The I Am [Dot. Dot. Dot.] Podcast

Ep#35 I Am...Feeling Excited & Empowered by Authentic UGC Marketing our chat with Kate

• Kristen Werner & Mia Steel • Season 1 • Episode 35

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Ready to transform your approach to digital marketing? Join us on this dynamic episode of the I Am Dot Dot Dot podcast, where Kate, a PR and marketing maven, reveals the secrets behind her successful integration of user-generated content (UGC) with her unique popcorn business in New Zealand. Gain invaluable insights from Kate's compelling journey, where authenticity and real-life experiences play a pivotal role in captivating audiences.

Plus, don’t miss our major update about the Hive Hub Collective membership closing on June 27, 2024, and details on an exciting free five-day bootcamp to unleash your inner creator!

Curious about how authenticity can radically shift your marketing game?

Let's unpack the transformative power of embracing your true self in UGC marketing. Overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome is no small feat, especially for women stepping into the digital marketing world later in life. Discover how being genuine and relatable can magnetically attract and retain audiences, and hear Kate’s inspiring story about how real-life experiences and a touch of humor can create a strong connection with your audience and boost your business.

Ever wondered how to navigate content creation and brand collaborations effectively? This episode is a goldmine of practical advice and uplifting stories. From valuing your work and negotiating with confidence to the supportive community around UGC, we cover it all. 

Kate shares her practical tools and strategies, including hiring marketing assistants and managing social media for her popcorn business. We wrap up the episode with a candid discussion on embracing a 'fuck it' mentality—encouraging you to take risks, stay connected, and boldly face your digital marketing journey. Tune in and get ready to be empowered!

➡️ 🪩 JOIN our Membership Recurring Revenue Society Create Content That Gets You Paid NOW and Build a Magnetic Brand That Generates Recurring Income for Years.



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Kristen:

Welcome to the I.

Mia:

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.

Kristen:

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.

Mia:

We will discuss the world of digital marketing and share life's tips and tricks for getting it done.

Kristen:

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.

Kate:

Let's go let's go.

Kristen:

I think we should just cut off the screen. I think we should get out of the screen. Maybe, I don't know, that was really good. 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 joined right now with Mia Steele. Mia, how are you going? I'm good. How are you? I'm very well. Thank you, fucking idiots.

Kristen:

We've had a big week, we've had a very big week, and today we are going to be speaking to a very special guest who we'll introduce very soon so that you can hear her incredible story. But I suppose let's like hit it off. Hit it off the park. Let's hit it off the park. We've made a couple announcements this week inside the Hive Hub Collective, inside our membership. If you are unaware of our membership, it week inside the Hive Hub Collective, inside our membership. If you are unaware of our membership, it's called the Hive Hub Collective. We are here to help entrepreneurs and certainly content creators, to build a business online and build in this space. And so the little announcement we had with the world Mia, do you want to spill the beans on that one Clickbait? We're closing the doors.

Mia:

I said it, I said it. We're closing the doors. I said it, I said it. We're closing the doors to Hive Hub Collective.

Kristen:

We had some fun with the clickbait in the email, didn't we and the Hive Hub members had a little poopy pants moment, because they do love us. They're like what? What are you talking about? No, but when we say that we are now an open and closed membership, so we are closing the doors on June 27, 2024 for the first time. So if you're listening to this after, it's cool, jump on the wait list for me. Open the doors again. And if you're listening to this, before June 27, get your butt into the hive.

Mia:

Get your buzzing little butt into the hive and into the boot camp too. Go to the little linky linky below and get your button to the boot camp, because it's going to be a rip-off?

Kristen:

yeah, and the boot camp is free. It's five days. It's in a closed facebook group, a private, a five a five.

Mia:

That paper move fucking hell.

Kristen:

It's such a nice we can't talk properly it is in a private facebook group and we will be going live on a few of the days. We have some pre-recorded material and we will be going live on a few of the days. We have some pre-recorded material and we will always be there to be in contact with you and sharing things throughout that week. So that starts on the 17th of June. You can still jump in there. You'll get on the waitlist and you'll get all the information as we get closer and closer towards that date. And again, if you're listening to this, after there's waitlists, jump on them. We got your back.

