LIFESTYLE - INTERVIEW
Welsh blogger, Vlogger and Presenter
INTERVIEW AND IMAGES BY ARHANTIKA REBELLO
It’s so nice to meet you! To start off, let’s talk about what you do at the moment?
It’s lovely to meet you too, thanks for getting in touch. Well, as a creative, I always struggle defining what it is I actually do for a job! I usually throw myself under the umbrella of ‘social media influencer’ but I know so many people hate that phrase! I do so many different jobs it’s difficult to give myself a job title but I guess that’s the life of a freelancer for you!
Where did it all begin?
I got involved with a production company through being a presenter on a show they produced. From there I pitched ideas as an individual before being invited in house to work on the team as staff. I feel like I’ve finally found where I belong when it comes to the career I want to pursue, but I feel I’ve been here and re-invented myself ten times over so you never know where I’ll be in ten years time! With my social influencer work, I built my audience up organically from scratch during my modelling days, and eventually decided about 18 months ago that I wanted to post more authentic content rather than just photoshoot images, which weren’t reflective of my life anymore. So I set up my blog and vlog and started posting more ‘real’ content.
What has your journey as an influencer been like so far?
My journey has been really up and down so far, and I still continue to struggle in finding a path which sticks, especially when it comes to the content I produce and what I want my relationship to be with the digital world. In my modelling days, I could post an image online and get 5,000 likes in a couple of hours. When I made the decision to switch up the content I posted and post content which was more reflective of me instead of just bikini pictures, my engagement dropped like crazy. That’s something I really struggle with, because when you’re being totally authentic online and your followers are affectively saying they don’t like that, where does that leave you as a social media influencer?
You produce a lot of content in Welsh. Tell me more about this, and why you feel it’s necessary?
Welsh isn’t my first language, I moved to Wales when I was 6 but it’s kind of all I know. I identify as Welsh and I feel really connected to the passion which comes with being Welsh, but I’ve always felt like perhaps I didn’t belong to the community. I wanted to create content in Welsh to show that there isn’t just one type of Welsh speaker, we come in all forms! I think it’s really important to create content which puts Welsh as a language at the forefront of the digital world. We’re still viewed as being a little old fashioned as a nation, so I wanted to help put Welsh into mainstream and show that you can create YouTube videos, vlogs and post on socials in Welsh and still get great engagement. Just always include subtitles on your videos!
Social media harbours a lot of negativity especially with a following as big as yours i’d imagine. How do you navigate all this?
I’ve spent my adult life growing up online. From 18 years old onwards I had thousands of followers and unfortunately this has meant I’ve always faced trolls and negativity online. It’s easy for people to say to ignore it, but I will still get upset over one random accounts negative comment, rather than be happy with the positive, I think that’s just the nature of the beast. But the more time goes on, I can disconnect a little bit better with the negativity and see that life goes on beyond the gram’.
That being said, having a platform must come with certain responsibilities. Tell me a bit about this?
I’m much more aware, especially in the heightened society we live in, that I have a responsibility to post content which won’t upset others and frequently proof read a lot of me social captions to see if there is anything which could offend anyone in my content. I think with followers comes responsibility, whether that’s in the words you post or the products you promote, I think we all have to be aware of what we’re putting out into the World, especially when a price tag is attached to it.
How has your personal life been influenced by the work you do?
I’ve found a lot of freedom in setting up my own blog, I feel like it’s my safe space to write all my feelings down without being judged. Words mean so much more to me than an image. Being a lifestyle blogger has definitely opened up my mindset and allowed me to explore topics I wouldn’t necessarily post before. I’m a lot more relaxed in myself as an individual now, I think the blogging has acted almost like therapy and I’m definitely more of an open-book. I think ultimately, when you choose to be authentic online that will seep out into your personal life choices too and you stop worrying about what others think of you.
What would you say to those young people struggling with the impacts of social media?
Social media is a tricky place to exist on. It’s so much more than just a picture or just a video, you have millions of people to compare yourself too and who can all pass an opinion on what they think is your life. It all sounds pretty scary, but it can also be a great tool to develop relationships on and make some decent money off of. Remember to check in with your mental health and recognise how the platforms are making you feel, if the negative outweighs the positive, then it’s time for a detox. And I can’t stress enough how important it is to remember that what you see online is only ever a highlight reel of someone’s life. An extremely edited and highly thought out highlight reel!