picking what to wear and figuring out ways to style my outfits but I never once thought about actually making a career out of it , at the time I was trying to upgrade my classes so I can get into Law I loved doing that but it was just not for me I also thought I wanted to take architecture/interior design because I enjoyed taking it in high school and watching fixer upper and other hgtv shows and enjoyed using sketch up to but it wasn’t really making me happy. And sometimes it’s okay to not really know what you want to do and be stuck we are all young and that’s okay . How I got the inspiration to do fashion one day I was just try to pick a outfit and my mom said to me that “You should study fashion I see how much you love it , you can study it abroad from anywhere and it suits you and you seem so happy”(also I always wanted to take on a fashion career in a different country I just had my doubts at first of course and didn’t know which area to start) and I have always enjoyed fashion I don’t remember a time where I didn’t, anywho what my mom said stuck to me to this day I never thought of making fashion my whole career and I always had this dream of travelling the world especially to Europe to study fashion ,I have always admired the fashion sense in Europe especially in Italy, I’ve also been trying to study Italian although I like to learn the old fashioned and like to study the language by paper and buying the books , also I’m studying it as well so I can eventually go to fashion school in Italy as well , I also love the Italian culture I’ve always been admired by It ever since My mom travelled to Europe (France ,Spain, Greece and Italy) back in 2012. She went to Rome, Florence ,Venice, Capri and Naples she said it was the most stunning Country she’s ever been to in her life , my mom also learned Italian on Rosetta Stone so it helped that she knows some of the language , but the language is beautiful, the art , I listen to Italian music occasionally I made a whole playlist of it on Spotify , I love eating Italian food probably my favourite food of all time and Whenever I watch Italian/European films I kind of like to romanticize that I’m actually there or envision what it would be like. Short but long story I’m gonna be completely honest about how I actually made the decision that I want to even go to Italy is from watching this movie called under the Riccione sun (on Netflix) it gives off very Italian summer vibes if you are interested in that I love European movies that give off those vibes , there’s also a sequel to that movie called Under the Almafi sun and also this Netflix show called “Baby” as soon as I watched the first episode of that show I immediately couldn’t stop myself and I’m the type of person who will like to look at the subtitles and enjoy hearing it in their own language and listening to these actors in Baby speak Italian , the acting was so good how they portrayed what was going on and also not to mention the whole cast is good looking , the vibe the show gives off and I love the fashion style of the actors in real life and the story behind the whole show I can’t really describe it but I just loved the feeling that this show gave me whenever I watched it , the fact that the show is based on a true story of what actually happened in Rome makes the series even more powerful made me want to learn more and it’s also just one of those shows (in my eyes) that you don’t get sick of watching no matter how many times you watch it but anyway back to my point if it wasn’t for the show baby and under the Riccione sun it would not have helped with my decision to decide to study Italian , the culture and wanting to make a fashion career in Italy I definitely recommend watching these though if you are interested in this type of stuff . anyway back to my career talk I always enjoyed watching what people wear in the fashion shows from brands like Prada , Gucci , Maison Valentino and Saint Laurent during fashion weeks and I always envisioned how I’d style or design a certain outfit it’s also always been my dream and I dream BIG but to become a fashion stylist/designer for any of those brands would be a dream come true , anyway my point is it just snapped in my brain that this is the exact career path I wanted to take so I have to thank my mom for that because if she didn’t tell me this then I would never even thought of making a career out of this at all so Thank you mom I also would not be who I am today without you.
