Avery Woods (19:12)
Then there's mindset number two and I can confidently say as a nurse I had mindset number two and that is you consume that same social media content. You consume the vlogs of someone in the most incredible house. You are watching A shopping vlog or a luxury haul or someone buying their dream car and you're sitting at your nine to five. Or for me, I was sitting in my 12 and a half hour shift as a nurse and I would consume this content and I would be like, damn, good for them, good for that person. Because I remember, like, I'll give you an example, Michaela Naguero, I remember her when she walked out of her last day at Ulta Beauty and watching this empire that she built and I was like, wow. So she was working a normal job, she had social media and she worked her ass off posting every single day. I could do that. I could do that. And that mindset that I had, which I believe is also almost like a manifestation, I remember I made a commitment to myself around Covid time that I was going to start consistently posting every single day. I knew there was something bigger for me in life. I knew I had it in me. And I knew when I was committed and watching myself grow and my audience enjoying it, I. I knew there was something more for me. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I knew that there was something. And I would watch these people that and I would see their comments. I get those comments now. You're unrelatable. All you care about is materialistic items. I miss when you were this. I miss when you were fat. I miss when you were poor. I miss when you were a nurse. I would see people get those comments and be like, damn, that's so harsh. But like, they did it. They did it. All they did was they were consistent on social media and they drastically changed their life. If they can do it, why can't I do it? And that was what I did. And I think because I had that mindset. Instead of having hatred in my heart, instead of having jealousy, instead of watching people live the life that I wanted to live and saying fudge them because I was jealous. I, I use it as motivation. And now a lot of those people that I watched are personal friends of mine. And I'll tell them, like, you inspired me so much. Like I watched you do what I, what I did. And you did it first. You were the blueprint and that was the stuff that motivated me. Now I will say mindset is very important. But also think long and hard about the content that you're posting. Even now, the videos I'm talking about that are being made about me, you can tell those people do want to build a social media platform. They want views. And a lot of them will use my name to get views because they know it's going to come with a lot of hate, which you know it is what it is. But in the back of your mind, even a little bit, if you are thinking, damn, I'm pissed because I'm jealous and I want to grow on social media. I want to be able to get money so I can purchase my dream home or support my family or buy my dream car. Just have financial freedom. Understand that social media and online is a blueprint of everything you do. And I've learned that the hard way. Trust me, okay? Everything you post, no matter if you delete it or not, there will be a digital footprint and a lot of those people that are making videos that are hating on. And not just me, by the way. I mean, for anyone, if you're making any sort of hate video or even slightly, I don't know, click baity for the person to get hate comments so that you get a lot of views, you need to understand that that will be traced to you forever. It's considered online bullying whether you think it is or not, when you're allowing those comments to just rip people apart. But understand that when you grow on social media, the income is not from the creator fund that is getting these creators a lot of money. It's from brand deals. Brands aren't going to pay a bully. So if you're making these videos about other people or content creators because in the back of your mind you're upset that they're no longer relatable to you anymore, that digital footprint will stay with you. And as you start to grow, if that's what your goal is to grow on social media, brands aren't going to support someone that's ripping another person down. So just be very mindful of how you are going about growing. Because you need to grow on social media from you. You need to grow from whatever content you want to post, whether it's a vlog or a makeup video, a skincare video, a cleaning video, a shopping vlog, whatever the case may be, whatever type of content you want to grow from, make your content about you. So when people see your profile, they see who you are and what you love to share, not you trying to use other people's names to get views because of hate comments. It's really not a good look and it's not going to help you in the end. So just be mindful of the content that you are creating because I do think it's very important to find Your niche. And I will say, don't feel like you have to have tunnel vision. I know a lot of people will say, like, I don't know what content to post. I don't know if I want to do home content or if I want to do beauty content or fashion. You don't need to stay in one lane, I promise you. Like, that's the beauty of social media. You can literally post any, anything you want. I mean, look at mine for example. I'll do a get ready with me. I'll do a morning vlog, an evening vlog, a hair video, a travel vlog, like it literally doesn't matter. I'm what you call, quote, a lifestyle creator. And so I just share things that I love and things that bring me happiness or that I do throughout the day. But share what makes you happy. That's the other thing too is if you are sharing things that aren't authentic to you, that you don't truly enjoy just to film it or to post it, it people will catch on to that, that it's not authentic and you're going to burn out really, really fast. So share things that you genuinely enjoy. Share things that you maybe think you're good at or want to talk about or share about or things that have helped you in life. Whatever the