0:00

And instead of feeling pressured to be on a

0:02

platform that you think isn't right for you, go

0:04

where your strengths are because it's hard to create

0:06

content day in and day out every single day

0:08

and to do this as a job or aspire

0:10

to do this as a job. But if you

0:12

find the right platform for you and it's a

0:14

type of content you like to create, if you

0:16

plan to do this long term, that's really important.

0:18

Welcome to the Influencer Podcast. I'm your host, Julie

0:20

Solomon. If you found yourself

0:22

here, it means you are ready to unleash

0:25

the powerful visionary that lives inside you, turning

0:27

you into an authentic leader who creates

0:30

influence, impact and change.

0:33

Let's get started. Hello, my friends,

0:35

and welcome back to another episode of the

0:37

Influencer Podcast. And hasn't it been a fun

0:39

year so far, at least on this podcast.

0:41

We have been coming in hot in 2024

0:44

and thank you for being on the journey

0:46

with us so far. There have been some

0:48

really fun growth changes since we started this

0:50

year, one of which for this podcast has

0:52

been going from one episode a week, which

0:54

we used to just air on Wednesdays, to

0:56

now going to two episodes a week. We

0:58

are now airing Mondays and Wednesdays, bringing you

1:01

some amazing episodes. Now, one of my reasons

1:03

of wanting to go from one episode a

1:05

week to two episodes a week is so

1:07

I could bring you conversations and content that

1:09

really move the needle and I could bring

1:11

more of that to you. I know that

1:13

we now live in this mass consumption phase

1:15

and it can seem a lot, you know,

1:17

at times to know where to turn to

1:19

really get the quality and valuable content that

1:21

you need that's going to help support your

1:23

growth. So I wanted to make sure that

1:25

I was coming in very intentionally with two

1:27

episodes a week to pack that in. And

1:29

one of the beauties of this

1:31

change is that I get to interview

1:33

more people on this podcast. Guest interviews

1:35

are some of my most favorite episodes

1:37

to do. And over the last seven

1:39

years, I have gotten to interview some

1:41

phenomenal people. But I think by far

1:43

my favorite type of person to interview

1:45

on this podcast are brand founders, someone

1:47

that might have gone from just being

1:50

a content creator in the past to

1:52

actually creating their own brand. And that

1:54

is who really today, our guest, she

1:56

embodies that. I think that you're going

1:58

to know who I'm talking to. in

2:00

a moment and if you don't know

2:02

her by name, you're definitely gonna know

2:04

the brand that she co-founded. And what

2:07

I love about this conversation is that

2:09

in the past, influencer brands were not

2:11

as prevalent as they are today. However,

2:13

today's guest and her company really were

2:15

the kickoff to change that. Summer Fridays,

2:17

launched by one of I think the

2:20

original Instagram influencers, Mariana Hewitt, along with

2:22

her co-founder Lauren Ireland in 2018, marked

2:25

a significant milestone. Being the

2:27

first influencer brand available at

2:29

Sephora, Summer Fridays gained rapid

2:31

popularity, especially with its cult jet lag

2:33

mask. Now cut to today, the brand

2:36

has expanded its offerings to include a

2:38

full lineup of skincare and makeup products.

2:40

In today's episode of the influencer podcast,

2:43

Mariana is here to share her insights

2:45

into her career and the influencer role

2:47

that Instagram has played, a platform that

2:50

she embraced after initially starting her journey

2:52

on YouTube. Today we dive into a

2:54

lot. We talk about strategies for achieving

2:57

virality on social media, the importance of

2:59

collaborations, connection and building relationships, and also

3:01

her perspective on the most effective social

3:03

platforms to drive sales. She comes with

3:05

a wealth of knowledge and she does

3:07

not hold back, which I love, and

3:09

she shares a lot on today's episode.

3:11

So I'm so excited to dive into

3:13

one of my favorite content creators and

3:15

one of my favorite brands, Summer Fridays.

3:18

So with that, my friends, let's get

3:20

started. Hi, Mariana. It's so great

3:22

to have you here with us. Thanks for having

3:24

me. This is going to be a fun conversation

3:26

for those that are listening that may not know

3:28

who you are. I moved to LA in 2013

3:30

and I feel like Los Angeles

3:32

really is the Mecca for influencer

3:34

marketing. Back then we called it

3:36

blogging and YouTubeing, but what

3:38

we really know of it to be today in

3:41

that creator economy. And I feel like so many

3:43

people were starting at that time back then. So

3:45

I feel like I have known you

3:47

and who you are and have followed your

3:49

evolution for so long. And I know that

3:51

so many listening have, but just a quick

3:53

little recap about how you got into the

3:55

space of not only being a content creator,

3:57

but a brand founder as well. where

4:00

that kind of started for you probably over a decade

4:02

ago by this point. Yeah, it's been a long time.

4:04

In 2012, I started on the internet, which

4:08

is a bit of a long time ago

4:10

now. And at that point, you were either

4:12

a blogger or you were a YouTuber and

4:14

Instagram did not even exist yet. So this

4:16

is how long ago it was. And it

4:18

was very early days. And at this point,

4:20

you didn't really know that you could be

4:22

an influencer as a career. The

4:25

years that I had and the other people I knew

4:27

that were creating content, it was just the pure love

4:29

of, I love this topic, and

4:31

there's a platform for me to share it.

4:33

And I just want to post the stuff

4:35

that I love online in addition to the

4:37

job that I have. So at that time

4:40

we didn't go into it thinking it was

4:42

going to be this lucrative career and we

4:44

could have these big dreams and jobs. It

4:46

really was the pure love of creating content.

4:48

Video content and photos on blogs were very

4:50

different back in the day. It was very

4:53

polished. You needed to invest in a camera.

4:55

You needed a photographer. Everything was done to

4:57

perfection and content was really glossy and pretty.

4:59

And then Instagram came around and it was

5:01

really a platform, not as a primary platform like

5:03

it is today for so many creators or the

5:05

only platform. It was really a place where you

5:07

could post your content to push to your other

5:10

platforms. So it was really secondary for me, for

5:12

my YouTube and my blog. So when I would

5:14

have a new blog post, I would then post

5:16

a screenshot and post it on Instagram and direct

5:18

people to my blog. I would direct people to

5:20

my YouTube channel. But then around 2013, 2014

5:24

Instagram started to pick up more traffic for

5:26

me and I started to gain more followers

5:28

on that platform. And I was starting to get

5:31

some influencer type jobs where people would send me free

5:33

product or I would get really small jobs. And I

5:35

was like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe this. In

5:37

addition to my job that I have during the week,

5:39

like I can make this extra income on the side.

5:41

I can get free product from brands that I love.

5:43

Like this is amazing. And by 2014, it

5:46

was something that I was able to do full time and

5:48

it was very early, but at that point I had been

5:50

doing it for two years. It was just

5:52

such early days that there weren't a lot

5:54

of people doing it full time yet. Brands

5:56

were not fully dedicating. They barely were gifting

5:58

people, let alone having influence. The marketing departments

6:00

and by just they do today. And so

6:02

yes, there were less people in the states

6:04

that wasn't as competitive, but there was awful

6:06

lot less opportunities and they weren't people to

6:08

follow their path to look up to to

6:10

see like, okay, who's done this before me,

6:12

what kind of career path don't wanna follow?