And same thing applies with my content creation/influencing career I always wanted to do it I was just afraid of being judged and being made fun of, that I’d be made fun for trying to become a influencer with over 2,000 on instagram and 22.1 thousand on tik tok , I was also super scared of being myself also putting myself out there on social media , I also had no clue where to actually start , but one day I just realized that no matter what you do in life people will judge you it doesn’t matter what it is just a matter of not letting what people say get to you it’s your life your in control of what you do and how you do it who cares if people think you post too much if that’s what makes you happy in the end so be it I always think of it as your chasing and going after your dreams and getting to work with your Dream brands and what are these people doing with their life ? Exactly. It’s just the way life is it’s unfortunate that people are so judgmental and care that much about what others do with their life but at the end of the day it’s not a reflection of you it’s them, I feel like once you have this mindset you can do just about anything, also there is no limit to amount of followers you have to start taking influencing seriously , I started taking my social media seriously in 2020 and have grown a lot since then and have worked with so many of my dream brands which is truly a unreal feeling cause it’s not a easy thing for most people to do , you have to work up your way to that point and to not give up and constantly post no matter how difficult it can get, I started doing this because I want to show people that it is okay to be yourself on social media but still maintain a lowkey life at the same time and also inspire people to go after their dreams. Funny story I started using tik tok as a joke like most people until I went super viral on a video got over 1 million views which I had gained 10 thousand followers just from that one video and I started posting more I posted this one video of me dancing (as a joke) and it went viral as well I gained another 5 thousand followers and then I changed up my content and posted what I truly wanted , so I just started to post consistently and noticed the more you post the more you get recognition and gain more advantages, I mostly use tik tok and the opportunities I have gotten because of my growth on the app is truly insane I am very thankful , I also have alot of upcoming exciting HUGE projects with some big brands coming up but I cannot share the details of quite yet but I’m so beyond excited and cannot wait . To be honest I would not be where I am in my content creation career if it wasn’t for my growth on tik tok. To add on I decided to focus on content creation as well to grow more in the fashion , beauty and lifestyle industry it was always a dream of mine to collaborate with such well known brands like Valentino beauty , Amika hair , Merit beauty, Micas , Dove, mejuri , Monica vinader, Necessaire , L00ps beauty, Steve Madden , Chamberlain coffee and smartsweets and actually getting to work with them still feels unreal , they are all such fantastic brands to work with feels like a dream come true , my main focus is aiming for fashion brands , I always thought to myself this could also help me with my career in the fashion industry. But along with being a part time content creator and learning to become a fashion stylist /designer I also have a snap dream to open up my own little bakery cause I love baking as well loved it since my grandma taught me too but the bakery obviously won’t be happening for awhile and that’s okay good things take time. My advice in saying all this is to follow your dreams and don’t give up you never really know what might happen , focus on your career, if something isn’t making you happy change It , go after what you truly want consistency is key , and just be yourself a lot of people don’t realize how hard it is to show yourself on social media after finally overcoming that fear of being afraid to show yourself.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed I tend to slowly distance myself from whatever that is overwhelming me and just focus on how I can better myself, do the things I love to do like focusing on creating content , working out/exercising , working at my other job, as I said in my other paragraph I like to bake , going out with friends, reading a book , going on a walk ,create a mood board on Pinterest , spend time with family , listen to a podcast or music , travelling , anything to keep my mind off from whatever is stressing me out , I also try to distract myself by being constantly busy in my daily routine especially in your 20s people say you should have your stuff figured out now but to be honest no one really has it all figured out.
