This week on the podcast we take a cheeky turn and want to share a podcast Mia was interviewed on with a fellow Hive Hub Collective Member Tracy.
From a seasoned healthcare professional to a digital nomad shaping the future of digital marketing, my story is anything but ordinary.
Together with Tracy, a User Generated Content (UGC) powerhouse, we unravel the threads of transformation and success in the ever-evolving UGC landscape. Our heart-to-heart traverses my pivot from nursing to mastering affiliate marketing on TikTok, celebrating Tracy's remarkable fitness app, book, and her exciting foray into podcasting, all centered around the power of UGC.
We're here to share that spark of inspiration and the practical strategies that can ignite your own digital marketing journey.
Engaging authentically with your audience is the cornerstone of building a thriving online presence, and this episode peels back the curtain on how UGC and affiliate marketing intertwine to create a winning formula.
Tracy and I delve into our early brand partnerships, the electrifying moment when we recognised the potential of UGC, and the creation of Hive Hub Collective — a supportive ecosystem for creators at all stages.
We provide insights into harnessing the authentic storytelling and the brand partnerships that celebrate the unique voices in the UGC world, mapping out a path for you to create compelling content that resonates and converts.
Wrapping up with a forward-looking perspective, we address the untapped potential of UGC for individuals with neurodiversity, highlighting how its flexibility and creative freedom make it an ideal career path. We reflect on the significance of recognizing hormonal changes and their impact on work habits, providing a beacon of hope for those seeking an alternative to the rigidity of traditional careers.
As Tracy and I gear up for our highly anticipated in-person meeting, we emphasise the genuine connections that are the heartbeat of the UGC community, inviting you to join us on this revelatory ride through the authenticity, challenges, and triumphs of making your mark in digital marketing.
You can Find Tracey here: @midlifeugc and tune into her podcast You Me & UGC here
Click HERE JOIN STAN STORE NOW: 14 days Free + Receive Our Monetiser Kit (till end of Aug) your tool for creating a Profitable Digital Product in 30days or Less
This week on the podcast we take a cheeky turn and want to share a podcast Mia was interviewed on with a fellow Hive Hub Collective Member Tracy.
From a seasoned healthcare professional to a digital nomad shaping the future of digital marketing, my story is anything but ordinary.
Together with Tracy, a User Generated Content (UGC) powerhouse, we unravel the threads of transformation and success in the ever-evolving UGC landscape. Our heart-to-heart traverses my pivot from nursing to mastering affiliate marketing on TikTok, celebrating Tracy's remarkable fitness app, book, and her exciting foray into podcasting, all centered around the power of UGC.
We're here to share that spark of inspiration and the practical strategies that can ignite your own digital marketing journey.
Engaging authentically with your audience is the cornerstone of building a thriving online presence, and this episode peels back the curtain on how UGC and affiliate marketing intertwine to create a winning formula.
Tracy and I delve into our early brand partnerships, the electrifying moment when we recognised the potential of UGC, and the creation of Hive Hub Collective — a supportive ecosystem for creators at all stages.
We provide insights into harnessing the authentic storytelling and the brand partnerships that celebrate the unique voices in the UGC world, mapping out a path for you to create compelling content that resonates and converts.
Wrapping up with a forward-looking perspective, we address the untapped potential of UGC for individuals with neurodiversity, highlighting how its flexibility and creative freedom make it an ideal career path. We reflect on the significance of recognizing hormonal changes and their impact on work habits, providing a beacon of hope for those seeking an alternative to the rigidity of traditional careers.
As Tracy and I gear up for our highly anticipated in-person meeting, we emphasise the genuine connections that are the heartbeat of the UGC community, inviting you to join us on this revelatory ride through the authenticity, challenges, and triumphs of making your mark in digital marketing.
You can Find Tracey here: @midlifeugc and tune into her podcast You Me & UGC here
Click HERE JOIN STAN STORE NOW: 14 days Free + Receive Our Monetiser Kit (till end of Aug) your tool for creating a Profitable Digital Product in 30days or Less
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Kaj...