6:15

Like where do we think this is going?

6:17

So we were all kind of learning as

6:19

he went and now here we are ten

6:21

years later. What if I told you that

6:23

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8:33

what I love about this because I think that

8:35

there's so much to share here and just how

8:37

to navigate the process. and I know that so

8:39

many people that are listening, they're gonna see someone

8:41

like you and they're gonna say well, you know

8:43

she's had ten years of growth in of experience

8:46

and learning and she got in so early and

8:48

she did this and she did that. but there

8:50

had to be very intentional indistinct choices that you

8:52

had to make a longer path to get you

8:54

were to where you are today. And a big

8:56

question the I hear from from a lot of

8:59

our listeners is this. This idea. if I'm

9:01

starting today. Like how do I know where

9:03

to go? Should I go on Tic Toc?

9:05

Should I go on Instagram? Should I start

9:07

a blog or be on you tube? Like

9:09

what is the best next step to take

9:11

an I really don't think there's a direct

9:13

answer for that. My question for you is

9:15

how did you allow what was revealed to

9:17

you as you just kept showing up and

9:19

growing? Dictate those choices that you made of

9:21

you know where you're gonna be, where you're

9:23

going. Investor Content time, years, strategic time. How

9:25

was that process and that navigation for you

9:28

Back then the navigation? For me, it was.

9:30

Really easy. So at the time it was

9:32

like these two groups you're either a beauty

9:34

you tube or are you were a fashion

9:36

blogger and it was very like separated like

9:38

the girls who did fashioned just it fashion

9:40

the people that of beauty just a duty

9:42

and rarely did those two worlds ever mix

9:44

and I remember I always loved both and

9:46

I thought well why can't I have a

9:48

blog that focuses on fashion and a youtube

9:50

channel cause video really does best for beauty

9:52

and I have beauty here at why do

9:55

I have to be one or the other

9:57

and I went to a fashion event it

9:59

was very early. In my career and I didn't

10:01

know a lot of people yet them it is very

10:03

few creators and I sat there and I was sitting

10:05

next to the diner of the brand and there was

10:07

a girl sitting cross means you like oh what do

10:09

you do and I was a boy of a you

10:12

tube channel on a post like make It videos and

10:14

I have a fashion blogger do that oh and it

10:16

was the second I told her I had a you

10:18

Tube channel and I did beauty she dismissed mean and

10:20

the rest of this like meal that I was out

10:22

for the fashion brand except for the founder who was

10:24

so nice that designer I couldn't get ignored by everybody

10:27

else city at the table and I was like oh

10:29

this is so weird. I never why did why do

10:31

you have to be one thing or the other?

10:33

And so for me, even though it wasn't the

10:35

cool thing to do to do both, I always

10:37

loved that these are things that I like. I

10:39

have different passions and my content and so had

10:41

I felt pressured or felt bad that I was

10:43

supposed to be one thing or another, maybe I

10:45

wouldn't be here today because I would have felt

10:47

like I had to be one thing at the

10:50

time. It's really different than today because today we

10:52

see people are on a lot of different platforms

10:54

a create a lot of different type of content,

10:56

but that back then it was like if you're

10:58

creating all this content for the blog, you really

11:00

didn't have the capacity to also create Youtube content

11:02

or vice versa. And so it really was kind

11:04

of double the work for me at the beginning.

11:06

but it gave me a really unique point of

11:08

view for working with brands because if they wanted

11:10

video content, I had the abney for them. if

11:12

they want a blog content with photo the had

11:14

that as well and so for me it really

11:16

was an advantage of kind of diversifying my content

11:18

and nothing being so reliant on one type of

11:20

platform and obviously a pupils from we've known that

11:22

that is more important for us to have different

11:24

types of content. You talk about people starting today

11:27

and how do you know which rick platform is

11:29

the right for you and. have a friend she

11:31

creates amazing content is that on instagram for a

11:33

long time she doesn't like taking video contagious know

11:35

who she is she doesn't like talking her stories

11:37

that's just not what she does and her team

11:40

keeps pressuring her to be a ticket and it's

11:42

not a platform for her she doesn't like videos

11:44

she doesn't like it and it's not for her

11:46

and instead of feeling pressure to be on a

11:48

platform that you think isn't right for you go

11:50

your strengths are because it's hard to create content

11:53

day in day out every single day and to

11:55

do this as a job or aspire to do

11:57

this as a job but if you find the

11:59

right platform for you and it's a type of

12:01

kind that you like to create. If you plan

12:03

to do this long term, that's really important. So

12:06

if you're a writer, maybe Substack is the best

12:08

platform for you. If you love to create video

12:10

content, then Instagram and Pinterest might be the best

12:12

avenue for you. If you love video, then okay,

12:14

TikTok and YouTube are your best platforms. But go

12:16

in that area where you genuinely love to create

12:19

that because you will be hopefully creating this type

12:21

of content for so many years and you need

12:23

to actually enjoy it and not dread it. Oh,

12:25

that's such great takeaway and feedback and something that

12:27

you were kind of, when you were sharing and

12:30

the thing that kind of kept popping up

12:32

to my head was really about the vitalness

12:34

necessity that it takes to be disciplined and

12:36

structured as you're navigating this path. Whether it's

12:39

TikTok today or YouTube or Substack, whatever it

12:41

is, it does take a level of structure

12:43

and discipline. So I would love to know

12:45

when you first started coming in and as

12:47

you were growing, did you always, even when

12:50

it wasn't maybe a full-time gig yet for

12:52

you, did you always have the mindset of

12:54

this isn't a hobby, this is actually something

12:56

that I want sustainability in or not? Was

12:59

it always that mindset or was there a

13:01

transition that needed to happen for you to

13:03

start really practicing the discipline and the focus

13:05

that it takes to really treat this as

13:07

a business that is sustainable and not just

13:09

something cute that we're doing online? So when

13:11

I started, we didn't know that you could

13:13

make really like the money that people make

13:15

today. So I went into it thinking that

13:17

it was fun, but I always treated it

13:19

like a job. So when I start anything,

13:21

I really have to say like, is this

13:23

worth my time? Is there something that I'm

13:25

getting out of this? Like I was working

13:27

as a TV host at the time and

13:29

I was creating content. So for me, it kind

13:31

of was like secondary, like, okay, I'm going to

13:33

build my personal brand. I can use these video

13:35

clips from my YouTube for a reel that I'm

13:38

pitching to hopefully get a job. So because I

13:40

also had that background of fashion and beauty news

13:42

and the TV work that I was doing, I

13:44

always thought of it as like content that I'm

13:46

producing for people, like what's the title? Like what

13:48

are people interested in? And so I always had

13:50

that business mindset with my content. I just didn't

13:53

know that there was going to be a monetary

13:55

aspect to it yet. Now, when

13:57

I start something new, I do have to think about

13:59

the monetary aspect. That as far that comes like

14:01

my content and my creation and like what

14:03

I choose to work on in my work.

