Confessions of A Wannabe It Girl
How To Start That Mentally Shift, Make Money, and Become the UGC Creator with Taylar of Melrose Marketing
Are you curious about UGC? Thinking about making content your side hustle or full-time hustle? Or maybe you are stuck and need a shift in your life? Taylor from Melrose Marketing has the tea on content and life switches! Taylor shares invaluable tips on the hybrid creator model and emphasizes the importance of confidence, self-love, and understanding your worth. We discuss her journey from teaching to content creation, the courage to charge fairly, and strategies to balance content creation with personal well-being. This episode offers practical advice and inspiration for anyone looking to succeed in content creation.
Taylar's IG:
@taylerfrancisco/
Taylar's Tiktok:
@taylerfrancisco
https://www.melrosemarketingstudio.com/instagram-growth-academy
You can watch the full episodes on our Youtube
Youtube - Confessionsofawannabeitgirl
Confessions of A Wannabe It Girl’s TikTok:
@wannabeitgirlpodcast
Confessions of A Wannabe It Girl’s IG:
@confessionsofawannabeitgirl
Are you curious about UGC? Thinking about making content your side hustle or full-time hustle? Or maybe you are stuck and need a shift in your life? Taylor from Melrose Marketing has the tea on content and life switches! Taylor shares invaluable tips on the hybrid creator model and emphasizes the importance of confidence, self-love, and understanding your worth. We discuss her journey from teaching to content creation, the courage to charge fairly, and strategies to balance content creation with personal well-being. This episode offers practical advice and inspiration for anyone looking to succeed in content creation.
Taylar's IG:
@taylerfrancisco/
Taylar's Tiktok:
@taylerfrancisco
https://www.melrosemarketingstudio.com/instagram-growth-academy
You can watch the full episodes on our Youtube
Youtube - Confessionsofawannabeitgirl
Confessions of A Wannabe It Girl’s TikTok:
@wannabeitgirlpodcast
Confessions of A Wannabe It Girl’s IG:
@confessionsofawannabeitgirl
Welcome back to Confessions of a Wannabe it Girl, the podcast helping you filter out the BS in pursuit of becoming the next it girl. And in today's episode we are diving into the world of UGC content creation. Content creation, mind shifting ourselves to be more confident with posting online, touching a little bit on, like, the management of content creation. You know creating content and also really the thing that is the big takeaway for me in this episode is the confidence to shift and like, take the leap, pivot in your career. And we are joined by Taylor from Melrose Marketing. She is a social media like guru in the marketing space to dive into making that content as a UGC creator, making that bag, getting that side hustle in, and she is also huge on mindset. So we kind of combine the two in this episode and I'm so excited for you to hear it. So let's dive in.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Confessions of a Wannabe it Girl. I'm your host, marley Fregging, and I'm here to help you filter out all the bullshit and become the next it Girl. This podcast explores the reality of what it really takes to make it out there. As it turns out, it is way less Instagrammable than I thought it was going to be. I'm still very much a work in progress, but there's simply nothing else I'd rather be doing than chasing my dreams. So let's learn from my mistakes and work together to achieve our dreams with more confidence, clarity and direction. Let's get after it.
Speaker 1:Well, welcome back to Confessions of a Wannabe it Girl. I'm sitting here with the lovely Taylor. Welcome, taylor. Thank you for having me. I am so excited to have you. We're going to talk about a plethora of things. We're talking a lot about the social media industry, ugc, mindset and big life pivots. So are you ready to dive in? I'm so ready. All right, let's do it. So I kind of want to start with, because I feel like a lot of people are looking to build that side hustle and a lot of us are dreaming of doing that side hustle in social media. Yeah, and I kind of want to get your feelings on the space right now, like, what do you need to be successful in the content industry? And I know that's a wide scape. So, yes, feel free to dive into it wherever you'd like.
Speaker 3:Yes, okay, well, I guess do you want to know about the social media management side of things, or the content creation side, or like the freelance sort of content creation for businesses?
Speaker 1:I want to do it from the content creator side. And then I want to hear your point of view as someone who has been a manager. Yes, Okay great.