case may be, just make sure that you find joy in it and happiness. Because even though I talk a lot about how social media has affected my mental health and you know, all the opinions that come with it, at the end of the day, I do truly love what I do. Like, I love filming, I love editing. It's so entertaining for me and fun for me and it's something that I find genuine joy in. And I think I also have a different perspective from where I came from as a nurse, that I know what my life could be and so I'll never complain about what I do for a living, I feel so lucky every day. So find something that you find joy in. Post things that you love and that you do throughout the day. My number one advice when it comes to growing on social media is consistency is key. If you post one Tick tock video a month, it's going to be really, really hard to grow and it will affect engagement. When I first started growing on Tik Tok, I was posting three to five videos a day on top of working as a full time registered nurse. I think back to that and I'm like, I don't know how, how do I do that? I literally do not know how I did it. And I remember I would pre film videos before a work day because I knew I would be so busy in my 12 and a half hour day. And I was like, well, I can't film content, I can't edit content. So I would literally create videos on my days off on top of obviously being a mom and having four kids at home. So it was really a lot. But consistency is key. Now. I will say I don't think Tick Tock growth needs to come from that algorithm anymore. I don't think the three to five videos a day is necessary. That's a little bit overkill. But a few years ago that was like how you grew, like if you look, look at like the Addison Rays or the Charlie d', Amelios, they were making like all three to five dancing videos a day. Now, you know, they grew to like 100 million tick tock followers. That was how you grew them. Now it's a little bit different. I do feel like quality of content is more important. So I went down to only posting one video a day. Right now that's what I do. But I also, I feel like I'm in my peaceful era. I post and I log off and, you know, do a lot more behind the scenes than online. But I do feel like quality of content is important and consistency is key. Your audience needs to look forward to what you are going to post or what your content's going to be. And when you build a loyal audience, which I feel like I have and I feel so grateful for it doesn't matter what you post, they just want to hear from you and see what you're doing. And so that consistency is going to build that relationship, which is really, really important. Like I said, the conversation around myself and a lot of other content creators not being relatable, unrelatable, is attainable because a lot of those people that comment that would switch places with us in a heartbeat. And so that's why I want to talk about my journey and how I got to where I am. Because again, when I was a nurse watching people in my position, I'd be like, damn, girl, get your bag. Like, the fact that you did that from a social media app is insane to me. And I was working my ass off as a nurse during COVID bedside 12 and a half hour shifts and I was making like $42 an hour. But I wasn't salty about the people I was watching. No, no, no. That shit motivated me. So going back, I'm going to kind of give you a quick recap about my social Media journey and how I got to where I am so going way, way back around 20 years old when I was in nursing school, and I'm 30 now, so that's 10 years ago. I started posting on Instagram, and my school uniforms were Cherokee Scrubs. Now, Cherokee Scrubs at that time was the biggest scrub brand in the world. And I remember one day I got a DM. Mind you, my Instagram was private, and it had 500 followers, so it was very tiny. Actually, I was very proud of 500 followers. I remember being like, damn, I'm popular. But that was like, when the sepia filter was the. Do you guys remember those days? Ugh, I'm aging myself. Scott's like, I have no idea what you're talking about because he's 12 years old. But I got a DM one day, and it was from Cherokee uniforms. And I remember had the blue check mark, like the Verified account. And I was like, oh, my God, what is this? Like, this is crazy. And it said, we love your nursing context. I was posting a lot of, like, nursing school stuff, study tips, that kind of thing. Like, sharing my nursing school journey because I felt like a lot of people in, like, medical influencing or online that were in the medical field, it was like, a lot of negativity, and medical influencing wasn't a big thing back then. But I also remember shadowing nurses in nursing school, and they all were so miserable. Like, they were not happy with. With their jobs. And I remember a lot of them would say the same thing to me, and it was like, are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure this is the career for you? Like, does this make you second guess what you're doing? And I'm in the trenches of nursing school. Like, what the you talking about? Like, I need motivation right now. So I started sharing my own things on Instagram, and Cherokee found me and said, if we send you free scrubs, will you take photos in them for us? And I was like, free scrubs? Are you kidding me? We were broke as fuck. I was so excited. I was like, absolutely. And they said, okay, one catch. You got to make your your Instagram public. And I was really, really scared because I went to a private school, and they were really strict about social media. We couldn't share where we went to school, we couldn't show our student id, obviously, things like that. And so I didn't want to jeopardize that. And so I thought about it for a long time. I ended up making it public, and Cherokee sent an insane amount of scrubs. And in exchange for free scrubs, which, by the way, I couldn't even wear to nursing school or clinicals because we had a uniform that was like cobalt blue with our school, like, embroidered on it. So I couldn't even wear them anywhere except for photos. But I thought having a scrub