14:06

I. Think there's a misconception may be going

14:08

into being an influencer that all this and

14:10

you're gonna start getting sponsored stuff and even

14:12

the people that are working getting sponsor jobs

14:14

all the time and they have a lot

14:16

of brand partners. It's not like you have

14:19

something sponsored every single day, but your community

14:21

wants you to show up with engaging, helpful,

14:23

been entertaining educational content every day. so you

14:25

may post ten days in a row and

14:28

that is all content that your cream for

14:30

free for your audience out of the pure

14:32

love of wanting them to enjoy from you

14:34

and then your post one sponsored. Thing but

14:36

the sponsor things are far and few between and

14:38

really help support you in the non sponsor days.

14:41

but that's why I think it's so important to

14:43

figure out the right platform for you and content.

14:45

Really make sure this is a a job that

14:47

you want because there are many many days and

14:49

months ago by were some Pendulum is a little

14:51

bit slower, isn't as many incoming jobs and there's

14:54

so much of this in our industry, the thought

14:56

of our control oh that's so good and he

14:58

also went to this idea that I think a

15:00

lot of people that are getting started today though

15:02

have dismissed misconception that it was easier may be

15:04

back then to build an audience. Or to

15:06

work with brands or whatever it is that

15:09

they kind of make up in and tell

15:11

themselves because as we all know, it's challenging

15:13

and difficult no matter when you get started.

15:15

But how do you think creators today may

15:17

actually have an easier to build an audience

15:19

or to work with brand vs when you

15:21

were just getting started? Tic Toc has been

15:24

amazing for new creators. Like there are so

15:26

many new fried or that are, they're all

15:28

the time. And because the ability to go

15:30

viral on the platform, you don't necessarily have

15:32

to have the most amount of followers to

15:34

be a successful influencer. So back in

15:36

the day, Yes, sure, there was less people. People.

15:39

Were growing faster, but not really like

15:41

today. Like bear somebody who could grow

15:43

on tic Toc and get a million

15:45

followers in a pretty short amount of

15:47

time. And even as agreed on Instagram,

15:49

it was seeking years to reach that

15:51

first million and so. I. Don't million

15:53

sounds like a big number, but just how

15:56

fast that happened been tic toc now is

15:58

really incredible and I really love. About

16:00

a cock is that it features so many new

16:02

creators and you know, living in Los Angeles it

16:04

used to be like if you wanted to be

16:06

a creator implants are you had to live in

16:09

a major city. Know you can live in any

16:11

city. The so many people and creators that I

16:13

find and I follow all the time on Tic

16:15

Toc that live all over the world. They live

16:17

in different places, they don't have to be in

16:20

a major city, they are building and mazin communities

16:22

online. They are growing so fast and adding that

16:24

was really great about the Tic Tac platform. it's

16:26

just about picking their followers from Tic Toc and

16:29

now getting them over to Instagram. Or other platforms

16:31

for that. You can really build more of an

16:33

engaged community where I'd like to talk, even grow

16:35

really fast, but the community just feels a little

16:37

bit different than I would agree with that. and

16:39

I do. I think that it is missing at

16:41

least for now. I don't know if maybe it

16:43

just needs more time or maybe they'll our algorithm

16:45

would change or maybe that's just the intention of

16:47

Tic Toc, but it's not really there to build

16:49

that longer term engagement. It's more about the content

16:51

in the via by reality of a content and

16:53

set of like the creator behind it elicits kind

16:55

of what I've seen he had because I think

16:58

on Tic Toc, I'm being said videos by people.

17:00

And choosing to follow and I'm not using to

17:02

follow So on Instagram I kind of have to

17:04

choose to like hit the follow button and then

17:06

I'll remember your name or I'm choosing to have

17:08

you shop at high speeds. were and tic toc

17:11

I might see somebody videos over and over again.

17:13

I haven't followed them yet so the written name

17:15

recognition isn't there for me so I think it's

17:17

a little bit more difficult for personal branding. on

17:20

to talk for his Instagram and so that I

17:22

think it's important to kind of a verse defy

17:24

the platform not relying on being under for you

17:26

page. Get those followers over to another platform where

17:28

you can like curated, have. them be like

17:30

a little bit more involved with you and

17:33

i think something you just mentioned about the

17:35

personal branding piece is is a big key

17:37

here and really what i want to talk

17:39

about is leveraging the personal brand you spent

17:42

years on instagram will you to first and

17:44

then on instagram really building and cultivating he

17:46

what your personal brand is and i know

17:48

that there was a time that came when

17:51

you made the conscious decision along with flooring

17:53

your cofounder to actually create your own products

17:55

and you wanted to go from not only

17:57

just being your own personal brand and content

18:00

creator, but a brand founder yourself. I

18:02

remember even back then just thinking how

18:04

important and vital it was that if

18:06

for certain creators, if you feel that

18:08

pull and that passion for it, the

18:10

importance of really stepping into creating something

18:12

that is truly your own, you know,

18:14

not only does it help with diversifying

18:16

revenue streams, there's so many different avenues

18:18

of the benefits of creating your own

18:20

product service that goes outside of just

18:22

content creation. And so I would love

18:25

to hear what that journey was like

18:27

for you when you decided to create

18:29

your own products, which then, as we all

18:31

know, became Summer Fridays that went, you know, I

18:33

say outside of your personal brand, even though I

18:35

know that that is a part of it. But

18:37

how is that journey like for you? How do

18:39

you see the idea of you as a content

18:41

creator, or you as a personal brand being separate

18:43

from Summer Fridays and also being in congruence with

18:46

it? So back in 2016, Lauren, my co founder

18:48

and I had come up with this idea for

18:50

a skincare brand. And

18:52

being creators, we really understood social

18:54

media marketing, how to sell a

18:57

product, photograph and this is all

18:59

before Instagram stories had existed. So

19:01

we really understood, okay, if you want to stop

19:03

your scroll, like what is really going to stop

19:06

you in your tracks? And so we thought about

19:08

the branding, the color, the packaging, and not only

19:10

that, but we really understood efficacy of products. So

19:12

being on the receiving end of trying products for

19:14

so many years, maybe we were disappointed sometimes by

19:16

what we were trying. And so we thought, okay,

19:18

if you try this for the first time, it

19:20

really needs to deliver on the results. And what

19:23

are our own pain points of things? And so

19:25

Lauren was a new mom at the time, and

19:27

I was traveling all over the world. And we

19:29

both had this exhausted jet lag, tired feeling. And

19:31

a lot of times I would take a red eye

19:33

for work, I would land my skin would look exhausted.

19:35

And I need to look less tired than I felt,

19:38

because a lot of times that I did have to

19:40

go to a job and shoot content or go to

19:42

a show or something. And so we finally landed on

19:44

the formula for jet lag mask. And thinking about our

19:46

brand name Summer Fridays, and being creators, it could have

19:49

been easy to name our brand after ourselves. But we

19:51

knew the longevity of the brand we wanted to create,

19:53

we wanted it to live beyond us. And so we

19:55

named it Summer Fridays, because it really felt like a

19:57

feeling. It's more of a thing on the east. coast,

20:00

they have summer Fridays hours where you get a

20:02

day off on Fridays and the summers are a

20:04

half day and it's like looking forward to this

20:06

feeling of taking a little bit of time off

20:08

of yourself. A warm sunny

20:10

day where you get to enjoy the things

20:12

that you love most in life. And so

20:14

we took that idea, we bottled it up

20:16

and we launched the brand in 2018 so

20:19

it's coming up on six years. And our

20:21

personal brand supported summer Fridays at the beginning

20:23

because obviously we had more followers at the

20:25

time than the brand. We were able to

20:27

support and push it but we never wanted

20:29

the brand to be reliant on us. And

20:31

so we were always there to support it

20:33

but if you look at the feed you

20:35

will very rarely see us in the Instagram

20:37

feed. It's really about the community and the

20:39

customer and it's really about the people beyond

20:41

the two of us. So we're there to support the

20:43

brand and then obviously we work on the company behind

20:45

the scenes but it really is for our community and

20:47

we really want to feature them in our content and

20:49

everything that we do. We really thought about this long

20:52

term because you never want it to be so reliant

20:54

on a founder that you you know

20:56

we're influencers and creators now but what if

20:58

as we get older our customer doesn't really

21:00

care that we were influencers back in the

21:02

early you know 2010.