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the I am dot dot dot podcast, the podcast for busy mums who want to consume useful shit for their biz and their life. Here we tackle the things we know are holding mums and women back in their business. We're not afraid to tackle the big shit, the bullshit and the good shit. We go from mum guilt to confidently learning how to kick ass in this digital space. We will discuss the world of digital marketing and share life's tips and tricks for getting it done. As six-figure business owners with over 10 years of digital marketing and brand experience, and mums to young kids, we get it, we share it and we own it. So buckle up and let's go. Let's go, let's go. I think we've got it. I think we got off the screen.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the I Am Dot Dot Dot podcast, the podcast for busy creators who want to consume useful shit for their biz and their life. I'm Mia Steele and I'm running solo today. Don't tell anyone. I have been going behind Kristen's back and hanging out with another podcaster this week. Kristen has been busy off on school holidays dealing with all of that stuff and I took some time out to catch up with Tracy, one of our members inside our membership and she is launching her own podcast.
Speaker 2:
We are incredibly proud of Tracy.
Speaker 2:
She has her own fitness app, she has written a book and she has come guns blazing into the UGC space since doing a course online and she has completely replaced her wage doing UGC.
Speaker 2:
She's an absolute gun at it and she is launching her own UGC podcast called you, me and UGC, and I caught up with Tracy to have a chat about my journey and where I began in UGC space and it was a really fantastic chat because Tracy has been following me since my very, very early days. I think she said that she watched my very first video when I started my affiliate marketing journey on TikTok, so it is so cool to have been friends in this space for over two years and watch each other grow in this space. So if you're interested in UGC and where I started with it all, and if you're interested in creating UGC videos and getting paid for it, have a listen to Tracy's podcast, because that's all she's going to be talking about. She's going to be interviewing some great people who are in the UGC space and I'm so excited for her to launch that podcast and we are popping that very interview that I had with Tracey on our podcast today. So buckle up, grab a coffee and let's get into it.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the you, me and UGC podcast. I'm your host, tracey Minnett, and today I have the most special guest. In actual fact, I say that a lot, but I'm not kidding this time. Mia Steele is my mentor in UGC. She is the first person I connected with when I wanted to find out what exactly is UGC and she actually gave me the tools and the resources to get started and it was a life changing thing for me. So having Mia on the podcast is everything to me. So welcome Mia.
Speaker 2:
Hello, it's so good to be here and so exciting because I've watched you from day one just blossom in this space and in this space, and it's just so exciting that something that you know I share with my audience has actually changed other people's lives, and to be here is really special for me as well, to be alongside you and talk about both of our journeys in the UGC space.
Speaker 1:
One of the really fun facts that I want to bring up right now is I had this TikTok account for a long time. If we're talking about TikTok and making money online and you know how many people say I don't know if you can make money from TikTok and you and I just have a little giggle, but I was, you know, doom scrolling on TikTok, as we call it, when you are kind of bored and thinking you might want to try something else. And I was scrolling and you came up on my TikTok feed and it was the time when you were exploring affiliate marketing and I thought, hey, this girl, I'm going to join her journey. You're like, this is day one. You were probably, for me, the first person that had the journey, you know, and then there was a lot of other people.
Speaker 1:
I don't know if that is actual fact, but for me you were the first person I saw that was recording their journey, a day-to-day life, what you're doing, the things you're working on, the success that you're is actual fact, but for me, you were the first person I saw that was recording their journey, a day-to-day life, what you're doing, the things you're working on, the success that you're having, the highs, the lows like the whole full story. But before the affiliate marketing, that was me finding you on TikTok. You actually had a whole other life. I think now is a good time. And now is the time because people want to know, like how is it that people go from a regular job to making money full time online with digital marketing, affiliate marketing and UGC? How does that happen?
