What led you to your line of work?
When I was 15, I started a fan account for Justin Bieber. It was never my intention for it to possibly lead to a job in the end, it was just an extracurricular activity for the teenie-bopper in me to do.
We stayed in touch with Scooter & the team throughout the years and eventually it led to a job offer after I turned 18. Social media was definitely a thing at the time but not as much as it is now, so my role has definitely evolved over time.
I had no idea people did this for a living. I was just doing what I was passionate about which included pop culture and covering celebrities on the internet and here I am – still doing that but getting paid for it, for almost 8 years now.
What has been the most exciting moment at your current job?
I love the tech side of the industry. I love testing and launching new features and platforms with our artists. Ari launched the first ever music filter on Instagram, as well as the first ever AR shoppable merch filter on Snapchat. Justin was one of the first artists to have Twitter #hashflags for every track on an album. I find joy and excitement in these things that crossover into the “real world.” There’s nothing cooler than when someone outside of the industry, or say a random person from high school, posts something that you played a part in because it means that we did something right.
Where do you get creative inspiration?
I love looking at what other industries are doing (that found a way to catch my attention) and try to take an idea and flip it on its head and bring it into the music world. I also love to Google. If we have a song title that I’m trying to come up with marketing ideas for, the first place I look is Google. Is there a movie or TV show we can tease a clip from, does it have to do with sleep, and we want to partner with a meditation app, is there an Urban Dictionary definition we can play with, etc.
Do you have a mentor? If so, can you share advice for getting a mentor?
I have a few, but they probably don’t realize they’re my mentors. We’ve never formally had the conversation, but they’ve always been there for me with sound advice when I’m trying to navigate an issue or just understand something that may not make sense at the time. As someone who has under a decade of experience in the industry, it’s so important to have people that have been in it for the long haul and have seen it change - who understand the politics, and might be able to offer a different perspective on a situation, or ask a question that will change the way you approach something. I’ve also only ever worked on the management side, so I try to not to have blinders on and see it from all angles.
For me, finding these people happened almost accidentally because I found myself going back to the same few people and constantly leaving the conversation enlightened. My advice would be
to take a step back and look around you. Who do you admire? Who do you know has your best interest at heart and wants to see you win? And what value can you also bring to them so it’s not a one-way street?
Who do you look up to in your girl gang or industry?
I get to work with a lot of amazing women inside SBP and out. Internally, Allison, Jen & Jules are total bad asses and I admire their work ethic and poise. I grew up at this company and they have led by example of how to hold your own as a female in the industry. A lot of our social partners are also female, and I love building something from start to finish with them and it never having to be a competition between platforms. S/o Malika (FB), Fadia (IG), Lindsey (YT), Megan (TW) and all the lovely women that I cross paths with on the dail ❤ y
What is something about your job people might not expect?
I think the biggest misconception about a social media role is that we ‘just tweet.’ That it’s ‘so easy an intern could do it.’ While a social intern is absolutely helpful and capable, there’s a lot of planning, strategy and content creation that goes into it. A lot of approvals, partnerships, branding - your social media presence is essentially your resume these days. How your artist or brand is perceived, what voice they have, what they care about, how they can use their platform for good. Cancel culture is real and one wrong post could change it all. The internet is a large part of marketing these days, especially in quarantine. Don’t count us out.
Best advice you’ve received?
“It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” If you believe in it, see it through. If it works, it works, if it doesn’t – maybe we don’t do that again.
What does Support Your Local Girl Gang mean to you?
Lift up the women around you! We are not in competition. We are way more powerful when we work together.
Rapid Fire Questions:
Favorite books? Love a mystery! The Last Mrs. Parrish, Where The Crawdads Sing, and Redemption Prep are a few of my recent faves. I’ve read more books in quarantine than in my entire life.
Favorite podcasts? Reply All! People call in with weird internet problems and they solve them. Listen to the Long-Distance call episodes about telephone scammers!
Favorite apps? Work related - Unfold for IG story templates, UNUM for planning IG feeds, Tezza for IG filters. Life related – Timehop for the nostalgia feels. Co-star to send me witty push notifications about how my day is going to go.