21:05

So we always like to think about that long

21:07

term and our customer has you know evolved and

21:09

grown and we've gotten so many new customers into

21:11

the brand and community to the brand who are younger

21:13

than us who maybe don't even know that we're

21:16

the founders behind the company. And so that's

21:18

been really interesting but it's always been something that we

21:20

were really mindful of. And then now even on my

21:22

own personal brand there's so much that I do and

21:25

there's not a ton of Summer Fridays on my page.

21:27

I'm definitely supporting and sharing there's so many moments that

21:29

I'm proud of but there's also still so many other

21:32

aspects of my personal brand and who I am and

21:34

the content that I want to share because people

21:36

followed me before Summer Fridays and what I don't want

21:38

to do is just push Summer Fridays all the time

21:41

and not give them the content that they

21:43

were there for before I had a company.

21:45

That's so so good. So I have to dive

21:48

in. I know my listeners so well and I

21:50

know what they're thinking right now. They're like okay

21:52

we think of Summer Fridays and it's like you

21:54

know we see them all over the end caps

21:56

of Sephora and we see this beautiful gorgeous brand

21:59

and the aesthetics and the team and just all

22:01

of the incredible things that went from this inception,

22:03

this idea to being this incredible brand and company

22:05

that is today. But what did

22:07

those initial years look like? And how

22:10

did that really work to go from

22:12

ideation to then getting into the stores

22:15

of Sephora and being able to actually take an idea

22:17

and then hold it in your hand? I think ignorance

22:19

is bliss a little bit. Had we known all of

22:21

the steps that it would have taken and all the

22:23

things that we would have had to do in time

22:25

to get the business to where it is, it would

22:27

have seemed so overwhelming. So when you're starting anything, don't

22:30

think like, it's great to have these big goals

22:32

of where you want to be in time, but

22:34

that can sometimes hinder you and make you feel

22:36

a little bit fearful and like, oh, I'm so

22:38

nervous to start because this seems so daunting and

22:40

huge. So for us, it was really about starting

22:42

one step at a time and then one tiny

22:44

step leads to something else. And so it was

22:47

a lot of Googling and cold calling places and

22:49

finding manufacturers and finding somebody that would eventually give

22:51

us a chance. And then that first person connected

22:53

us to somebody else who said, do you have

22:55

somebody that does this? And we're like, we didn't

22:58

even know we needed that. So one

23:00

person can end up being such a great resource to

23:02

lead you to the next step. But it was always

23:04

our dream and goal to launch at Sephora one day.

23:07

And me, as many creators do,

23:09

we use affiliate platforms. And at the time,

23:11

my primary platform was reward style, which is

23:13

now like to know it. And I'm sure

23:15

so many listeners here on that too, there's

23:17

other great platforms now like Shop My and

23:20

all these other places where you can link

23:22

things. But those affiliate platforms are telling you

23:24

something. It's telling you where your community is

23:26

shopping. It's telling you price points that they

23:28

like. It's telling you their favorite products. And

23:31

so what we did was we took that information and we

23:33

said, okay, I kind of see where

23:36

people are shimping. I see that they like Sephora.

23:38

They like things around this price point. And

23:40

from being creators for so many years, we understood

23:42

that they really cared about vegan and cruelty free,

23:44

which were the things that we cared about as

23:46

well. And so we thought, okay, we have all

23:48

of this information and data, let's stream up our

23:51

dream brand. And then we started creating those things.

23:53

And then to my

23:55

fellow creators and entrepreneurs out there, if

23:57

you're anything like me, you know, the

23:59

grind. of building your brand, the late

24:01

night crafting content, all the time trying

24:03

to figure out the tech and the

24:05

systems and the processes, the passion poured

24:07

into every project, but here's the thing.

24:09

You deserve more than just the applause,

24:12

the likes and the follows. You deserve

24:14

all the benefits, especially the

24:16

revenue. And that is why I

24:18

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24:22

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24:25

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24:27

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24:29

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24:31

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I am all about habits and routines and

25:44

goals for the new year. Let's talk about

25:46

healthy eating. Now, obviously this is a hot

25:48

topic for so many of us right now,

25:50

because I know that so many people are

25:52

looking to revamp their eating habits in the

25:54

new year. But I think so often we

25:57

fall short because of a few things. One,

25:59

it can be. really time consuming to cook

26:01

fresh meals every day, especially as a parent.

26:03

Two, it can be time consuming and difficult

26:05

to prepare and go to the grocery store

26:07

and just have all the ingredients that we

26:09

need for the week. And so if you're

26:11

anything like me, what tends to happen is

26:13

that we fall back on old habits of

26:15

just ordering out all of our meals or

26:17

snacking around meals or just grabbing whatever we

26:19

find in the pantry and not really giving

26:21

our bodies the nourishment that we need. That's

26:24

A really simple solution that I have found

26:26

for the new year is HelloFresh. Whether you

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26:31

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27:00

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27:08

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27:10

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27:14

made a really good chicken dish the

27:16

other night and they also have some

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27:20

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27:22

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27:26

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27:28

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27:51

getting that protein fix in the

27:53

morning. And the fact that I

27:55

just don't have to think about

27:57

it just made HelloFresh a no

27:59

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28:01

that means you will enjoy a

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28:05

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so they know that I sent you. their

