Social Media & Authenticity

Welcome to Everything You Need is Within, a Spotify Greenroom live audio show and podcast produced by and for Gen-Z, with me, your host, Gigi Robinson.

So, without further ado, welcome to this week. Everything You Need is Within. Tonight we are talking all about authenticity and I'm coming to you straight from my bed tonight. I was just out grocery shopping, and I don't know what I did but my lower back, really started bothering me. And I honestly was contemplating canceling tonight's show, but I definitely didn't want to do that to any of you so I am just in a little bit of pain so tonight's episode is shorter than tonight's episode is shorter. This past week was somewhat difficult for me because of the things that is going on in my life. My mom had a little surgery that had to happen that was kind of out of the blue and really emergency so it was a bit scary, and I took some time off from social media. I wasn't really checking it. And I wasn't posting publicly. I did post like a couple of things privately, but I really needed to honor that distance from social media because when you work in the field where everything is public all the time, taking a break can sometimes be really important I guess you could say I took my two weeks vacation, the past two weeks. But, I wanted to just share some of the things that I learned because I know that compartmentalizing our relationship with social media can be really difficult, partially because we have this fear and this feeling that we have to be always on top of what we're doing and also making sure that we're staying up with like all of our friends, and that is extremely exhausting sometimes on top of having a chronic illness. So I just wanted to briefly talk about that because that is what I've been going through lately and it's been very difficult on my mental health. So, in terms of coping, again, I did take a good amount of time off, and I tried my best to talk with people about it in my, my personal life, offline. And I think that that was for sure really helpful, but the other thing that I did was I set boundaries so that I could ultimately still hold space to take my distance calls this week. And I think that that is has been something that's super important that I've learned in the past year, is to make sure that you put yourself first, especially when you are in a business and you are waiting on other people and you're working with other people. I just think it's extremely important to make sure that you're clear on the things that you need to do to do your job, and also the things that you're going through so that the people that are with you, or working on your team can also do a good job. That is something that I learned in creating my brand, and in building out my team. So, I know a lot of people ask me how do you scale, and how do you create an environment where other people are welcomed and also where they can do their own work and again I would just, it comes down to boundaries and making sure that the expectations and things like job description are all set up beforehand. Also I would love to just mention that a lot of internships are this way, I had over 10 internships in college and over 10 different brand ambassador roles in college, and I worked for all kinds of companies, small companies, startups, and big corporations, government companies I really, really did run the gamut. And that taught me about what it means to kind of fulfill a description box, and what that means. And I would say that Gen Z does a really good job of staying clear on the things that they do like when they work, and when they don't like how something is working. I think that's one of the strengths that we have but we also need to learn how to hone in on that and do it in a way that's polite, doing it in a way that makes sure that all of the work is done, and also does it in a way that makes sure that all parties end up being happy as long as you're not being taken advantage of, because we all know that internships that do not pay are out there, and that is what I like to call, being taken advantage of. So, how did I go down this tangent here, I'm always doing this. The next thing that I think I want to dive into has to do with the relationship we have with social media and how it affects our body image, and mental health. So I've talked about photography before I have been shooting for years. I know how lighting works, I know how posing works, I know how all kinds of different editing tactics affect the way that an image looks and so much of that is put out in social media. Also this past week, Sweden, announced that are Norway, oh my gosh, Norway, announced that they are putting up disclaimers on all altered images on social media, and I think that that is such a good step in the right direction to helping people and their body image, relationship with themselves and on social media because it's going to tell people straight up like, hey, this image is not real. So even if you are comparing yourself to it know that it's not 100% legit, and I really do hope that in the near future companies magazines, advertising stops editing photos so that people can be more comfortable seeing real parts of bodies, and that goes for every body, every gender, every kind of person deserves to feel good in their body. And speaking of it, we are in the middle of summer right now summer 2021 and I would say that there have been some amazing leaps and bounds happening within the bikini and swimwear companies, this season in Miami swim week, we saw a lot of amazing diversity, and a lot of really incredible diverse bodies and ability types, walking all over swim week and I thought that that was amazing to see, because normally we are used to seeing the same kind of runway model and this year, especially at least with the Sports Illustrated crew. It really showed us I think that every body is a summer body, and every person deserves to feel good in their body. And speaking of fashion. I have some news. I am actually walking in New York Fashion Week with Runway of Dreams.

