Day: October 3, 2019

“Are we posting from a place of fear or love?” with Katie Brockhurts and Candice Georgiadis

Are we posting from a place of fear or love? Are we trying to impress or impact? I hope by doing this we can shift the dynamics online to be more positive — could you imagine if every troll stopped trolling or attention seeker stopping seeking just how that would shift our digital environment — and how that would feel?

I had the pleasure of interviewing Katie Brockhurst. Clients call Katie their “Social Media Angel”. It is more than a nickname: It’s a job description, an ethos, a mission statement. A social media consultant for leading international Mind Body Spirit publishing company Hay House UK. Katie has worked with many of their authors including Diana Cooper, Sonia Choquette, John Parkin, Dr. David Hamilton, Yasmin Boland, Rebecca Campbell, Kyle Gray and Lisa Lister. Plus many other well known authors, practitioners and businesses in spirituality and well being. From London, England with a solid background in broadcast, music and entertainment, working for Sony, BMG Music, BBC Radio DJ Dave Pearce and Wise Buddah Talent. Katie started her own social media agency ’Kdot Online’ in 2007, when the social media industry was in its infancy, after winning a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in the first ever Best Internet Programme (podcast) category . Kdots client projects included O2 Music, Universal Music, Sony Music, Penguin Books & Harper Collins. Katie developed her business to match her own passions and life choices, and in 2014 she wrapped up the agency and the demands of running a London office in order to travel the world with her laptop, going solo as a consultant in the MBS industry, where she had established a name for herself with Hay House. Katie now delivers 121 consultancy, coaching and strategy for authors and experts all over the world online. She is loved for her simple, positive, actionable strategies that play to people’s strengths and personalities, enabling them to find their passion for content creation in order to create meaningful community and results online.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was working in the music industry when MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter started to emerge as platforms to watch for new talent. I was managing and booking gigs for Radio One, 1Xtra and Kiss DJs when one of my DJ’s lost their radio show. So I asked them, have you heard of something called a podcast? It was 2006, early days where digital broadcast media was concerned but I wanted to get my client back on the radio or their profile high enough to command the same fees in the clubs I persuaded the company I worked for, Wise Buddah, who had recording studios onsite, to let me use them and one of their trainee sound engineers to make this ‘podcast’ out of office hours. We pulled together everyones contacts and invited artists like Ndubz into the studio for interviews and freestyle sessions. We promoted it on people’s MySpace walls to a great reception from the fans and the industry, for when the annual Sony Radio Academy Awards came around we were nominated for the first ever Best Internet Programme (aka a Podcast) Award in 2007… And won the Gold Award!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

I think the most interesting story is not what has happened to me but what has happened to all of us since I began this career. Social media has become a key part of the fabric of modern society in less than 15 years and it has happened almost surreptitiously — that is the big story! I think we are only just catching up to how influential it is on planet earth right now; only just seeing how invasive it can be to our daily lives (our politics?!) and how careful we need to be in what we do next. Our online habits have been driven by addictive design developed by the big platforms to capture our attention in order to sell advertising space. This story is unfolding before our very eyes, and as I was writing Social Media For A New Age, I would be questioning something about social media and it would break as a story — EG. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is a great example as this story broke as I was doing the final edit. We found out they Facebook had not been protecting our data, that it had been “harvested” and used to create “political profiles” on us, with organisations posting content developed to sway the elections in the USA, where Donald Trump became President and content which may also lead to disintegration of Europe after the part it played in the Brexit vote. This turned out to be the tip of a rather large Iceberg as more and more things come to light about the behemoth that is Facebook Inc. and what is possible in terms of influencing populations and people.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was first starting out I was doing social media for other people, not for myself. I set up one of the earliest boutique social media agencies back in 2007, a small team based in London serving the music and entertainment industry. I was delivering a lot of the work directly myself at the time — when one of my first clients, an american rapper in the USA’s manager asked me to reply to fans on his behalf. Yeah no problem I said! I would try and channel his energy to chat to his fans but it didn’t work. Let’s just say, never pretend to be someone you are not on social media (cat fishes listen up!!) I learnt that it is always best to be honest and if you bring in help to manage your social media — be clear and transparent that it’s someone from your team or if it is an AI BOT in this day and age — if it is not you doing the talking.

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

l wrote a book called ‘Social Media For A New Age” where the main crux of it is a social spiritual movement centred around what I call a Strategy of Love — where we focus on our Social Media Soul rather than the Social Media Ego… Where we take the focus away from how many ‘Likes’ and ‘Followers’ we each have and look at the real impact we are having within our sphere of influence, with our content, which is unique to each person and their mission in the world. Using the social media platforms as a tool to reach people in order to facilitate change for individuals and the collective world-wide. This helps us move out of what I call the ‘social media vortex of doom’ where social media has been an addictive ego hook (by design). with so many people getting caught up in a vicious cycle of comparison and/or anxiety around social media which stops them from using the platforms for the greater (and personal) good. I also consult and coach a wide range of people, authors and influencers around how they can use their platform (both big and small) to adopt my approach and use social media to make significant social impact while supporting their businesses and lives too. I have recently given my time and support to an emerging platform called Campfire Convention who are a new social network and community looking to spark social change at a local and international level — through a network of mentors and collaboration. I believe that by supporting this and others — I am having a greater significant social impact than just doing it alone.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

My dear friend Jen McCarty, about 18 months ago, asked me if she should set up group or a page for something she wanted to share with her friends and community called “The Event Is Happening” which is a space for people interested in helping to raise the consciousness of the planet. Jen has very much adopted a “strategy of love” for this group which grew to over 88,000 people in just a year. It’s an amazing group which has changed Jen’s life and many of the members lives as they have a place they feel they belong and can connect with other like minded people. And whats more out of the group has been born a charity called “Helping one member at a time” where the group raises money to help members of the group who are facing or living on the streets /homelessness. Jen is currently raising money for a 20 year old girl who has just lost her parents and is in full custody of her younger sister and facing eviction. The group are looking to beat the £2k target usually set. It’s amazing to see what the group is doing collectively under Jen’s incredible guidance

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

Working with hundreds of people as a social media consultant and coach, I started to see patterns emerging of where people were getting caught in the ‘social media vortex of doom.’ Confident, intelligent, successful people stuck and frustrated by algorithms, not reaching their potential online and seeing this as reflection of their work in the world and then questioning themselves and their path. Where they were thinking they had to follow formulas and share (or overshare!) everyday in the name of social media to have ‘impact’ , often suffering burn out or a lack of joy and excitement about social media, that it had become a chore for them to do — I knew I had to do something to help everyone, and not just my clients. That led me to write my book Social Media For A New Age. Since writing the book everything that has come to light around Facebook Inc has also set me on my mission to raise awareness to the shadow side to social media and share my ideas around what we can do to counterbalance that.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

1. Getting everyone to switch off our mobile phones more. There should be a campaign to stop phone addiction and mobile / device reliance. We need to leave it at home more often, getting back out into nature without them and limiting the time spent on social media or devices everyday. The less addicted we are to our phones the better for our health and wellbeing — and the more we can start to use it as a tool for positive change rather than be a slave to the the algorithms, or to that dopamine hit. There should be bigger campaigns across community, society and from our politicians to support this.

2. If we all were to ask ourselves if we are posting from a place of fear or love? Or if we are trying to impress or impact? I hope by doing this we can shift the dynamics online to be more positive — could you imagine if every troll stopped trolling or attention seeker stopping seeking just how that would shift our digital environment — and how that would feel?

3. Support the more creative content creators you enjoy with likes or comments, donations or by sponsoring and supporting them through the various subscription models emerging — such as Patreon. It takes a lot of time and effort to create content that is made with love, infused with ideas, wisdom, research and creativity that has social impact. We often just take and “feed” off it in our timelines. A like, comment or share will help it spread further. And just imagine if someone posting content of value who has 5000 followers and 50% of those followers all gave $1 a month — that could support the content creator to live — and to create even better content. Creating content just in the name of (or with the intention of) marketing is boring and it has created a space of constant self promotion. If everyone who valued the content they consume this could help the creators create and share without needing to always be selling or promoting. This will help us collectively move away from data and advertising driven platforms or fake influencers promoting inauthentically just for money.

What specific strategies have you been using to promote and advance this cause? Can you recommend any good tips for people who want to follow your lead and use their social platform for a social good?

A Strategy of Love

I place love at the centre of my social media strategy, creating community, honouring integrity. I am part of a new age, helping the planet onto the next stage.

I have been using a strategy of love for a while now with my clients and on my own social media and it gets great results and feedback… “Possibly the best lesson on social media strategy out there.” — Paul Hornsey-Pennel

The magic happens when you…

Love yourself.
Love your offering. Love creating.
Love your community. Love connecting. Love curating.
Love sharing.
Love showing up. Love rising.
Love serving.
Love supporting. Love giving.
Love receiving.
Love being.
Love journeying.

Remembering that fear is an energy that contracts (e.g. the social media vortex of doom) and love is an energy that expands, it is logical that having a strategy of love for your social media is going to help you to expand your message, your community and much more.

“As you continue to send out love, the energy returns to you in a regenerating spiral… As love accumulates, it keeps your system in balance and harmony. Love is the tool, and more love is the end product.” Sara Paddison (author of The Hidden Power of the Heart: Discovering an Unlimited Source of Intelligence)

Love is one of the most powerful energies on our planet and it is absolutely free to give and to receive.

‘The Power of Love’ was the title of the powerful and rousing sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which wasn’t just in reference to romantic love but the power that love has to change the world.

“The late Dr. Martin Luther King once said, and I quote, “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love, and when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world”. Love is the only way. There’s power in love. Don’t underestimate it. Don’t even over sentimentalise it. There’s power, power in love… If you don’t believe me, just stop and think and imagine, think and imagine, well, think and imagine a world where love is the way. Imagine our homes and families when love is the way. Imagine neighbourhoods and communities where love is the way. Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce when love is the way. Imagine this tired old world when love is the way.”

– Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry

If you are aware of how energy flows, remembering this power of love for your social media can make a huge difference to your offering. We often forget, or don’t make the connection that what is true for our physical, and spiritual world is also true for our digital world. This is particularly useful when we go into fear or frustration with social media, and things do not flow.

For the more sensitive amongst us we can FEEL when content is coming from that place of fear or from the heart.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

It’s hard to think of 5 things I wish someone had told me when I first started because I am not sure it would have led me to where I am now — I’ve very much made my own way with the world of social media and my process like social media is iterative and it doesn’t fit the standard model and is constantly changing — evolving and developing — as things do — I don’t have regrets or wish things were different to how they are for me — there are perhaps things I was told that I wish I had listened to a little more (e.g part of me wishes I had tried to build an email list a little harder… rather than relying on the platforms to reach people — I perhaps wish I’d known about addictive design a little earlier than I found out — but everything for a reason and I don’t think I would change anything from my journey and where I am now — as it has been the way it has for a reason ❤

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The movement I want to inspire is that of Social Media For A New Age — where social media shifts away from endless scrolling and self promotion to more conscious & considered time online where we value the content we receive and manage the time we spend connecting with others online in a more productive way — all with a view to supporting one another online and offline better — personally and collectively… Did you know that refreshing your feed on social media is designed around the same addictive impact of pulling the slot machine at a Casino?! If I could help bring awareness to the shadow side of social media and breathe love and awareness into our social media spaces to create a more positive digital environment.

