Social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, with Jim…

Social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, with Jim Costa and Candice Georgiadis

I think that the key to getting senior citizens to embrace technology starts with themselves right at home by changing their attitudes. I have found that most people don’t care how a piece of technology works, they just want it to do whatever they want it to do when they want it to do it. However, this brings up the obvious problem of having no idea how or why anything works. When faced with learning something new, most people tend to be afraid and come up with a ton of excuses why they can’t learn or use tech.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jim Costa. Jim is the CEO and founder of Jim Costa Films, a Pacific Northwest based television production company, who has worked in the video and television production and photography fields for over 3 decades. He also has experience in theatre, audio-visual and broadcasting, but began creating short films and later photographs starting at the age of about 10, when he created his very first short film. After receiving two degrees in television and film production and working in the private sector for several years, Jim would go on to found his company and has been creating film, television and online video content ever since and most recently he has been producing television commercials for local and national brands and creating content as a YouTuber.

Thank you for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I grew up in Queens, NY in the 1970’s & 1980’s. My parents had a nasty, bitter multi-year divorce that started with my mother having to escape in the middle of the night, leaving my brother, sister and I behind because my father beat her one time to many and ended with my father on the run from the FBI because he kidnapped the three of us for 3 1/2 months and disappeared across the country.

Fortunately, our extended family (on both of my parents sides) was extremely supportive and tried to help my mother and my siblings and I out as much as possible. I had an aunt and uncle that lived on Long Island in a very nice suburban area, Smithtown, NY, and let me come visit for the summers so I could get out of the city and the ugliness and hang with my cousins.

We used to stay up way past bedtime and watch SNL with the sound almost entirely turned down and, because of that interest in the show & cast (and similar shows such as SCTV), we saw Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video, the SNL style movie staring many of the cast. Of course, no one had video games or smart phones like they do today & the internet didn’t exist so as kids, we needed to entertain ourselves. The idea came to make a “movie” like Mr. Mikes Mondo Video full of SNL type skits. We took an old 8mm movie camera and wrote out little scenes and filmed them. Of course, we had zero knowledge of scripting, filmmaking, editing, lighting, audio, etc.; just a few ideas of fun and silly little scenes we wanted to capture. Everything was done in one take with no sound or editing (other than in camera). We had to pool our allowances to buy the film and have it developed. Once done, we had a little “premier” for the adults and, much to my surprise, they laughed in some of the right places and clapped and enjoyed themselves. I was hooked right then and there. I knew at that moment, that this is what I wanted to do with my life and I’ve been singularly focused on doing so ever since.

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

Tough one. I live in absolute awe of the numerous turns my life has taken. I’m quite literally a million miles from where I started. One of the most interesting people I’ve crossed paths with was a party planner about 20 years ago, Norma Edelman. She did weddings, parties, corporate events and the like. She had a huge business at the time putting together around 100 events a year and I was working in video production and I wanted to get in with her to be on her “recommended vendor” list. My business was still pretty small back then. Like most ‘video guys,” I started out shooting weddings and parties, stuff like that.

I had tried and tried to get my foot in the door by bugging her numerous times over the course of 6–8 months and finally, she said she’d give me a chance to work when all of her other regular people in my line of work were otherwise unavailable. I did the gig and it went fine, but since she was finally giving me a break, I decided to go above and beyond because I didn’t want blow the chance I was being given. As a thank you to her, I made up a 20 or so minute highlight video of the event. Instead of focusing on the event itself, as you might expect, I made the highlights showing the place empty and then showing her crew (and her) working to get it all ready. You can imagine the type of footage: tables being set up and the table settings being put in place, her directing the caters, florists, cake delivery, etc. Finally, at the end, I showed them cleaning up and the place, then the location empty once again with the final shot one of the lights going out. Cut to darkness. The end.

I sent it in to her office and several days after she received it she called me back raving about the video I sent her; how great it was, how it showed the work she did “behind the scenes” and so forth. I was frankly surprised. She told me that while she had a good business, it was difficult to get people to really understand what she did and how she did it. Technically, people could arrange their own events if they wanted to, but there were a thousand little details she handled and problems she fixed, mostly behind the scenes so that those in charge of the event never know what was going on, never saw any problems or had any worries. It was these intangibles that were hard to get across to people and to justify with her fees, recommendations & work. The video I sent her did just that. She told me that she showed it in 7 client meetings in the few days she received it and booked 5 of those as new clients right there on the spot because it showed very plainly and simply all she did, including the intangibles. She asked me what gave me the idea to put this together in the way that I did. I just said that I wanted to do something nice for her for giving me the opportunity and that I was really good at telling a story visually. She told me that she’d move me right to the top of her recommended vendor list and teach me all she knew about business, provided I made her a similar highlight video for all the events she did from now on. I did that and we worked together for many years as more than just a client. She became a very close friend and mentor until she retired.

She told me something that stuck with me all these years. She said she would teach me, but that it was my responsibility to pass it on and teach others. I’ve tried to do that in my business and personal life ever since.