And let me just tell you a little story here about how much this means to me, and I'll definitely have to do a longer episode probably with a couple of people from the agency and also maybe some other models so stay tuned for that episode around September, but for now let me tell the story.

So, I grew up in New York City. I've always been a city girl. I have always done my best to be to allow the world around me in New York kind of shaped parts of my identity, and also just who I am as a person I know that a lot of that super constantly moving fast paced environment, part of my personality has to be from growing up in New York City. The other part of it that I think is super interesting is the way that my love for photography kind of developed out of this ever evolving fashion wind scape here in New York City I think I spent so much time as a little kid looking at models and magazines and the white tents at Fashion Week and all of the billboards in Times Square wondering how or if I could ever shoot a model like that and have my own images up on those billboards. I never really thought much of it but I think that was my subconscious kind of trying to channel some kind of message for me, and maybe it's situational maybe it just happened to happen, that I was born and raised here, but the other part of it but it's just so interesting to me is about the way that I was so fascinated with fashion, to the point where I wanted to do photography so I can learn how to produce commercial assets and things for brands that would be used in a public space, but I ended up going to LaGuardia High School, which was around the corner from Lincoln center. It was basically the center of Fashion Week, right across the street from me so I remember in high school, I would walk up and down the blocks as Fashion Week was going on and like just seeing so many colors, or maybe a lack there of New York City because you know everyone wears neutral colors, all the time, but just seeing so many different shows and people going to the shows I never went inside of a show, so to be walking in one is literally so surreal to me, but all of it goes back to I think my love for photography I wouldn't be where I was if I stayed, you know, in a different field I ended up choosing photography because it was a way that I could express my, my own ability to help other people find confidence in and through images and fashion by choosing outfits that accentuate certain parts of the body, as well as posing and lighting and all of those kinds of things. And those were things that I ultimately did, because I again wanted to make people people feel good I felt like that was my purpose. Flash forward, I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology for my first year of college, here in New York City, and I found that school to be a really unique program it was in a way similar to what I did in high school where the program was about 70 to 80% women, or female identifying people and I think that's obviously amazing, go off, but at the same time, I wanted a more traditional college experience with football and a campus, and, you know D1 sports and that was certainly not this incredible little building or big building, I should say, it took up the entire block of 27 to 28th Street between seventh and eighth Avenue, so it's a big building, but that is just about why I ended up transferring to the University of Southern California, instead of staying at FIT. After I transferred, I ultimately decided that I wanted to do something bigger than just photograph, other people and other things. And part of that. One sec. You guys, I'm changing the title of my show right now.

So I wanted to do something bigger than just photographing, other people and products for brands, and I ultimately ended up getting introduced to a social media club at USC founded by a couple of friends of mine who ultimately created this community of content creators entrepreneurs digital marketers and social media related fields. And we ended up becoming this community where we learned a bunch of things from one another, but we also learned from industry experts and influencers, like Yes Theory and Katia Gleason and other people from major corporations like Warner Bros and Paramount and it was just so incredible to be a part of people who did the same thing. Long story short, that club is honestly what changed my life. And I will literally always say that but I think part of it had to do with the people running it and their belief that the work that I was doing as a photographer would be able to change the trajectory of other people's lives by just capturing images so that was really meaningful to me, and it's kind of worked. I would also say that. It's just been a really incredible experience to be able to be in the heart of Los Angeles, and be around so much toxic bullshit, for lack of better words in terms of, like, a lot of the things going on with editing, you know, music artists, kind of Photoshop their covers all the time. And just, just a lot of influencer drama happens out in LA, so to be there and to kind of like put my blinders on and just keep going with what I wanted to do and not let any of that judgment and that drama get in my way has been so rewarding for me. And I would encourage anybody who is working in social media to really try to compartmentalize, what's important to you about social media. So, I ,again, have been doing this for the past four and a half, five years basically like a little over half the time that social