Can you please give us your favourite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

This too shall pass — is one of the greats I think that has been relevant in my life. Knowing that things are in a constant state of change no matter what because it is energy moving helps me whenever I feel stuck, or anxious — it helps me to truly appreciate things when they are awesome — knowing you can’t hold onto anything really helps me with any attachment issues too — and helps me be in the present moment — and to trust because always — this too shall pass.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Will Smith — I love what he is doing with and on social media — he is already doing Social Media For A New Age in a lot of ways and I would love to talk to him about how he can help even further to light up the world through social media — maybe he would be interested in being part of a new kind of social media like the Campfire Convention as well as Facebook Inc.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’m most active on Instagram @katiekdot_socialmediaangel or find me through the hashtag #socialmediaforanewage

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

“Are we posting from a place of fear or love?” with Katie Brockhurts and Candice Georgiadis was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media:” It’s funny to see how much we let fear control our…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media:” It’s funny to see how much we let fear control our lives and everyday decisions” with Angelo Liloc and Candice Georgiadis

Looking back at it all, it’s funny to see how much we let fear control our lives and everyday decisions. The best part is that I don’t regret any of it. I know it all happens for a reason and I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without any of those experiences in my past.

As a part of my series about social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Angelo Liloc . Angelo is the Founder and CEO of Mod3rn Fitness, LLC where he and his team help busy professionals achieve peak performance through fitness, nutrition, and mindset coaching. By leveraging the lessons life beautifully reveals along the way, and utilizing his experience as a law enforcement officer, he’s helping transform hundreds and eventually millions of lives around the world. How? Simply by creating one positive habit at a time.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

After sustaining a career ending injury, I was left confused, depressed, lost, and without any real sense of identity anymore. This lead to one of the darkest times in my life.

I gained a ton of weight to the point where I seriously couldn’t even tie my own shoes because my belly had gotten so large! True story, ask my wife.

With the money I had left, I started an online supplement company. I figured since I had a huge passion for fitness, why not create my own supplement line right? So I invested in something, or I guess I should say someone, I knew would get me a direct ROI (return on investment), myself. Thus, leading to the creation of the Mod3rn Nutrition supplement brand.

At this point, I had barely used social media because I wanted my life to be in the shadows. However, I did see a ton of value that social media would bring to my business and my brand. Long story short, I started an Instagram account and right off the bat I began to use it as a way for me to be the “hero” ex-police officer who’s “been there and done that” and I was there to help people change their lives!

Like many things in life, it takes trial and error.

Though I loved health and fitness, my true passion was in personal development. I loved learning about the mind and why we do the things we do! I began to realize that I still wasn’t happy.

I had so much more to say, but I was worried as to how my followers would react if I just started talking about mindset stuff instead. It was rough because I had built this business and yet, I was still unhappy.

I decided that I needed to speak my truth. I believe I was given this second chance at life and I fully intended on making the most it! So I rebranded my business into Mod3rn Fitness, and transitioned from a product-based business into a service-based brand. By taking my passion for fitness, nutrition, and most importantly mindset, I was able to create a new brand focused on creating an impact!

I began opening up more about things that I kept to myself. I began sharing my true story, both the good and the bad. Social media is like the highlight reel for most people’s lives. They don’t want you to see them at their weak points, they only want to show the best.

This “only showing the best” mentality creates a comparison mindset with the readers/viewers, and the only thing that comes from comparison is unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Instead of social media bringing people together, like it was initially intended to do, it became toxic for a lot of people.

But this wasn’t reality. The comparisons people made were based on what others wanted us to see about their lives, not the actual truth.

Though many told me it was an unpopular route to take, I knew I had to speak my truth.

And that’s exactly what I did and what I’ve continued to do.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

Over time, I began reaching more people who appreciated authenticity and my willingness to share my journey. So much so, that people started sending me direct messages on Instagram thanking me for my transparency and the content I’ve shared

I was amazed at the number of people who actually watched, read, and listened to my content from the shadows. By ‘the shadows’ I meant people who would take in the content but never liked, commented, and/or shared any of it.

I was at the gym locker room getting ready for my workout when this guy approached me out of nowhere and asked, “Hey man, are you Angelo? I follow you on Instagram and I just really want to say thank you for the content you post. I’m going through some relationship stuff right now, and your content helped me work through some thoughts in my head.”

I was so surprised that even though we just met, he quickly opened up like we’ve known each other for a long time. It was such an honor to know that I’m actually able to add value into another person’s life simply by just telling my story.

At this point, I realized that out of all the metrics and data we can track about our followers. The most important piece of data isn’t even recorded. And that number is the amount of lives we’ve been able to change.

We spoke in the locker room for a few more minutes and I shared a few thoughts that came to mind.

He left, and I continued into the gym to get my workout in. I couldn’t help but think about what just happened. A few short years ago, I would’ve never guessed I’d be blessed with this opportunity and platform to truly make a lasting impression on people’s lives.

That’s when I knew, this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It was funny how unreasonably nervous I was in the beginning. I began thinking, “Why the heck would people listen to me anyways? What kind of value would I even add? Nobody wants to hear my story!”

I was so into my own head that I began talking myself out of taking action. Before I knew it, I had talked myself out of it and began looking for other ventures to explore instead. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world, but I didn’t think myself worthy of such an honor. There was a small point in my life where I tried getting into gaming instead of business.

I figured it was a childhood dream that I can actually now make a living doing! I mean, how hard can it be right? Wrong. Trying to keep up with these young kids in video games was like an old man trying to get into the UFC or something!

Impossible? No. But highly unlikely.

After a short-lived career in gaming, and after several other trial and error career paths that followed afterwards, I realized I was avoiding the truth.

I had to face my fears. I had to talk to my phone camera! I had to share my story on my social media regardless of what negative thoughts I had built up in my head.

Looking back at it all, it’s funny to see how much we let fear control our lives and everyday decisions. The best part is that I don’t regret any of it. I know it all happens for a reason and I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without any of those experiences in my past.

Moral of the story, don’t let fear keep you from taking actions, but even if you do…It’s okay. Either way, it’s okay because it was supposed to happen that way all along. Just embrace the journey, learn from it all, and enjoy the ride life has in store for you!

This is all part of YOUR story.

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

As liberating as it is to share my story, there is a purpose to it all. Because I feel like I have this second chance, I also feel like it’s my responsibility to help others overcome their setbacks as well. I share my story not just to inspire and make people feel good, but to give a voice to those that may not be able to express themselves for whatever reason.

Whether it’s because they’re afraid, they don’t think they communicate well, their story isn’t worth anything, or even if they just feel alone sometimes. That’s who I do it for.

By simply sharing my ups and downs, my good days and my bad days, whether it’s the popular route or not, I’m hoping someone on the other end receiving the content is finding value. But more importantly, if they could see me, just another hard-working guy trying to doing something great in life, they would see that they could do it to.

So how do I use my platform to make a significant social impact?

I lead by example and share my truth.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

One of our clients at Mod3rn Fitness, and for the purpose of this article we’ll call her Jane. She was very quiet and stand-offish when we first started talking, but I sensed there was definitely something deeper to her. Over time, we challenged and pushed her limitations further than she had ever gone before.

Of course there was resistance at first, but she quickly saw the benefits of what we wanted for her. Her husband even told us how long he’s been trying to get her to record a video of herself to share on social media. He literally tried for years to get her to record this video but with no luck. After a few weeks, we challenged her to make a similar video, share it, and get it done within the next 24 hours.

Today, she’s conquered every challenge we’ve thrown her way. Now, she sees the possibilities life holds for her when she attacks her fears and goals head on!

She has become one of our biggest advocates because she experienced what we’re trying to share with the rest of the world.

Jane worked hard, she maintained a consistent work ethic, and she’s seeing what leveling up in life looks and feels like! I’m so proud of her!

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

After my injury, I gained a ton of weight and it completely destroyed my self-image and confidence. I went from chasing bad guys and jumping over fences, to struggling to bend over and tie my own shoe laces. I had hit the lowest point of my life.

I began getting into the gym again and even then, I was super limited in the type of workouts and movements I could perform. I couldn’t bench press because it hurt my lower back so I had to do modified pushups. I had a hard time doing lower body movements so I had to get creative in order to fire up certain muscles. I think you get where I’m going with this right?

Long story short, I began to lose some weight and I started “looking better” again physically. I started gaining muscle and changing my external physique, but inside I was still sad and depressed. Thinking about it, I was confused why I was still so down even though I started to look like what I used to again. I may not have had the same functionalities, but at that point at least I saw some type of progress.

It was at that exact moment when I realized that the whole saying of, “If you look good, then you’ll feel good,” was complete crap! I started looking good, but I for sure wasn’t feeling good either.

That’s when it hit me, our external world may change but as long as our internal thoughts remained the same then our lives will continue to be the same too.

So to make it simple, it’s not “Look good THEN feel good,” rather it’s more “FEEL good, then look good.”

What’s the difference? Mindset.

I knew that with a broken mindset, I’ll never live the life I was meant to live. That’s why we put such a high focus on mindset here at Mod3rn Fitness. We want to help people change their inner world so that it can better reflect their external situations.

Change may not be easy, but if you really want to live at a higher level of life, then you’d better embrace and become familiar with change.

Our minds are such a powerful tool, we’re barely scratching the surface of our full potential! We need to be more aware of the thoughts, the people, the ideas, and the languages we allow to speak into our lives. All of these factors play into how our mindset is shaped.

And at the core of it all, our mindset is what shapes our reality and in turn, it’s what shapes our world.

Sometimes we just need to stop living in the past and thinking about ‘what was’, and believing and experiencing the future of what ‘could be’.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Influencers play such an important role in society regardless if they’re a politician, community leader, or social media influencer. Leaders are in their position for a reason. You don’t just wake up one day and say, “I think I’m going to be a leader.”

I think that’s a title others can give you, and not one you just simply start calling yourself.

So what exactly does that mean?

It means that for whatever reason, someone believes in you and is following in your footsteps. It means that you have a place in their hearts and minds in a way that influences their decisions.

Leading by example and showing the rest of the world our imperfections would be a great way to help others see that we’re not so different from one another.

It would help people stop comparing their lives to the highlight reels they see on social media.

Because we’ve all been blessed in one way or another, it’s our responsibility to use our platforms to be a blessing to others as well.

Don’t be afraid of showing your ups and downs. Not in order to gain sympathy, but in order to speak your truth.

