We recently connected with Sarah Nicole and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah Nicole, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I’ve always been a very introverted, shy, and quiet person. However, I’m now so much more comfortable being in front of the camera.
I began my journey in June 2021. That’s when I created my TikTok account and began posting travel content. Even so, it took awhile before I was comfortable enough to put myself in front of the camera.
It was months after my initial posts, and I wanted to create content of travel tips and advice. For that, I would have to be talking in front of the camera and that thought was terrifying to me.
Eventually, I started doing it. It took forever for me to get a video finished because my voice would shake or I would stutter. Or, I would just think I sounded silly and needed to redo it. It would take an hour to do a simple 30 second video. Over time though, I became more comfortable with it.
I became more and more confident talking to the camera. People were commenting on it and being very supportive. They were thanking me for the tips, and asking me questions. Through that I was able to gain more self esteem because people actually were enjoying my content.
Now, I can create videos of myself talking in a matter of minutes. I still have to redo them sometimes, but not near as much as I did in the beginning. My family and friends even tell me I’ve became much more comfortable talking to people in real life.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m so excited to be launching my own website called My Macroscopic Life.
I believe everyone should have access to travel, if they wish to do so. Going somewhere new and learning a new place can be scary and intimidating. That’s why I created My Macroscopic Life. You shouldn’t feel scared or anxious or overwhelmed at any point before or during your trip. It should be exciting to experience life as seen by the naked eye!
That is why, on my site, I offer custom planned trips. I have four package options that range from me doing it all for you, including booking everything, to me offering you expert advice and helping you along the way while you do the booking. And, if you choose to do your own booking, you can book hotels directly on my site.
In addition, I have premade destination itineraries you can download. Each of them are trips I have personally done. Once you download the itinerary, all you have to do is book what is listed on it. There’s no easier way to plan a trip!
I also have a blog section on my site. In it, you will find lots of travel tips and advice. There is even a search bar if you want to search anything specific.
When I’m not working on my website, I am posting content on my socials. I post about places I’ve been, offer tips, and answer your questions. You can find me on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest.
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?
1. Time management
It’s very hard to balance things when starting a business. I had to have time for family, friends, my 9-5, and time to create my business, which included editing pictures and videos, putting them together to create content, engaging with others on my accounts to grow my socials, writing blog posts, creating destination itineraries, and figuring out how to even create a website. Among that, I still had to carve out time for self care to keep my sanity. Haha!
You have to figure out what works best for you. I began getting up an hour earlier every morning. During that hour I work on creating my business. Then, I go to my 9-5. After it, I take 2-3 more hours to work on my business depending on the day. I take Wednesdays and one day each weekend off to devote time to the other aspects of my life. It’s not easy, but keeping a calendar has helped me. I dedicate mornings to creating content for my socials. Then, one evening is for creating blog posts, one evening is for creating premade itineraries, and the other evenings are for working on trips clients have booked me for.
2. Learning how to read analytics
When it comes to social media, analytics are everything. They’re easy to read, but I didn’t know what to take from them. I had to learn how to understand them and see what my audience resonated most with.
My best advice for learning how to do this is to watch videos. Get on YouTube or TikTok, find someone who works in social media that you like, subscribe to/follow them, and watch all of their videos. Doing this helped me learn exactly what analytics I should be looking at and which ones are considered vanity numbers. I also learned more about who my audience is and how I should tailor my content to them.
3. Having an open mind
This one doesn’t sound hard, but it was probably the most difficult for me. I thought some of my content was really good, and it would go viral quickly. But that didn’t happen. I had to learn to take constructive criticism to make my content better. I realized that just because I thought a piece of content was unique and interesting, not everyone else agrees. And, I couldn’t let that get me down
When someone makes a comment with an opinion different than yours, that doesn’t make either of you wrong. That’s what opinions are, they’re subjective. If I post something I think is cool, others might think it’s silly. And that’s okay. Piggybacking on that, people can be very cruel in the comment section. It’s hard to not take it personal, but sometimes people can have bad days and choose to take it out on a stranger on the internet. I had to learn to have an open mind and realize some people will be nasty regardless of what you post. My best advice for dealing with that is to not look at the comments. I know that’s hard because you want to see the positive ones, but they don’t always outweigh the negative ones.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I am always looking for people to collaborate with!
Anyone who is over a hotel, restaurant, attraction, etc, I would love to work with. I’ve done collabs before where I create content at these places. I post it on my sites, and they post it on theirs too. And, if they are willing to give my audience a discount through me, that’s even better.
I would also love to collab with other travel creators. Anyone who would want to write a guest post on my blog, please reach out. Or, if you want to create a video talking about our different viewpoints of a destination, I would like to do that too.
I enjoy working with others and getting other viewpoints. If you have an idea and want to collaborate with me, please contact me! My email is sarahnicole@mymacroscopiclife.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mymacroscopiclife.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mymacroscopiclife?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mymacroscopiclife
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mymacroscopiclife?_t=8c9GwKOl4P8&_r=1