Speaker 3:So, in terms of being a content creator and actually making money, having your side hustle, maybe even turn into a full-time hustle and actually making money having your side hustle maybe even turn into a full-time hustle I think it's really a unique opportunity right now where brands don't necessarily care about your follower count how they used to and your engagement. So now we have something called UGC, which is user-generated content, where, as a content creator, you can sell your content to brands and it does not matter what your audience looks like, because you're not actually posting it. I mean, you can, but the brand is not looking for exposure through you. They're looking for really good, relatable, beautiful content that they can post to help them sell and then also to use for paid ads. So there's kind of two different ways you can go about it.
Speaker 3:If you do have a large audience already and you're like, okay, I want to utilize this audience, I want to be able to, you know, post, have an influence, make sales that way for that brand, you can charge for your exposure or your audience. But if you're a UGC creator, then you can just sell them the content and it doesn't matter what your audience size is. That being said, there are a lot of content creators who do have a large audience, who do some like influencer collaborations, where it's really aligned, and they're posting for their audience and they also do UGC, so just creating the content. So all of this to say that there's kind of different ways to go about it, but just whatever kind of works for you. And it is a very unique point in time where this didn't exist, like four years ago, at least not in the way that it does now?
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally I love that. I love the idea of the hybrid creator that is doing UGC as well as, like, maybe the influencing, and you know, you can kind of do it all a la carte and make it as you go. Now, if you are somebody who wants to do UGC now I don't know how to quite put all the words to this To me it seems almost faceless. It's just putting in content. Is that always true?
Speaker 3:Not necessarily. It can definitely be faceless, and the funny thing is like I actually have some posts coming up that I'm planning because I want to tell my audience, like look at all the faceless UGC that I've made, because it's actually quite a bit, which is really nice, because then you literally don't even have to do your makeup, Like you could just show the products. But I would say that's not the only way to do UGC. It is one way for sure. When you do have your face, though, typically you can charge a little bit more and typically if you have some with your face, great. But I know there's a lot of people who don't even feel comfortable with that, who are making really good money without ever showing their face, which is crazy. Like what a cool time to live in what a crazy thing is.
Speaker 1:Because it started, you know, as social media started as like such a link to the person thing and now it's completely de-linked by having UGC. Yeah, with the UGC creation, if there are somebody who are not also maybe per se, an influencer and they don't have a following, how do you get in the game here?
Speaker 3:Yes, okay, I love this question. So if you don't have a following, you want to get into it. First of all, obviously, start an Instagram because even though the follower number doesn't matter, these brands are still going to look at it to see, because it's kind of like your online portfolio, right. And also, if you're hashtagging properly, if you have a strategy, brands can actually find you that way and you'd be surprised how many like really teeny tiny creators get big deals just from being discovered that way. But if you want to get started, start an Instagram page, have all your work up on there. So let's say, like, okay, you are starting from zero. You have no brand deals. You have hella products at home. I know you do. You have makeup, you have hair stuff, you have clothes. Like, create UGC with that right. Like it's literally called user generated content. So it's very natural, it's very raw, it's less curated.
Speaker 3:If you're someone who's like, maybe, a foodie, I know you go out to eat, I know you cook, I know you have snackies at home so like, start creating content and building up your portfolio with the things that you have in your home I think a lot of people think, okay, I need to go out and buy all this stuff and spend all this money and invest in my business when, like, you don't actually have to. You can, if that's what you want, but you don't have to. So I would say, build up your portfolio and then create a media kit. So your media kit should showcase, like, all your UGC videos, your photos, if you like, photos of yourself, like outfit photos, stuff like that. All of that should be in there and then come up with your rates.
Speaker 3:And I'm going to give a shameless plug right now. Yes, I do have something called the creator course, where I literally teach you everything you need, like literally what needs to go in your media kit how to pitch to brands, what to say, what not to say, all of that. So, if you're interested I'm sure the link will be below, but, um, but yeah, so that's how you can get started and really, again, you don't have to really invest in anything. You don't even need a camera. Like, if you have an iPhone and it's one of the latest ones, the last like three, you're literally good, wow, yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's like. It's like it's not that hard, but yet what are the big barriers to entry you kind of see people struggle with kind of see people struggle with.