With all the stats that’s track on social media, the most important one isn’t even tracked. And that’s the amount of lives you’re changing simply by being yourself and telling your story.

It’s actually pretty simple, yet people still have a hard time comprehending what I mean by telling your story and being real.

Showing pictures of your life is great, don’t get me wrong. If you worked hard and earned what you have then by all means share it with the world. However, I encourage you to go a little deeper and share some of the stories that got you to where you are. The good, the bad, the great, and the ugly. Share it all!

Because chances are, there’s someone out there trying to do the same thing and they may be on the verge of giving up. Your story, may be exactly what they needed to see or hear at that specific moment in time.

Maybe because you had enough courage to step out of your comfort zone, someone else found a glimmer of hope and inspiration?

You don’t know who’s watching.

You don’t know who’s life you’re changing.

Be you, be real, and tell your story.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1) Don’t be too serious. Life has a funny way of working itself out for the best. At this point in my life I know everything really does happen for a reason. Not just the grand and extravagant moments, but most importantly the small details we experience in life. You may be going through a tough time in life right now, but trust me that as you get through this you’ll see the lesson in the bigger picture. Just know that you’re exactly where you need to be. There’s a reason for it all and it may not make sense now, but in time I know it will.

2) Time is the greatest resource, not money. The more I made money my priority in business, the less I felt connected with the brand. When I made the shift and started focusing on IMPACT over income, everything changed for the best. Business just miraculously grew, we felt so much more peace and fulfillment, and I knew that this was exactly where we needed to be. Focus on helping others and not just trying make a quick buck.

3) Social media is about documentation, stop trying to make the ‘perfect post’. I use to spend hours trying to capture the perfect angle, apply the best filter, and type up the most impactful post for my Instagram. Basically, I was trying to be like what I thought everyone was wanted. And just like that, I started being like everyone else. When I began focusing on just documenting my journey and process not just in business, but in life as well, my following and my engagement grew! I was getting DM’s from people who I didn’t know, but got value from the content I offered. Document and share your process. Don’t worry about making everything look perfect.

4) It’s not about perfection, it’s all about progression. Business, social media, and life in general is about progress. It’s about leveling up and growing into the version of yourself you were meant to become. Sometimes we’re too caught up in making everything perfect, that we fail to see that perfection isn’t about the end goal rather it’s about the process of getting there. Though perfection isn’t achievable, the beauty is in the pursuit.

5) People will love you and people will hate you, so just be you. Stop trying to be a people pleaser. No matter what you do, there’s always going to be people that disagree. The goal is to find those who like you and continue being yourself. You’re going to have people that say unnecessary things that may hurt or offend you, it’s just part of the process. One of my mentors told me this amazing quote, “Don’t take offense, if offense wasn’t intended.” Regardless of someone’s intentions, we still control how we react. Don’t let someone else steal your joy or peace.

Mod3rn Fitness is the business, but #TEAMFFIT is the brand, the culture, and the movement. It’s about helping people achieve peak performance through their fitness, nutrition, and mindset. This movement was created to help people, help other people. It’s a simple and effective plan. Because we help grow and achieve high levels of greatness, in turn they’re out doing the same for someone else because there’s a sense of abundance in their lives.

The more we have, the more we can give.

The more we can give, the more we can help change lives.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Don’t be afraid to be the youngest, dumbest, most inexperienced person in the room.” I heard this from one of my good friends and mentors when he was teaching me how to level up in life. For the longest time, I was too concerned about being ‘the best’. But what happens when you become the best is that you stop growing. And at any point, you’re either bringing people or they’re weighing you down. If you’re the ‘top dog’ in a room then you need to find another room. It means you’ve reached the full potential and you need to start associating with people who know more and have done more, so you can BE MORE. Start humbling yourself and don’t let your pride or ego get the best of you and hinder your growth.

It’s one of the most profound things I’ve learned and its been one of the reason why I’m growing so quickly not just in business, but in my personal life and relationships as well.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I would love to have a private breakfast with Andy Frisella. His podcast, The MFCEO Project was a game changer for me and my business. During my recover and physical therapy, I listened to his podcast and it just resonated with so many different aspects in my life. It was part of the reason why I started putting myself back together again. He has played a crucial role in my life and why I’m able to do the things I’m doing today. That would be such a great opportunity to chat with him and just be around a genuine and all-around good soul.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I primarily use instagram, @angeloliloc & @mod3rn_fitness . I also have a podcast called, “The JUST FFIT Podcast” where you can find on Apple Itunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, and Anchor. Last but not least, I have a private Facebook group called #TEAMFFIT, that I encourage each and every one of you to join, especially if you’re looking to surround yourself with genuinely good people who want to level up in life together! Check us out at www.facebook.com/groups/mod3rnfitness .

Last but not least you can visit us on the web via our website www.mod3rnfitness.com

I’d love to connect with you and help out in any way I can, thank you guys again for this opportunity!

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media:” It’s funny to see how much we let fear control our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Sia Cooper of Diary of a Fit Mommy: “Why we should talk back to the media about our dissatisfaction

Sia Cooper of Diary of a Fit Mommy: “Why we should talk back to the media about our dissatisfaction with the focus on appearance and lack of size acceptance”

Talk back to the media. All media and messages are developed or constructed and are not reflections of reality. So shout back. Speak our dissatisfaction with the focus on appearance and lack of size acceptance.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sia Cooper, aka @diaryofafitmommyofficial. Sia is a 30 year old Destin, FL mom who has made her way from being an underpaid/undervalued nurse to elevating her wellness message to more than 1.2 MILLION Instagram followers. She was named one TIME’s “25 Most Influential On The Internet” in 2018. Sia captivates and motivates audiences because of her real-talk fitness and nutrition advice. She’s the “fit mommy” but her advice is really geared at anyone feeling the pressures of being “perfect” when it comes to fitness and her audience reflects that.. Her advice? Striving for perfection could likely be your #1 mistake in achieving health and exercise goals. She shares her honest journey from body dysmorphia, to being overweight, to being “skinny fat”, to her now healthy and strong body outlook to motivate the masses.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Prior to becoming a trainer, I was formerly a nurse working in the nursing home, feeling burnt out. I knew I wanted to help people and to be in the health-related career field, but I felt nursing just was not my calling. While in nursing school, I had actually packed on an extra 30lbs and managed to drop 45lbs after graduation. My own fitness journey inspired me to start blogging which eventually led me to becoming a certified personal trainer.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

One of the most interesting things that has happened to me since beginning this career has been getting recognized at the most random places. I remember the first few times that I started getting recognized from my social media was while we were on vacation at Disney World. I had a few ladies who followed me come up to me and asked for a photo-I was a bit taken back! In my mind, I do not see myself as all that or a big deal and at first getting recognized gave me a little bit of social anxiety, but now I embrace it as a public figure. Perhaps the most bizarre location where I was recognized was at Little Beach in Maui which just so happened to be a nude beach. Luckily, I was not nude nor was the person whom approached me!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was teaching a group class of about 50 people, and I use my iPhone to play my music during class. Unfortunately, I forgot to set my iPhone on silent that day and my phone rang during the middle of class. Normally, not a big deal…but my ringtone is What’s Your Fantasy by Ludacris!

I learned to always double check my phone after that!

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

Over the years, I have used social media in various ways. It was first used as a tool to track my own fitness journey which led me to inspire countless other women to pursue their own fitness journeys as well. However, after having my daughter, I felt a strong shift in my message. I started posting unedited photos and showing the differences between real life versus Instagram shots. Body positivity became a strong message for my brand because I wanted to post the things that I would want my own daughter to see. I would not want her to be plagued with perfection 24/7 so I made it a mission to normalize things such as tummy rolls, cellulite, and stretch marks.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

There isn’t anyone in particular who stands out, but I get comments and messages daily when I post these styles of photos and these women usually say that it makes them feel so much better. If I can increase one woman’s confidence for the day, then I feel I am doing my best job.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

The tipping point was after giving birth to my daughter. Something that became my primary focus was being everything to her that my own mother wasn’t for me. Growing up, I was taunted for my weight gain as a teenager by her and she would call me hurtful names. I eventually ended up with an eating disorder and negative body image. I told myself that I would never allow my daughter to feel unworthy or unbeautiful. This mission carried through to my professional career as a public figure as well. These women are someone’s daughters and they need to be uplifted as well.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve (when it comes to body positivity, intersectional inclusion in the health/wellness industry… raising awareness about women’s health)?

I think society is a major part of the issue and there are definitely things it can do to help me address the root of the problems we face as women such as body image. We rely on one another for the survival of humanity. That primal connection makes our interactions physiologically and psychologically important. So it’s not surprising that how society perceives us affects us on many levels. And it’s partly how society perceives our bodies that is of concern.

The media in particular, has increasingly become a platform that reinforces cultural beliefs and projects strong views on how we should look, that we as individuals often unknowingly or knowingly validate and perpetuate. Here is what we can do as a community:

Talk back to the media. All media and messages are developed or constructed and are not reflections of reality. So shout back. Speak our dissatisfaction with the focus on appearance and lack of size acceptance.
Stop comparing ourselves to others. We are unique and we can’t get a sense of our own body’s needs and abilities by comparing it to someone else.
Realize that we cannot change our body type: thin, large, short or tall, we need to appreciate the uniqueness of what we have — and work with it.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

Living your life online can be difficult. When I began my career online, I did not know how hard it would be-I learned this last year when I was plagued with trolls. However, I learned quickly that people are often braver behind a keyboard when their identities are not known.
Social media can be time consuming. It is ultimately up to you how long you spend online per day, but social media never sleeps and notifications, emails, messages, and comments never stop. It is simply part of having a large page and connecting so intimately with others, but it is rewarding!
Personal training is a life serving others. As a trainer, it’s about using your life to help others lift theirs up. You serve because you enjoy it. Because it invigorates you. And because you love the feeling of helping someone else achieve their goals.
People won’t take you seriously… at first. When I quit my nursing career to start blogging, I felt embarrassed to tell people what I did. I always had been told and heard others say, “oh social media is not a real job.” I worked in silence for those first couple of years and let my success be my voice. I am so proud to say that the internet and social media is my career because it allows me the flexibility that nursing never did. I also went from making $36k a year to $500k.
There is always going to be someone who appears more successful than you are. The crazy thing about the internet is that you only see what people want you to see. This gives you the real or false realization that they may be more successful than you are. It may make you feel inferior or a bit let down, but I always say this to my clients and I am constantly reminding my own self of this: do not compare your life (or body) to someone else on the internet. Stay in your lane and focus on your own mission. Unfollow anyone who derails that vision!

Nothing more than the simple movement of women loving their own bodies. The body positivity movement has been such a wonderful one and I would like to continue breaking the stigmas and taboos around imperfections on social media (stretch marks, tolls, loose skin, no makeup).