30:00

product pages so when you would swipe through you

30:02

would see maybe a video of me applying an

30:04

Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation and that would be

30:06

the product video on their page because

30:08

they wanted creator videos on there and so I

30:11

had an existing relationship with them and it was

30:13

our dream but we didn't know if they would

30:15

launch us or not and we knew there were

30:17

certain things that Sephora likes so we had our

30:19

product that was a tube but to sell it

30:21

to Sephora you had to be in a box

30:23

and so we thought okay we have to design

30:25

a box and put our mask in a box

30:27

just in case Sephora says yes so it was

30:29

like getting these little things in place for just

30:31

in case and then it's like the Jenna is

30:33

the best person ever and she had made an

30:35

intro from us to Sephora and an intro is

30:37

not a guaranteed yes it doesn't mean anything it just

30:39

helps you get your foot in the door and she

30:41

had helped us because Way had been at Sephora

30:44

for two years at that point and we

30:46

had a call with them and

30:48

they loved what we were doing it fit into some

30:50

programs that they were working on in the future and

30:52

then nothing happened and so we

30:54

just kind of kept following up with them like every

30:56

few months and and then there was like they weren't

30:59

really acting on it nothing really was happening and then

31:01

finally we just were like we'd love to come to

31:03

San Francisco we kind of invited ourselves there and they

31:05

didn't ask us to come and they're like okay we

31:07

have this day at this time we're like great like we

31:09

didn't even try to move the date or time we just

31:11

did it and we showed up we pitched the brand and

31:13

they told us yes and we launched

31:16

the brand with one product and now

31:18

a lot of times you see brands doing

31:20

that but back then there weren't as many

31:22

doing it and the reason why is because

31:24

it's high-risk high-reward when you launch a brand

31:26

with one product it's great

31:28

for our retail like Sephora because they're only buying into

31:31

one product so it's not a lot of shelf space

31:33

they don't have to buy a lot of inventory if

31:35

it doesn't work out it's not a huge investment on

31:37

their end for the brand side it's great because you're

31:39

only producing one item you don't have to do a

31:41

lot of things it's a little bit

31:44

easier on the production end but if it doesn't sell

31:46

and doesn't go great then you only have one product

31:48

and what are you going to do until the next

31:50

one comes or maybe the business doesn't even make it

31:52

to the next product and so we had to feel

31:54

really confident and secure in the product that we launched

31:56

the brand with which you know now is still a

31:58

best-seller for us six years later and So we felt

32:00

really good about it, but you never really know until

32:02

the brand launches. And then we launched in 2018. It

32:06

went viral, which is a little bit different than

32:08

viral today and sold out a few times and

32:10

kept selling out. And then, um, we

32:12

launched in all stores with them later that year.

32:15

And they've been such an incredible partner and just

32:17

a dream place for us to be. Oh, what

32:19

a great story. Thank you so much for sharing

32:21

that and doing it just so real and beautifully.

32:24

And there's a couple of things that you were saying in

32:26

there that I think is so important for our listeners to

32:28

take away. The first thing is the data, the fact

32:30

that you did have years of data from

32:32

like to know it and the affiliate marketplaces

32:34

and things like that, where you could pull

32:37

to get really minute and streamlined into who

32:39

is in my world and what, what are

32:41

they coming to me for and what are

32:43

they like buying from me? What are they

32:45

like consuming in terms of my content? You

32:47

know, how am I really showing up and

32:49

helping make their lives easier or making their

32:51

shopping experience easier? And I think that that's

32:53

a big thing that for our listeners to

32:56

remember that no matter where you're starting, even

32:58

if you're starting literally today, you have data

33:01

and especially now, I mean, more so than

33:03

even five, six, seven years ago, there wasn't

33:05

the kind of data with, you know, even

33:07

Instagram insights that we have today. So I

33:09

think that's a huge takeaway that you shared.

33:11

And the other one that you were talking

33:13

about really is your relationships and your network

33:15

and how much that has been such a

33:17

huge asset and, and, and how you've grown.

33:19

I would love to hear a little bit

33:21

more about the importance of building relationships and

33:23

how that has really allowed you to not

33:25

only cultivate and build the business you have

33:27

today, but also the personal brand that you

33:29

have today. Relationships are

33:31

really so important in

33:33

influencer marketing in general.

33:37

Something that I talk about a lot of times to

33:39

my friends that are influencers that have even been doing

33:41

this for a long time. You know, you go to

33:43

an event and you're really excited and you're, you just

33:45

go there, you take a picture, whatever. But like when you're

33:47

going to an event, I say like, who invited you? Like,

33:49

what was the email address that invited you? Who is

33:51

the person that had you come or who is the

33:53

person that you've worked before with the brand? Who is

33:55

the founder there? Like, who is the PR? And so

33:57

when I go to an event, yes, I want to

33:59

see. my friends, I want to take content, but I'm

34:01

making sure I say hello to the person that invited

34:03

me. I'm making sure, okay, the publicist is there from

34:05

the brand, let me go say hello and chat with

34:07

them for a little bit. And really building relationships with

34:09

these people is really important because if they're taking the

34:11

time to invite you or give you a paid opportunity or

34:14

maybe the PR works across other brands and you want more

34:16

opportunities, it's important that they know that you showed up and

34:18

that you make face time with them. And so that's

34:20

something that I always try to do and it's really important

34:22

for other creators to do as well. And I noticed it,

34:25

like when we have events, like people will make sure

34:27

they come up to me and say hello and I'm like,

34:29

okay, great, like I remember that they were there or

34:31

they spent time with someone on our influencer team

34:33

or press team. And so those face to face

34:35

relationships are important because not everybody stays at the

34:38

same company forever. So maybe that person then bounces

34:40

to another company and then they take their Rolodex

34:42

of creators that they worked with previously and they

34:44

work with them at the next brand or that

34:46

PR that's working on this brand. Maybe they're doing

34:49

another event too for another company you like. And

34:51

so because there are so many creators now, it's

34:53

really important to build personal relationships with people so

34:55

that they think of you for different opportunities or

34:57

interviews or press or events or paid things. And

35:00

so that part is so important. And then doing that

35:02

over time. And it's not, it shouldn't feel transactional. Like

35:04

you should feel like these are friends and peers in

35:06

my industry. I genuinely want to get to know them

35:08

and I'm genuinely interested in their life. And I do

35:10

want to know, like, what are you up to? What

35:13

are you working on? How can I support you? Is

35:15

there a product launch that you're working on right now?

35:17

Because you want to help them and they want to

35:19

help you as well. And so I think that that's

35:21

really important. And it's something that I think I'm really

35:24

good at and that I've maintained over time. And there's

35:26

a lot of different people that I end up doing

35:28

that with in all the different buckets of my

35:30

career that I have. So let's say you get an

35:32

event invite from somebody and you see that their email

35:34

address is like Amy at whatever brand.com. When you get

35:36

to the event, just be like, Hey, is Amy here?

35:38

Someone's like, Oh yeah, she's over here. And then you

35:41

can go up, Hey, Amy, I saw you invited me.

35:43

I just want to say thank you so much. I'm

35:45

Mariana. It's so nice to meet you. Okay, great. Now

35:47

she's put a face to a name. She's met you

35:49

in person. You know what she looks like. And then

35:51

you can keep in contact with her over time. And

35:53

then people, we all, you know, rise together as an

35:55

industry and you never know what one person is going

35:57

to end up at what job and what.

35:59

that might lead to even five or 10 years

36:02

down the road. And I think this is so

36:04

important because even though it may sound like, well,

36:06

of course, so many people don't do this. I

36:09

know so many people that go to events and

36:12

do things and they don't take the time to

36:14

connect with the people that matter most. They don't

36:16

take the time to put a face with the

36:18

name or they'll use excuses like, I'm an introvert

36:21

or I'm not good at building relationships or I

36:23

don't have a network or whatever it is. But

36:25

like you just said, I mean, we're all coming

36:27

from some industry, from some niche, from some network

36:29

of people. And if we truly care about building

36:32

relationships with people, it's not about this being this

36:34

transactional thing of what can you do for me?

