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An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Participate in worthy causes. As a whole, and as a brand, it is good to be involved with your community, and also involved with those who need aid. Giving back is one of the most important components to monetizing anyone’s brand. It is not only good relations, but also it feels really good to give back to the people that have helped you grow.

As part of my series about “How Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lillee Jean.

Lillee Jean is a New York City influencer, entrepreneur, actress, model, beauty and lifestyle blogger, self-taught makeup artist, environmentalist, and anti-online bullying advocate. She focuses on creating beauty and health content for her YouTube Channel, as well as now hosts an online live celebrity web series on IG Live. Lillee Jean also uses her channel to advocate for mental health, as well as to talk to her fans about the effects of bullying and cyberbullying, weaving education into her conversations.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is your “backstory”? What brought you to this point in your career?

I was an extremely imaginative little girl, and I loved collecting dolls, such as Barbie and American Girl Dolls. When my mother gave me my first AG Doll, I told her that I would take care of her if she bought her for me (I never broke that promise, and she is still mint to this day). I started filming my dolls in different fun play scenarios, such as, “the girls take gymnastics”, when my parents bought me an iPhone. It was so much fun that I began creating stop-motion blogs with them and uploading the videos to a blog I set up.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you in the course of your career?

Filming a video or attending an event is simply unpredictable, which is why so many funny things can happen when you are in the middle of a shoot. One of the more colorful experiences I had, was when I was filming a short vlog in New York City, and it was an extremely breezy day. We are a small team, so we all kind of do double duty on things that need to get done. We had a small table set up with makeup, etc., and I wasn’t looking as I was talking, and banged into the table, setting off a series of events, with everything falling all over the city street. That was funny looking back, but stressful too!

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I try to help people as much as possible, as I am blessed to be doing what I love to be doing, and appreciate all that I have. Whenever I can, I ensure that I pass it forward to someone, specifically when it comes to donating makeup to women shelters etc.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

If you truly love doing something, nothing should take you off your game. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. You got to stick to your own convictions, and no matter what, as long as it makes you feel good, stick with what you feel is going to be a profitable and good fit for you. Remember, you are the one that is ultimately going to have to live with that job, nobody else but you.

None of us can achieve success without a bit of help along the way. Is there a particular person who made a profound difference in your life to whom you are grateful? Can you share a story?

Hands down my parents. They have been so supportive of what I want to do, I’m very lucky. When I was about 15, I started getting more and more offers to do content, etc., so my parents supported my vision and allowed me to switch to home schooling, so I could pursue my passion, without sacrificing my education.

So what are the most exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

I’m very excited about a documentary on online bullying I am working on. Fortunately for me, a family friend is a director and writer, who has had several notable projects in Tinsel Town. I’m very excited for people to hear my story, which I’ve written a lot about. The most exciting part that I am looking forward to accomplishing is educating people on online bullying, and what is and what isn’t acceptable, as well as attempting to get a law put in place, that places more resources at people’s fingertips, as well as a credible federal law, that will deter anyone from acting the way the people who have attempted to hurt me have done.

What are your “Top Five Ways That Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand” . (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. Cross-Platform. It is really important to ensure that you are cross-platformed on each social network site you use. If you don’t have yourself optimized you are not utilizing the internet to the fullest for yourself;
  2. Participate in Networking. It has been extremely valuable to me to network with my peers, as well as people that I come across on the internet, even if they are not in the same field. You never know who might be the next important supporter of yourself;
  3. Know Your Brand. In my situation, I am the brand. It took me awhile to realize that, and know who Lillee Jean was. Once I was able to define that in my head, it has become easier to market myself;
  4. I suggest for anyone breaking into any entertainment business to get a good publicist. You are the brand, even if you are selling a product, but how do people know who you are, or what you are about, if they don’t know that you are there?
  5. Participate in worthy causes. As a whole, and as a brand, it is good to be involved with your community, and also involved with those who need aid. Giving back is one of the most important components to monetizing anyone’s brand. It is not only good relations, but also it feels really good to give back to the people that have helped you grow.

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.

I wholeheartedly would like to see medical care become more assessable for people in the United States. I came to realize that with the Lockdown, how many people need mental health services, and unfortunately can’t obtain them, due to the high cost of medical insurance and providers. I would support an easier way for people to be able to keep themselves well and happy.

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 just see this. 🙂

I would love to meet Rep. Pramila Jayapal. She is so strong in her ideas and steadfast in what she wants for this country. I’ve admired what she has done in moving a progressive agenda forward in the face of Senators and Representatives that have been in Washington longer than she has. I am betting it would be a fascinating luncheon.

What is the best way our readers can follow your work online?

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGQF-GZ2oWfgb1NN3QtJJlA (Lillee Jean)

Websites: https://www.lilleejean.com and https://www.lilleejeanbeauty.com

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/REALlilleejean/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealLilleeJean

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LilleeJean

Digital Art: https://www.deviantart.com/lilleejean

Giphy: https://giphy.com/lilleejean

Tenor: https://tenor.com/official/lilleejean

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this

Lillee Jean: Five Ways For Influencers To Monetize Their Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.