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done before.” This has always been one of my favorite quotes and what inspired me to change my career path. I was unhappy working as a nurse and I knew that I had the ability to change that. If I wanted a career that I loved, I had to make that happen. I quit nursing and I started a business with no business degree! This was out of my element and something I had never done before that has opened so many doors. I once heard that if it does not scare you, it won’t grow you.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

She is not in the US, but I would love to have a private breakfast with Meghan Markle. She seems like such a sweet and down to earth woman who literally had her life change overnight in front of the world. I admire her strength, courage, and charisma. I also love her charity work-I think we all could have a little of the “Markle sparkle” in our lives.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow me on my Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/diaryofafitmommyofficial/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DiaryofaFitMommy

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thesiabia1

Thank you for all of these great insights!

Sia Cooper of Diary of a Fit Mommy: “Why we should talk back to the media about our dissatisfaction was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “People drinking less alcohol has a positive effect on…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “People drinking less alcohol has a positive effect on their wellbeing and their relationships with friends and family” with Tom Hallett and Candice Georgiadis

People drinking less alcohol has a positive effect on their wellbeing and their relationships with friends and family. It also puts less pressure on resources such as healthcare and law enforcement. That said, I’m far from anti-alcohol. I want to give people the info they’re looking for to make the best decision for themselves.

As a part of my series about social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Hallett, founder of SteadyDrinker.com. Steady Drinker is a website and blog that helps you learn discover and learn about great-tasting low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beers so you can cut down your alcohol intake — or stop drinking altogether.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’ve been in jobs creating digital content since 2005 and I found that as I progressed in my career, I had fewer chances to use my writing skills. To practice writing and test ideas I could use in my day job, I set up various blogs and websites over the years to work on in my spare time.

Steady Drinker is probably the 5th or 6th blog I’ve set up. I wouldn’t say the others were a failure because I learned a lot, but this is first one that’s making a significant impact.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

They’re not stories as such but I’m constantly finding out interesting information about food and drink as I research and write new content.

For instance, did you know that some types of bread contain up to 1.2% alcohol by volume (ABV)? If this was a drink, it would be a restricted product under many countries’ alcohol laws.

Even ripe bananas can contain up to 0.5% alcohol.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

A website I previously worked on in my day job received most of its traffic — and its revenue — from a handful of pages via Google searches. I managed to block one of those pages from Google when I published a new version of it in a rush on a Friday afternoon. I can laugh now but it wasn’t funny at the time, especially as I didn’t spot the issue until after the weekend.

The lessons? Step back and take a breather when you’re rushing to get stuff done and triple check everything.

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

Steady Drinker helps people cut down their alcohol intake by introducing them to quality non-alcoholic beers. It also gives them information they need to decide whether non-alcoholic beer fits with their circumstances, because it’s not for everyone.

The impact is that people drinking less alcohol has a positive effect on their wellbeing and their relationships with friends and family. It also puts less pressure on resources such as healthcare and law enforcement. That said, I’m far from anti-alcohol. I want to give people the info they’re looking for to make the best decision for themselves.

Another thing I do with Steady Drinker is make it easy for readers to donate to an alcohol support charity if they find the content on the blog useful. It’s great motivation when I get a notification to say someone has sent a donation.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

One recent email that springs to mind was from someone who was using non-alcoholic beer to manage a long-term drinking problem. I always recommend that anyone who has an alcohol dependency seeks advice from a health professional if they’re considering using non-alcoholic beers to quit drinking and he told me how the blog had encouraged him to seek extra support when he felt at risk of a relapse into his old behaviors.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

Everything changed for me in early 2018 when my wife was pregnant with our daughter, Georgie. At the time, I was writing about beer drinking it most days of the week — nothing too heavy but enough to ensure I wasn’t fit to drive to the hospital at short notice.

Instead of swapping my evening beers for additive-laden fizzy drinks or just water, I decided to give non-alcoholic beer a try in the run up to Georgie’s due date.

I did come across some terrible beers, but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of what was available. It turns out there has been a lot of innovation in the industry in recent years. That, coupled with changes in people’s drinking habits means there’s now loads of good-quality non-alcoholic beers in a variety of styles available. The problem is, non-alcoholic beer still has a bad reputation.

This led me to set up Steady Drinker, to review and rate the beers I try and share my findings. I also found there’s a lot of misinformation about the pros and cons of low and no beer, which is why I also produce resources to help others understand non-alcoholic beer better, backed up by research and scientific studies where appropriate.

Now, just over a year on, I’m still enjoying my day job working for a University website, but Steady Drinker is growing into a more of a side-career than a hobby. And, importantly, I’m drinking a lot less alcohol, which allows me to spend quality time with Georgie and avoid those dreaded early morning wake up calls with a hangover!

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

One thing I’d like to see is Governments encourage and fund more research into the pros and cons of non-alcoholic beer. Many non-alcoholic beers contain trace amounts of alcohol — up to 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV). This is about the same percentage of alcohol that occurs naturally in many foods and drinks and not enough to get you anywhere near drunk, yet there’s very little research into whether or not this could be dangerous if you have a health condition. My feeling is that it’s safe for most people but we can’t say for sure without the research to back it up.

I’d also like Governments to investigate how to further stimulate the non-alcoholic and low-alcohol drinks industry to further promote growth and in turn encourage even more people to switch from alcoholic drinks to non-alcoholic ones. In the early 2000s, the UK Government was able to encourage growth in the beer industry with tax breaks for smaller producers. Something similar, like funding or grants for producers of non-alcoholic drinks could incentivize more of them to enter the market and raise the profile of non-alcoholic beer even more. This would be especially handy for producers of non-alcoholic beer as it can be more expensive to produce than standard beer due the ingredients, equipment and time involved.

Finally, I’d like to see Governments make more evidence-based decisions around regulation and legislation of low and no alcohol beer and other non-alcoholic drinks. For example, when the UK Government recently decided against updating guidance to allow 0.5% ABV drinks to be labelled “alcohol-free”, the Department of Health and Social Care said that defining any drink below 0.5% ABV as non-alcoholic could encourage drink driving and affect people’s judgement. It cited no evidence for this claim, yet there is research that shows 0.5% drinks won’t get you drunk.

With a full-time job and a one-year-old toddler I don’t get much spare time. So rather than spread myself too thinly I’ve concentrated most of my efforts on one platform — a blog. I have been tempted to up my social media game a few times, but I’ve found that this has an effect on the quality of my blog content.

Therefore, my best tip would be to focus first on one area, ideally whatever you’re best at. For me, that’s writing longer-form content rather than posting on Twitter or Instagram or making videos for YouTube. I’d love to get into podcasting at some point though.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Set a goal and review it regularly. This gives you something to focus on and helps you stop doing activities that won’t get you where you want to be — like getting into arguments on social media.

2. Done is always better than perfect. Whether it’s a website, Instagram post, article or photo, there comes a stage when you just have to hit ‘go’ — otherwise you’ll never complete anything.

3. Prioritize. You’ll never get to the end of your to-do list. Work out what will have the most impact on your most important goal and concentrate on that first.

4. Find a passion. This is important when you first start out because it might take weeks or even years to make an impact.

5. Promote your content. Because it’s so easy for anyone to publish content these days, you can’t just hit publish and wait for people to see it. Distributing your content is key.

I’m pretty happy with how things are going right now, introducing people to the joys of low and no alcohol beers so they can cut down their drinking and doing my best to support producers, who are driving the market forward with excellent products.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I’m not usually a big fan of quotes but I like this quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” I use this mantra a lot, whether it’s preparing to write an article, making sure I’ve got everything I need close at hand to focus on doing some work, or even getting ready for an important telephone call.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I’d love even just a few minutes with any ministers or government officials who set alcohol and health policy to highlight the benefits of non-alcoholic beers and talk about how we could use them to encourage people to drink less alcohol.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’m @steadydrinker on Twitter and Instagram or [email protected] on email.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “People drinking less alcohol has a positive effect on… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “Citizens can speak up and use their voice” with Nicole…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “Citizens need to speak up and use their voice” with Nicole Melancon and Candice Georgiadis

Citizens can speak up and use their voice. There are so many causes out there that matter so it is best to pick one or two causes that one feels extremely passionate about and get involved. Call your legislators, vote and keep informed on the issues that matter. It doesn’t always involve donating. Showing up and using your voice is what matters most.

As a part of my series about social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole Melancon, founder of the travel and social good blog Third Eye Mom. Nicole has been using her voice as a blogger and content creator for the past nine years to raise awareness, funds and impact change around the world.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

In 2009, my 69-year-old father and I went on a life-changing trip to trek the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. Before going, I had read the book “Half the Sky” by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn and my eyes were opened to some of the immense challenges and needs people face around the world especially for women and girls. The book also shares stories of how average people have made a difference. That idea stuck with me. I had quit my career to have a family and despite being fulfilled as a mother, I still had an unfilled desire to make a difference and give back.

While in Nepal, we trekked to the far remote corners of the earth, through beautiful yet poverty-stricken villages, where children had to walk hours to school and communities lacked basic necessities such as safe drinking water, decent electricity and healthcare. It was at that point that I realized I too could make an impact in people’s lives. Travel was a gift and I wanted to give back something in return to the people of Nepal who shared their amazing country with me.

When I returned home, I began fundraising and eventually raised enough money to build a reading center in rural Nepal through READ Global. Elated I continued my work raising money for another nonprofit organization, Hands in Nepal, for a year helping raise money to build a school.

It was during this time that I launched my blog, Third Eye Mom, a travel and social good blog about “traveling the world and doing good”. I have always loved to write but never thought of doing it as a career and honestly had no idea that blogs existed until I saw a blog post written by a friend who had recently traveled to New Zealand. I thought if he can do it so can I! I opened an account on WordPress, launched my blog and haven’t stopped writing ever since.

I chose to write about travel and social justice because I feel strongly that the two topics go hand in hand especially when I began traveling further off the beaten path. The more I traveled, the more I saw and opportunities opened up for me to become a voice for the voiceless and share their stories. My work has brought me to Ethiopia, Haiti, Nicaragua, Tanzania and Kenya. I’ve worked with schools to provide safe drinking water, spent a few days with a group of Maasai, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and funds for solar electricity, learned all about local art in Haiti, and about newborn and maternal health in rural Ethiopia. It has been quite an amazing ride! (Did I mention that I also learned to surf at an all-women’s learn to surf camp in Nicaragua?).

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

There are so many stories that it is hard to pick one but I guess I’d like to share the story of how I came up with my blog name, Third Eye Mom. It was day 6 or 7 of our trek along the Annapurna Circuit Route and after a grueling 8 hour hike we finally reached the stunning, snow-covered village of Manang. After days of walking, we were finally in somewhat of a civilization in the form of a real town with internet cafes, bakeries and even a shower and “Western” toilet.

After a soothing night’s sleep it was time for us to do a training hike to help prepare us for the highest point of the trek — — Thorong-La pass at 17,769 feet a few days later. After a breakfast of mint tea and freshly baked chapati, we set off for an acclimatization hike to the famous Manang monastery. The hike was a somewhat heart-pounding ascent as it is hour and a half straight up the mountainside above Manang. I kept wondering why on earth I was doing all this and killing my 39-year-old self, until I reached the top.