Mia:

And Kristen. What's the boot camp even about?

Kristen:

The boot camp is about unleashing your inner creator, so we are mad for helping you understand the power of content creation.

Kristen:

We believe that content is the catalyst that gets you paid, and in this space, without content, you got nothing. You got donuts, you got big circles of zeros, and that's just I. What we've found across the board has been the biggest thing is we've actually kind of turned this whole process upside down and gone. Well, there's people coming into this space with digital marketing and building online presence on social media, which is fine, but all of that requires content, and so what we want to do in this bootcamp, first and foremost, is get you feeling comfortable with content, but what we are going to be doing is showing you a different and unique way to do that, which you may not have heard of before. But we are going to chat to someone today, kate, who is going to share her incredible journey. So far, so May. Do you want to just touch base with about how we actually met Kate and what happened and what? We're going to chat to her today about.

Mia:

Yeah, Kate's kind of been lurking around our Instagram for a little while watching us. She started in the digital marketing space. She's actually got a background in PR and marketing. Her husband and her own a popcorn business over in Kiwiland, and so you know she's always had that entrepreneurial spark. But she decided to incorporate UGC into her business and she has flourished. She is amazing. Her content is hilarious, it's authentic, it's genuine. Go and follow her. Her handle is in the notes, but we've had a really great chat with Kate and you're going to be inspired to have a little look into UGC after you listen to this podcast. And for those of you that are wondering, Mia, what's UGC after you?

Kristen:

listen to this podcast. And for those of you that are wondering, mia, what's UGC? It is user generated content. So that is where brands are paying creators like you and I to create content for them, and we're really focusing on content creators. 40 plus I'll be 40 this year, bought some earrings that have got 40 on them, just going to say guys Story for another day. It I am. Indeed I will probably be wearing the months out because it's the festival of 40 and um, that's going to happen.

Kristen:

But in the meantime, brands are looking for content creators in that kind of 40 plus age bracket, and what kate does incredibly well and what we will be talking to her today about is about the fact that she's incredibly authentic and magnetic in her content, and brands love that, because women of our generation I fucking hate saying that, but it's true, like it is what it is we connect with women that are like us, and so I want to buy from someone like Kate, because I've watched her UGC and content like damn. I think I want that product in my life. So she's already kicking goals in that respect. So we are going to jump into that conversation now. We know you are going to enjoy it, as as always, everything is in the show notes. So buckle on, buckle on, buckle in, buckle in.

Kristen:

Get a cup of coffee, whatever you want, and have a listen to our chat with Kate. See, ya, let's go. We just want to have a chat with you, hear your journey, because it's been so incredible to watch and so cool to kind of you know, when you see people on social media and you kind of scroll across, she's quadratic, she's fun, oh yeah. And then all of a sudden you became like part of the community and then you started kicking goals with the UGC stuff and it's just been cool to watch. So we are welcoming Kate to the podcast today. Kate, how are you?

Kate:

Welcome. Hi guys, thank you for having me. Gosh, what a privilege to be with the Hive Hub gals. Seriously, yeah, yeah, I did kind of. I kind of snuck into the to the Hive Hub community, sort of felt like under the radar. Originally I was sort of sussing everything out as you do, right, as you do, yeah. But man, it's been the best thing I've ever done. And now a fully functioning adult who is on her way to creating an income and phasing out a job.

Mia:

So Incredible, and it feels like it's happened so quickly too, like you've only been with us. What a couple of months, perhaps I know.

Kate:

Well, I can't, you know, it's all got. It's been a bit of a blur. I can't even really think. I'm like when did I actually start talking to you guys? But you came across my radar. I started off in digital marketing, having done blogging and either background in marketing and PR, and I was like blogging feels a bit slow going for me, even though I'm a writer by trade. I just felt like I needed a little bit more. Digital marketing was sort of that in. I think for a lot of people in this space, you sort of start there Absolutely yeah, and then that wasn't quite ticking boxes for me creatively. And you know, the moment I saw your page I was like I just had that, like you guys are talking about, that gut feeling.