When I’m stressed I always tend to look at what I’m being overwhelmed about and curious if it is actually something worth being overwhelmed about, and when I realize that what I’m worried about is not actually worth my time. I kind of have to laugh about it because it just makes you realize that you really didn’t need to worry that much about it in the first place and you just learn to not put your energy and time into that Also sorry this is gonna be some relationship advice if you feel stressed in situations like because this is just something I’ve realized over the past couple years and I want people to take note of this cause I’ve really taken notice of this with a lot of people from my past and present and it doesn’t matter with who it could be with a friend ,ex friend, family member, a acquaintance , boyfriend , husband, cat , dog, enemie, a ex, A co worker ANyone if someone does not see the value of having you in their life leave them alone , there’s absolutely no point in stressing over a person or a situation you clearly can’t change , accept situations and people for who & what they are , they showed you who they really were and that’s all you needed to see move on with your life , I will admit though people can change (it’s rare) but they have to really want that and prove that not just say it to say it because saying your gonna do something and not acting on it is lying and manipulating if you want to change your ways and habits for the better you have to make sure that your gonna make a goal out of it . Back to what I was saying there’s no point in forcing situations with people when they clearly do not reciprocate if you have to beg someone to send you a message that literally takes 2 seconds out of their busy life to send you one back don’t do it and leave that person alone. why would you want to continue to have conversation with someone when you feel like you are bothering them and if that person has clearly made it obvious they do not want to have a conversation with you and it’s not worth it people make time for what they want , sometimes your self worth and ego has to be that high enough to say that your not gonna tolerate that and unfortunately this is a sad truth we live in a generation where people are always connected to their phones , people choose how to communicate and I personally think this generation needs to get better at communicating how they actually feel because if something is obviously bothering and you are avoiding how you feel that does not help either but how do you expect people to understand when you don’t say anything. I know I’m not perfect either nobody is I know I make mistakes and I have regrets but I reflect on those and look at areas where I can improve and make it a goal to be there and I’m self aware that I made those mistakes I can’t change that but anyway if someone I know has got me questioning my worth I’m not gonna entertain that. Anyway back to my point of this I will admit unfortunately I was that type of person years ago to beg for a message back but I’ve realized that if people actually want to talk to you or fix a situation they would, you wouldn’t have to force or double message them if you have to do all that to please another person then that person is not meant to be in your life , also if you are always the one to start a conversation also don’t do that , if you give back and don’t receive anything like I mean absolutely nothing in return stop doing things for that person , if people only come to you when they want something from you and take advantage of your kindness don’t entertain that , if someone isn’t properly communicating and are clearly giving you mixed signals take that as a no and leave them alone , I hate to say it but when you stop doing nice things for others most people really just don’t care or unfortunately they regret it later on in life it sucks It has to be this way but you can’t make people to see that your worthy but why would you want to continue to do something or go after something and put effort into a situation where you clearly are not being valued or taken seriously , actions speak so much louder then words, And I say this to myself every time I feel overwhelmed about something always put your effort into things that are investing in you , know your worth one thing I’ve known since I was a kid is that people will eventually come and go you just have to accept that , never try to force a connection with people if they don’t see your worth and if they don’t understand the value in having you in their life then that’s on them , do not beg anyone to stay and choose people who make you a priority not make you feel like option also Yes it sucks when you have certain memories of them you can’t let go but sometimes it’s okay to just have those memories and miss people but still not allow them to be back in your life anyway when people don’t give you proper closure or tell you what you did wrong and when they don’t give you the time of day but regardless of the situation you can’t or shouldn’t lose yourself because of it I don’t really let it affect me because it’s not a reflection of myself and I got bigger things to worry about. Let people do what they want to do and let them Think whatever , live in their own little delusional world but protect your peace at the same time , people know exactly what they do , they really just don’t care. put your time and effort into people that care. also your allowed to cry , be angry ,be confused, not know what you want , it’s okay to have feelings we all do but always remind yourself just because it didn’t end well in your favour doesn’t mean you won’t find it somewhere else or that it wont ever happen, be patient. Don’t ever forget who you are just to please other people. Also most of the times you just got to be the bigger person and tell yourself your not gonna tolerate that narcissistic immature behaviour and set boundaries also don’t ever play with good hearts cause their are not many in this world that are good.
I’ve had people say they “support” me but noticed is that a lot of people really just don’t like when you are doing better then them they will deflect , people will be jealous when you got something they do not and will never actually show their support because of their own insecurities but will constantly and actively watch what your doing on social media but we don’t take that personally you just gotta realize it’s their own insecurities showing and it’s unfortunately how life is , remember not everyone is going to like you or have the same thoughts as you .
Some more advice I have is to always keep busy and focus on being the best version of yourself, if you don’t feel happy in a situation and if something feels forced remove yourself , never force anything let it come to you , I always use this quote when I’m feeling stuck in situations and other people need to use it as well because it’s genuinely is so true “I don’t chase I attract”. I always tell people this because this helps me but Romanticize your whole life I feel like it definitely helps with actually getting to where you want to be in life and making actual goals for yourself , think of your life as a movie it’s fun looking at life like that if this makes sense.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__itssmariahhh_/?hl=en
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@swatzermeriah?utm_source=tt_27&lang=zh_Hant