There within the confines of a cave lived the magical, 95-year-old Cave Monk and his 65-year-old-daughter. Upon entering the cave, I waited in silence mesmerized by the solitude and magic of the place. Covered in a crimson robe, with prayer flags and a framed photo of the Dalai Lama hanging on the wall of the cave, sat the 95-year-old monk waiting to bless me. Speechless, I sat down, bowed my head and accepted with gratitude a necklace of prayer beads. Prayers were spoken in a language I didn’t understand but I didn’t need to. At that moment I felt welcome and safe. As I left the cave I came upon the most magnificent view of the entire trek: The incredible, mighty Himalayas in all their glory. It was utterly divine. I didn’t take the prayer beads off until I safely landed at home two weeks later and still have them next to by bedside table.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The first social good blogging trip I went on was to India. I went with Jennifer James, founder of Social Good Moms and someone I have admired for years before meeting her in person at a blogging conference. It was a dream come true for me to be invited to go on this trip with Jennifer and see the work of some of our favorite international nonprofits on the ground.

We were staying at a hotel far outside the capital and on our first day we had a series of meetings in Delhi. We thought we would take the train in since it was at least an hour away. We purchased our tickets and at first didn’t think twice to the uncomfortable stares we were receiving by the Indian men. We knew we looked out of place as two American women traveling alone, standing on the platform waiting for the train.

When it came, we got onboard and as the train sped away we realized that we were the only two women in the entire car. We tried to talk and ignore the growing feeling of unease and the hostile stares. We had obviously made a rookie mistake and honestly didn’t know that an Indian woman or any woman does not travel alone in a men’s car in India.

Thankfully a kind Indian businessman told us to follow him and get off at the next stop. He directed us to a car that simply said “women’s car”. There we would feel safe and secure. He was right. All the women that were on the train were crammed into that car. After laughing it off, I realized that the golden rule of travel is to abide by the customs of a place you are in. I may not like the gender inequity but it also was an eye-opening moment for me. Shortly after we left India, a young woman was brutally raped and killed by a group of young men when she was returning from a movie riding a bus with her date. The utter lack of women’s rights really hit home to me.

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

When I began my blog in 2010 after a life-changing trip to Nepal, I realized that travel and social justice go hand in hand. The more I saw of the world, the more social issues I witnessed. Whether it be lack of education for girls to the unavailability of safe drinking water or electricity, I could not turn a blind eye. I began sharing my travel stories alongside social justice topics and I found my niche.

At the time, there weren’t a lot of travel bloggers covering social good topics and I was unique. It opened many doors and opportunities to work with nonprofits on campaigns and share their stories on everything from food security, to global vaccines, safe water, conservation, girls education and women’s health. I teamed up with large nonprofit organizations such as Save the Children, WaterAid, UNICEF and more to educate and inspire my readers on global issues worth fighting for. I also began working with larger grassroots organizations such as ONE.org, Mom Bloggers for Social Good and World Moms Network to further amplify my message. As a group, we’d share stories and campaigns to engage and inspire our audience to take action and do good.

This lead to many travel opportunities where I got to go out in the field and witness firsthand some of the amazing work that is being done on the ground to save lives. I traveled to Ethiopia with Johns Hopkins University as an International Reporting Fellow on Newborn and Maternal Health, to Haiti with Macy’s, to India, Nicaragua and most recently to Kenya with LifeStraw to deliver safe drinking water to rural schools. I’ve shared all of my stories with my audience back home, taking my readers along with me on the ground to help them gain a better understanding of the issues at stake and what they can personally do to help. I also launched a Gifts that Give Back page a few years ago that has brought in over 80,000 views to nonprofits around the world that sell products that give back to charity. Knowing that my blog has made a difference and impacted people’s lives has been extremely rewarding.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

When I was in Ethiopia in a very remote village, I took a photo of a pair of young girls. They looked right into the camera, shyly smiling and before I knew it I was off talking with someone else and the girls were gone. When I returned home to the US I was looking through my photos and realized that the young girl on the right in the photo had a clubfoot. Clubfoot is quite disabling in poor countries where families can’t afford to have surgery to fix the foot. Fortunately, clubfoot is easily fixable with surgery and for people living in rural poverty, it is life-changing as it enables a child to attend school, fetch water and someday have an income instead of being completely dependent on the family.

When I returned home, I learned about an Ethiopian-based NGO called CURE that provides surgery to fix clubfoot. The cost — $1000 — is astronomical for most Ethiopian rural families who often live on less than $2 per day. Yet for me it was something I could easily get through fundraising. It took six months to fundraise and also track down the girl from the village by using the one photo of her I had. She was located and the money was all raised yet she didn’t want to go through with it. Her family had never ever left the village and getting to the nation’s capital was impossible. I learned a valuable lesson that perhaps helping out is not as easy as I believed. There are other issues at stake that I never once considered. I naively thought the girl and her family would want to have the life-changing surgery but they did not. I ended up donating the money to another child in waiting through the nonprofit. In the end, a child’s life was changed with the surgery although it was a different one than I tried to initially help.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

Again, I think it all leads back to the beginning. Being a stay at home mom who loves travel and got the amazing opportunity to go to Nepal. Reading “Half the Sky” and realizing that I could too make a difference no matter how big or small. Finding my purpose in life and using my voice, and never stop fighting for those who don’t have the luxury to fight.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Citizens can speak up and use their voice. There are so many causes out there that matter so it is best to pick one or two causes that one feels extremely passionate about and get involved. Call your legislators, vote and keep informed on the issues that matter. It doesn’t always involve donating. Showing up and using your voice is what matters most.

I love telling stories and I especially love using my blog and social media where I’m able to share authentic, heartfelt stories coupled with touching photography to raise awareness and compassion for the issues that matter to me. Being able to be on the ground and learn about issues firsthand such as water and sanitation, maternal and newborn health, and the impact on women and girls, has been an incredibly life-changing experience. To put these experiences into words and be a voice for the voiceless in my stories feels amazing.

Since I write on a variety of causes and work hard to advance them all, the most important thing of all is to keep up to date and remain active online. I am constantly trying to share stories via my blog and social media about the causes I am passionate about. There are a lot of different social media platforms as well which can get time-consuming and overwhelming. I recommend picking one or two that works best for telling your story and advancing the case. Find your community of like-minded souls who also are passionate about your cause and engage with them frequently. For me, the best platforms have been my blog along with Twitter and Facebook. But for someone else it may differ.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. That being an entrepreneur, freelance writer and content creator and humanitarian is never going to be a 9–5 job. Working online, business is always open and there are always important causes coming along all the time. It is important to make sure to take some time away from work to avoid burnout.

2. Had I known that I would still be at my blog nine years later I would have taken myself more seriously from the start and set some general practices up in the beginning. For example, I never cared about SEO and always just wanted to write what my heart said. However, not taking care of SEO means less people see and find your content and your message isn’t getting out there. Trying to go back and re-do SEO on nine years of content is very hard.

3. That you can truly use your voice to impact a stranger’s life. I honestly had no idea that some of my little blog posts and social media content has moved readers to act. Whether it be by donating to a cause I wrote about or just simply becoming interested enough in the cause to care. Had I known the power of a voice to make a difference in the world I would have began much sooner!

4. Working online can be hard. It can be isolating at times, lonely and also there can be trolls. It is crucial to not take the “once in a blue moon” rude comments or criticism too personally. When you write online for anyone to see, you open yourself up and become more vulnerable. I say, forget the bad apples and move on. Over 99% of the others reading your content are what keeps you writing.

5. Never give up. Over the years I have seen so many incredible voices shut down and stop creating content. It has made me so sad that their powerful voices are no longer heard. Again, there is a lot of reasons why people stop doing this line of work. For me, it is a labor of love and I am blessed to not have to worry so much about the money but about using my voice and never giving up. I plan on writing my blog well into retirement!

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

The recent UN report on biodiversity states that over 1 million species are at risk of extinction and that we must act now if we want to mitigate the dire mess we are in. I am concerned not only about the loss of species, but about the tragic, negative impacts that climate change is having on our planet and humanity as a whole. All of the work we have done to create amazing change with the SDGs is threatened. Every single SDG is at risk if we do not act now. The situation is urgent and will require a worldwide commitment by governments and individuals as a whole if we want to stop climate change. If there is one single movement I could start now it would be to get every single person involved and inspired to act now to save our planet

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Carpe Diem. Seize the Day. That has always been my one quote that I have tried to abide by my entire life. You’ve only got one shot at life so why not just go for it. Don’t hold back. Follow your dreams and never quit.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I am currently reading Michelle Obama’s book “Becoming” and I would do anything to meet this amazing, inspiring woman in person. She is a role model for so many women around the world especially for minorities and women who haven’t had a chance to have their voices heard yet.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

My blog is www.thirdeyemom.com. I’m @thirdeyemom on Twitter and Instagram and on facebook.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “Citizens can speak up and use their voice” with Nicole… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Why It’s Essential To Deliver Gratitude Inside and Outside Your Organization” with Keesa…

“Why It’s Essential To Deliver Gratitude Inside and Outside Your Organization” with Keesa Schreane and Fotis Georgiadis

Deliver Gratitude Inside and Outside Your Organization. The more you are grateful for — your colleagues, vendors, customers and peers- the more for which you get to be grateful. What is the easiest way to show gratitude? Just say “thank you.” To make this concept even clearer let me say this, whatever you appreciate, appreciates with a greater return.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Keesa Schreane (pronounced Key-sa Schreen). Keesa is host and executive producer of You’ve Been Served Podcast ™ where she interviews visionaries such as Soledad O’Brien, Seth Godin, Laila Ali and Lisa Nichols on how they increase revenues, improve communities and impact lives through compassion, generosity and service in business. She is a featured columnist in publications such as American Marketing Association, hosts corporate training and participates as a panelist on the subject of compassionate leadership at events including Women in Business and Digital Summit. Keesa served as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Ambassador and chair of the Women’s Business Resource Group, both at Thomson Reuters; in 2018 she was honored by HubSpot as a “Top Female Marketing and Growth Expert”.; and in 2017, was featured in “Masonry’s 18 Content Marketing Bloggers to Follow on Twitter” along with thought leaders such as Gary Vaynerchuk.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Compassionate leadership is the power source of a healthy business. The absolute power source. When practicing compassionate leadership in a company, several things happen: employees are excited and innovative, suppliers give us their highest quality goods and products, investors see returns and customers move from loyalty to advocacy.

As a branding and partnership executive, a business resource network chairperson, a boardmember supporting start-ups and show host (interviewing dozens of people on this topic), I see this virtuous cycle, first hand, all the time.