Speaker 3:I honestly think the biggest thing and this is why, like my students, love the templates so much and actually learning how to pitch, cause, even like a lot of my students who are big creators I'm talking like 30, 40, 50 K followers they were not getting paid brand deals prior to working with me because they didn't know how to negotiate, they didn't know how to read contracts, they didn't know how to pitch. So I think the biggest barrier aside from just the mindset stuff, which we can obviously talk about, but I think the biggest barrier is not knowing how to pitch and not knowing what to ask for, and not knowing you know even usage rights wise, like how many months they have usage for, how to charge accordingly, how to even if a brand comes at you and they say, oh, we can't afford that, your rates just how to figure out. Okay, how do I negotiate to still get something that feels good for me? Or how can I turn a gifted collab into a paid collab? I have a student who she is like blowing up on TikTok right now, like 100,000 followers. She turned a gifted collab like someone had reached out to her and she turned it into an $800 brand deal just by making sure she knew how to respond to it and using my template.
Speaker 3:So like, yeah, I think that's the biggest barrier because people don't really know and this is not really taught. And I kind of learned by accident because when I was stepping into the content creator scene, I just remember being like, okay, I think I can make money from this. Like I think I can, and I just kind of I kind of use what I had from my previous career, which was a teacher. I had a major in English, so I like I'm good at writing. I was like, okay, let me just experiment and see, you know what I can get for this. And it worked out. So, yeah, I think that'd be the biggest barrier.
Speaker 1:Seeing you're a major in English and good at writing, can you give us, without giving all the juice away from your course, maybe an example of a bad pitch versus a good pitch?
Speaker 3:Yes, I would say, a bad pitch is like a DM that says, hey, I want to work with you and that's it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, or like hey, do you want to collab? Or actually, I think the worst is when you can tell it's a clear copy and paste yeah, so like obviously I have a template, but you have to personalize it. Like you need to go to the brand's website, look at their about us. You have to talk about their brand ethos, their mission, who they've worked with in the past, why you love the brand. I think that's a huge red flag for a brand looking at a message that just looks like hey, I love your products, I want to work with you. Here's how many followers I have.
Speaker 1:Whoa wait, I'm having like not deja vu, but, like I, it's all making sense to me. So Taylor actually reached out to me to be on the podcast and you brought up the fact that you had loved a previous guest and I was like. Oh, she's tapped in and it worked.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it literally worked. Yes, I'm sitting here. That's the thing. Like, when I listened to your podcast, I didn't want to send you a message like hey, I'm going to be in LA, do you want to collab? Because you'd be like okay, but like whatever. Like I wanted to tell you why I love the podcast, why I resonate with you. There's a reason I'm pitching. So, even if you know you're a creator, there's a reason why you're pitching the brand. So just tell them. And if there is no reason you're pitching to the brand besides money, then maybe you need to check check yourself.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what? So? A good pitch includes the people you've seen with it, the arts people you see that you admire, uh, why you align with the brand and as well as their morals. And a bad pitch is probably just a simple dm being like I'd love to collab. Yeah, great, yeah. Do you feel strongly about dms versus?
Speaker 3:email, not particularly, like I've had a lot of great collabs come through DMs. I would say, though, like if you can do both, do both, because like then you just have double the chance of being seen. But also, like sometimes my DMs are just a hot fucking mess and things just get lost in the sauce. So it's not that I don't want to respond or that I don't want to collab with whoever is reaching out, but sometimes I just genuinely don't see it. So I would say, like, do both.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree. I mean, I would agree with that, just from, like an actor standpoint of, and also working in production a little bit as well, is like it takes a couple of times to see a person before they really stand out. If the person's really busy and dated on the go, getting a million DMs and emails, I think it's something like I don't know what the psychological number is. I want to say it's five to seven times it takes for somebody to cross your perspective before you're supposed to notice them. So, like, yeah, I agree. Okay, I would say, though, doing all of this can take a little bit of balls, and you know mindset, and I want to talk about mindset as a content creator, as you know, somebody who works in marketing and is working as a coach, and then also somebody who had a huge life pivot. Like, what is the mindset?
Speaker 1:you need to have to to, like, get out there and be seen. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, I would say, first and foremost, like you got to be comfortable with being seen, so that means you need to love yourself. Like I know this is so deep, but it really does go that deep. Like you need to love yourself. You need to be confident in yourself as a person, outside of being a content creator, a business owner, whatever that second title is. And then, on top of that, you need to understand what you bring to the table and like, genuinely, there is a moment where you might ask yourself, like is my content actually worth paying for? Because if it's not, then maybe I need to practice a little. And that's cool, that's fine, that's why I grab things around your house, practice Right. But like ask yourself do I bring something amazing to the table? If the answer is yes, start to own that. If the answer is no, then practice and that's it.