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?

Years ago I was shooting in Mexico in a little town in Baja, La Lobera. That was in the days when we still shot on tape. However, somehow, I managed to forget to bring tapes with me. Still, to this day, I can not explain what I was thinking (or not thinking). I had a cell phone then, but it didn’t work internationally so I had no way to call for help. Of course, I didn’t speak Spanish and in a little seaside town, no one spoke English, so I was frantically trying to find someone I could get the point across to that I was looking for anyplace in town that sold tapes for my shoot later that day and that also took credit cards since I had no Pesos with me to pay for it all. I must have gone into a dozen shops and asked at least that many people on the street, none of whom had any idea what I was talking about. One woman clutched her purse and ran off from the crazy man. Another man picked up his daughter and crossed the street just to get away. I had about given up when I heard a tourist couple speaking English. I asked them if they know were to get what I needed, but thy said that didn’t know. However, they did offer to help me so we walked into the nearest shop and I had them remove the MiniDV tape from their camera and showed the store owner it along with a couple dollars bills and he must have understood me because he gave me the address for the nearest electronics store that was in Ensenada, an hour drive north. I figured I had no choice so I drove up there as fast as I could, bought the tapes I needed and raced back south. I ended up making it to my shoot in time to set up with maybe 5 minutes to spare. Never have I been so panicked or stressed.

What did I learn? Plenty. For one, I made certain that I was always prepared. I started buying blank media in bulk after that, 100 tapes at a time! These days, I use media cards, but I have about two dozen. I keep them in my gear and in every camera bag and case I have, just in case. There’s also two in my wallet at all times. Additionally, I started writing things down after that; useful phrases in multiple languages, such as, “How do I get to my hotel?” Where is…(name of business)” “I need help. Please call the police,” etc. Although I use Google Translator now and have an international cell phone plan, I still keep a document on my smartphone of useful things I might need to know in case I don’t have service. I keep questions/comments in multiple languages on the document just in case multiple languages are spoken. For example, I was working in Switzerland last year and I have my few important questions/comments in German, French, Italian & Romansh, the languages spoken in Switzerland. I’m not taking any more chances like the “Baja incident” again!

Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

I’m a YouTuber. Meaning, I have my own channel and I create video content that I post on my channel for all to see. In 2018, I had my 50th birthday and that same year was also 31 years that I’ve been working in the film and video production fields. I got my first official job at 19 and I never looked back. Besides posting video to YouTube (over 4275 as the writing of this article), I also post photos to Instagram (over 4150 at this time) since I am experienced in both areas.

What my friend Norma told me has always stuck with me. I had always done my best to teach anyone working for or with me my knowledge and I have even had numerous interns over the years that I’ve tried to teach so I really wanted to make the biggest impact I could.

I have even tried to help out family and friends around me because I was always good at stuff that plugs in. Growing up, my mother used to say, “We’re all put on this Earth for a purpose,” and we all have some, “gift from God.” Besides photography, video & filmmaking (because I can tell a story visually), I’ve always been the go-to guy for everyone’s electronics. My mother used to love to watch Johnny Carson, but had to work so couldn’t stay up late so she had me program her VCR to record him since she never could get how to do it. Even today, the people around me come to me when their computers freeze up or they manage to un-sync their email from their smartphones, etc. so I figured, why not make some videos on the questions on photography, videography and technology that people constantly ask me and post them online? It seemed logical. I was explaining how to do it already and I was producing video content already. All it took was putting the two together.

When I need some information or instructions on something, I search on Google for it or on YouTube. I already had a channel showcasing my video work so adding informational how-to videos would be simple. The real question was, should I limit it to just those people around me who, as clients, for example, had questions and concerns that needed answering or could I do more for more people?

I started simply enough. I asked people around me what they’d like to know how to do. Since I’m getting older, I naturally know more older people and senior citizens that I do younger people. Most of the things the people around me wanted to know about seemed like common knowledge to me, but, as it turns out, wasn’t common knowledge to everyone else who wasn’t as tech-savvy as I was. Most of the people who needed help understanding this or that technology were older and/or senior citizens. This makes sense since most older people didn’t grow up with computers and smart phones and the Internet, etc. so adapting to technology doesn’t come as easy to most people who start with it much later in life.

I heard the same things from people, “I want to understand my computer better & how to use it.” “I want to understand my phone better. I can make calls, but the rest of it confuses me.” “I don’t have any idea what social media is.” On and on it went. There was definitely a pattern. Older people needed technology help that was easy to understand, easy to learn and that they could use in their everyday lives. Thus, my video blog on YouTube was born.

I literally created my first dozen or so video blogs based on specific questions people had. I did a series of three videos just on a multitude of Google features. Most everyone uses Google as a search engine, myself included, but Google has dozens of features that few people utilize. I use it to buy plane tickets. You can actually plan your wedding with Google now, find where you parked your car, do math and so much more. All this came from a single question someone asked me, “How do I find out about finding what I need?” That sparked an idea to teach people how to find out what they want to know. This seems obvious and simple to anyone who is tech-savvy, but I found that senior citizens weren’t, so showing them how to use Google in a simple, easy to follow video can really help, especially when your home alone or not able to get around easy any longer.