36:36

It's really about putting people first and building those

36:38

relationships. And so just a reminder to those listening

36:41

to not let your excuses of, I'm not good

36:43

at building relationships or I'm an introvert or I'm

36:45

scared to go talk to someone. It takes nothing

36:47

for you just to go up and say, hey,

36:50

you invited me, thank you so much. I'm really

36:52

enjoying being here. It doesn't take that much to

36:54

do that. And I'm sure just that little extra

36:56

step for you, Mariana has gone a huge

36:59

long way. Yeah, and it's also important to follow people

37:01

on Instagram. It's such an easy way. So let's say you

37:03

do feel introverted. You're a little bit nervous at an event.

37:06

Maybe you don't wanna talk to someone or maybe you don't

37:08

live in a city where you can see people in person.

37:10

Follow them on Instagram, engage with their content, send them a

37:12

message. And something I like to do too is I'll see

37:14

a friend, even a friend that has a brand or whatever

37:16

brand that I work with and I'm like, hey, what are

37:18

you working on right now? Like, how can I support you?

37:20

Oh, is there a certain product that you guys are pushing

37:22

right now? And they'll be like, oh yeah, actually it's this

37:25

one. Like a little love around this would be great. I'm

37:27

like, okay, great. It's good for me to know. And then

37:29

that way I always stay top of mind for

37:31

the brand because then I'm organically sharing the things

37:33

that I love that they're hopefully wanting to promote

37:35

as well. And so there's so much more that

37:37

goes into it than just like everything being so

37:40

transactional. So that's why it goes back to like

37:42

the love of creating content and genuinely wanna do

37:44

it because you love it and

37:46

enjoy it not just because you see it

37:48

as a job. So, so

37:50

good. So you had mentioned launches just a

37:53

bit ago and I wanna talk a little

37:55

bit more about that because I feel like

37:57

you Lauren and just the team that you

37:59

have cultivated. and the way that you

38:01

launch, it's so unique and it's so special

38:03

because of how real and authentic it feels

38:05

to who your brand is at its core.

38:08

When I think of a brand culture, when

38:10

I think of these things and I see

38:12

the way that you all launch products, it's

38:14

just incredible. The way that you tease, the

38:17

way that the community is involved in it.

38:19

People are salivating at the mouth before the

38:21

products even launch. They just, they're like, here,

38:23

take all of my money. I want this

38:25

thing. That is the beauty of really understanding

38:28

your audience and really knowing how to build

38:30

a brand and really at the end of the

38:32

day, knowing what looks good and feels good and

38:34

what doesn't. I think that you and your company

38:37

have really cultivated this in a beautiful way. I

38:39

would love to know, what are some of the

38:41

launches that you have really been the most proud

38:43

of and why? I think just the initial brand

38:45

launch of Summer Fridays and launching the brand and

38:48

the product of Jetlag Mask is something

38:50

to be so proud of. Starting

38:53

a business is difficult. Starting

38:55

a business just alone, that alone is a big

38:57

feat. Just to be able to do

38:59

that was something to be so proud of and

39:01

that first product that we launched and the fact

39:03

that six years later it can still be a

39:05

best seller. It's a product people

39:07

know for us that we were able to

39:09

maintain what was that initial buzz and virality

39:11

of that product that it sustained for many

39:14

years. It wasn't just like it was popular

39:16

and then it fell off. We're

39:19

really proud of the ongoing marketing support of

39:21

one of our hero products over many years.

39:24

Every time we have a new launch, that's always one

39:26

of my new favorites. Last year

39:28

one of my favorites was our Rich Cushion Cream launch. We

39:30

had an art gallery event in Los Angeles and

39:33

we always have community events too which are really

39:35

special to us. We

39:37

had an influencer event and then we had a

39:39

community event where just community and fans and friends

39:41

of the brand could come and experience it. They

39:43

got to try the product and that's so fun.

39:45

We also did spend the Summer Fridays around the

39:48

US last summer and so we had different events

39:50

where it's not about the most amount of people,

39:52

it's small groups of 50 people. We

39:54

post it on Instagram, we ask if you're going to be in town

39:57

at this date, at this time, in the city and we invite people

39:59

to come and experience it. just come hang out with

40:01

us and get to know us, try some

40:03

product, tell us what products they want next

40:05

from us. And it's really cultivating those relationships

40:07

with people who support us. And then our

40:09

newest launch is our Dream Lip Oil. And

40:11

it's such a beautiful campaign. And the love

40:13

on social has been really great leading up

40:15

to the launch. And it's such an amazing

40:17

formula that we build off of the love

40:19

of Lip Butter Bomb into another lip category

40:21

and our lip care category for us. And

40:23

so that's been really fun. So it's so

40:26

hard because right now we're working so far

40:28

in advance too that I always try to

40:30

come back to the present moment of what

40:33

we're doing. And our team is just so

40:35

incredible. And you see us as founders all

40:37

the time but it's really like the machine

40:39

of people behind us that make it possible

40:41

who do this day in day out. They're

40:43

kind, smart, creative, talented, they're team players and

40:45

like it's all possible because of them. How

40:48

far in advance do you typically work in terms

40:51

of your launches? What is that lead time looking

40:53

like for Summer Fridays? We're done now through 2025.

40:56

Wow. Yeah, like we

40:58

like to have things finalized like about 18 months

41:00

in advance. And so we

41:03

do work very far ahead. I love

41:05

that. Well, it's fun and funny because

41:07

I surveyed my audience before we got

41:09

on here that were Summer

41:11

Fridays fans. And they actually, I asked them if

41:14

they could pick any future product that you would

41:16

launch, what would it be? And so

41:18

I have like a little list that people shared. Yeah,

41:21

I know if you wanna hear it. And

41:24

it's fun, it's not in any particular order but

41:27

these were the ones that were, there was five that

41:29

kind of kept coming up most consistently. A

41:31

matte lip gloss, matte

41:34

lip stuff. I don't know how a lip gloss

41:36

could be matte but I'm sure you do. A

41:39

tinted SPF, a beauty like soap bar, like

41:41

a bar and

41:43

a body lotion in multiple

41:45

scents. I know you have a

41:47

body lotion right now that I think is fantastic.

41:49

So body lotion in different scents, matte lip gloss,

41:52

tinted SPF, a beauty bar and a hand lotion.

41:54

Interesting, so jet lag mask you can use as

41:56

a hand lotion. So I always have like the

41:58

little mini one in my hand. bag and that's

42:00

what I use as a hand cream and it

42:02

kind of is like a moisturizer that does it

42:04

all like eye mask, eye cream, moisturizer,

42:07

face mask. Like it kind of does it all.

42:09

So if you want a hand lotion, I would

42:11

try a mini jet lag mask and then body

42:13

lotion. We do have one. It was our first

42:15

Allure Best of Beauty winner. I love

42:17

it. I use it every single day. It's just like nourishing

42:19

but not sticky. So like what I hated was I used

42:21

to put lotion on and I go to put like my

42:24

jeans on and felt like my like pants are sticking to

42:26

my body. It like dries down

42:28

in this like soft almost like baby

42:31

powdery texture and it smells like

42:33

summer and I love it.