Speaker 3:But really it is the mindset and having the confidence to like charge what you're worth and also understand that you deserve that because it is really valuable. And I think one thing for me, like just growing up having a lot of money trauma coming from not a lot Like I at first, I was like oh my God, do I really have the audacity to charge for this, or like, oh my God, this feels kind of easy, like should I be getting paid for this? I thought it was like almost wrong, but now I'm very much like, no, I deserve to be paid for this, I'm good at what I do and it also benefits the brand. It's like if you, if you go for it, right, and I just think the more that we as women, as content creators, get paid well for what we do, it paves the way for the next person who wants to do it.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, that's so true.
Speaker 1:I remember, ironically on a podcast I think it was, jackie Schimmel was on who is the host of the Bitch Bible podcast, was on the Skinny Confidential two very big podcasts Love that show and they were talking about the huge Call Her Daddy deal to Spotify and they basically she said the same thing and she's like no, everybody in the podcast community is being like ew, her getting a huge, like millions of dollars, and it's like no, we should be happy for that person in the space because it's changing the space for everybody. So even you, starting with that gifted collab and then getting $50, is well, the next person. Maybe they can start at 50 and they don't have to do the gifted and same for you as well. Absolutely, but it still takes a lot of balls and confidence to like we can sit here on the couch and talk about it, but physically sitting behind there doing it and then negotiating like it does take a lot of strength for you. Where did that come from? Cause I know you pivoted from being a teacher, which is kind of really different.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's extremely different, I would say again, it's just that confidence piece and knowing that I can charge as much. Like I think when I look at the content creators who inspired me, I'm like, okay, they're making bank, okay, they're making big boss moves, okay, they're getting paid, they're getting gifted this why not me? And just knowing that they're not uniquely, I mean, we're all special, but they're not more uniquely special than I am, like they're not, they're also human, you know, they also come from whatever backgrounds they come from. So I think for me it was very much the confidence, but also just practicing, like truly practicing, because there were times in my early career that I did not stand up for myself.
Speaker 3:There were a lot of brand deals that I did for gifted, even just being younger and working like customer service jobs and being a server. There were a lot of times that I did for gifted, even just being younger and working like customer service jobs and being a server. There are a lot of times that I didn't stand up for myself when men were being icky and just things like that. So I think just over time I kind of learned like, okay, no, I need to stand up for myself, and it's not necessarily even like a super assertive, confrontational energy. It's just no like, stand your ground with how much you're worth, um, and ask for that, and then if that brand is not aligned, then the next one will be, and I think that's another thing too.
Speaker 3:When it comes to content, creation is like, don't just settle and don't just say, oh well, this brand, it's the only brand that's willing to gift me this in the last week that I've been pitching, like, no like, stand your ground and really, just really be open to the possibility that another brand will come, even though it feels like you're closing that door, but you're really making space for brands that will pay you, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Did any of this like mindset come from being a teacher and like this ability to really like create a course and share it, like what helped you in that transition, like be able to instruct so well and also just also be like I can fucking leave this career and do something so different?
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay. So this is like super dramatic. We love drama, we love drama, I love drama.
Speaker 3:Yeah we all do so. When I was 22, I was like so anxious, depressed, like I was in such a victim mindset. I hated my life and I actually wanted people to feel bad for me because, like I was working like 60 hours a week trying to pay my tuition, trying to be a server. I also had a family member who wasn't well, so I was taking care of them. It's like a whole thing and I was just very miserable. So, at 22, without having to put a trigger warning, I almost died, like literally.
Speaker 3:There was a moment where if I had gotten to the hospital eight minutes later, like I would not be here. So that was the moment, like once I was conscious again. That was the moment where I was like, whoa, okay, something has to change and it has to start with me and I deserve to be happy. Like nothing else matters, not the money, not my, my freaking degree, like nothing. So that was the moment where that light bulb went off. I was like, okay, I need to change this. So I think, in terms of like kind of having the audacity to make those changes, like I needed a big wake up call. So that was it for me, and then in terms of leaving my teaching career. It was crazy because, like I had gone to school, I had this major in.