Another area of technology assistance senior citizens needed that came up in my research was communication. A lot of people had questions on how to stay connected. It can be lonely older in life. Our connections to family and friends are what keep us grounded and make us happy. Humans are social creatures. I don’t believe it’s healthy mentally or physically to be alone or to feel lonely. As such, I put together a bunch of different videos on staying connected. I did one on installing and using Skype. Another was on Installing and using What’s App. I’ve done a whole series on using your iPhone including how to FaceTime with someone. All these were a direct result of comments like, “My kids are too busy to visit,” or “ I wish I could see my grandchildren more,” or “I’ve been lonely since my spouse passed away.”

I created others, again, based on questions and comments senior citizens came to me with and some based on my life and what’s going on in it. Some videos on my blog came from in person meetings with people others are from questions asked online on my YT channel. I personally read and answer all the questions people ask of me on my channel and I’m careful to respond to all comments. I’ve created videos on how to set up an email account on one of the free services, how to keep your email secure from viruses, health tips for seniors, travel advice specifically for seniors, disaster preparedness for seniors, technology available to help senior citizens stay at home for as long as they can, tips on finding a assisted living facility of one is needed and more.

Regarding the video on disaster preparedness, I was watching news coverage last year of hurricane Michael and it got me thinking about the difficulty that senior citizens face in such a crisis. I wanted to create something senior citizens would find useful and helpful even in an emergency. I took my dear friend Norma’s advice on paying it forward in the best way I knew how. Thus, the disaster preparedness video was born.

Finding a topic to create a video on isn’t difficult. For the most part, I ask people what they want to know. I make certain to carefully listen to what they say and fully understand it. Finally, I give them what they asked for. It’s a pretty simple, but effective formula.

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

I’m in Wellness Works (formally Weight Watchers). Like everyone else, I want to lose some weight. The idea for the video on how to install and use Skype (mentioned above) came from one of the senior ladies in my meetings, June. She lives near me in Oregon, but her son and daughter live in the northern plains states, South Dakota if I remember correctly. She was in one of our weekly meetings and said she had a “bad week” (meaning she gained weight that week) and was feeling sad because her only grandchild had just had her second or third birthday, but she wasn’t able to see her (causing the weight gain; she ate more to feel better). I simply suggested that she FaceTime them. She didn’t even know what that was, so I explained how to do it on my iPhone. It turns out, she had an old flip phone so FaceTiming wasn’t possible. I asked if she had a laptop and when she said, “yes.” I asked her why she didn’t just Skype with them. She said she didn’t even know what I was talking about. Thus, two videos were born. How to Skype and How to FaceTime. The next week in the weekly WW meeting, I told her that I had the “How to Install and Use Skype” video online for her ready to go with step-by-step on screen instructions. The the following meeting, she saw me and told me that she not only was using Skype, but she video-chatted with her family 3–4 times the past week. It was only one person, but it was one more person who was a little happier. That’s enough for me.

I made a similar video when traveling in Europe last year. I was with a group of senior citizens traveling with University of Oregon students who were performing at various Jazz festivals. The seniors were donor patrons whose donations subsidized the student travel fees. I was capturing images and footage of the performances. The travel agent suggested that the group use WhatsApp to communicate since most had phones that didn’t work internationally. This gave me the idea to make a video and send it to the group on, “How to Install and Use WhatsApp.” Doing so meant everyone could stay connected and safe. More importantly, these videos and others will remain online indefinitely so people will be using them for as long as there is a YouTube.

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

I think that the key to getting senior citizens to embrace technology starts with themselves right at home by changing their attitudes. I have found that most people don’t care how a piece of technology works, they just want it to do whatever they want it to do when they want it to do it. However, this brings up the obvious problem of having no idea how or why anything works. When faced with learning something new, most people tend to be afraid and come up with a ton of excuses why they can’t learn or use tech.

The best way to start is to ease into it by starting with what a senior citizen knows and understands. Say, for example, they use a cell phone to make calls. This is pretty basic and not that different then using any landline phone. You can start from there. If a senior citizen can type keys to make a call, they can type keys to start texting or web surfing. There’s little difference between the two. It’s the same thing with typing on a keyboard. Using a computer keyboard shares the same keys as your old typewriter. So long as you know how to type, you’re 80% of the way to learning what the different Function and other keys do. When put that way, people don’t see learning as such a daunting task.

If the senior in your life has familiarity with a smart phone already, then jumping to a tablet, for example, isn’t much of a stretch. When teaching, you break a subject down step-by-step. The same is true for learning about technology. You start small or from place that you know and you move forward from there incrementally.