collection was just like, so badass. Like, anyone that's a nurse or in the medical field, you know, when you first start wearing scrubs, you literally think it's the. You're like, I am untouchable. I am. I could save a life. I absolutely could not save a life. At that point, I had no idea how to even put an IV in. But that was what kind of forced me to make my Instagram public. And then I remember it just started slowly but surely growing. I remember when I hit a thousand followers and I had the comma in my. Because that was before the Instagram did like a K. You had like a comma. You could see the exact number down to like single digits, how many followers you had. And I remember when I hit a thousand and I was like, oh, my God, look at that. I'm like, if anyone wants my autograph, just let me know. So slowly but surely, I started growing and just kept on keeping on. I graduated nursing school. I started sharing my life as a new grad. I shared how I studied for the nclex. I shared working night shift tips. I shared styling my scrubs, and I was pregnant. I started sharing how to do hairstyles for work because obviously, as a nurse, like, your hair is up the majority of the time. I would share, like, my pumping schedule at work because I had a new baby at home and was working full time night shifts. So I would just share a lot of random things, but it was all regarding nursing. And then when I got hired to the picu, I shared that journey and I slowly but surely started growing. I remember when I got hired to the PICU, I think I had 11,000 followers. And everyone that I worked in the PICU was like, you're famous. 11,000 followers. That's crazy. And that was the time that Cherokee was like, hey, we'll pay you 500amonth if you post three scrub photos a week. So 3, 6, 9, 12. So that's 12 photos a month that I posted of me styling scrubs. And they paid me 500amonth. 500amonth was so much money to us because again, I was a nurse, David was a cop. We were not making an insane amount of money. Like, we finally got to a point. In our lives where we're like, okay, our bills are paid, our account isn't in the red anymore. And like, we started very slowly but surely building a savings account, which we were so grateful for because we had never had that. So $500 a month was a lot. We were like, whoa, this is groceries. Like, and for me, I'm used to working 12 and a half hour days, three photos a week. I'm like, that's nothing. I'm never going to complain. So I was so stoked about that. And that was when I first ever started making money on social media, was that $500 a month. And then I started doing things like linking on Amazon. I started doing things like linking on, like to know it. And Amazon's really cool because Amazon really takes care of their creators. I will say, like, they pay a very high commission. And when I first started linking on Amazon, I think it's the same right now. They pay you in gift cards when you first start growing instead of giving you the actual commission. So I think my first ever payment from Amazon was like a 50 gift card. But $50 at Amazon was a lot of money to us. And I was like, hell yeah. So I would use those gift cards. After I signed up for the creator fund on Amazon, I started linking things. They would pay me in gift cards. Usually it was like 50 bucks a month. And I would order Free people dupes because I couldn't afford free people, but I loved free people. And that was how I started linking on Amazon. And I would take screenshots of the Free people website and be like, I love this but I can't afford it. So I'm buying the dupe on Amazon. And that was how I started growing. It wasn't until like years later that Amazon started paying me like actual cash and not just in gift cards. And I remember that was a really big deal. When I could, like, I got an email that I could set up direct deposit and Amazon was starting to pay me. I was like, oh my gosh. So that's the other thing too that I think people don't understand is when you're a content creator, you have multiple sources of income. So you have your creator fund for views on apps like TikTok and Instagram and YouTube. That's your monetization. And then you have your brand deals. So brands will reach out to you either directly or through your management team, which is how you know once you grow to a certain level, you have a management team and they'll negotiate your rates. That's Like I would say the majority income for content creators, that's the highest income you're going to get is from brand deals. And then you also have affiliate links like Amazon. Amazon pays you a percentage of every sale. And then you also have things like, like to know it and shop my. Where you can link things like clothes or beauty products or things in your house. So I think. And then if you do things on top of that, like for me at the podcast. So the podcast, you have monetization for views and listens, but then you also have brand deals on the podcast as well. So I think in total, I've counted before, I think I have like seven to nine streams of income. It's just like little things here and there, but it really does add up. But that's why people don't understand it really is a very hard working, full time, busy career because you're trying to navigate all these different revenues of income. I'll never forget when I made my first ever sale on like to Know It. I think I've told this story before, but ew, this. Actually, I think I was a new grad nurse. No, I think I was like six months postpartum with Ziggy. And this was when the Gucci shirt was like, so on trend. And it's just like a white shirt that just says Gucci across. I thought that was so cunt. I was like, oh. But you know what? I was, I was the queen of dupes. Still am. And I was online trying to find that. And I bought on etsy for like $9. I think it came literally couldn't look worse. It was the worst quality shirt I've ever seen. All the Gucci letters were like, so faded. And I was like, oh, no, I'm eating this shit up. Literally made David drive me to some apartment complex that had a fountain that I thought was esthetic and made