42:35

Well and I will say, someone did say

42:37

a tinted SPF. I will just say personally,

42:40

I think the Summer Friday

42:42

sunscreen, the SPF, the sun, is

42:44

it dude sun drops? Is it

42:46

sun shade drops? It is by far

42:48

the best SPF on the market. You

42:51

can quote me. I don't care. I've

42:53

tried them all. It's not greasy. It

42:55

doesn't peel. It's just, it is the

42:58

most light absorbent. It doesn't leave this

43:00

white cakey stuff on your face. It

43:02

feels amazing. I literally cannot live

43:04

without that. So that is like, yeah, it's a good

43:06

one. It is so good. That is like

43:08

a tried and true for me. But yeah, I thought

43:10

that was fun. Like people were kind of sharing all

43:12

the things that they would, that they would want to

43:14

see come out. I would also love to know, is

43:16

there anything that looking back and this could be Summer

43:19

Fridays related or just in your own personal brand, anything

43:21

that sticks out? I don't want to say

43:23

mistakes, but just knowing what you know now, I'm

43:25

sure there's a ton of things that you would

43:27

have done differently, but is there one core theme

43:29

or an idea that strikes you as like, if

43:31

I could do it differently today, I would have

43:33

done this, or I would have had this different

43:35

type of mindset or this different type of way

43:38

that I approach something. I think it's really easy

43:40

to get distracted when there's a new

43:42

platform that pops up or a new opportunity. It's

43:44

kind of like whack-a-mole where you're like, I need

43:46

to do this. I want to go here. Oh,

43:48

this new platform. Let me get on this one.

43:51

But then when you do that, if you're not

43:53

really focusing and concentrating on anything, you're kind of

43:55

just doing everything a little bit instead of focusing

43:57

on doing one thing really well. And I know.

44:00

it's like hard when a new platform comes up

44:02

like, okay, I want to be present on here,

44:04

because I don't want to not be there. But

44:06

if you're not really doing it, it's not serving

44:08

you or your community well. And we've seen kind

44:11

of platforms come and go, like I'm trying to

44:13

think of some things like Clubhouse was like one

44:15

of them or lemon. Yeah, there's like certain

44:18

things where it's like, okay, like, was it

44:20

really worth like jumping on every platform? No. But

44:22

where should I really be spending my time? And

44:24

that also goes for the type of content that

44:26

you're creating as well. And so trying to think

44:28

of like, what are my goals as a creator

44:31

and really spending your time nurturing that and not

44:33

just doing things because you see other people doing

44:35

it. And so just because you see people going

44:37

to events, if you're an introvert, and you don't

44:39

like going to events, and you don't want to

44:41

go to them, you don't have to like, it's

44:44

okay to do the things that are serving you

44:46

best. And when you think your time is best

44:48

spent, because as creators or being self employed or

44:50

having your own company, your time in your schedule

44:52

is in your own hands. And as great as

44:54

that is, you can also end up doing things

44:57

all day, all night, seven days a week. And

44:59

so you do have to have some boundaries with

45:01

your time. And so it took me a long

45:03

time to learn how to have the best schedule

45:05

for myself and really be like, okay, even if

45:07

I'm self employed, even if I am working at

45:09

home by myself, I still need to have some

45:11

sort of working hours and schedule and like things

45:14

that I have on my to do list each

45:16

day. And so just give yourself as much structure

45:18

as you can, even though I know the benefit

45:20

of being self employed is to not have structure.

45:22

It really is helpful in the

45:24

long run. There's something else I

45:26

think about the way that you show up

45:28

that is another kind of misconception for people.

45:30

And it may actually keep them from from showing

45:33

up. But but the way in which you have

45:35

done it is proof that that that myth that

45:37

they make up and tell themselves is not true.

45:39

And it's this belief or this myth that if

45:42

I am a content creator, I have

45:44

to just share every little detail about

45:46

my personal life, I have to let

45:48

people into my marriage and you know,

45:51

my parenting and all of my, you

45:53

know, inner workings of who I am.

45:55

And I just don't think that

45:57

personally, I don't think that that is true. And

45:59

I also just see from your content that that

46:01

is not true. I think

46:03

you do a really beautiful balance of making

46:06

sure that your community knows who you are

46:08

and they feel connected to you and they

46:10

feel that authentic relationship between creator and consumer.

46:12

But at the same time, it's not like

46:14

you're bleeding all over everybody, all of your

46:16

personal stuff inside and out. And so you

46:19

found a really good balance in that and

46:21

I would love for you to talk a

46:23

little bit about that. Yeah, I think the

46:25

way you wanna show up on social is

46:27

totally up to you. There are some people

46:29

who are fine Instagram storing every moment

46:31

of their day from the time they wake up to

46:34

go to sleep and that's what they enjoy.

46:36

They truly enjoy that type of content. So

46:38

if you're fine being open and you wanna

46:40

share all those things, that's great

46:42

because that's what works for you. But just because

46:44

you see that that works for somebody else doesn't

46:47

mean that that's the best thing for you. So

46:49

you just share whatever is the most comfortable for

46:51

you and don't feel like you have to do

46:53

certain things to grow or you have to open

46:55

up about these things because you don't. There's so

46:57

many successful creators who share a lot or share

47:00

a little who have boundaries around what they share.

47:02

And maybe it's just come with time, but I've

47:04

seen a lot of my friends too who

47:06

started around the same time as me and they

47:08

used to overshare. And it's a lot of my

47:10

friends actually that have kids. And I found and

47:12

they've actually posted about this themselves that they've pulled

47:14

back a lot, that they thought when they first

47:16

started being creators that they wanted to share a

47:19

reaction and their kids. And then they're like, wait,

47:21

my kids actually aren't this comfortable with it. I'm

47:23

not comfortable sharing my family as much anymore. So

47:26

I'm gonna pull back. But then when you do

47:28

that, it takes a little bit

47:30

of time for your community and your online followers

47:32

to feel like they're still connected with you because

47:34

they're used to seeing this other thing. So I

47:36

just would say, be comfortable with what you wanna

47:38

share and don't share. Don't ever feel pressured to

47:40

share more or less to what feels good to

47:43

you. And if you're thinking about sharing something a

47:45

little bit more, a little bit more personal, just

47:47

give it some thought first. Don't just post it.

47:49

If you wanna post something, just really think to

47:51

yourself, like is this something I'm open with sharing?

47:53

And if I am, am I fine that this

47:55

will continue to be something that my followers will

47:57

wanna talk to me about? So an example of...

48:00

mine was I gave up drinking a little over a year ago.

48:02

There were so many times in the last year that I thought

48:04

about sharing it and for some reason I was just nervous and

48:06

I was like if I post about it and

48:08

I go back to drinking will people

48:10

be like oh you're drinking again like I thought you

48:12

gave up drinking and will I feel like a failure.