media has really existed. And I think that it's super interesting to see the evolution of it and also the evolution of how it affects us. So I'm in this club and learning about all these different apps, and creator tools and ways to pioneer different industries including short form video and photos and, you know, GIFS and all, and even copywriting, and that is something that I spent a long time, just sitting and listening and learning to the way that the industry worked I was a student, I still am a student. I'm a Master's student but a student nonetheless. And I also think that it's been really important for me to create a podcast like this where I'm constantly learning and I'm constantly growing and becoming a better speaker and a better leader. So any time that I think I do these episodes, especially the solo episodes before I start bringing guests on are really just like for me to learn, and I'm also really excited to have people that are listening in on this experience, and knowing that if you are somebody out there and you're wanting to start a show or a podcast like, you can totally do it, it, it's all like within you, all you have to do is just start and not let your imposter syndrome kind of tell you that you're not good enough because you absolutely are nobody's perfect at what they do and if you just proclaim yourself as somebody that's learning and always growing and obviously you're going to fall on your face a bunch of times but if you can own that and keep going, what's the, what's the real, What's the real flaw in saying that you're always learning. So, I have just been looking at all kinds of different social media for years, and

I think I finally got to the point where I was looking at, obviously there's different niches within the industry. There's fashion, there's entertainment, comedy, lifestyle, technology, you know, sports etc, so on and so forth. I think every single form of medium really has a bunch of different niches and that is what is really important to define when you are becoming a creative. So, when I first started out I was a photography creator, shooting lifestyle content for lifestyle influencers and models to help them feel more confident in their own bodies and in their own body image journeys and things along that line. As time moved on, I decided you know what, this is brilliant, I'm already shooting stuff for people that are, you know, hiring me that create content for them clearly my content is good. How can I show other people my experience as a content creator and the things that I do as a photographer, and the events that I attend and how those impact my personality, my identity and my, my business for lack of a better word.

So, I started out shooting for a company called Hint water, and I was shooting some videos for them and then I ended up, you know, taking some more pictures and then I started shooting photos with my roommate, and then I started creating content of me with the water itself, and it just kind of evolved, and that was one of my first brand deals. After that, it they just kept coming, and it was a really interesting experience because I wasn't really sure what was happening but I was, I think falling into the the pattern of becoming what's very commonly known as an influencer, which we need to deconstruct a little because a lot of people, give it this negative connotation. My question to you would be, why do you think that it's a bad thing, or why do you have a negative connotation with it? The reason is usually because people don't think that it's a new valid kind of job, because it's so new, and they think that because you are sharing your opinion that you know they're, they would rather stay silent and, you know, not listen to young people, specifically Gen Zers and millennials kind of being a part of an uprising of people who want to make a difference with their platform that they're given. And so you have a bunch of people who are older, who come on and they're like, Nah, I don't really want to be a part of this new industry which by the way is worth close to $15 billion in 2021 which is insane. If you're not up to date with that stat, also the social media industry including kind of like the tech part of it is worth, I believe, over I want to say $600 million. No, that's wrong. I'm gonna tell you right now because I wrote it down. When I gave a presentation before so just hang on people, oh my gosh, I feel so unwell prepared but don't you worry, this is just a part of it anyway. The stock is insane. The apps are worth so much money, because so many people are on them, not only are people on them but brands are on that. In this past year Gen Z has really taken control of the ropes and said you know what brands. We know that you're full of shit. And the things that you do behind closed doors, we're not cool with that. And that is where, again Gen Z has really, in my opinion, shown that they have the power to change industries. They have the power to really use their voices to shift the way that people outside of our generation and in industries that have been the same for years to pivot. And I think pivoting is so important. So many people have really made that kind of a buzzword in the past 2020 and 2021 to talk about the way in which a business went through something and they came out with a different strategy that's exactly what this generation is about it's about making sure that people can kind of understand about the old ways of thinking and potentially create newer, better ways of thinking.