Speaker 3:English Worked your ass off because, like I had, gone to school, I had this major in English, worked your ass off, worked my ass off, paid so much money to do this. And I just got to a place where I'm like, okay, I have a great career, I'm being paid well, and now I'm going to tear this shit down and nope, yeah, and on to the next. But I really had no idea. Like back then I knew that I liked content creation. Was it paying my bills? Absolutely not. I was getting some money, but definitely not enough to sustain myself. But I just knew again I'm like, okay, I just deserve to be happy, like there's something else for me.
Speaker 3:And, like you said, I think a lot of my mindset did come from teaching, where I'm like, okay, I have these little humans kind of depending on me to teach them. How old did you teach? So I taught kindergarten and grade eight. Ah, cute, I know, so cute. I like the kindergartens better, yeah, because, like, think of yourself in grade Like I was annoying, yeah, yeah, and fuck that, yeah, fuck that. Love to them, though, but anyway. So, yeah, I just realized like, okay, I want to do something where I can inspire and teach, and maybe the time my boyfriend and I were moving out into our own place. So I moved out jobless and so in Canada I don't know if any of your audience is from Canada.
Speaker 2:Yes, can't be that different.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, whatever so we have something called like unemployment insurance. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, we also have free health care. Shout out to Canada, yeah, shout out. But um, so with that like EI it's called, they pay you, you like 60 of your wages when you're out of a job and you're currently looking.
Speaker 3:So when we moved in, I literally had no job. I was on ei. I was getting like 60 of what I would normally get paid and I just started applying for jobs because, like, okay, there has to be something out there. I didn't even know, like, what I wanted to do career-wise. I was like, let me just get a minimum wage job so I could at least keep a roof over our heads, you know, with my boyfriend. So I ended up working at Orange Theory and when I worked there I just knew I'm like, okay, this is not going to be my forever. But I thought my mindset was like this is what I'm going to do to fund my dreams, until my dreams fund my life, basically. So I did that. And then one day the owner of Orange Theory was like, hey, we know you do content creation. Like, do you know how to do social media management? It's like, yes, I do. I did not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. No, I love a blatant ballsy lie. Yeah, I don't. But I'm not going to tell you that and I'm going to step into it. I'm going to figure it, the fuck out, yeah.
Speaker 3:Just figuring it the fuck out, because my belief was like everything is figureoutable. That was the book I read by marie forleo, like during this time, I love it's so good. If you haven't figureoutable, it's called everything is figureoutable, I love. Okay, yeah, you should definitely read it. Um, so, anyway, that happened on a friday where she asked me over the weekend. So I had 1400 in my bank account and I invested 1100 into a social media manager program. Yep, and I learned how to be a social media manager. Like over the fucking weekend. You did just the whole course, the whole course. You were just like fuck it, yeah, didn't sleep, did the whole course.
Speaker 3:I came up with a like proposal and I asked them, like I pitched. I said will you pay me $800 a month to do this? And I had, like, this whole thing. They're like, yeah, sure. I was like, oh, my God, shit, okay. So I made some of my money back, great, yeah. And now I'm like okay, I can work minimum wage for you know, 40 hours a week, but now I also get $800. Yeah, I remember calling my boyfriend and my parents being like holy shit, I'm about to get paid $800 a month. Like this is crazy. So started doing that, it was great. Their social media started doing really well. And I found out I was like, oh, I actually have a really good like grasp on this, yeah, and it was going perfect. And then COVID hit yes, and they were like just kidding, we can't pay you because we have no members, we can't be open. I was like fuck.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, you grind it in the moment and it paid off, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I was like again, that happened on a Friday where we had like a lockdown, and then over that weekend I was like, okay, if I can pitch this to them and I can do this for them, I could totally do it for other people.
Speaker 3:So I started like cold DMing I guess warm, because I kind of knew the people I was DMing, asking if anyone needed a social media manager. I announced it on social media, just saying, hey, I'm a social media manager now, and by Monday I landed my first client, Damn. So I think, in terms of your question of like what was the mindset and just how did I go about navigating all of that, I think it was very much like I just deserve to be happy and fuck it. Like everything is figureoutable and I always I always to this day have the mindset of like you can perfect it as you go, you don't have to be perfect right when you launch it and also you have to jump before you're ready. Like I very much have a belief, like people always say, I'll believe it when I see it, but for me it's like I'll believe it so that I can see it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's my very long-winded answer to your question.