48:15

I also thought from a job point of view okay

48:17

if I don't drink anymore and I'm posting that I'm

48:19

not drinking am I gonna miss out on opportunities like

48:21

will brands no longer invite me to events because a

48:23

lot of times there are alcohol sponsors to different types

48:25

of events that will invite you to things and I

48:27

was like so nervous like that it was gonna affect

48:30

my job I was just scared and I had to

48:32

really think about it before I shared it because I

48:34

wanted to be in a place where I felt comfortable

48:36

with it that I didn't mind what people were gonna

48:38

say or not say and that I was fine with

48:40

what however affected my career and it felt that I'll

48:42

never drink again but I finally was like okay I'm

48:44

gonna share this and I drafted it a million times

48:46

and then finally I was just like okay today they

48:48

I'm gonna post it I posted it and I got

48:50

so much positive feedback I was like why was I

48:52

so nervous about this but now I feel like okay

48:54

this is something that I'm talking about but I'm trying

48:56

to talk about it in a very cautious way I'm

48:58

trying to talk about it in a way that's helpful

49:00

for people and not scary to people and

49:03

you know what an alcohol brand still didn't invite

49:05

me to an event they invited me to visit

49:07

tequila brand invited me to a party and I

49:09

was like okay they know I'm showing them not drinking

49:11

I didn't miss out on opportunities like it's not as

49:13

scary as I thought it was gonna be but I

49:15

really had to put thought behind it before I did

49:17

it yeah that was just like my own personal story

49:19

of like really thinking about something before wanting to share

49:21

something that felt really personal to me I love that

49:23

and I love that that you did it in a

49:25

way that felt good for you I know recently on

49:27

your podcast life with Mariana that you have I think

49:29

you had an episode that you were talking about you

49:32

know kind of your one year of no

49:34

alcohol and and what that kind of meant

49:36

to you and sharing that I think is

49:38

it just allows for more connection more curiosity

49:40

and in doing it on your terms I

49:42

think is the key there because that's what

49:44

makes it feel more in integrity even as

49:47

the consumer is listening to it and speaking

49:49

of your podcast I know that you have

49:51

a great podcast you've been doing it for

49:53

a few years now I would love to

49:55

know alongside the podcast summer Fridays your own

49:57

personal brand what does Mariana 2024 look

50:00

like and what are you most excited about

50:02

sinking your teeth into this year? This year

50:04

I tried to not overdo it with my

50:06

goals. So I had a habit before of

50:08

like writing down all these things and all

50:10

these buckets and categories of my life like

50:13

ten things in each of the areas that I had

50:15

to accomplish but then it kind of got a little

50:17

bit overwhelming for me. So for me I kind of

50:19

have like one main goal

50:21

in each bucket of my life

50:23

personally and professionally that I'm working

50:25

towards and when I think about

50:28

if an opportunity comes up or if I want to go somewhere

50:30

as an event or as a job or a speaking

50:33

engagement, does this align with this

50:35

one major goal on each of these things or am

50:37

I making a choice that's helpful for one of these

50:39

things? And if it's a yes then it helps me

50:41

make my decision because I do so many different things

50:43

I really have to be mindful of the things I

50:45

say yes to and how I spend my time and

50:47

if it really really isn't like fully aligned and I

50:49

feel like I'm a bit of my capacity right now

50:51

then it's probably gonna have to be a no. It

50:53

doesn't mean I necessarily don't want to do it or

50:55

don't want to go there like it could be a

50:57

brand that I love and it doesn't mean a no.

51:00

There could be a really big opportunity for me or

51:02

an event that I get invited to and I could

51:04

love the brand and I could really want to

51:06

support the person I want to go but if

51:08

I'm at my capacity it doesn't really align with

51:10

the things that I'm working towards then sometimes I

51:12

have to say no to things and I have

51:14

to be okay with that and so for me

51:16

this year it's about finding balance in all the

51:18

areas of my life personally and professionally being okay

51:20

with saying no to things and then actually taking

51:22

advantage of the free time that I have to

51:24

do all these things that I want to accomplish

51:26

personally because the older I get the more I'm

51:28

like okay I need to have balance I need

51:30

to take care of myself I want to prioritize

51:32

my friendships and my sleep and my wellness my

51:34

well-being and being outdoors and doing things that

51:36

are not monetized and doing things that aren't

51:38

content and doing things that are not online

51:41

and so more of that for me this

51:43

year. I love it it's beautiful. Okay well

51:45

as we wrap up I have one final

51:47

question for you and that is what does

51:49

influence mean to you? Influence to me means

51:51

it's never about a lot of people so

51:53

it's never that it needs to be the

51:55

most amount of people that you influence it's

51:57

about who are the people that I can...

51:59

can influence and can I do this in a positive

52:01

way? And I try to do that in all the

52:04

areas of my content. And so when I started my

52:06

podcast, the goal for me there was like, can

52:08

I inspire you or motivate you in some way?

52:10

Are you learning something that's helping your career? Are

52:12

you learning something that can help your overall well-being

52:14

and mental health? Is there something that's giving back

52:16

to you in some way? And so does my

52:19

podcast have a lot of listeners? Yes, but does

52:21

it have as big of a reach as Instagram?

52:23

No, but it's a small concentrated group of people

52:25

that I feel like are tuning in each week

52:27

where I can actually help them in a way

52:29

that's helping their life. And the people that

52:31

have come up to me, even this a couple

52:33

people who have said like, this episode or podcast

52:35

like changed my life in the most meaningful way,

52:37

that's influenced to me. And then doing

52:39

that through product and brand is, I know what

52:41

it's like to feel confident in your skin, to

52:43

put on a product that makes you feel good.

52:45

When you're, you look good and you feel good

52:48

and you feel confident and you put on that

52:50

lip balm or skin tint or moisturizer that just

52:52

gives you a little boost of feeling your best

52:54

that day and feeling a little bit confident, that's

52:56

a feeling that I love. And so I love

52:58

being able to do that in different ways, whether

53:00

it's physical product or digital

53:02

product. I love it. Well, thank you

53:04

so much for coming, for sharing your

53:06

journey, your insights. You gave so many

53:09

great little nuggets of takeaways. I know

53:11

that our listeners are gonna love this

53:13

episode so much. So

53:15

if you could let everybody know where they can

53:17

find you, as always for our listeners, if there

53:19

was anything that you love that you wanna take

53:21

away from, make sure to screenshot today's episode, tag

53:23

me and Mariana in that so we can see

53:25

what your biggest light bulb moment was, what your

53:28

biggest takeaway was. I know that she loves to

53:30

connect with her community as do I. And so

53:32

with that, if you can just let us know

53:34

your Instagram handle and any other, obviously your podcast,

53:36

we're gonna make sure to plug that in the

53:38

show notes. But if there's another place other than

53:40

Instagram that you wanna direct people to as well.

53:42

Yeah, you guys can find me on Instagram at

53:44

Mariana underscore Hewitt. My podcast is like with Mariana.

53:47

I have new episodes every Tuesday and

53:49

Summer Fridays is available at summerfridays.com. Sephora,

53:52

those are our main two retailers. And if

53:54

you're internationally listening, you can order on Cult

53:57

Beauty and Revolt Beauty. Beautiful, thank you again

53:59

so much. much for being here. I so

54:01

appreciate it. As always, thank you so much for

54:03

joining me today and

54:05

every week here on the influencer podcast.

54:07

If you're wanting to dive deeper into

54:10

the topics and discussions that we have

54:12

here, I would encourage you to head

54:14

over to juliesalmon.net and sign

54:16

up for my weekly newsletter. It

54:18

is in our amazing newsletter community

54:20

that we are able to really

54:22

support you on a much larger

54:24

scale. And I love to do

54:26

a ton of amazing things that

54:28

I send inside your inbox every single

54:30

week. So just head over to juliesalmon.net. You'll

54:33

see a little spot there that you can add your

54:35

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54:37

start receiving all of that good stuff.