Another way to get senior citizens involved with technology is to emphasize aspects of interest to them. Think about it. In school, there were classes you loved and found easy to learn and even enjoyable. Then there were the classes you hated that were arduous to learn and that you struggled in. Finding aspects of tech that seniors find useful is a great way to start getting them into it, using it and learning. For example, social media may be new to them entirely, but showing them how to start a Facebook page, Pinterest board or Instagram feed and then connecting them with family and friends can not only show them the advantages of learning something new, it can keep them connected. By learning how to use these platforms, they are also learning to use technology and can solve other problems such as loneliness.

When teaching, I try to present things in a way people can easily relate to. This put the at ease and helps open them up to learning something new.

It’s best to teach people slowly, one-on-one with people they trust. For example, having children or grandchildren teach older generations just one or two things at a time is a great way to start. It takes time to master certain skills, but it becomes second nature soon enough, provided they stick with it.

I think the community can help by providing funding for learning facilities in places like community centers, but this can also be done in other places, if the idea is spread. For example, if there are places that senior citizens congregate, then classes can be taught. Churches might offer tech classes during the week or even assisted living facilities. Seniors who try to stay active tend to congregate in places like malls where they walk around, sometimes in the early hours before the mall opens. I would love to see malls offer tech training to senior citizens that are already there (after their mall walks). In fact, I personally think tech companies, such as the Apple store could benefit from doing some training before hours when seniors had the run of the mall. They might just open up some markets if they did.

Seeing seniors sitting all day in a fast food place such as McDonald’s or Starbucks with a cup of coffee is disheartening. I would love to see these types of local business that offer free WIFI, offer tech classes to groups of seniors sitting in these places all day long. It keeps their minds active and can be effective in bringing them together with family as mentioned above.

What specific strategies have you been using to promote and advance this cause?

My video blog is on YouTube, of course, but my specific promotion strategy is in using cross promotion with other social media platforms. Specifically, I put out one new video blog posting every week on Wednesdays. Then I cross promote that on all the other social media platforms I’m on including Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. Additionally, I belong to a number of specialized Facebook Groups, so I promote there as well (in addition to my personal FB page, business FB page and private FB group). I’m also fairly skilled at YouTube. By that, I mean that I have studied how to use the YT algorithm to maximize my ability to get my videos seen by the widest possible audience. It’s just me, but I’ve managed to grow my channel to millions of views with just a few thousand subscribers. Even though my channel is small by “influencer standards,” that’s still pretty good results by YouTube standards because it means that a wider audience (than just my subscribers) is finding and watching my videos.

Can you recommend any good tips for people who want to follow your lead and use their social platform for a social good?

Find something you love and are passionate about, no matter what it is & put it out there on the platform(s) of your choice. I firmly believe that all of us, every single person on Earth has something to contribute to the greater good, if we want to.

Never stop learning. There’s far more that we don’t know about then things that we do know about so always look for something else to study or learn. Once you’ve mastered what you’ve learned, give back. Put it out there. There’s always someone who needs or wants to know what you know, but they’ll never find you or what they need to know from you if you don’t start to just put it out there.

If you’re not certain how to begin, you can start by sharing stores, either yours or the stories of those you want help. Discuss the narratives behind the people or the situation your working to better. Humanize the story. Nothing gets peoples attention like human drama. Increase credibility in your cause with research and statistics. People love getting to know facts and statistics, especially those they were previously unaware of. Social causes always have a range of statistics, research, and knowledge to share to enlighten an audience. The general community is most often unacquainted with these facts and figures. Doing so will encourage people to engage in your cause.

Don’t get hung up on how many likes you get or followers or views or subscribers. Quantity doesn’t matter, quality does. If a million people view one of my YT videos and ignore it, I don’t consider it as successful as a video with a few dozen views where everyone who saw it was helped. YouTube loves videos like this, with lots and lots of views that they can add advertisements too as does anyone who bases their success on going viral and being an influencer to your followers, subscribers, likes, etc.

Think about that term for a moment. What is an influencer, really? It is someone with 50 million followers or is it someone who helped a couple strangers today? I believe that in the long run, it’s better to be good than to be popular.

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

* Keeping up is incredibly difficult.

You might think that putting out a new video on YouTube once a week is a pretty simple thing to do, but I assure you, it is not. Especially around my already busty life. It takes an enormous amount of time to come up with ideas, research them, write scripts, rehearse, shoot, edit, upload the videos and then do all the back end work on YouTube that gives your videos the ability to be found among the 300+ hours of new content the are uploaded to YT every minute of every day. In truth, it can be exhausting. In the end, however, it is worth it knowing I’ve done something meaningful with my day.

* Don’t let the trolls and haters get to you.

I don’t know what it is about social media, but far too many people think it’s OK to be complete douchebags on line. It really bothered me for a long time and it shouldn’t have. I took far too many negative comments personally and I shouldn’t have. It took me a long time to realize that trolls say what they say online just to upset everyone else, but getting upset it was what they want. Once I realized that, I took their power away and I don’t sweat it. Overall, I get 50x more positive comments then I get negative ones so I must be dong something right. I finally decided not to try to please everyone because that would be impossible. I don’t engage with trolls or haters any longer, but I am willing to accept and even follow constructive criticism. I can always learn more and get better. In fact, I want to, so if you have a fair criticism, I’m open to listen and to learn. Remember, never ever stop learning.