Kate:

That's like these feel like my people a little bit rough around the edges, yeah, yeah and one of I can't remember which one of you guys I started swapping like voice audios with and um.

Mia:

Not that this is the reason why, but I think it was just your relaxed manner and just dropping some f-bombs in there just make me feel like instantly I can be myself and not have to like, um, censor myself yeah, yeah, she can show in as me and there's gonna be a space for that and that's what we really stand by as well Just getting paid to be yourself, basically, and not having to put a mask on and make everything beautiful and glamorous and kind of intimidating. And we're growing a really great community where everyone is just, yeah, creating content just as themselves, which is amazing, and, yeah, and the people that are doing that are actually succeeding, more so than the people that are sort of, yeah, covering up, covering up themselves. So what sort of motivated, apart from, you know, the quickness of UGC, what else motivated you to start doing UGC? Did you hear about it before you came across us?

Kate:

Yeah, so I did when I was blogging and I got a bit of an interior design passion. You know, little extra side hustle on top of side hustle. Actually, my sister, who you guys know, um, the real Amy, that's her title, her handle she was like, oh, ugc my friend, I think, does UGC and I was. I'd flown home and was hanging with her and I was like, oh, yeah, yeah. But the first thing that stopped me was like, well, who the fuck is gonna to listen to me? Who's going to be like, yeah, I'm going to buy products from that girl, because I don't think at that point I'd had a real understanding of what UGC meant in terms of being, in terms of relatability, in terms of showing up as you and that being a really saleable like product. Like you're the person going to be the most, I think, probably the most important thing to feature in an ad, as someone that you can relate to. So I came across that sort of ump and, ah, I have been in the past a bit of a fence sitter, but that's changed so much. It's changed so much in many elements of my life since starting UGC and buying a business with my husband.

Kate:

So, and then, honestly, I think I saw you guys, I found you but I didn't know you did UGC at that point. But when you mentioned it I was like ding ding if I go and learn something, because at that point in digital marketing I think the market was changing a little bit and things were starting to. You know, the master resale rights was starting to peter out and I wasn't feeling that satisfied in that space. Personally, I felt like I had a bit more to offer creatively. So when I came across you guys and I saw the UGC course, I had a couple of questions but once I signed up I was like it's go time, like let's go, just felt at home. I felt at home, I think, is the best way to put it.

Kristen:

And you're incredibly like, you're incredibly natural to on camera and on screen.

Kristen:

And I think I was just thinking, as you were talking about the fact that you know you kind of go who would want to hear from me, and it's interesting because you've got that marketing and PR background.

Kristen:

You also have like a higher tuning, I suppose, to what a marketing campaign should look like and what that person should look like, and you've kind of potentially I don't know about you, but I know for me have been trained in years of like million dollar campaigns that you know you hire the best, you get this, you get that and all of a sudden this landscape changes and then you're like hang on a minute, I would actually buy from you, opposed to that person that looks so perfect and it's cool that brands are coming to the table with that and that's what I think you've definitely brought with your content. Is that real relatability, that confidence on camera that just comes through really naturally and that's certainly what we've seen. It was like oh yeah, like it's really really, really magnetic and I think that's what's changing, that we really want to share with, certainly, our community. The power of being yourself is, in this day and age, so magnetic.

Mia:

Yeah, and bringing humor into it as well. A lot of your videos have a little bit of cheeky humor, and I love that, because who wants to sit down and watch an ad that is just rattling off unique selling points and has no personality, no authenticness in it at all? And you just nail it every single time? Yeah, and I think too for UGC. It kind of gets the creative juices flowing again, and if you're a creative person, it can really help yeah, and I think there's a yeah, I totally agree.