Compassion for me is an action word! I act in it by serving each of my stakeholders- from team members, to suppliers, to customers. Compassion and service do not stop in a company, by their nature they expand; it is paid forward. Compassion and service move beyond the walls of a business to do the work of creating social impact externally by advocating for causes we as an organization believe in and support.

For example, I’ve worked across businesses to increase numbers of volunteers and funding dollars to deliver a much higher impact community service campaign than I would have as one individual. I’ve partnered with other executives to engage customers on financial education efforts that are important to us, and again we were much stronger together.

Leadership- with compassion and service at its core- promises success. There is no way to fail when you’re supporting your team members, showing graciousness to suppliers, demonstrating gratitude to customers and shareholders. You may have short-term rough patches, but you win in the end.

Market cycles change, trends shift, skills need improvement, but when I make service to others a part of my business and career strategy, I’m always coming out on top! I chose compassionate leadership because it’s the best win-win formula I’ve seen in business.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

I was attending a leadership event, and a woman at the front of the room was asked to speak briefly by the facilitator. She looked familiar to me. Then, a young man shouted “KD” from the back of the room. The woman waved at the young man and the whole audience cheered. My sister’s eyes shot wide open as she gasped, and whispered excitedly “I knew it! That’s Kevin Durant’s mom, Wanda!”

Meeting Wanda, mother of NBA legend Kevin Durant, was a joy! We exchanged information to stay in touch. About six months later, I brainstormed with my business resource group on how we could generate enthusiasm among Wall Street influencers to engage in financial education programs for underestimated/underrepresented groups.

Then, I remembered a snippet of a recent movie about Wanda Durant’s economic struggles: She sacrificed meals so sons Kevin and Tony could have enough for dinner; she found herself divorced, a single mom and among the “working poor; and she managed to take what little she had to help other neighborhood children who had even less.

We ended up inviting Wanda Durant to speak in Times Square in front of an audience of hundreds of financial services executives, and we raised funds to donate to the Girls & Boys Club. She was gracious, authentic and full of laughs.

Her recommendation around how financial services leaders can uplift financially strapped individuals and families in the immediate-term was simple, yet direct. “You have to meet people where they are. You may need to start off by buying them groceries if they’re hungry.”

This was interesting because it is an example of a woman who emerged from financial devastation and uses her platform tirelessly to help others. Also, it I appreciate the passion of my team members- and the organization that empowered, entrusted and equipped us- to get the right people in the room at the right time so we can have the greatest impact.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Let me start by saying that if I weren’t doing what I’m doing, I’d probably be a trainer. For our podcast, I interviewed a personal trainer who is hugely insightful and clear in connecting the power of our minds and the power of our bodies. So we’re in the middle of discussing centenarians; my mom’s church member lived until 102, his grandmom lived about that long. Then we go into this dialogue about growing vegetables — in New York City- and making fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible and affordable.

In the middle of all of this podcast goodness, I look at my laptop, and realize I didn’t press “record” on my laptop software.

We were exactly 17-minutes into the interview! I immediately stopped him and told him about my error and he was so amazingly gracious and kind. He gave me the time for us to start from scratch.

I pressed “record” and we moved forward.

I learned the importance of creating a checklist. No matter how exceptional the interviewee, how our interview flows, how we’ve managed to excavate the unsaid, in this medium I need to ensure I go in with my intention and my checklist.

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

A goal of You’ve Been Served Podcast was to hear views from leaders in corporates, not-for-profits and start-ups to discuss this notion of compassionate leadership and service. How do they lead with compassion? What is their purpose? What are the challenges? What are tips for doing this?

Bringing this insight to millions through stories of simple kindness, compassion and service in our businesses and in our everyday lives with the podcast is how I’m making a social impact.

I have amazing peers in this space who are creating content around purpose-driven business, green enterprises and sustainability.

We are creating a narrative around how to do things a different way. I’m using the podcast to share good news about how we can create better businesses and lives through compassion.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

I mentioned bringing Wanda Durant to speak to a group of business leaders in New York City about financial education.

During her talk about her struggles with financial literacy, a young man in the audience raised his hand to ask a question. He was an associate with one of the firm’s in attendance. He stood up and shared that he was homeless as a young adult, and experienced tremendous poverty. He was recently out of college and wanted her opinion on how to remove the mindset of poverty he held previously.

Silence and deep compassion enveloped the room, and the colleagues he sat with were a bit misty-eyed. She told him to come to her after the session so they could talk. It was such a beautiful moment because we allowed vulnerable and openness into the space.

Was there a tipping point that made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

When I arrived at a huge investment bank as a marketing VP, I felt luckier than ever. I was a couple of months into a new lateral-move role, and was excited about my future. Bringing both my enthusiasm and my well-rehearsed pitch, I sat across from a woman with whom I was developing a relationship with and who I fully expected to mentor me toward being a more impactful marketer and evangelist for the firm. The lateral role would help me learn another customer segment. Also, I was invited to participate in the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion roundtable. After the mortgage crisis and the market crash of 2008, many people didn’t see banking as the most compassionate industry. My own friends gave me a double take when I would tell them about my latest career move in the field. Serving in the roundtable was an exciting way to change this perception.

Armed with knowledge of how financial services can positively impact communities they serve- particularly through financial literacy and professional readiness — I was prepared to share the impact our company could have on our neighborhoods and the people in them.

However, the purpose of this meeting on this particular day was to get her thoughts on producing great work, getting to know business stakeholders and outlining what excellence looked like to her, so I could deliver it. Once I achieved professional success in her eyes, I would then share plans for my D&I work. My intention was for her to be my mentor, my advocate.

She listened intently and peered at me rather expressionless. After I gave my request for her thoughts on this, she leaned in across her desk and said “Keesa, I just really feel your brain synapses don’t connect with each other.” Explaining further, she added I’m incapable of outstanding work because I just don’t understand certain concepts intellectually. My brain simply could not grasp it.

The woman who shared this was neither a neurosurgeon, nor a neuroscientist. She wasn’t a brain activity expert of any sort. She was my SVP of marketing. She was my manager. As a new VP to her team, I went into her office for insight on what she needed me to deliver and her words of wisdom on how I might ascend to higher levels in my career. This is what I left out with: an assessment on my brain function.

Her pronouncement of mental deficiency, shared in private, began to have cutting public consequences. The group of about six women who worked with me and who had known her for years, began having less and less to say to me on elevators, in the ladies room, in the hallways and all other places where speaking and being spoken to were — as I came to understand- privileges, not necessities. Psychologists refer to this as “microagression” or everyday workplace slights usually toward marginalized community members. It was just hostile enough to bring about discomfort on an everyday basis. When I walked down the hall and said “Good Morning” only to be utterly ignored by a once friendly senior vice president, I realized I was considered an outsider.

I started meditating on my manager’s words. Every morning on the way to work and in the evenings- sometimes during the day- what she said and how I felt as a result looped around in my head like a YouTube video on repeat. After several weeks, my energy and productivity decreased. I began making errors I never made before. I began to feel lethargic frequently, even after getting eight hours of sleep. I didn’t like to “complete” assignments for fear something would be incorrect. This was not me. She sold me an identity. It took every ounce of concentrated effort I could muster to not buy it, believe in it and adopt it as my own.

The downward spiral in my work, depleted energy and knowledge that I was vaguely tolerated at the office was too much for me to carry. I took my interpretation of what she said and the isolation I felt and I went for a walk at 5am one March morning. I laced up my sneakers, grabbed my phone and earbuds and set out for Central Park. Blending in with other walkers, bikers and joggers, walking up the ramp, I found a YouTube audiobook of a familiar Napoleon Hill work (my parents have had the book on our bookshelf for over 20 years), and I listened. Then, I prayed. Raised on prayer and dabbling in mindfulness, developing a daily walking, praying and listening routine was comforting. After a few weeks, I started to feel differently. I chose to reject that false identity. I was more enthusiastic about my future, and less prone to feeling powerless. I stopped seeing myself as a victim and started believing I had the ability to redirect my path. I started recognizing that my view of Keesa was much more important than someone else’s view. I was kinder and more compassionate towards myself. What followed was not only a new job and a new manager, but also a new intention toward generosity and compassion toward my peers, my customers and myself. I committed to seeing the best in my colleagues, to serve them and practice compassion toward them.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Here is what business leaders can do to help deliver compassion and increase their social impact outside company walls:

Know Your Purpose

The first move is to understand what your purpose is as an individual. I’ve always been drawn to communicating important concepts to audiences through education and awareness. My interests range from financial empowerment to developing programs that demonstrate compassion and service in workplace environments. Whenever I align myself with firms, teams or other individuals with a strong desire to improve our organizations and people, it always results in a powerful community development or employee engagement program.

I serve as chairperson of a women’s business resource network where our aim is to embrace empowering and collaborative behavior patterns and create an environment where contributions are celebrated.

We shifted our energy and resources to girls in STEM and I used my connections as an advisory board member at the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York to determine the best programming to impact girls in our organization. After researching the technical skills and confidence-boosting environments that would best serve teenagers, I sought out relevant colleagues who were interested in helping young people. Many of them had never participated in social impact programs, but they wanted to make a positive difference and were on board with actively creating and implementing the program. We pulled together women from our firm who were data scientists, product managers and technologists. This months-long mentorship program for young women in our Girl Scout Leadership Institute became a superb corporate social responsibility case study. It started with individuals who shared a common purpose.

Know Why You’re in Business

Shawn Askinosie, CEO of Askinosie Chocolate, says getting rich as a chocolate maker is not his focus. His focus is making the best chocolate possible, while contributing to the needs of those in communities where he does business. I recently spoke with Askinosie on an episode of the “You’ve Been Served” podcast, during which he told me that delivering fair and equitable pay to farmers in his supply chain — from Kenya to Ecuador — is his primary objective. He says Askinosie Chocolate also contributes to childhood education in the communities where it does business.

For example, the company’s experiential learning program, Chocolate University, provided laptops to students in a Tanzanian school and funded the school’s first computer teacher. The company has also sponsored school trips from its Missouri home base to visit farms in various countries, where students taste chocolate and get an inside look at the business.

These initiatives may sound overwhelming if you’re an entrepreneur, and probably sound downright impossible if you’re a manager trying to positively impact your team members. But it starts by understanding why you’re in business, producing an excellent product and clarity on how you can leverage resources from your product and service to impact others in society.

Deliver Gratitude Inside and Outside Your Organization

The more you are grateful for — your colleagues, vendors, customers and peers- the more for which you get to be grateful. What is the easiest way to show gratitude? Just say “thank you.” To make this concept even clearer let me say this, whatever you appreciate, appreciates with a greater return.

In a 2018 CNBC article, Deepak Chopra recommends we give a “daily gift” to customers, colleagues and others in our ecosystem. “Be kind, considerate and deliberate in thanks to not short circuit that loop of generosity.”

Sending out an email of thanks, with specifics on how your project was enhanced, or catastrophe averted, due to your colleague’s diplomacy, keen judgement or business savvy, is a simple way to give thanks. An added bonus would be to cc their management team.