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So, as you would know, it can actually happen pretty quickly. You've just got to have a little bit of knowledge and some education in the space. But for me, I was like many people. I was a registered nurse and a paramedic. We went through COVID and I had my babies and I just didn't want to go back to work. So I was looking online.
Speaker 2:
I was always a bit curious in the space of how to create my own business and after COVID we said bugger it, let's sell everything, jump in the caravan. I got a laptop job in clinical trials and it was good. It gave us a bit of freedom to travel the country in the caravan, but I still had to show up, log on, have a boss and it sort of really impeded on our travels. And I was doom scrolling one day on TikTok and I came across an American fellow talking about UGC and that you could get paid to create content. You didn't have to have a following, you didn't have to be an influencer and brands would pay you money to create content.
Speaker 2:
And my ADHD brain just went oh, I'll give that a go. Who cares? Like what's the worst that can happen. And I've hired people in this space and I created a portfolio and I pretty much just taught myself how to do it all, because back then there wasn't really that many guides or courses to go by and next thing I know, I replaced my entire wage in six weeks of doing it and I couldn't believe it and I was hooked from then on and it paid for our whole entire trip around the country and from there, yeah, I'm a full-time content creator and I love it.
Speaker 1:
So I just want to grab a piece of what you've said, because obviously I found you when you went into affiliate marketing, but you were already doing UGC before that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I had a UGC.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, well, that actually makes sense why your videos were so compelling because you knew how to talk to camera, splice it up, and you knew about hooks, calls to action and you subliminally I feel like I'm just having a light bulb moment right now you subliminally managed to capture our attention in your journey in affiliate marketing because you had this experience with UGC. Would that be correct to say?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, absolutely, and that's why I really encourage our students inside our membership to do some UGC, because it teaches you the fundamentals of good content creation and hooking your audience in and building an audience that knows, likes and trusts you, and it gets you to the point where you can sell your own products. And yeah, I had a whole dedicated UGC account before I started my affiliate marketing, before you found me, and that was where I was, you know, getting my full-time UGC income from. I was practicing content, I was posting daily and the jobs just kept coming to me. I didn't even have to really pitch to brands because they were finding me on this account. And I got to the point where I was full-time UGC and I started looking into other avenues to create some more passive income on the side. And I think that's why I was quite successful in the affiliate marketing space because, as you said, I'd gotten good at content. I knew what I was doing by then and then I was able to grow my business further from there.
Speaker 1:
What was the first brand you ever partnered with? The first paid brand?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I couldn't believe it. I was gobsmacked when it actually came in and this deal was a real, tangible thing. I worked with a brand called Etoile, so this is a Melbourne girl. She creates travel makeup bags, and I think she found me on Twitter because when I first started my UGC journey, it was very big on Twitter. Everyone was going on Twitter and getting jobs through there. So she contacted me and said look, I've got these products. Do you like them? Let's work together? And I said absolutely. And I couldn't believe it. She sent me two big makeup bags, a ring light, a couple of little goodies and she paid me $400 for a couple of videos. And I was just like, how is this even real? Like I'm just a nobody, but you know a couple of hundred followers on TikTok and this is happening.
Speaker 1:
And I did the job, she loved it, she gave me a good review, she paid me and, yeah, from then on I was just, I was absolutely hooked and so excited and one of the really cool things is that you do not have to post that video on your social media so that all your friends and family go oh, you're an influencer now.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, no and that's the beauty of it and and that's, you know, one of the reasons why you can make, um, quite good money quite fast, because you don't have to spend that time growing a big audience before you can start making money. So I mean, every now and then someone might see a Facebook ad on your feed and screenshot it and say is that you on an ad? I'm like, yes, yes, it is.
Speaker 1:
And then the next question they ask is do you recommend that?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, Right, they do.
Speaker 1:
They've done like 10 skincare brands. It's like well, I love them all, like they're like all my children. How could I?
Speaker 2:
yeah, and you would never do UGC for a product that you just think is no good, a bit of a flop. So, yeah, yeah, and it's a great way to find out about new brands and share, you know, your review of what you think the product is like.