And, you know, taking action steps and and doing things like that so that is how I got into the influencer industry, USC Reach, they're amazing. After I did that, I started working with nonprofits and when I was at USC, I worked in the volunteer center as a team leader for three and a half years my whole time there, and I spent my Saturdays, working, and reading volunteers to local shelters and organizations around Los Angeles that helped with like decreasing poverty decreasing hunger in Los Angeles, working at Animal Shelters to just help around like the hand, take care of the animals as, as much as they could, without being like a trained animal caregiver or animal care professional. I'm not really sure with that kind of term, it's but we're just gonna go with it. And that has always been something that's been important to me since I was in elementary school since I was in middle school, high school, then college, giving back, and working with charities and nonprofits and organizations that force you to spend your time helping other people is just, it means the world to me and doing something that you know is just giving up a half of my day to make other people's lives better. It's something that I just have to do, my time is honestly useless if I don't do that so that is why I've also shifted to be focused predominantly within a space of serving and in a space of helping as many people I can with incredible organizations around the world. So I decided, in the past year that I had to merge, doing photography with, and being a social media influencer, with being a good advocate that also is on top of the whole situation with my chronic illness which was a disaster, but that's a whole other story. And it's taught me so much about people. Honestly, I think the biggest thing that's been interesting, but I really did learn in Los Angeles was about the way that people view social media, and then how they act in person. A lot of people will use the clout, or the numbers that they gain on social media, to kind of talk about and or elevate their personalities if they are, you know, worth more than other people and I feel like that was something that was very present at my school, and within the surrounding area of LA, and I'm not really sure what to do with that and about that I think that that comes with the nature of Los Angeles being, you know, predominantly filled with movie stars and that's where films are made and there's celebrities everywhere around but overall, how do a bunch of young people go out there and make their move and kind of break into an industry that already values and tells us that numbers are the key to landing roles and being a part of something big. And for that, I would say, you just have to do it, doing the work that you're meant to do and making sure that you're making a difference with that is the way that you'll ultimately be able to reach the right people. A lot of times people on social media asked me, like, how do you build a brand for yourself and how do you find the right people that you want to work with or the right brands and it really comes down to research, I hate to say it. Maybe I love to say it. I went to a research college, and that is something that I don't know if I ever expected myself to do 100%. But now that I've done it I realized that it's helped me curate the brand that I've built, as well as the show that I built out, and the pillars of my brand have been shaped by research the brand's I work with are all about the brands that I use, and the brands that I use I thoroughly look into their policies of, you know, sustainability and different ways that they're helping the environment and then also helping their workers also doing giveback work. All of that is just so, so important to me, so I'm never going to promote a product that is, you know, really, not on brand for me. I think it's messed up. And a lot of times in the industry, it's really hard because influencers, and people who do this full time, usually end up having to create an LLC for themselves, or an S corp, which, if you're not familiar, you just go talk to your accountant about it, because it's a little bit complicated but if you get the right help, it should be okay. But what you have to do is go in and you have to negotiate everything you're a one man show, you are a photographer, you're a public speaker, you're a podcaster, you are a brand, you know, representative you're an actor, you're a voiceover artist, you're a graphic designer, you're a stylist, you're a makeup artist at hair, you know, stylists and so on and so forth. There's so many things about this industry that a lot of people in my opinion take lightly and they're like, oh what do you even do and it's like, oh well I do all of these things which enable me to do the work that I want to do so the reason why I do brand deals specifically, is because it helps me generate a certain part of my income, that allows me to do speaking tours, and it allows me to create shows like this, where I'm able to really voice, a lot of other people, and also NOT gate keep any information I think with the influencer industry, so much information in gatekept, and that is a big problem I don't really know how to do that, but, or dismantle that other than, you know, other, other than the fact