* I could have used some business advice.

It’s true that my friend and mentor, Norma, helped me, but that wasn’t for years after I first hung my “shingle.” I made every mistake in the business book when I started and I really needed much more than just video and television production skills. I needed business acumen and I had none. It caused me lots pf problems and heartache and probably could have been avoided if I had known what to do or where to turn to. My advice, go to the pros before you start. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from other business owners, the SBA, etc.

* It would have been great if someone had told me that the pace of change would continue exponentially.

I teach people how to use technology, but its nearly impossible to keep up because every time I turn around, there’s something new for me to learn and then pass along, especially as my channel grows. I need to be cloned! I figured that about 7 clones should be enough to start. However, I have learned to follow other technology blogs, channels, web sites, etc. and this has helped me to keep up. Also, I narrow my focus to a simple question, “Will this help senior citizens or not?” If not, I move on. It’s a surprisingly effective and simple solution. I also read often to keep up as new information comes out every day. However, I do avoid trends and fads. Doing so might make me a bit behind the curve, but it also helps to narrow my focus and avoid sharing info that won’t be relevant for very long.

* Start Sooner.

I regret not starting much sooner than I did. I really should have as I could have helped even more people if I had. Around the time of my 50th birthday, I came to the realization that there are fewer days ahead than there are behind now so I need to accelerate my promise to Norma Edelman. One odd bonus of putting out content online is that I’m leaving a legacy, of sorts. So long as there’s a YouTube, I’ll be on it, long after I’m gone. I’ll actually live on and be remembered. People one hundred tears from now might actually know I existed, a benefit usually reserved for the famous (or infamous). The power of the Internet has always been as an equalizer. Online, a sole proprietor can be as big as a huge multi-national corporation.

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. 🙂

Well, do as I said above. I’m just one person, me. Big corporations and foundations have far greater resources that I ever will and can do so much more if they set their collective professional and corporate minds to it. We live in a youth obsessed culture here in the USA. We don’t appreciate age or experience as is done in other cultures and societies any longer. I think we need to get back to that, especially considering that our society is aging right now. According to the US Census Bureau, the percentage of the total USA population currently over age 50 is around 13%, totaling around 42,500,000 people roughly. That is a lot of people to leave behind and ignore.

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

“The unexamined life is the un-lived life.” It’s my own take on the Socrates quote, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I have no idea if anyone has said it quite the same way or not, but it works for me. Unlike Socrates, I prefer to choose life over death so I try, at least, to live every day like it’s my last. I’m always looking around, checking things out, trying to observe and enjoy as much as I can while I can. I have truly done things and seen things I never even imagined growing up. I had said earlier that I live in absolute awe of the numerous turns my life has taken. That’s because I’ve enjoyed the treasures at the Vatican Museums, sipped champagne atop the Eiffel Tower, hiked to the rim of a volcano in Hawaii and more. It’s a wonder to me, it truly is, especially taking into consideration how my life started out.

Considering where I started, I never expect to live as long as I have. I more or less assumed that I’d die young and violently. Fortunately, I’m both smart and lucky and I was not afraid of working my way out of my crummy childhood situation. I live amongst trees on the edge of a forest now, but I lived on a block in Astoria, Queens with exactly one tree on it, halfway down the block in front of the apartment where the landlord/building owner lived. I’m utterly amazed by that.

Most people don’t take the time to notice or appreciate everything (or anything) around them, but you should. The world is a wondrous place if you stop to look around and think about it a bit. I grew up with one tree a half a block away. now I have 3 trees in my yard alone! 3 trees. how awesome is that?

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 think I’d like to meet Annie Leibovitz and/or Ron Howard because I really love their work. I’m a shutter bug myself so Meeting Annie Leibovitz would be an awesome learning experience. I love taking pictures, but I’ve never been particularly good a taking images of people, at least in my own mind. I’d love to pick her brain.

The same holds true for Ron Howard. His genius knows no bounds as far as I’m concerned so if I could learn filmmaking from him, imaging what my little YouTube video blog could do.

I probably will never achieve the level of talent and skill that these folks have, but I sure would like to try. I aspire to improve my craft anyway I know how and, IMHO, these people have probably forgotten more than I will ever know about photography and filmmaking. Who better to learn from?

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can find me online by searching for James (or Jim) Costa and on social media by searching for Jim Costa Films on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. I also have a secret society on FB (in the form of a private Facebook Group called Video Producers and Content Creators) where I try to share knowledge and information to fellow content creators and photographers. Links are:

You can find my video blog postings here or by searching for Tech Savvy Senior on my YouTube channel: Jim Costa Films

Thank you for all of these great insights!


Social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, with Jim… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap, with Maike Gericke and Candice Georgiadis

More communication around the advantages of diversity — As mentioned earlier, diversity and gender equality are not favors we do to those that are underrepresented — they are important factors in improving the innovative capacity, user focus, and many other areas of our businesses. Instead of focusing on targets, we should probably focus the communication more on the benefits derived from building diverse teams.