Kate:

I think, creatively, I've never I haven't felt so creative in years since doing this, because I've got agency over most of the time over my own creativity, and the brands I've worked with so far have been pretty amazing and letting me have that creative freedom to use my background and pull in on all my experience to and apply it into this space. But I think as well, like I'm 38, like, I think, women coming into this space, particularly through the Hive Hub, I know that they'll be feeling those feelings of imposter syndrome and they'll be like I've had babies, I've got a mum term, I've got wrinkles. But I also think it's so important to think about the wealth of experience you can bring to the table, not marketing PR, but I'm talking about life experience, because even I think you can coincide with imposter syndrome and still bring your experience. Now I have really you know it's probably the last few years come more into my own in terms of my own confidence, which I think comes across on camera, because I'm like, well, you know, we've tried a lot of things in business, my husband and I.

Kate:

What's the worst that can go? What's the worst that can happen. The brand's going to be like didn't quite nail it, kate, and I'll be like okay, well, to me I'd put my real. It's so much easier to put your real, authentic self out there. I can't fake it. I'm just I don't have the bandwidth to curate everything beautifully. It's just not my style. But I think that's where the little gold nuggets are.

Kristen:

And that's also, I think, something that maybe this generation, if we want to call ourselves the 35 plus, I feel like we're in that thing that like our life's not perfect, like my house isn't perfect, nothing's perfect, but do you know what? I can get a lot of shit done and I can make a lot of shit happen. So it's kind of like this, as much as imposter syndrome creeps in, there's also this like air of confidence. So you're like I can do this.

Kristen:

And like you said, like I love when you said you know what's the worst thing that's going to happen, and I think that's something that we always say to the community, like, at the end of the day, what's the worst that's going to happen? You fall over, you learn, you get up, you know.

Mia:

No-transcript a lot more women like in their late thirties, forties, fifties, even sixties, getting into this, because other women see them and they're like oh shit, maybe I can do that.

Kate:

She's on camera, she's out there, Mum-tubble and, yeah, I think, make your first shitty video. Just go ahead and like I've had a few UGCers reach out personally and be like, oh, and I'm just like, just make it, Just action, action. It may come across as really shit or you probably think, oh my God, what am I doing on camera? But I think some people have more of a natural match to it and others just need a little bit more practice. But like, show up and you'll be so surprised at what brands will be interested in as well. Like I've pitched so many random things and like, yeah, okay, try it. I'm like okay.

Kristen:

I think we forget that brands have a content problem as well. Like brands, have to keep creating content and, as content creators, brands have a content problem as well. Like brands have to keep creating content and, as content creators, we get to get paid to create content for the brand.

Kate:

So you know, like everybody's got a content problem right now, so we get to be a solution for that, which is really cool yeah, you often think you're like, you know, if you I've often thought, oh, that idea is a bit shitty, but they're like, no, no, no, that's cool. Or um, I I will often sort of do a rough script and flick it through and they're like, oh, we love it. And I'm like, really, you love that. Okay, cool, right, we're solving a problem. But I think a lot of the time we're incredibly self-critical of our own work and I'm very much an A type which is a blessing and a curse all in one. So I want it to be perfect, but it's never going to be perfect. But most of the time it's a tick of approval pretty much straight away from the brands I've worked with, which is awesome.

Mia:

And a lot of the ads that I've done that have performed like so well, are the ads that weren't perfect, that I didn't do a perfect script for and edited it really beautifully it was just me talking in my caravan or what have you and they've just performed really well. So it goes to show that you don't need that perfectionism or background in marketing or anything like that to make it work. And I mean you've leaped from bounds of like what am I trying to say? You've just, every time we talk to you or, you know, get in touch with you. You've got another brand deal. It seems to be really regular for you. Can you tell us, like, what has been your most successful collaboration or brand deal for you at the moment?

Kate:

Gosh. There's been a few which have been incredible I've worked with so far. I felt really lucky. I've worked with really incredible brands that I've aligned with personally. I think my favourite one has been Braveface, which is a NZ sort of like a natural medicine company who provide like kind of like rescue remedy for kids and things like that and for adults, and their branding was really on point. They talk heaps about mental health and anxiety in kids and how to manage that A really really strong, incredible blog to coincide. So I just cold pitched to them and was amazed by what came out.