Speaker 1:
Are you still doing some?
Speaker 2:
UGC today? Absolutely yes. I mean I don't have to go out and find it. Brands pop up in my inbox all the time and because I've set up my business, you know I've got multiple streams of income. I can start to be a little bit picky of which brands that I work with and you know I've increased my rates over the years. So I definitely do probably a couple of months just to keep it going. And you know it's a great way to top up the kitty or pay for a holiday or something special inside. And you know now we're also helping other creators get brands. So brands are coming to us and we're sourcing creators for the brands as well.
Speaker 1:
So, yeah, amazing, other creators get brands, so brands are coming to us and we're sourcing creators for the brands as well. So, yeah, amazing. Um, just for anyone who's tuning in and listening, when mia refers to her membership, we're talking about the hive hub collective, which is, uh, do you want to talk about that? Because I think it's probably it's good to sort of highlight, when we talk about helping other people get into ugc, that you actually have a space where that happens. So do you want to just talk to us about?
Speaker 2:
that. Yeah, so my whole entire journey I've sort of just always been posting on TikTok, promoting other people's products and doing the UGC and randomly, kristen Werner was following me on TikTok. She's a brand and market specialist. She's been in the space for 10, 15 years and she dropped me a DM and said do you want to collaborate on something? I think that we could work really well together and I've always wanted to create my own products, my own business, and I just jumped at that. And over the past almost year, we've created a space for creators to learn how to create good content, learn UGC, learn digital marketing. And you know, we've created this membership where or a community really where we're all rallying together, building our own businesses, creating content. And now we've got brands coming to us because they know that we're training creators, we're getting really good results for them. They're coming to us now. So we've got this space where we can also pass jobs on to our creators inside the membership too.
Speaker 1:
So it's been a really fun ride and we've got so many big ideas in this space for Hive Hub Collective and it's just growing every day and it's super exciting don't you think it's crazy like I've just started having a thought that you I don't know if you started the membership to service UGC as much as you are, because I can see what's happening now, as you're partnering with other businesses that are looking for UGC creators and, in some ways, you're becoming almost like a UGC talent management site in a way.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and you sort of when you build businesses, you sort of pivot a little bit. But we're finding that this UGC space is getting bigger and better and, you know, if we can be a hub for people to come and learn how to create really good content and then present these amazing creators like yourself to brands, it's a win-win situation. So brands don't have to go and scout all their talent randomly out in that big, wide world of TikTok.
Speaker 1:
So, yeah, it's an exciting space to be in and we're growing every day, one of the things that I found in the Hive Hub Collective it was called Digital Hive Hub when I first became a member, but the Hive Hub Collective when you mentioned to me something about UGC and I didn't know what it was at the time and then you threw in a course okay, this is how you do it and I felt like it was your notes that you'd made on. If I was going to teach yeah, if I was going to teach someone to do UGC, here is the fast track way to get it done. And I just followed your notes, literally you know, line for line, and every time it said do this, I went, I stopped what I was doing, I did the thing and within a week I had set up a way that I could reach out to brands, and that was all based around your course, which is now a course.
Speaker 2:
Which is now a real course.
Speaker 1:
It's a real course yeah, and I feel like I was your test dummy person because, within four, four weeks, I also replaced my income and that was crazy.
Speaker 1:
Uh, we talked about this in you know in an episode um for your podcast. But just having my husband kind of be a bit shaky about my attempt to create a whole new income stream from scratch with no experience and it happened within four weeks and at that time I was still working the job. Because a lot of people are doing this right, they're working full-time or part-time, and then they add UGC on top. Of course, you're not gonna let your job go until you know that this is for real, because for about the first two months I think you're still second guessing yourself. You're still going. You're right, yeah.
Speaker 1:
I can't believe he's actually paying me no, it's the postman or the courier package that shows up every couple of days and you're just like shit. And then when they ask you, they say you know, are you doing a lot of online shopping? You know, yeah, no, no, it's yeah. Anyway, I don't explain anything.