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Maike Gericke. Maike is the co-founder of Scrypt.Media, a consultancy and innovation studio for impactful projects using emerging technologies like blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology. Her work focuses on strategy development, user-centric innovation, communications, education and impact measurement. She is a core contributor at PositiveBlockchain.io, an open source database and community around blockchain for social and environmental impact, and a member of the Board of Directors at INATBA, the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications. Prior to founding Scrypt.Media, she defined global strategies and worked as program manager with a focus on SaaS business models and digital transformation in Financial Services. She previously founded a globally sold and featured sustainable jewellery brand and worked as an independent graphic and web designer / developer. Maike is passionate about the potential of technology in enabling equality, inclusion and access for all.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

My career path is actually a long and winding one that spanned many sectors and industries before I got to where I am now. I went all the way from fashion design to financial services and emerging technologies, and I went back and forth between my own business and corporate work. A big part of the backstory is that every step involved being a little more intentional about the things I wanted to do, at the same time learning more about my own skills, preferences and beliefs. This ultimately led me to really focus my work on things I really care about and get excited by every day. In my case, it is all about using emerging technologies in the areas where we need the most impact, and about building meaningful organizations.

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

I am quite amazed by the things that happen daily once I decided to get real and put focus on things that matter to me. It is a bit like this focus is magically attracting others that do the same and creates the most amazing chance meetings that lead to new opportunities and lifelong connections.

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

I can probably fill a book with all the mistakes I made on my path, but a really important one is trying to be too many things for too many people, or the famous saying NO to the things that do not directly fit into my path, and I am still very much struggling with this one.

I’m naturally very curious and inclined to see opportunities in everything, and when you start a new business and really care about the things you do, saying no becomes quite a bit harder. This is an extremely funny problem to have as a long-time strategist and project manager, but prioritizing is somehow easier to do for other people. Thankfully I have a great co-founder as a sounding board.

Ok let’s jump to the main focus of our interview. Even in 2019, women still earn about 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. Can you explain three of the main factors that are causing the wage gap?

Picking 3 things on this is pretty hard, as there is a very complex system behind this gap that is really hard to see in full. But let me try!

The first one is Stereotyping — In my opinion this is the number one factor for gender inequality. Over the course of the last centuries, we have internalized a lot of beliefs about gender and the differences it makes in our daily life, our choices and behavior. Those beliefs are included in the way we raise children, the way we present ourselves, the way we perceive and judge other people we meet, and of course the way we hire people.

The second factor is about job limitations based on stereotyping — When women do not get hired because they are in an age where they could theoretically have a child, when a women’s leadership potential is underestimated because her leadership style might be different, or when a new mother is downgraded in her role because she wants to spend a few hours less in the office (while usually delivering the same amount of work or more) or needs to go pick up her children at a certain time, her career is taking a hit because of stereotyping.

Another big part of this is women judging themselves too harshly and not even pursuing opportunities because of limited beliefs they internalized about themselves — and not having enough role models that have been through this situation themselves to guide them on their way.

The third factor is not making diversity a priority — or not making it a priority for the right reasons. We often argue for gender equality from the perspective of creating equal chances for women and targets that need to be achieved in this context, which is of course important. The interesting thing that often gets disregarded in the conversation is how gender equality will bring even more benefits to the system as a whole. So gender equality is really not only about giving women a chance to improve their situation, but benefiting from their capacity and expertise to create better systems overall.

Can you share with our readers what your work is doing to help close the gender wage gap?

With Scrypt.Media, we are trying to set an example for how diversity can work in a different way. We believe that equal pay is not only a policy that helps women to earn more — it directly translates into the results of the business. But in order to get better at building diverse teams, diversity needs to be a part of the DNA of the organization from the get-go. So similar to any other strategic priority, we define our vision and activities related to creating and enabling a diverse team. A big part of that is all about active learning — how can we build a culture that enables different personalities and people with different needs to strive in the workplace?

Of course, a big part of this is also about creating transparent salary schemes, compensation models and incentive systems that make equal pay the default.

Next to that, in my work I am supporting various projects and initiatives that are tackling the UN Sustainable Development Goals and work on gender equality often from the other end of the spectrum, which is financial inclusion and access to education.

In all efforts, supporting other women and bringing more diverse voices into the conversation is another important aspect, as sometimes a simple introduction, recommendation or basic piece of advice can create new opportunities.

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the gender wage gap. Please share a story or example for each.

Stop judging — Women today get judged for virtually anything. We are either being too silent, too load, too angry, too successful, care too little about our children or our career, or too much. This noise is leading to a lot of insecurity especially in younger girls, because it is just impossible to follow all these rules. And it also creates unnecessary confusion and setbacks later, especially if the ones judging are in a position to decide about careers, salaries and futures. It is important that everyone (including other women) can just learn to stop judging, and instead help with actionable advice on how to use our strengths, regardless of gender stereotypes.