Kate:

Yeah, and I got to film a day in the life of with Bo, who uses the product still, and personally I just feel like that one was really special because I got to get Beau involved and show him what it looks like. I put a little bit of money aside from what I made for that for him as well. I think it really gave me a great. I learnt heaps on that one because I wanted more of a vlog style and I really got an understanding of how my time measures up against what I'm getting paid. I mean, that's an ongoing learning journey for me for sure, like what I'm worth and what the brand thinks I'm worth. We negotiated right to the sort of very end before I pressed record, but it was all like. It was all incredibly enjoyable experience and they were so generous with their products. I've got brave face for days now. To be honest, it's just, you know, it's a lovely side perk is getting those.

Kate:

But Pure you, the skincare one, which you gals put me on to, was the first brand that approached me and I was sitting at 5.45am in the car waiting to go to the gym and I saw that email and I like let out a squeal and I was double checkingal because I'm like, and I was double checking it, I'm like, is this real? Like, is this real? I don't know if this is real. It took me a little bit, um, and that was like my first. I think it was my first gig like first proper gig and um, and they were amazing to work with so much fun and really easy. And you know I'm pretty solutions focused, so I like to kind of just keep moving and be like right, we're coming. If this is a little bit of a challenge, let's navigate through that Um cause they wanted three GCs and like six hooks. So, um, in like two weeks and I was, but we did it and it was. That was kind of kick-started at all really.

Mia:

Yeah, and you sort of learn along the way. Don't you sort of learn from the mistakes you made and next time you do it a little bit differently, and it's not like you're supposed to know everything from the beginning and be this professional UGC creator. And I mean, like for me, I replaced my wage within six weeks because I just went gung-ho and I've made a lot of mistakes on the way and you know I've changed a lot of things, but it's just a learning curve and it's one of those things that you know you can get paid really well as a pretty fresh beginner, which is pretty amazing.

Kate:

I was quite amazed by that too, because when you guys, you know, when I did the course, talking us through rates and you're talking us about, like you know, valuing yourself and don't take lower and you know, like all of us, I think we've had brands that have come in and been like, would you take a gifted collab or would you take this amount? And I'm like you know we've really got to. I've quickly learnt how to respectfully, but with a little bit of assertiveness, come back and say thanks so much. This is actually a job for me, so it's paid. I really appreciate it. And most of them I'd say like 90% so far have been like okay, well, let's figure something out. But yeah, I mean, that's just been, it's not a byproduct of UGC, but being paid to create this. Sometimes I do pinch myself on days when I'm filming in Queenstown, you know, by the lake, and I get to play around with products all day. Yeah, it's pretty fun, it's been good. It's been good.

Mia:

And so, to keep it real, what are some of the downsides that have you found with UGC? Like it's? You know it's a job. You're trading time for money. It's not easy. What are the struggles that have you had?

Kate:

I think being realistic about, like at the beginning, it is that a little bit of hustle. So just getting getting real with. Well, for me personally, pitch, pitching and pitching and pitching and pitching, and knowing that like some days there's going to be eight or some weeks there's going to be like 80 of companies that are going to ghost you because and I don't say that personally, not at all, maybe I think I'm I've been in my industry long enough to know to sort of, and I have a business myself. So you're just so busy. Sometimes You're like, yeah, cool, that sounds cool, but I just can't mentally manage that. So I always have like a rule of three to pitch, go back to them and then go back to them one more time, and so that's time consuming and there's a mental admin to that.

Kate:

But I think once you refine your systems that's easier to manage, like a Trello board and things like that. But so, yeah, that and I guess just the admin side of it. So I love to film. Editing is a little bit more like ho-hum for me, but once I'm done I'm like, yes, I did it. But there are some days where you're just like, oh, I just can. I, you know, I'm still learning good angles, I'm still learning what comes across on camera well, so I think probably the biggest learning curve has been it always takes longer than you think, always For me.

Kristen:

And I think what's really cool about just kind of that last bit in a nutshell is content creation in general, like as content creators, as business owners, as anybody that wants to sell a digital product or anything like that.