Speaker 2:
Don't explain, just do the work right um so.
Speaker 1:
I just I just felt like that was mind-blowing. I just followed your plan and and left the job that I was doing, which was fine yeah, it was fine, it was paying the bills but I just felt so underappreciated for the creativity that I know that I could bring to the role, and so being able to pivot and turn all that creativity into something that people were prepared to pay for do it from home, get packages doesn't go on my social media. I mean unbelievable. Thank you for that, Mia.
Speaker 2:
That's what you did for me, and that makes me so happy, because I mean, if you had asked me two years ago what I was doing, now I'd be like oh, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2:
And back then when I was doing UGC. And you're right, I just had a notion board. I put everything that I knew about UGC on that notion board and I used to share it with a few people here and there and you know it just. You know, when we created Hive Hub Collective, we were teaching creators how to create digital products and you know we were ticking along nicely with that. And then, yeah, I talked about UGC a little bit and she said teach me. And I said here's my notion board and then next minute I've turned it into this full-blown course. And you know, a lot of our students have gone through that course and they're making fantastic money so quickly. And I was the same.
Speaker 2:
When we were traveling in the caravan I could not believe that brands were sending me these packages. Every little town that would go to would stop at the post office and I'd get my little package and get paid and next minute I've got retainer clients and people coming to me for content all the time and it just sort of snowballs. And it gives you that time and space to work where you want to work, when you want to work. It gives you that time and freedom to work on, you know, your side projects, your businesses on the side, that if you're working a full-time job it's just too much. Especially if you've got kids, you don't have the time to put into things that you want to put into. So it's a fantastic thing to get into, especially if what you are building, if you are building your own business, content creation is everything you need to be able to create good content to have a business these days. So it just gets you in that frame of mind of creating good content and you get paid to do it.
Speaker 1:
I mean, one of the skills that I learned was obviously how to create content and how to create ad, and so I created ads UGC style for my own business and I've actually helped other people create UGC and get into UGC as well.
Speaker 1:
It's kind of like that pay it forward thing when you realize that there are other people out there that are great on camera, that are kind of faffing around, don't really know where they want to go, what they want to do, and then you go hey um, have you ever heard of UGC? And as soon as they see one of the ads and you break it down and you tell them this is what's happening in the background, they're like I could do that.
Speaker 2:
I'm like you could do that and the thing is like brands are looking for people who are everyday people like you and me normies, yeah yeah, the normies, like we, you know, influence the marketing is a little bit of a dying trend, and brands are finding that UGC works well, so they're out there looking for creators.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, um, so if anyone is looking for a legit course that's going to change your life, I'll put the link below and, um, just check out the course. It has. It's been a game changer for me and, um, I think it would for everyone that I've recommended. They've just loved it. They've gone on to be very successful. And I say that the course is the cost of less is less than what someone will pay you for one video. So when you get your first paid gig, that's the cost of the course. After that, it's it's all on you. Yeah, it's awesome. Hey, something I do want to talk to you and we've got the community, yeah, and the community, oh, my gosh did. Why did I not talk?
Speaker 2:
about that. Yeah, the thing that we really love is the community, because when you're doing this sort of stuff, it's hard to do it by yourself. You need someone to ask questions, run your portfolio by, you know, have that conversation with the other creators.
Speaker 1:
So that's a really um, yeah, fantastic part of the course that we've got in there yeah, I love to see the questions that come up, um, and it's across multiple things, but there are obviously questions on ugc and people want to sharing. People are sharing their videos for feedback and that's really cool. That stuff, yeah, that, that full-on support, um, yeah, I want to talk to you about. You've been in the ugc world for a number of years and I've only been here for six months, so I'm a newbie. That's why I do a podcast, because that's how I find out stuff.