him take a bunch of photos of me in this Gucci shirt that I absolutely destroyed in editing. Like, just turned. This was like when, like the white casting filters were like, so on trend. Do you know, like all those presets that all those like, OG Instagram girls sold for like a million dollars that like make your photo so stark white? I remember I bought one of those preset packages for like 50 bucks. That was a lot of money for me to spend. Okay. And I just cranked that shit up and I was like, gucci dupe. Put it on my stories. Oh, that was your thing too. Sorry, I keep getting distracted. I'm thinking of all these things this was when Instagram, you could not link anything unless you had 10,000 followers. So I remember I hit. I literally remember being at like 8, 500, and I was like, if I hit 10,000, it's gonna change my life. Like, please, I've got to do my Amazon links. Am I like to know it links? And so I hit 10,000 followers. And that was the first thing I ever linked on. Like to know it was the Gucci shirt. Ew, I hate myself. And you know what? I remember I made one sale and. And I got a notification on, like to know it, and it had a dollar sign with a 0.09 on my little bank. I made 9 cents, motherfucker. And I literally ran in the living room to David and I was like, I made a sale. It was 9 cents. I was so proud of that because it was a really big deal. I was like, wow, people are actually influenced by what I'm sharing. And I felt really honored in that. And I also was like, wow, people are spending their hard earned money on things that I'm sharing. Like, I really was touched by that. And I also was like, wait, this could be something. And that was when I really started linking a lot. So fast forward, I have around 11, 000 followers. I'm contracted with Cherokee, making 500amonth. And this was when I first started getting brands reach out to me. So I was getting DMS from brands. They were all pretty much medical. It was like sanitary things or like masks during the pandemic, things like that. And they were like, hey, we'll pay you 200 to post a photo in our mask. Just tag us. And I was like, yeah, you name, tell me when and where. That's three tanks of gas for me. I was stoked. So that's when it really started happening. And then I slowly but surely started growing. When the pandemic hit, that was when Tick Tock really became big. So that was around 2019. And I remember I posted one video of me putting on gloves and I couldn't figure out how to use a Tick Tock app. It was so hard for me. I felt like an old person because when Tick Tock first came out, the editing features were like, not it. And so it took me 40 years to make this one TikTok. And I remember it got over a hundred thousand views and I was like, like, holy. Because it was so easy to grow on Tick Tock then. And then of course, I'm like, doesn't. Doesn't post for four months. Like, come on, Avery. Who know I could be 100 millionaire right now if I kept going. But that was when I was like, oh, obviously it was very trendy on social media to talk about COVID in the pandemic and then being a full time nurse obviously got a lot of traction and views. But I think my insecurities really got the best of me because I thought people only followed me because I was a nurse. And it wasn't until I started posting outside of my nursing career that I really started taking off. But I didn't think that people wanted to see that. I thought that they followed me because of my nursing and not because of anything else. But people started asking me questions like, your skin so clear. What's your skincare routine? And I was like, oh, this is a good opportunity for me to film a video doing my skincare and link the products on Amazon. Genius. So I started doing that and then it was, oh, I love how you did your hair in this video. Can you do a tutorial? So I would do a hair tutorial of how I was doing my hair for work. But then I would link everything I used on Amazon. The hairbrush, the detangler, the hair ties, the headbands, whatever the case may be. And then people were like, I would love to see your routine. Like you're a mom. What's your morning look like before your 12 and a half hour shift? So I would do a morning vlog and show myself waking up at 5am and getting ready for work and getting the kids dropped off and making my coffee and going into work. Then I started doing evening routines of like what I did to unwind from a 12 hour shift. And those videos were what really started taking off. And I was like, oh my God, people are following me for me, not just because I'm a nurse. And that was a really cool moment for me because I was like, I think I felt a little bit constricted, like I couldn't share anything outside of nursing. But once I did, it was really freeing and it gave me an outlet during COVID because working as a health care worker during COVID just was detrimental on everybody. Like anyone that worked in healthcare or as a first responder during COVID has a different perspective of life. That's just the way it is. You know, I talk to people in this industry and they're like, oh yeah, like I couldn't leave my house for two years. Like we did zoom meetings, never went back to the office and I'm like, oh yeah, no, I was nine months pregnant doing chest compressions in my gown. And N95, I had the same N95 for nine months, mind you. It was literally caked in makeup. It was disgusting because we had no supplies left in the hospital. Like, it was just an insane time. And healthcare workers were not being taken care of the way that they should have been. And so by posting on social media, especially outside of nursing, that gave me a creative outlet. It brought me happiness, it brought me joy, it let me disconnect from my everyday as a nurse. Because on your days off, especially during the pandemic, like, you're dreaming event alarms, you're having nightmares, you're waking up in sweats. Like, it consumes your life because you see so much tragedy every day. So social media really was my outlet. And then when I started making money on top of it, I was like, whoa, this could really be something.