Speaker 1:I love that. I almost say I'm like I'm pondering it so much, everything is figureoutable but also like, do you ever get like worried?
Speaker 2:Yes, girl, okay, and like what do?
Speaker 1:you do when you get stressed in these moments of like, I, you know, I don't know how the bills are going to get paid, I don't know the next steps. Yeah, like, and you're in the process of get. What did you say I want to? I see it so I can believe it, or I believe it so that I can believe it, or I believe it so that I can see it. Yeah, yeah, you know. I think about you're sitting there practicing filming the products. You're filming a highlighter and it's not there yet. Yeah, how do you push through that? It's not there yet.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, I would say like I always compare this to going to the gym right, it's like okay, if you want to start a fitness routine and you have goals, like the first day you go to the gym, you're not going to leave and be like, oh shit, I look fucking snatched Right, like you're not going to do that. It's going to take time.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, I mean whatever if you're already snatched happy for you, whatever placebo, but like, for the most part, if you go to the gym on the first day, you're not going to leave with like tone, ass biceps, you're not. You have to just believe that over time, if you keep doing it, you keep practicing, you keep showing up for yourself, your body composition is going to change. I think of career and content creation, anything else like that, right, because I feel like working out is the only time where we say like, yeah, I'm going to put in the work and I just believe that it's going to change. But everyone else is like, oh well, once I get hired or once a brand reaches out to me, then I'm legit. Yes, but like you have to think of it like you're going to the gym, you're building a muscle, you're doing something so that you can get yourself to that point. You just have to keep believing in it.
Speaker 1:I love that because I do think that, yes, we look for the external validation to deem us to be in the place that we want to be, but instead of acknowledging the steps and realizing you're already there and then those other things seem to just usually fall in place. It's crazy. So you see a lot of people working in creation. You've worked as a creator yourself, yeah. What are the differences between the people who really make it and the people who don't Like? Is there a drive or a work ethic, or just like? Oh, they just like understand how to make an aesthetic video. What do you see?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think there's so many layers to this one. So I think, like number one, the number one reason why people don't make it is because they give up point blank, period. Um, I think a lot of people they think that if they don't land a brand deal in the first month, or they're not getting a ton of brand deals within you know six months, that like oh, I'm just not good at this, but it's like, no, you just keep going. So I think that's the first thing. A lot of people just straight up give up. I think a lot of people also aren't willing to understand that maybe they're not where they want to be, but, like, how do I work on it? Right?
Speaker 3:So, like, if your content's kind of mid and you're like I see all these content creators doing these cool things, like do your research? Like scroll, tiktok, actually look at and analyze, okay, what makes this video so good? Is it the quality, is it the lighting, is it the jump cuts, is it the music, is it trending? Like, do your research? Like, social media is literally free, so if you can look up, you know what are the trends and also recognize, like, okay, what actually feels aligned for me, because there's a lot of content creators out there who have content that I would never do but I love it for them, you know. And then there's content creators who do stuff that's similar to me and I feel inspired. So owning, like, okay, what is my zone of genius? Maybe you're really fucking funny and maybe you can have like really funny hooks or like do silly things in your videos. Maybe you're a dancer and that's like your vibe. If you don't dance, if you're not funny, don't try to be that Right, you know, like, just don't. Or like if you are kind of sassy and the way that you captivate your audience and your UGC is by saying something like kind of controversial or like out there, do you Right? So so like owning that, but also just like being relentless at, you know, your pursuit of being great.
Speaker 3:Because I think, like again back to the example with the gym like if you kind of half-ass it, if you go twice a week and you're like, okay, I'm just moving my body, I mean no shade to anyone who's doing it just for that reason, like that's cool. But if you're really like, motivated, and you say, okay, I have a body composition goal and I want to, you know, do x, do X, y, z. Like show the fuck up for yourself. You know, like get it, go in there, do the work.
Speaker 3:And I think it's the same with content creation, like do your research, look at the trends, look at what's successful and even, too, if you have like a dream brand that you really want to work with, go and look at what kind of content creators they're posting. Go analyze that content, look at the theme of their page. Like you know, I see a lot of content creators try to pitch to like I don't know, summer Fridays or something, and their content's very like dark and moody. You're not going to get that summer Fridays collab because there's a very bright, airy, like colorful right. So just even looking at all of those things, I forgot what your initial question was.