Kristen:

Like the content creation stuff, it takes time, it takes energy, it takes learning these skills. So you know, like what we're hoping to do is champion the fact that if you can learn these skills through something like UGC, as you have, and get paid for it while you learn, like that's just such a huge benefit and bonus for then now you going into your own business and you know you and your husband and what you guys are doing is now being able to look at content differently, look at how to create content differently. If you have UGC content creators that come to you, you'll know what to look for. Like the skill set in learning this stuff is kind of astronomical when you think about it. You know we all create content, we're all out there doing it, but if we're not getting paid, we don't know if it's good or not. So it's huge confidence boost. That, I think, is what we love watching about it, that's for sure.

Kate:

Yeah, yeah, you don't have that barometer of feedback to know that contents. I mean, you can look at your metrics on your phone, like that but um, but no, you're absolutely right. I think these skills are incredibly transferable and you can pull them and apply them to so many different avenues and so many different industries. And I'm already using my UGC skills in our popcorn business and I never thought I'd say either of those words about it, but I think for us, it's really helped me. I've just hired two marketing assistants and I'm like bang, bang, bang. This is how we're going to do it. This is what it's going to look like. Here are some examples and we're off. They're going to be managing our socials. That's awesome.

Kate:

So, boom, I've got this package of knowledge that I can take to my business to help grow our profile and help grow us further than NZ, and it took me a two to three day course to do it yeah, amazing love that.

Mia:

And that leads us to another question um, you know what specific tools and strategies that from our UGC course did you find most most helpful in your journey?

Kate:

the course is so comprehensive and I think the way that you have approached it. I get distracted quite easily with online courses. Something shiny is over there.

Kristen:

Welcome. Yep, we're all. We're all in the shiny business.

Kate:

Yeah, we're in the shiny business and this is what I've said to other people that have inquired about UGC. I said the course is so comprehensive you can pick up on really practical skills. I'd inquired about UGC. I said the course is so comprehensive you can pick up on really practical skills like what to charge for with rates, like red flags, which was a big one. I think that you know people get a bit nervous about contract.

Kate:

Your contract getting sorted was incredibly useful and just you guys providing me with a little bit of support while I was sort of figuring it out, and I did that quite quickly because I wanted to get going quite quickly. So, you know, there's all those practical skills that you teach and the tools that you provide and even the wee questionnaire that I, you know I went and did because the questionnaire that I provide for brands now it helps me manage their marketing expectations and I send them basically, what do you need? What do you want, how long? What can I say? What can't I say? That wasn't really useful. I've had other people ask about that, um, privately, through my, my direct messages.

Kate:

But then there's the aspect, I think, of being 38 or, you know, entering into that new zone, the confidence part.

Kate:

I found a space that I could be accepted at at this age, because we're not 25 anymore and it's a different space. And I think that you've created such a beautiful welcoming space for UGCers, for more mature women who have or haven't had babies but you know, your bandwidth is usually pretty tight. So the fact that you've created this amazing community and space in UGC and beyond that we as women can come to and make money and have a community of support I found that instantly I was like, oh my gosh, if I have a question, I can come to you guys and ask. And that resource you know I don't take it for granted it's a very powerful resource for me to just even have that reinforcement from you guys going yeah, fuck, yeah, you can do it, yeah. So there's the practical skills that we've learned from UGC and then there's this community of support, which is sort of a wraparound support that I know if I get lost on anything I can come back to at any time.

Kristen:

It's kind of like a little light beacon for me, oh that's nice and that's really really nice to know in here, because it's one of those things that sometimes it's not even the content that you need to consume. It's the community that goes. Like you can do it, like if you're struggling, how can we help. You know, the community rallies around in general to just and I think, even being our age and I know it sounds so dumb to say our age, I'm just so old, I'm not sure, but like when you're 20, you have your different problems and you know, now we have a different life, a different skillset, a different background that we get to bring and we're all going through our own shit. And so to be able to come to a place where you're like, oh, today's really hard, or I got knocked back by three brands, I'm not good enough anymore.