Some firms even give the opportunity to send small gifts and tokens of appreciation for a peer who has done outstanding work. It’s worth it to take time out at the end of each week, review your workflows and get a sense of who provided insight, or a helping hand in serving you. When I acknowledge a team member and show gratitude, it always results in a deeper relationship that yields even greater value. Setting an intention to thank others for positive work they’ve done is a way to make them feel supported and a great way to serve the relationship. This creates even greater levels of harmony within the organization.

Making others feel celebrated and appreciated, not just tolerated is another way to retain valuable talent. This elevates the levels of morale, which results in people staying with the firm or, if they leave, they serve as credible evangelists for the firm with future, prospective talent.

Thank you for all of these great insights!

“Why It’s Essential To Deliver Gratitude Inside and Outside Your Organization” with Keesa… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “After experiencing the benefits of location and…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “After experiencing the benefits of location and schedule freedom, I couldn’t imagine how other people could live without it” with Kean Graham and Candice Georgiadis

After experiencing the benefits of location and schedule freedom, I couldn’t imagine how other people could live without it. While I learned later that it isn’t for everyone, there are still a large subset of the population that could take major benefit from this additional freedom. By the time I was financially able to hire other full-time team members, I was also motivated to provide the benefits of location and schedule freedom. At the beginning of 2013 when I hired our two first full-time team members, that was the tipping point to starting this social impact movement.

As part of my series about social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kean Graham. Graham is the CEO of MonetizeMore, an 8-figure ad tech company that is a Google Certified Partner with 120+ full-time team members remotely based across the planet. MonetizeMore was conceived in the mountains of Machu Picchu and has grown to $20M in revenues. Graham has traveled to over 90 countries during the 9 years that he has been growing MonetizeMore.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I originally fell in love with the online industry when working for a large online classified network. The job was an immense learning experience but once the recession hit, the company decided to lay off the marketing department. I lost the best job I ever had but I was determined to turn the bad into something great.

Five days later, I’m on a plane to South America to go on a life changing trip. Four months into my backpacking trip I was on a four-day trek through the incredible Inca trail towards Machu Picchu. By the end of it, I was sitting on top of Wayna Picchu reflecting on my experiences throughout my trip. I have had the most fulfilling time of my life and it finally clicked:

I will work and travel when I want, where I want.

I have to start a digital business to enable this autonomous lifestyle. When I came back to Canada I was set to build my skills and come up with my big business idea. To do this, I made websites and tried out affiliate marketing. I grew important digital marketing and basic coding skills to bolster my capabilities and come up with that big idea.

A big reason for my early success was that I was malleable in that we focused on results and less about the internal business early on. My goal was to achieve measurable revenue increases for businesses. This was originally going to be achieved by the below offerings:

– SEO

– Social media optimization

– Analytics consultation

– Ad inventory optimization

– Customer usage model optimization

I quickly found out that the greatest opportunity to grow measurable revenues was via ad inventory optimization. Rather than sticking with all offerings I focused on the offering that got the best results and only targeted online businesses that earned revenues via display advertising.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

A digital nomad friend and I were on a safari in Okavango, Botswana during our digital nomad trip about a week ago. We were lucky enough to come across a pride of mother lions and their cubs feasting on a water buffalo they killed the previous night. The driver brought us dangerously close to them as you can see from this photo. As we got close, the lions stared right at us and got into pouncing position. One even got up and starting pacing.

We knew if we made any sudden movements or sounds, we could become lion lunch. I had my phone in my pocket and I couldn’t remember if the ringer was off. I was one impromptu client call away from being the next kill for that pride. Luckily, I had no calls during those moments that felt like hours and we got away safely.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I started the business it was challenging and exciting. I was able to break-even by month five. My first client was an employer that laid me off a year before. I offered them a percentage of the ad revenue increase and was able to make them additional millions. At the time, I was a one-person company and communicated myself as such. Since I communicated the business as just myself, they looked at my company as just an ex-employee. As a result, when I was increasing their ad revenues by over 300% and earning strong commissions, the executives saw this as unjust that an ex-employee was making 4x more than what he used to earn. As a result, they strong-armed a deal with much less commission.

Ultimately, my mistake was not communicating my business as something bigger than just myself. I could have avoided that re-negotiation because it’s reasonable for a larger company to receive large commissions to pay for overhead, technology and employees. Ever since that mistake, I always communicated my business as “we” rather than “I” even when it was just me out of habit!

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

MonetizeMore is one of the pioneers of location independent businesses. We have proven that it is possible to run an effective business without any offices and over 120 full-time team members. Location and schedule freedom has shown to be competitive advantages for MonetizeMore in an industry where that is rarely offered. As a result, MonetizeMore has been able to acquire incredible talent, minimize turnover, out-innovate competitors and better tailor to international publisher partners.

We can already see effect of the influence of location independent business pioneers like MonetizeMore has had on the technology industry. The trend of remote working has been trending as expectations for in-office work has decreased. I believe in the next ten years when someone mentions a new business, the next common question is: “Is that business location dependent or independent?”

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

Many of our team members have changed their lives thanks to the location and schedule freedom that MonetizeMore offers. Some have been able to move to that small town they always wanted to live in that otherwise wouldn’t have career opportunities, others have been able to spend more time raising their children while being career ambitious and others have traveled the World while working with MonetizeMore.

If I would pick one particular person, it would have to be our COO, Julio Monzon. He has been with MonetizeMore for six years now. A few years ago, he gave up his permanent address in Austin, Texas to live a fully nomadic lifestyle. He travels the World 12 months of the year chasing the Sun. He has taken location and schedule freedom by the reigns and engineered his ideal lifestyle. He has improved his health by going to Maui Thai training camps in Thailand, has expanded his circle of friends around the World, has had some amazing travel experiences and most of all, lives a more fulfilling and free lifestyle that wouldn’t be possible at a traditional company. He has taken this even further and inspired others to take advantage of location and schedule freedom.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

It has always been my dream to live a location and schedule free lifestyle. That was the reason I started MonetizeMore. Once I was able to break-even and then live from the income coming from my business by month 10, I went on my first trip while running MonetizeMore. This was a big point because I validated it to myself that it was possible and I could finally realize the fruits of all my hard work.

After experiencing the benefits of location and schedule freedom, I couldn’t imagine how other people could live without it. While I learned later that it isn’t for everyone, there are still a large subset of the population that could take major benefit from this additional freedom. By the time I was financially able to hire other full-time team members, I was also motivated to provide the benefits of location and schedule freedom. At the beginning of 2013 when I hired our two first full-time team members, that was the tipping point to starting this social impact movement.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Society and particularly business leaders still possess biases against remote working. This stems from a lack of trust, a status quo bias and the need for visual validation. These biases are strong but will fade away with new generations that have grown up in this digital age.

Business leaders can accelerate this change to enable their team members to realize the benefits of location and schedule freedom by being more trusting of their team members, letting go of biases and the need for visual validation. Society could also be more open-minded towards remote working to recognize it as a viable method of working within companies.

We have been spreading awareness of the possibilities and benefits of location and schedule freedom via the below channels:

– Why I Work Remotely: Team members explain why they choose to work remotely and how it has changed their lives.

– Hiring: Over the years we have grown to a team of over 120 by posting on remote job boards like WeWorkRemotely, DynamiteJobs and FlexJobs.

– PR: We have been featured on many prominent publications because of our modern location independent mindset and the unique benefits our team gets from location and schedule freedom.

– Presentations: I have personally spread the word of location and schedule freedom benefits for the work lifestyle of our labor force via conferences speeches within Thailand, Canada and South Africa.

To help spread the message of the benefits of location and schedule freedom, social platforms can start by writing about it. There are many exciting businesses that are 100% location independent. The majority of the population are unaware of the trend towards location and schedule freedom. Spreading the word of this trend and why this is good for society on each social platform will accelerate the acceptance and growth of the trend.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Early Key Hire: I wish someone told me to hire our current CTO two years earlier. Our current CTO has done an incredible job resurrecting our technology stack and putting the technology in a position to achieve high levels of innovation.

If I were to hire our current CTO two years earlier, I would have been able to avoid a horrible business partnership and a Google account ban that costed over $2M. More importantly though, MonetizeMore would be two years ahead of where it is today. Our current CTO and CPO have done an incredible job catching up our technology to get MonetizeMore to be amongst the trailblazers in the industry. However, I could only imagine the lead MonetizeMore would have if we brought our CTO onboard two years earlier.

2. Be More Skeptical of Potential Partners: I am a very trusting person. While it has been advantageous for the most part, it has been a falter one particular time.

I partnered with a hot-shot programmer that came in with a lot of promise and delivered next to nothing. If I were more skeptical and thoroughly checked his references, including ones he didn’t provide, I would have been able to make a better decision and save the company a lot of costs and headaches.

3. Sell the Vision: When my company was young, it was tough to sell our offering. I had to find businesses that were willing to take a risk on a young company. I would have had an easier time selling if I sold “where we’re going” rather than “where we are”.

There was one online classified in particular that would have converted as a new client if I communicated the vision of the business. Inspiration of a grand vision can go a long way in terms of value perception especially when long-term B2B relationships are on the line.

4. Be Assertive When It Counts: I’ve always been a reasonable and friendly leader. While this can be great for creating a collaborative and happy work environment, it also can be a breeding ground for bad behaviour.

At the end of the day, I am the gate keeper for bad behaviour. If I let it slide, then that communicates to the team and that team member that, that type of behaviour is acceptable. This can become a slippery slope very quickly. I learned that when team members try to get away with bad behaviour that hurts the company, it’s important to be assertive to stop it in its tracks. That’s where the line is drawn in the sand and your team members will respect you for being assertive but professional.

5. Leverage Your Culture: When I started my business, the idea of cultivating a culture sounded so fluffy. Back then, I didn’t think that would be a good substitute for activities that directly affected deliverables.

As the team grew over the years, it became apparent that building a culture purposefully was very important. As a result, I spear-headed a company culture initiative and MonetizeMore has benefited since. Thanks to the culture we have built, evolved and leveraged, the company has been experiencing a powerful momentum which has propelled growth further than I ever imagined.

I would love to see a world with more female entrepreneurs. There seems to be a growing trend of more female entrepreneurs thanks to some incredible female-focused programs and inspiring female entrepreneurs. I would like to see this trend accelerate. The tech and entrepreneurial circles are too male dominated and I think the world is missing out as a result.

Becoming an entrepreneur is very empowering and it would be a shame if the high majority of people who took this empowering journey were still mostly men.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You will never write an extraordinary story until you realize you are the author”

This is an incredible quote because it enables me to enjoy my victories more and bounce back from my failures quickly. For victories, I know that even if there was a bit of perceived luck involved, it was my previous actions to inevitably lead to that event.