Speaker 1:No, honestly it answered it Cause I honestly don't remember listening to you so much as well. There's a little bit of resilience in here. There's also in my mind, you know there's quality, there's quantity and then there's kind of like you know the aspect of well, I'm just making videos to make videos, and a little bit of mindset and self-care there. How do you pick the balance of, like, I'm going to get a really beautiful quality video today, versus I'm going to have 10 videos, versus I just need a break today. Like I can't film.
Speaker 1:How do you sift through all that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think honestly, it really depends on the person, but get really good at just listening to yourself. That's the first thing I would say. I'd also say time block. So like I'm sure that most people listening who want to know how to get into this they're also doing other things, maybe they're working, maybe they have their own business, whatever. Like block your time. So what I used to do when I was working at Orange Theory and doing all of this at the same time, even like when I was a teacher and a server and in university, I would pick a day and say, okay, I'm going to batch content on this day, okay, I'm going to do my makeup on this day and like film a few things here. If you're someone like me who has your own business, so for me, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, those are my like meeting slash, podcast recording, slash, like talking days where I'm out in the world or on zoom and you're traveling, and it's a Tuesday and you've still got this down, damn Like okay, good, yeah, I'm pretty like rigid with it, to be honest because,
Speaker 3:I feel like if I, for me personally, how my brain works, is like, okay, if Tuesday, Thursday are my talking days and I know I'm going to be with people, I know I'm going to be on Zoom, that's going to be my mindset all day. Monday, wednesday are my admin like quiet days. So maybe I'll shoot content those days, maybe I'm doing emails, creating I don't know whatever, just quiet work. And then Fridays I usually like to take off, especially in the summer. But if I am working a Friday, then it's going to be another like quiet admin day.
Speaker 3:I think doing it that way is really helpful because your brain is not trying to switch back and forth. I mean, obviously, if you're in university or you're working and you have to do it after work, like you can still time block your day, cause even for me, like I kind of feel like I have three days in one all the time, right. So my morning is always like that's for me, that's when I go to the gym, that's when I do my meditation, my me time, whatever for a few hours. The rest of my day, like the afternoon, until like five ish, that's my business stuff. So I work on my business, I create content, I work with clients, I coach, whatever, and then in the evening, once my boyfriend gets home, that's our time, and I feel like that's a third day within my day.
Speaker 3:So, even if you are working and you're doing multiple things at once, like you can time block that way and say, okay, from this time to this time you know I'm working, and then I'm taking a break, having dinner, dinner and then at least for an hour or two in the evening maybe I'm creating content, or maybe on the weekend I have a couple hours set aside. Um, and I don't think there's a right or wrong way to go about it, it's just it has to feel good to you, because if you are like stressed about it, if you're like, oh shit, I gotta make content, it feels like an obligation, like it's not gonna be fun. And aren't we doing this for fun? Yeah, you know, like we want to make money, obvi, but like you want to have fun when you do it so well and like we can see it when it's not that too.
Speaker 1:You can hella see it. You can see it in yourself and you can see it when you watch people and you're like they don't want to do that. Yes, a thousand percent, it's just not. I love what you're saying about I'm like that sitting here thinking like I can't wait to rework my life by that I mean I'm like, oh, maybe I should do this this this time.
Speaker 1:You're super entrepreneurial, as well as having these amazing mindsets and like understanding of the creator space. Like, what would you say to somebody who wants to get out of a career they're in and shift to being an entrepreneur? Yeah, Okay.
Speaker 3:So I would say, first of all, just know that your idea is not crazy, because I remember when I first was talking about like oh, I want to quit as a teacher, I had some friends and family who were like what the fuck are you talking about? Like you have a safe job, like you get benefits, like what are you doing? You know, but understanding that your vision is there for a reason, like it's on your heart for a reason, otherwise it wouldn't be there, like you're meant to have it. So if you are in a nine to five and you want to leave and you feel like, okay, I don't know if I should do this, just know that that desire is on your heart for a reason. Number one. Number two, though just know, like again back to Marie Forleo, everything is figureoutable.
Speaker 3:So what's the worst that can happen? Right, maybe you leave the job and then this is not working out for you in the way that you thought. So you get another job, you get another part-time where you start serving and you make tips, like whatever, you will figure it out. I know, obviously there's layers to this. Of course there's some people who have families and different obligations, so like sometimes, in those cases I would say, like you know, make it your side hustle then and just commit and say okay, you know what, hi Misty.