Speaker 1:
I talk to the experts. It's called fast track learning here. Um, oh yeah, but I've seen things change in six months, um, and I'm just gonna give an example um, I feel like from when I started to what I'm seeing now, ugc videos are becoming very, very slick, um, and in some ways, maybe a bit salesy and a bit like that I might see on television. So that's what I've noticed about the UGC space. But what have you noticed, because you've got a much longer breadth of time in this space?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, well, I've sort of been in this space for I think it's over two years now and I felt quite similar to you in the beginning too. I thought isn't UGC supposed to be a little bit less polished? And even back then, you know, isn't UGC supposed to be a little bit less polished? And even back then, you know, these really fantastic creators were coming in and creating these brilliant ads that were very highly edited and, you know, a little bit salesy and cheesy, and I felt the same back then too. You know how about we dumb it down a bit or die it down a bit, so it's not so ad-like. Dumb it down a bit or die it down a bit, so it's not so ad-like.
Speaker 2:
And I think over the two years, I mean, there are that style of ads that's, they're still floating around but they're obviously working for some brands because they're still running those ads.
Speaker 2:
But I can slowly start to see a little bit of a shift in having a less of an ad-like feel and getting more into the having a conversation type thing.
Speaker 2:
People are getting very savvy as soon as they see an ad or feel like it's an ad, they'll just scroll.
Speaker 2:
So I think it's slowly turning into a little bit more of a passive conversation instead of a very highly polished ad, and I'm hoping that UGC starts to go back what it was originally supposed to be, which is content that's just generated by everyday people, not highly polished content creators that edit everything perfectly. So it'll be interesting to see where the space goes, and I also think product placement and in the sort of organic side of things will become a little bit more popular, rather than highlighting a product in all of your feed. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see where it goes, but I don't think EGC is going anywhere anytime soon. The whole influencer marketing thing is getting a little bit tired. So I think it's a fantastic space to get in now, and if you can skill yourself up in this space, you know you're going to do well and things change trends, you know go up and down, but if you're in the know, you're always going to have a job in my eyes.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, no, I agree. I mean I had experience with. I had a lot of friends that were influencers. I lived in Asia and that's a really big thing. People legitimately make a living from being an influencer but there wasn't the UGC when I was there. So I come back to New Zealand and even here in New Zealand it's still not a really big thing. Um, I think in Australia and I talked to a couple of other UGC creators for the podcast and a lot of them have said it seems that Australia is really kicking off, like there there's a lot of UGC, there's a lot of creators. I think it's great. I think it's also great to be in a market where it hasn't You're tensed ahead waiting for it to come yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and when I first started I felt like it was very new in Australia and I was getting jobs from US brands because there wasn't too much in Australia. So I was. You know, they were literally sending me products from the US to Australia. So, yeah, it's definitely taking off in a good way too, and I think also, brands are starting to appreciate creators more and seeing the value that they bring for their ads. And when I first started, a lot of brands would sort of offer very low ball figures, but I think the standard is increasing and the rates are increasing. So, yeah, and I think they've realized that UGC is absolutely it's a must when they're running their ads.
Speaker 1:
A question for you that I think is going to be really valuable to anyone that's listening. Top three tips for an aspiring UGC creator.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, top three tips. So tip number one is to get out of your head. I know, when I first started, I was in healthcare. I wasn't a content creator whatsoever. I didn't even post on my own socials. I think I posted my kids and my dogs, basically. So I had to get out of my head and just say just do it and see what happens.
Speaker 2:
So it's almost like just taking that first step and realising that, yes, it can be a little bit cringey and awkward at the start, but what you get out of it in the long run is it is so worth it, it is so worth having someone that you know seen out of yours and screenshotting it and asking some questions. What you get out of that is freedom. You get to work whenever you want, wherever you want. So it's really just getting out of your head and just taking the leap forward. And a lot of the creators and insider membership they have that imposter syndrome like, oh, I don't think I'm good enough, I don't want to do it, I'm scared. And when they do it, they're like, wow, I did that and I got paid and it was amazing. And then it just sort of snowballs and you get. You know, your confidence increases. So that's number one, just getting out of your head and just getting started.