For my failures, I am able to learn from them immediately because I take responsibility and reflect on how I could have prevented the negative situation so that it never happens again. From there, I change a good thing into a bad thing by approaching the negative situation from a new clever angle. For example, we were disapproved by Google several years ago and lost millions as a result. We responded by improving our screening processes, diversifying our revenue streams and creating invalid traffic detection and suppression technology called Traffic Cop to prevent this issue from happening again. As a result, we have re-built the company to be more sustainable and resilient than ever. It ended up being a blessing in disguise!

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Elon Musk has established himself as a symbol of the spirit of entrepreneurship, innovation and success in the face of insurmountable odds. He is an inspiration for millions as well as myself.

If I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Elon over breakfast or lunch and pick his brain, I would be able to get some valuable business and life lessons. I have no doubt it would be a life changing conversation and hopefully he could learn at least one thing from myself.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Facebook: http://facebook.com/MonetizeMore

Twitter: http://twitter.com/monetizemore

Google+: http://plus.google.com/+MonetizeMorePosts/

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/monetizemore

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQI2U5c8n9bmEd_rv5K2s9g

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monetize_more/

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “After experiencing the benefits of location and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “I wish I’d been told that you can choose what you want…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “I wish I’d been told that you can choose what you want to share” with Emma Green and Candice Georgiadis

I also wish I’d been told that you can choose what you want to share. You don’t have to follow the crowd. You can do social media your own way. You can decide what feels important to you and communicate it in a way that feels authentic.

As a part of my series about social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Emma Green. Emma has a PhD, MSc and BSc in Psychology and is a certified personal trainer. She is passionate about helping people build a healthy relationship with food, exercise and their bodies. Emma takes a fun and evidence-based approach to health and fitness through her online coaching, freelance writing and social media activities.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I developed an eating disorder at the age of 14, which was triggered by being bullied at school. My mental and physical health rapidly deteriorated. I was barely eating and exercising daily. I was tired and miserable but felt unable to stop. I didn’t really understand what was happening to me at the time and subsequently continued to struggle, albeit less severely, until the age of 18 when I went to university. The stress of my studies combined with social pressures resulted in my eating disorder rapidly worsening and finally receiving a diagnosis at the age of 20.

Following graduating from university, I began the journey of recovery. It took six years and four different therapists but I made a full recovery. The process gave me a greater understanding of the way in which an obsession with food and exercise can become all-consuming and what it takes away from you. I spend years of my life just existing, rather than truly living. I became increasingly aware of the detrimental effect of the diet culture in which we live where people punish themselves with endless diets and grueling exercise routines in an attempt to achieve the ‘perfect body.’ I saw that people were postponing their happiness in the hopes that one day, their dieting and exercise would allow them to reach some kind of utopia that just doesn’t exist. I wanted to share the message that people can seek health and fitness without being restrictive. That a ‘perfect body’ is not only unattainable but not the answer to happiness. I wanted to show people that there was another option.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

Whilst studying for my PhD, I began online fitness coaching. I started being approached by friends that knew me in ‘real life’ but had been positively affected by the messages I was sharing on my Instagram page. I realized that the message I was sharing was powerful and had the ability to affect others in a positive way. I began to take things more seriously, thinking more carefully about what I was sharing and ensuring that there was no potential to cause harm, with either the images or the words I was using. I take this responsibility incredibly seriously to this day and never post anything that I think could negatively impact another person. I am sure that I am not perfect with this but I try my absolute best.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started posting on Instagram, I had no idea what I was doing. I would post pictures with no caption and no hashtags. At the time it was just pictures of food, which were not particularly engaging so it’s no surprise that I got little to no engagement! I learned that Instagram is about so much more than pictures. I realized that people do read captions and that as a lifelong writer, I could use words in a meaningful way to positively impact others. My captions became gradually longer and now I regularly reach the maximum character allowance. Fortunately, my editing has also improved and I am much better at removing the fluff from a caption to ensure that only the important stuff remains.

Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

I use my platform to help people build a healthy relationship with food, exercise and their bodies. I try to show people that pursuing health and fitness goals (which is by no means is a moral imperative) doesn’t have to mean restriction. It doesn’t have to involve miserable and exhausting workouts. It doesn’t mean having to eat ‘clean’. It doesn’t mean trying to make your body fit some kind of ideal that society has told you is beautiful. I talk a lot about the principles of intuitive eating, which involves tuning into your own bodily cues to decide how, what and when to eat. It involves exercising in a way that is fun, rather than as a way to burn calories. It also means accepting your body will find the size and shape it wants to be and the best thing you can do is get out of its way. I’m aligned with a Health at Every Size (HAES) approach, which supports all individuals to pursue health but adopting health-promoting behaviors, whilst acknowledging the societal and structural barriers that impede health. It’s a radical standpoint, particularly within the fitness industry, but I’m hugely passionate about sharing the message and having engaging discussions with others in this space.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

An individual recently made a post about their recovery from an eating disorder and cited my account as being helpful in this process. As a former sufferer myself I was incredibly touched and honored to have played a small part in what is a very difficult journey. Although I draw on my own experiences of an eating disorder in my content, I don’t claim to be any kind of authority on such conditions, which are complex, nuanced illnesses which frequently take years to recover from. It was incredibly rewarding to have made an impact in an area that can cause such mental anguish as well as resulting in a lot of physical effects for the individual. It showed me the potential of social media to be a force for change in a positive way. It also highlighted the importance of content creators taking responsibility for the message and images they share, realizing the potential for both positive and negative effects on users.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

When I first started my Instagram account, I posted quite generic health and fitness content. It was evidence-based and I sometimes talked about my own experiences in reaching a healthy place with food and exercise but I didn’t feel particularly connected to my content. As I become more involved in the fitness industry, including qualifying as a personal trainer and starting to work with clients, I realized that there was a lot of disordered behavior going on. I saw that people were putting themselves under intense pressure to eat a so-called ‘perfect’ diet, which tended to be extremely restrictive and were punishing themselves with intense exercise routines. People felt anxious about eating food that didn’t meet their standards of being ‘clean’, ‘low calorie’ or ‘macro-friendly’. People felt guilty for taking a rest day from the gym. People felt awful about their bodies, which did not meet continually changing body ideal put on a pedestal by mainstream and social media. Even people who claimed to be adhering to ‘flexible dieting’ seemed to have behaviors that were anything but. People were putting their lives on hold to achieve their health and fitness goals and that made me sad.

I also looked at the scientific literature, I looked at the data on ‘restrained eaters’ (those with rules around food) and saw the negative psychological effects associated with that mindset. I saw the ineffectiveness of interventions aimed at weight loss, particularly over the long term. I looked at the public health approaches to ‘obesity’ (a stigmatized word that should always be used I inverted commas if at all) and saw that they were essentially recommending diets that would be seen as problematic in those with diagnosed eating disorders. I looked at the data on BMI and the complex link to health. I saw that behavior changes could positively impact health in the absence of weight loss. I saw the negative physical and mental health effects of weight stigma, which may partially (or fully) explain the relationship between BMI and health. I looked more closely at the social determinants of health and how little attention they receive in conversations about health. At the same time, I started to look at the literature on intuitive eating, an approach that I’d heard about but never given much consideration. I saw the positive mental and physical health effects of an approach that helped people release their rules around food, move in a way that was enjoyable for them and accept where their body ended up as a result. I realized that this was a framework that could help to liberate individuals from the pressures they put on themselves in terms of diet and exercise. I saw that embracing the principles could allow people to find a healthy and happy place for them, which is in alignment with their needs, preferences and circumstances.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Yes!

1. Better funding for mental health services. People of all shapes, sizes, genders, sexualities, abilities and ethnicities suffer from eating disorders and all need appropriate care. This has to be long term and it should be person-centered.

2. More diversity: We should be seeing a much wider range of bodies in all settings. There are too many contexts in which there are only thin white women. That is not representative and is not acceptable. However, it is important to approach this whole-heartedly by engaging with marginalized individuals. Tokenism is not okay.

3. More research using intuitive eating and health at every size frameworks: There is already an emerging body of evidence but we need more to convince individuals and institutions that this cannot be ignored. The conventional approach to health is not working and an alternative is sorely needed.

I speak up for what I believe in. This also means calling out what I don’t think is acceptable. I try to share positive messages about having a healthy relationship with food, exercise and your body but I’m not afraid to also discuss ideas that I think are problematic. If you are trying to use a platform for social good, you have to be able to be clear about what you’re for and what you’re against. This might mean having some difficult conversations and perhaps some disagreements but I think that talking about these issues is always valuable, as it positions them as being worthy of discussion. However, discussions are not enough. I think if there is something that you believe in, it is important to take action. This might mean becoming involved with activism, signing petitions, donating to charities or buying from businesses that have similar ideals. Connecting with others can be hugely beneficial, both for the individuals involved and the cause as a whole. Overall, what I would say is that if you want to promote and advance a cause, you cannot stay quiet.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

I wish that I’d initially been more thoughtful about what I shared. I wasn’t particularly mindful and although I don’t think I shared messages that would be harmful, I also didn’t share anything that was very valuable. Time and energy are precious so I wish I’d been told to really think through what I wanted to share. This was both in terms of the images themselves but more importantly, the captions behind them.

I wish I had been warned about the negativity more. I don’t receive a lot of criticism but I wish that I had been told that it is inevitable if you have a platform that some people will attack you personally if they disagree with your ideas or dislike you.

I also wish I’d been told that you can choose what you want to share. You don’t have to follow the crowd. You can do social media your own way. You can decide what feels important to you and communicate it in a way that feels authentic.

I wish I’d known the potential to connect with like-minded people, with them often becoming friends in ‘real life.’ I would have come to Instagram a lot earlier if I realized the power of the platform to engage with so many individuals from around the world and have conversations about stuff that really matters.

I wish I’d also known the importance of taking time away from social media. It can become quite all-consuming and whilst I enjoy it, it can become something that every spare moment is spent upon and I don’t think that is healthy. I try to ensure I am not on my phone all the time when with other people. Real life connection is important.

I wish I could encourage people to be their authentic selves. I know it sounds cheesy but I feel like so many people, often unconsciously, be the version of themselves that they think they are meant to be, rather than who they truly are. We all are unique and I would really like to see that embraced and celebrated.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” It’s a quote by astronomer Carl Sagan. When I first heard it, it was a stark reminder of the importance of being critical of the messages we are fed in both mainstream and social media. It emphasized the importance of weighing up the evidence of a claim, rather than taking it at face value. For me, this means reading the scientific studies myself as opposed to going by someone else’s opinion of it. It means thinking carefully about my experiences and questioning what evidence they have provided me. It means being mindful about the statements that I make myself and the evidence (or lack thereof) that I have to support them.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Megan Crabbe (@bodyposipanda). I love the way she shares about body positivity in a way that isn’t watered down. She isn’t afraid to call out BS and is a fantastic example of the happiness that can come from rejecting diet culture and embracing your true self.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can find me @emmafitnessphd on Instagram. I love connecting with others and having conversations about this stuff!

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “I wish I’d been told that you can choose what you want… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.