Speaker 1:There's a cat here. This is Misty. Hi, misty, she's so cute. She's so cute, she's being bold, she usually doesn't come out.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love that. Okay, sorry, no, that's great, love the kids, but continuing. I think if you do have obligations and you are a little bit more I don't want to say I don't want to, I don't even want to say that word out loud, but like you have a little bit more restriction on what you can do with your time, I would say just choosing, like you make time. So, even if it's just an hour a day, like, move towards that goal always and always ask yourself, with everything that you're doing, is this getting closer? Is this getting me closer to my goals? Right, because even with the job that you have, like maybe there's another job that you can find that has equal or similar pay, but it's more in line with what you like or it's going to help you open doors. Like even with my boyfriend, he just got a promotion at his job, he's now working in like the marketing space there and that's more in line with what he wants to do as an entrepreneur, because he also has a business and yeah, like there's just so many ways that you can get closer to your goal.
Speaker 3:And I also think one more thing I'll say about this is like you don't have to go balls to the wall and quit if that's going to send your nervous system into a fucking fight or flight. Because for someone like me like I'm kind of delulue, obviously, with all these stories I'm giving you I kind of do well when my back is against the wall and I feel pressure, but for some people, like that is not going to serve them. So just understanding where you're at and what makes you feel more motivated Because for me, if I feel a little bit unsafe, I feel like I have more motivation, but for some people that would just shut them down. So all of this to say like really it's about leaning into your intuition and understanding what works well for you and also where you're at in life. Again, if you have more obligations, like you can still move towards it without quitting.
Speaker 1:Tomorrow, again, if you have more obligations, like you can still move towards it without quitting tomorrow. Yeah, no, I agree, I'm someone who is also delusional and I do like to have my back up against the wall, but I'm realizing in this moment my back is super up against the wall.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I need a little less. Yeah, you know it is really listening to yourself, seeing what you can figure out and also what you can sustain, like I cannot sustain this place at all and I think that it takes a lot of honesty, confidence, mindset, but also like passion and want to like stick it out with things.
Speaker 1:Taylor, you are so wonderful. I just really appreciate you telling us all this stuff about you know hustling, but also creation and entrepreneur and mindset Like it's just a wealth of knowledge. And you know, I want to leave us on a final note, like if you were to go back and like redo any of this journey, is there anything you would maybe do different?
Speaker 3:Ooh. Part of me feels like no, because everything that I've done and haven't done has led me to where I'm at now. I guess maybe one thing that I would do different is just trust a little more, Because I think like I would freak out a lot, and, like you know, actually an earlier question that I didn't even answer was do I freak out sometimes? Hell yeah, Even to this day, because entrepreneurship is, like you never actually know for sure where your next paycheck is coming from Inconsistent consistent rollercoaster.
Speaker 3:Yes, and it really is a rollercoaster. And always when you look back in hindsight it's like, oh, I could have chilled out a little bit. But you know, obviously in the moment it just feels like a lot and it is a lot. But I would say like I would work a little bit more on regulating my nervous system, because when you're like acting in an energy of desperation, like oh my god, I need to land this brand deal because I need to pay my bills, or I need to land this client, or I need to make the sale, it's just kind of a desperate, icky energy that I wouldn't operate from again. It's not that you can't make sales that way, it just doesn't feel as good. So that would be like the only thing I would change. But I think like failures are necessary. I think the mental breakdowns are necessary. I think it's all. I think it's all part of the journey. So, yeah, that'd be my answer.
Speaker 1:Taylor, thank you so much. Can you tell everybody where they can find you all the good deets?
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely. So you can find me on Instagram at Taylor Francisco. You can find me on Melrose marketing studiocom. Uh, you can hit me up on Tik TOK. It's at Taylor Francisco, and I also have one with my boyfriend. It's Taylor and Glenn and that's just where I fuck with him all the time and prank him. Super fun over there. It's very different from my other social. So if that's more your vibe, hang out with me there. And if you are looking to become a content creator and you want my guidance, if you want some coaching, dm me on Instagram and let's talk, because you can absolutely do it and I'm here for you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for listening to Confessions of a Wannabe it Girl. Don't forget to rate and subscribe to the show. As always, we'll see you next Tuesday.