Speaker 2:
Number two is using products like building your portfolio. That can be. You know, I built my portfolio within a day when I first saw. You know, when I first got into this space, I didn't overthink it. You know, I just put a few videos together of things that I had around the caravan and just upload onto a portfolio and that was good enough. You know I don't sit there and you know, pick apart everything and make it beautiful and, you know, spend a lot of time on it. Just get it up, get it out there. You can change it as time goes on, but that portfolio is going to be that thing that gets you the jobs. So just do it, get it out there. And, yeah, you'll be surprised at what happens when you start putting yourself out there, at what happens when you start putting yourself out there.
Speaker 2:
And number three is getting yourself inside a community, whether that be following other UGC creators online or getting in touch with other UGC creators or coming into a community like the Hive Hub Collective. I did that in the start and that was one of the biggest reasons why I'm still here today. That was one of the biggest reasons why I'm still here today. I had a Slack group with about I think there was about six or seven other creators and we're still friends to this day and back and forth, shared jobs, talk about things oh, should I do this? Oh, what's? Does this contract seem a bit dodgy to you? And we just helped each other out and you know, it was one of the biggest reasons why I was so successful, because I had that support team. So if you can find that support team, especially in the early days, it's so important.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, no, I love all of that and I think that's going to be so useful for anyone listening in and sitting on the fence around UGC. I just want to add on to what you've said because I feel so strongly about you know. It's resonated with me. I think it's that getting out of your head thing and just making the commitment and making a couple of videos and then not being afraid about what anyone's going to say, because if you've got your, why? If you've got your, I'm going to do this because I have a genuine reason to do this.
Speaker 1:
It's not because I'm just playing around here. You know, like I do want to leave this job, I do want to take that holiday, I do want to give my kids more than I had. You know, like it could be any of that, then this could just absolutely be the way forward. It's just you need to stop worrying about what other people think. And then I just find like the more videos you do, the more entertaining it gets. It's just like, yeah, it becomes like next level fun because you're constantly thinking oh you know, how can I make this exciting for the client or how can I make them really happy, like how you're just looking for the validation from the client, because it's a creative process and they are affirming your creativity and I think that's a really beautiful thing.
Speaker 2:
You know and you get paid exactly yeah, and you get, you build these related brands and you just start to learn more about paid advertising and what converts and what does well and what doesn't do well, and it before you know it. You know you're the expert and you know one of our members inside our membership. She was approached by a brand and they were going to fly her to melbourne to help some models with their editing editing in their ugc because they saw her as the expert and you know she's only been in this space for, you know, not that long, but she's done the work, she's put everything into it, she's gotten really really good and brands see that and they need really good content creators. So it just snowballs and it gets you into that creative flow. Like when I was in healthcare, I was not creative, it just went, and so being able to be creative and get paid for it and be at home with the kids and create this life that I've designed myself has just been a game changer.
Speaker 1:
So what's next for the Hive Hub Collective when it comes to UGC? Am I allowed to ask that question?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah, no, it's really exciting. You know, we've got brands coming to us now where we're setting this whole membership up for creators. We're creators, we're building it as creators for creators and we really really want to work with brand in a way that helps them but also helps the creators and we want them to be be paid fairly and we want to just create this I don't know what you call it ecosystem, where it's just easy. Sometimes when you're starting out as a UGC creator, it can be a lot. You've got to pitch to brands and go back and forth in the emails and do a lot of things.
Speaker 2:
We're really working on streamlining that process and partnering with other brands and companies to make the whole process fun, enjoyable, a big community set some standards and just have a really great time with it. We've got in-person live events planned for the future and it's that whole creativity thing like the world's your oyster. When you're in this world, you can create things out of nothing and have fun and, you know, get paid for it and it's a really, really exciting space to be in yeah, I think we both acknowledge well, you've got a diagnosis for ADHD.
Speaker 1:
And yesterday for my yeah, for my other podcast, I actually interviewed a psychologist to talk about ADHD and menopause.