that a lot of people are scared that if they tell somebody how they've achieved something like succeeded, that they think that somebody else is taking away an opportunity from them, and ultimately that kind of mindset, regardless of what industry you're in, is just going to be, it's going to be bad for you, it's also going to, you know, those are the kinds of things and withholding information, that it's just going to end up biting you, at the end of the day, it's going to end up, making you burn bridges, especially if it is like a friend or somebody that you've worked with before so I always tell people to like be really mindful about, you know, saying no to sharing information and also in the way that they share it. I also think this is a huge part of cancel culture. And, that one is a really challenging thing to dismantle, because you have to have people just act with kindness and obviously can't control, other people's actions but you need to, as much as you can. It's like stop thinking about other other people's opinions of you and remember that everybody on this planet is always learning, I don't know unless you have like a PhD in something, I'm going to say that everyone's always learning. And even if you do have a PhD, I'm sure, you love research and academic academia so much that we're always wanting to learn, even if it's about a different subject, then your research and you know, not, not criticizing people when they make these mistakes is so important and I feel like a lot of Gen Z just we want the hate to stop we want all of this to stop but so many generations before us are used to it. And they're uncomfortable with the way that a lot of people are outspoken in the younger generation, that they end up getting mad and expressing their own insecurity through an insult, behind the screen and hat is really difficult to grapple with, because when you're reading something from somebody and it's just so mean. You start to internalize those thoughts and you start to think like, oh my gosh like like is this how people in my real life actually view me and that's where I think a lot of the issues of people who have bad relationships with their social media in regards to their mental health. Really, like struggle with, I think the intersection comes with the way that other people treat the way that other people treat one another is where a lot of mental health and body image issues come about. And the way that I really recognized all of this is because I had been on Tik Tok kind of like speculating I was a Tik Tok ambassador in college and I spent a lot of my time on the app. At one point, I was working an internship at Warner Bros. and I was not only working on their Tik Tok team, I was a Tik Tok brand ambassador, and I was also creating different content just for fun, like in all of my spare time so that I could grow my platform. And in doing that, I ended up spending hours and hours on the app. And I witnessed so much of this canceled culture and hate. And I tried to like, I would read through comments and I would try to figure out like how and why are people doing this, and it came down to the fact that people either like from a creator perspective, the creator could not own up to a mistake and they tried defending themselves in kind of like in like kind of like a rage of glory, in a way where they just impulsively denied what they did or they didn't own up to it and then people were like, No, that's wrong. You're canceled, or people who maybe did something that was somewhat provocative, or maybe it was hypocritical, and from there. Other people just understood it, and then started spinning it into a totally different narrative. And then, you know, it gets to a point where people have to shut off their phones, they have to take a step back, and I think that that is a great thing to do I don't hope that anybody listening ever experiences, anything having to do with canceled culture I think I would not wish that upon anybody, but I would want to make sure that people are aware of the magnitude of their words online, And the magnitude of the way that social media affects other people. Because it's ... it's scary how much just one post, or just one comment can really cause somebody to feel something. Now, another question I always get is, how can you compartmentalize your life, in real life, and on social media? And the real answer to that is, a lot of practice and a lot of time, because you need to understand what exactly are you doing on social media, that makes you kind of tick like, is it your job, is it your, you know, your you're keeping up with your friends is the mode of communication. What exactly is that? And once you can figure that out, you can then start to really figure out how parts of your personality show up on social media. From there, you can start to think about the way that the people. Oh my gosh you guys I got the hiccups at the end of this episode, I cant believe that. You have to think about the way that the people that you're following and engaging with are showing up, and what their relationships are with social media, obviously at the end of the day, your relationship or your personal experience is the most important for each individual and that's just going to vary based on like who you are and like what you do.

