Meet Steph Pilavin

We were lucky to catch up with Steph Pilavin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Steph, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

I nurture my creativity by finding little sparks of joy wherever I can – my content centers around things I am authentically passionate about, so luckily it’s not TOO hard to keep everything in alignment. But sometimes I need to take a step back and remind myself why I’m doing this: because I love storytelling and want to share my favorite stories with others.

Sometimes I reignite creativity by leaning back into a piece of comfort media. Sometimes I need to distance myself and spend some time alone in nature – or in vibrant community. And sometimes I need to find the story that’s just right for me in that moment.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’ve always had an eye for stories – and spent most of my childhood buried in a book, performing live onstage, or training to become an even better storyteller.

Now I’m honored to spend my days shouting about my favorite stories all over the internet. I go by starrysteph, and I chat about mostly otherworldly (fantasy, horror, and sci fi) stories from galaxy-wide voices. I’m a very intentional reader and reviewer, and my page is full of underrepresented voices. I also adore attending shows & premieres and sharing those reviews – plus my own acting adventures.

My newest venture (and something I’m BEYOND excited about) is a partnership with Bindery to shake up publishing.

Bindery is sort of a blend of a bookish Patreon and a disrupter to the publishing industry. It’s a membership platform specifically for book influencers, and collects all of my content in one place while also offering a searchable bookshelf, a weekly digest, a spot for my exclusive content, and beyond. I have an exclusive Discord for my community, and we’ve done super fun events together such as weekend readathons and game nights.

If a content creator has a larger & active community, they have the option to establish a publishing imprint and fund the publication of new books (!!). Bindery then partners with the creator to design their imprint, attract submissions for potential titles, and manage editorial, design, printing, traditional marketing, and distribution to everywhere books are sold.

Once you have an imprint, your community gets to participate in key publishing decisions, have opportunities to meet authors, and, receive ebooks, early physical copies of new books, and special perks like getting their name in the acknowledgments page.

My Bindery community is called Celestial. (Yes, of course, it’s a galactic-themed world.) And if you enjoy my content and want to support me, joining Celestial is the best way to do so – whether it’s at a free or paid level.

Each person who joins helps get us closer to a publishing imprint. So if you like my book taste and want to help more inclusive & original otherworldly stories make their way into the world, I’d love to have you with me (celestial.binderybooks.com).

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

Compassion, perseverance, and bold authenticity.

1) Compassion is vital – I believe it’s the key to building a community that cares about each other, supports each other, and holds each other accountable. I want my community to thrive, and to be better & do better so we can slowly reshape the world (well, at least our microcosm of it).

And a subcategory of compassion for me is playfulness. I need to have fun and find all the tidbits of joy in my life! I’m lucky to have a wonderful partner and two adorable pets (Persephone the bunny and Artemis the cat) who fill my home with smiles every day.

I encourage everyone to find an easy & small moment of joy every day – and, also every day, think about one way you can show compassion to others. Maybe that’s doing something special with your pet, surprising a loved one by cooking a favorite meal, or picking up some litter from a local park. Being on social media can get really draining, so something I like to do is every time I get a nasty comment, I go around and leave 5 kind comments on other creators’ videos.

2) Perseverance, because I’ve faced walls of challenges (and ignored easier paths). I knew that this was the work I wanted to do most, and I’ve always been willing to put my full effort & attention into my journey. I’m disabled, and I hold several marginalized identities, and I’ve dealt with grief and financial emergencies and trauma in multiple forms.

Every single one of us struggles. Sometimes it’s not obvious when you’re looking at a someone’s success from the outside. To me, perseverance is NOT pushing through pain no matter what. It’s also taking the time to heal yourself and show yourself kindness so that you can keep going, especially in a tough industry.

If you’re at the start of your journey, remember that there will be really, really hard days. Don’t let outside metrics of success impact your own determination and ferocity. (Easier said than done, I know. But seriously – don’t stop pushing for more! Ambition is awesome.)

3) To me, bold authenticity (perfect for Bold Journey) means embracing all of my quirks & flaws and asking for what I need.

I don’t think I would have gained a following if I wasn’t a little vulnerable, and if I didn’t share my authentic self with the online void. I didn’t always follow advice or trends. I didn’t totally “niche down”. I shared about what I loved, and blended my interests together, no matter how niche they were.

And my boldness was in showing up and not caring about the cringe! Also, I’ve down my best to be brave and carve out opportunities and connections. I reach out to publishers and authors. I reach out to fellow content creators. I challenge myself as an introvert to be the person to start conversations at events.

And I challenge everyone reading this to do something that scares you – but IS you. Maybe you like cosplaying, or maybe you want to shout about something online, or maybe you’ve always wanted to attend an event that was perfectly aligned with your interests, but you didn’t want to go by yourself. Do it!

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel the stress & anxiety walls closing in, I stop what I’m doing. It’s never worth the physical & emotional tolls.

So pause, as quickly as you can. And take a moment to reset. This looks different for everyone, but for me I need to get away from my screens. I’ll drop my phone in another room and try to engage my real-world senses. I’ll light a candle with my favorite scent, or I’ll rest my head on my cat and listen to her purr, or I’ll watch the trees sway in the wind, or I’ll grab a favorite snack.

Grounding yourself is so critical, because if you always try to push through overwhelm, that pressure and stress only keeps building.

Sometimes being alone in the dark & quiet is best, and sometimes conversation & laughter helps break that feeling of icy doom. And I’m also grateful to my wonderful Celestial Discord community who is always willing to commiserate or share some advice & support.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Kyle Watkins Photography

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Portraits of Resilience

Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,

Confidence
Kicking Imposter Syndrome to the Curb

This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move