Speaker 1:
Right, because it is a thing and it is a thing that a lot of women realize as their hormones shift that perhaps their child having a diagnosis, they should probably take a look at themselves. So I am in that I'm that person. Like I have a child with ADHD diagnosed. I haven't got a diagnosis myself. I can absolutely see that it's probably me, and when I look at my husband, it's not him, it's definitely me, and I think that it's it's actually kind of a superpower. I feel like, um, the creativity aspect and the being able to do multiple things, multiple streams of income, multiple jobs on the go. There's real power in that. Um. So if anyone is is out there and and you're neurodiverse and you're going, you know, I don't know if I can hold down a job doing this, this or this I really encourage you to look at something like UGC or, you know, the Making Money Online space, because it just is the most amazing outlet for your brain, your creativity and your unique brain, and the world needs you, you know.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and we're almost made for this type of job because I mean, before I was diagnosed, you know, I masked, I ticked all the boxes, I got the good job, but I just wasn't happy. But the minute I fell into this world and my eyes opened to all this creativity and all these different things that I could do, it's just a game changer. Like, you can't stop me now and I can just act on them and then stuff happens. So, yeah, definitely, if you're neurodivergent, this is a great space to be in. And also, you know, it's that freedom. You know a lot of people with ADHD. You don't like being told what to do, you don't like structure, but this gives you that freedom to work from wherever you want. When it suits you, you can take your mental health days. You can, you know, really plan your life around your work instead of the other way around. So, yeah, highly recommend it, yeah.
Speaker 1:
I sort of look at, say, our kids and their future and what that looks like and what they should be learning at school. Right and their future and what that looks like and what they should be learning at school, right?
Speaker 1:
so, yeah, I feel like, obviously, my son well, he's challenged by the traditional educational system. It's already happening. He's 11 and things are starting to accelerate around. This is what they must be doing, but on the flip side, I just give him that freedom to be as creative as possible and create his own little videos, and he's done some UGC with me before and it makes me think actually he's got, he's going to have his path and let me just dabble in that and encourage him instead of not understand put my blinders on not understand what a future world could look like for him and a future career for him. It's like this, yeah, ugc thing has actually given me hope for my own child, you know.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's not amazing, and you'll look up and see look what mum's doing.
Speaker 1:
She's doing what she actually loves and enjoys Well, mia it's the school holidays here right now and I was recording something up in the lounge and three kids walk into the house, the neighbours, and they look at me like what is she doing? I'm like, I'm working, I'm working. Can you get? Can you leave for like five minutes?
Speaker 2:
yeah, yeah. And that's the struggle of working at home too. I used to get asked all the time how do you do new DC in a caravan with two small kids? I'm like, yeah, it's a struggle. But I make it work. I just make make it work and I did so, yeah.
Speaker 1:
I think my favorite ad of yours in the caravan was the toasty pie thing. Oh, yeah, yeah, with toast in a muffin. Yeah, I saw that actually as an ad and my mum has one of those. Oh yeah, they're actually good. When I went to visit her, she's like like, hey, you've got to use this and I, you, you popped into my head straight away.
Speaker 2:
I'm like, oh, yeah, I know what this is. Yeah, yeah, and one of one of my favorite ads that, um, the brand actually ran for quite a long time was Archie's. Like I, I went on 24 7, especially in the caravan, and to work with you know a brand like that was so much fun and, yeah, it's just and no where, like you, don't have to have a big, beautiful aesthetic house or gorgeous backgrounds, like we were in a caravan and you know you just make it work and have fun, and that's what the brands want.
Speaker 2:
They want real, they want real life, real people.
Speaker 1:
So yeah, yeah, hey, mia, it's been awesome speaking with you. I am really looking forward to meeting you in person. I don't know what I would expect when I meet you in person. We've had multiple conversations online, but I'm looking forward to that. I'm hoping it's this year Me too, yeah. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
Speaker 2:
Thanks for having me Check the podcast. Absolutely, there's so many good ones too.