Just knowing your entire person doesn't have to show up. It's also really important. A lot of people, actually, I would say, a vast majority of people on social media are not anywhere close to be honest, in terms of sharing something, and then just not really being with that and that's usually common with kind of accounts that are for comedy or entertainment, or know even movies movie started share their content all the time, which doesn't really have much to do with their personality but moreso, their achievements and as people get bigger and bigger. That's where I think they start to do is kind of like their, you know their call sheet, or their portfolio but Instagram is in different niches, there's different ways to use social media so I just described the Celebrity, Fashion Bloggers and showing their outfits, different kinds of, you know, fashion that they're trending that they've discovered, makeup, people show make that hair people show hair etc etc. I just happen to show, advocacy, and my work with nonprofits, because that's what's important to me, and figuring out what makes you tick as an individual, and why you're on social media and why you're sharing certain things, why you're engaging with other people's things can help you become more aware of the way that social media plays a role in your life. And then on top of that, they can help anybody who's struggling honestly. Do this audit where you can take a step back and realize the real motive behind how social media is affecting your own health. When you can pinpoint all these different things, you can kind of, I want to write them down, literally, I take a pen and paper or a notes, like a little notes page on my iPhone or my computer and I just write out like all of these things that are important to me in my real life and on social media, and then I bring from how to make content on there and a lot of people are always asking me oh Gigi like how do you make content like, how do you make content that's on brand? How did you so seamlessly advocate for the things you're passionate about? And it's exactly what I said, I really am in tune to the accounts that I that I follow within my specific community and the age of the individual. I'm also really in tune to what I believe. So I make sure that all of those things line up, and then on top of that, I found a way to be a photographer, and to have fun with it and to just let myself be creative, and I think everybody has a creative bone in their body, it's just about bringing out, and all you have to you have to just pick up a medium, and just start with it. Storytelling is a huge one for me. I'm doing it right now. I'm reading the words that I'm transcribing that I'm speaking right now, which are going into my book, which surprises. If I didn't announce this before I'm announcing and now, I'm writing a book, and it's going to be something that I think will be live sometime in 2022 but the reason behind it is because, as I shared all of these things in my life that have happened in the past couple of years with my chronic illness with my mental health just by body image. I knew that I needed to write about it because other people were responding to it. And they were like, hey, this, this happened to me too. And I was like, oh my gosh no way there was yeah actually happened to my friend Susie and I'm like oh my gosh, no way, so on and so forth. So, I'm writing a book about it, and I am really really excited about that. I also started kind of thinking about this, I, in the past year I signed to BBB management which represents people with disabilities, but more recently I have been working with a new agency called the Gamma Management, and they are partnered with a company called Runway of Dreams and I know the title of the show you how I'm walking in New York. And part of it is because of the work that I was doing and how I was able to kind of meet at this intersection of being a Gen Zer, being 23 years old, being outspoken about chronic illness and disability, and the intersection of that in college and in the workplace, also about the general way that social media affects all of that. So, more to come or not but based on the first part of this episode, I mean, all of you are ... you might have to go back and piece together my really wonky puzzle here, but long story short, everything does come together, I don't know how or who is orchestrating our lives from up above or how it's all working out but I really don't think it's coincidence that I ended up working in social media, and I'm now walking in fashion week when at such a young age I admired the industry and I always wanted to make people feel confident through photography. So I just think it's crazy how things work out. And I would also love to tell people that, in the future, I'll definitely have like a manifestation and kind of subconscious breakthrough guests on my show which I am so excited to introduce to all of you in the near future, where we can answer all of your kind of manifesting and purpose questions but it really comes down to believing in yourself, and sharing your experience with intention on every single time that I share an experience or a story about my life about my chronic illness about the way in which I started creating content, and doing so that it can help other people start to share their stories and make an impact in whatever community they're making, or they're being a part of in the future, or now or in the past, I guess you can always take something you've done in the past, and juice it up and do a rebrand and talk about it and what you've learned from it, I think that's a really great content pillar to even just kind of dive right into, if you haven't done that already, but we're basically at the top of the hour. This was a really fun episode and in the future I'm going to have a lot more people on in the next couple of months, so please stay tuned for that we're going to be back up and running with normal programming starting next Friday, when I say normal I mean guest episodes I've been doing five total solo episodes, which have been very exciting and again pushed me way out of my comfort zone, which has been so fun and scary at the same time, but usually if something scares you a little, it's going to pay off in some ways, whether that's a lesson about failure or whether that is a lesson about pioneering a new industry, or, you know, talking about something that's taboo.

I just think it's so much fun and just an honor to be able to hold the space for people that want to learn about the way that I guess into the mind of a Gen Zer, and what is important for somebody who's involved within the nonprofit space but also advocacy spaces. So, if there's any questions in the comments that anyone on here wants to ask me, now's your time. You can either raise your hand, or you can just write them. Otherwise, I'll probably just closed out this room in a couple of minutes. But yeah, thank you so much everyone. You are alright. The episode is officially over. However, if anybody on here wants to come up here and join my room, feel free.