Awareness on stereotypes — To change stereotypes, we need to be aware of them. This is a difficult point, as we are all in some form or another guilty of stereotyping — myself included. In a lot of cases, decisions based on stereotypes are very much unintentional. For example, I am much more likely to hire someone that has something in common with me. So someone who looks like me, went to my university, shares my hobbies or has mutual friends is much more likely to end up working for my company, unless I take active measures to judge candidates without letting these factors influence my judgement.

More communication around the advantages of diversity — As mentioned earlier, diversity and gender equality are not favors we do to those that are underrepresented — they are important factors in improving the innovative capacity, user focus, and many other areas of our businesses. Instead of focusing on targets, we should probably focus the communication more on the benefits derived from building diverse teams.

Change our definition of a leader — Women sometimes lead differently than what we are used to. This does not in any way mean that they lead worse. But women in leadership positions are often still walking a delicate balance of somehow “fitting” into the image of leadership we have established over the years. To help them reach their full potential, it is time to change that image.

Collaboration — This is an important one as I see the discussion around gender equality more and more turn into a battlefield around men vs. women on various platforms. In my opinion, this does not help anyone. On the contrary, building walls between groups is always going to make things worse on both sides, as it forces everyone to pick a side even if the situation is much more complex than that. After all, some of the best advocates I know for gender equality are men, and some of the harshest opponents might be women.

So instead of projecting frustrations with some onto all, it would be much wiser to work together with those that share common views and goals, and not be exclusive when trying to achieve inclusion.

You are a person of great 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. 🙂

Luckily, women supporting each other in business and life is a very much ongoing movement for a long time, even (or especially) in the area of emerging technologies where I do most of my work, and where we still see a lot of underrepresentation.

What I would like to see is a movement of companies and startups, especially in the tech space, being more intentional about inclusion by bringing diversity and gender equality right into their DNA, supporting their teams, creating transparency, sharing lessons and proudly discussing about the benefits this brings for individuals and business results alike.

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

Let me share two quotes as they are both highly relevant to gender equality. The first is by Buckminster Fuller: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete”. To me, this is an important reminder that the best way to affect change is to lead by example, and that criticism of the way things are is just not enough.

The other one is from Michelle Obama’s book “Becoming”: “If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll get quickly and inaccurately defined by others”. This goes back to the problem of stereotypes, and is an important reminder that the best way to drown out stereotypical and inaccurate judgements is to be clear about our own definitions of who we are and what we want to achieve — even if it is difficult sometimes.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. 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 see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Speaking of Michelle Obama… 🙂

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.


5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap, with Maike Gericke 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: “ I believe in teaching my fellow entrepreneur community…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “ I believe in teaching my fellow entrepreneur community to fish, so that each of them may eat for a lifetime” with Shaunda Necole and Candice Georgiadis

I’m passionate about empowering others to thrive in their talents. I volunteer my time at universities and women’s business centers to teach business owners effective strategies for successfully navigating in today’s digital marketplace. I’ve received community and economic development awards for my contributions. To keep the inspiration going, I publish motivational content on my blog and as a contributing writer for other media outlets. I believe in teaching my fellow entrepreneur community to fish, so that each of them may eat for a lifetime.

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 Shaunda Necole. Shaunda is a business coach, motivational influencer and entrepreneur. She is the creator of Get Your Name Out There Magic Marketing where she shares her secrets and insider tips- how she got over 100-thousand people to follow her in less than a year with big brands and media outlets taking notice! You can read more from Shaunda and get her secrets to success in The Ultimate Business Checklist on her blog.

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

About three years ago, I decided on a whim to attend a luxury brand sample sale in New York. My entrepreneurial instincts guided me to open the trip up to shop for other ladies who were not attending, but also wanted to take advantage of the extreme savings. I offered my advice and made their purchases. It was a fantastic experience, and the Instagram account I initially created to enter a contest hosted by the sample sale grew to over 100,000 fans! I developed a website and blog, which opened the door for the brand collaborations and influencer work that I do today.

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

About a year and a half into influencing, at what I thought was the height of my online career, my Instagram account suddenly disappeared! I thought his account was everything that my influencer career was made of, and boy was I with heavy heart every log-in attempt- one hundred and one tries after another. None of these attempts brought my account back. I still don’t have the answers to what exactly happened. Mark nor his Instagram team were ever within reach for support! I made a choice to pull myself out of a day’s worth of self-pity, vowing not to let a social media account be the definition of my self-worth and perseverance.

One of my successes in garnering a following of over 100-thousand is that I use offline principles online. In other words, I network online just as I do in an offline capacity. So many of my peers in the online communities I belonged to were instrumental in spreading the word about what happened to my Instagram page. The support of my community online, coupled with back-up apps that contained a list of all of my original account’s followers were instrumental in the recovery that I made on social media.

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 funniest and most ironic thing is that losing my original Instagram account was one of the best things that ever happened to me! It was a chance for me to put to work all the people and interpersonal skills that I’d learned and taught for decades. It also reminded me that these online platforms with our very own creative and curated pages, don’t belong to us! With that said, my recovery also included full concentration on inviting my social media community to join me as a member of my blog community. A platform that I have 100% access and control over.

A hard lesson, but in the end, I learned to trust the process and have gratitude for its tough lessons, too!

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’m passionate about empowering others to thrive in their talents. I volunteer my time at universities and women’s business centers to teach business owners effective strategies for successfully navigating in today’s digital marketplace. I’ve received community and economic development awards for my contributions. To keep the inspiration going, I publish motivational content on my blog and as a contributing writer for other media outlets.

I believe in teaching my fellow entrepreneur community to fish, so that each of them may eat for a lifetime.

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

One of my very first interviews as a social media influencer was with a wonderfully talented young lady for her travel blog. She was capturing my story as a Las Vegas pro in a feature article. In my typical fashion, I asked questions of the interviewer and learned a lot about her travels and career, and even offered advice to help her out in her future endeavors to take her career to the next level. She expressed sincere gratitude. After the article, we remained in touch, and I included her company as one of my affiliate partners that I share with my blog community. Her response to this was one of my all-time favorite, heart-melting moments. It was the feeling you get when you receive confirmation that you are working in your purpose. Her expression of gratitude came in a comment that, “Reaching out to you for that interview was one of the best decisions I have made.”

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

I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 13 years, and I have grown to understand that the secret to success is meaningful connections. Bonding through reciprocity- giving more than what is asked. After contributing my time at local universities and innovation centers to assist new and aspiring entrepreneurs in getting started, I realized that this is where I want to add much more of my time, energy and focus.

As an influencer, I use my social credibility to motivate others and help them grow personally and in business. I choose partnerships with companies that share in my philosophy of helping others. Some of my favorite partnerships have included supporting celebrity Serena Williams investing in minority and women-owned businesses, Vote Together during the midterm elections and VA Arts Fest spotlighting artists and creatives.

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

Entrepreneurs that I mentor often complain of a lack of diversity in state and federal contracts and procurement. If these types of government funding were to extend to smaller and more niche businesses, this would allow many businesses to have an opportunity to thrive in their respective markets.

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 social good?

To keep the conversation going about entrepreneurs, I contribute as a source and writer to many media outlets that seek to address the plights and successes of business owners, entrepreneurs and influencers. I have been featured on Cosmopolitan, Forbes and Positively Positive where I share my advice. I offer tangible takeaways in a free resource I call The Ultimate Business Checklist. In this valuable guide, I’ve compressed decades of my business knowledge and research into days. I also created Get Your Name Out There Magic Marketing to reach entrepreneurs in a customized, one-on-one method, empowering and helping them find their way in today’s digital marketplace.

The fun part about the conversation and why I share what I do? I think my influence is possible for everyone!

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

Ultimately, I trust the process. Things that I didn’t know years ago have made me a better businesswoman with stories of mistakes turned lessons to share with you today. But in the spirit of hindsight being 20/20, here are five things that I could have benefited from sooner, had I known!

1. I would have saved my money from a brick and mortar store and went into business online from the start. Ultimately this happened- just much later in the process. My business became the first one of its kind to secure a distribution deal with Amazon.

2. This is totally a real estate answer, because I’m an agent, too! But I would have invested in property in Culver City, California if I had the money back in the 1980s when it was a steal of a deal. If by chance the little girl me would have experienced a Tom Hanks Big moment back in the ‘80s- this could have totally happened!

3. I would have started a social media account sooner, to have become even more influential with a broader reach to inspire more people faster.

4. I would have left my corporate job sooner because when I did almost 15 years ago, I never looked back! Now I understand that courage means you’re scared, but you do it anyway.

5. I could have also saved a ton of time by learning to delegate tasks sooner. I once lived the tragic life of a perfectionist!

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. 🙂

I would inspire a movement of universities based on knowledge-based learning, where we seek higher education to uncover our purpose-driven lives, which is in whatever makes us thrive. Then we would intern, living in our purposes. Unlike traditional college, where the student often leaves in debt, it would be almost impossible to go broke when the students become the teachers by investing in themselves.

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

I was born a doer and a creator. I will stay up all night to finish a project that I start. My mantra is, “Innovation is rewarded, while execution is worshipped.” I would not be where I am today without effective execution. That’s always my goal.

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. 🙂

Michelle Obama, Arianna Huffington and Beyoncé if you are reading this, I admire you as positive role models, especially to women. I have great respect for your humility and your mission to always start from a place of service- doing the most good for the most people. It is said that there is no fear when you are focused on serving others. I regard each one of these women as fearless.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’d love to share more business inspiration and daily motivation with your readers! Please join me on ShaundaNecole.com and sign-up to receive my gift to you, which is also my most popular resource- The Ultimate Business Checklist. You can also follow me on Instagram @ShaundaNecole.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

I find great joy in sharing- THANK YOU! (Also, the best prayer that anyone could say 😉


The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “ I believe in teaching my fellow entrepreneur community… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.