Kristen:

Well, hang on a minute. Let's either take a look at your portfolio, let's look at what you emailed them to pitch, let's. Let's look at what you emailed them to pitch let's. You know, let's break it down before we call ourselves shit and kind of throw all the toys out the sandbox. So I think that's part of just having a community. If nothing else, having that support is what we're all missing sometimes in this space yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Kate:

And you're not like. I always think most of the time you're not shit, it's just tweaking something. And again, we're a bit older and wiser. You can like, we can all, we've all got experience we can help each other out with. And I've you know I've has swapped lots of combos with other beginner ugc's and, um, I'm like, oh, you're, you're, in my opinion, you're on my stage, just got to tweak a few things here and there and you'll be off. And um, yeah, just such such an, such a powerful resource that you guys have created.

Kate:

And um, and you've also made like, even just the announcement that you made yesterday, yesterday, uh, has given me a bit of a kick up the bum to be like right, I think I'm almost ready to like branch out, not branch out, but maybe something's boiling in the back of my mind about what I'm going to face and I haven't nailed it yet, but I'm like, well, these guys are doing it and they're following their guts. Maybe I'm just I want to tune in more to my gut and be like no, I can do it, I can do this. The confidence gain because, let's be honest, like I went for a you know, you're in a sea of nappies for a while and sleep, sleep, revision, that you kind of forget who you are. Your brain falls for a while, um, and I think I can confidently say that like I felt, the most confident I felt in so long, just because everything's kind of just re-sparked- yeah, yeah, and that's part of our why too, like just empowering women to just get out there and just don't feel stuck.

Mia:

And ugc is kind of like this catalyst to just get those creative and just don't feel stuck. And UGC is kind of like this catalyst to just get those creative juices flowing and, oh, maybe I could do this and maybe I could do this and like, fuck it, let's just do it and see what happens. And you've got good content. Now brands are paying you, you can probably cut a few days off work and then start building your own empire.

Kristen:

So, yeah, I love that and the thing that we love about it, too is, with this skillset you get to choose, like if you start something new and you're really enjoying it, but you're like, oh, you know, there's a dip in sales or whatever.

Kristen:

It looks like I'm just going to do some UGC, like it's, you can kind of dip in and out, and I think that's what's really nice about it, that it's it's giving women, it's giving us that opportunity, and I love that. Like anything's possible, like let's just jump in and see what's possible if we give it a shot, and if it doesn't work, that's cool. So I think that in itself is just such a great message to kind of finish up on and sign off on. But I think you know, firstly, thank you so much for your time and your energy and what you bring to this space. I think it's absolutely phenomenal what you've done so far. So first of all, before we kind of say thank you for coming, is where can people find you number one, and also, what's the next big thing on your radar that you're really looking forward to? That's kind of coming up if you want to share it with anybody, just so we can see, like what's possible and where are you going next.

Kate:

Oh, so big questions. I'm mainly on Instagram. I do have TikTok, but I'm a bit more of an Instagirl right now. So UGC underscore with underscore Kate K-A-T-E that's my name Say g'day, slide into the DMs, whatever. I love having a yarn.

Kate:

And in terms of what's on my radar, I've had quite. I know I've sort of spoken to you guys about this roughly but had a lot of UGC gals reach out and say pitching is an issue for me. So, and pitching something that is unique to everybody, their style and their approaches, you guys would know well I, my husband and I, our background. We built, we did property and so we're constantly in negotiation and I learned so much about sort of the psychology behind pitching a little bit. I'm not saying I'm any type of like not an expert in pitching, but I feel like I've got a wee knack to it and so I'm thinking something around that space.

Kate:

And then, further beyond that, I'm not sure yet, but I feel like there's something brewing in the back around UGC in NZ, because I feel like New Zealand in particular is always just slightly behind the Able, so like there's a lot of brands that are like UGC, what's that? And I'm like, oh welcome, there's a little gap in the market here in NZ which I would like to potentially help fill. Don't know what that means yet. That's a little bit vague, but that's sort of, but it's exciting in terms of here in NZ which I would like to potentially help fill. Don't know what that means yet.

Kristen:

That's a little bit vague but that's sort of, but it's exciting in terms of just again seeing what's possible and then looking at a space and going I see there's a gap and filling that gap. And that's kind of like what we've come into this space doing is like, oh, there's a little gap, how are we going to fill it? And then we got we're going to feel it differently. We're going to kind of backpedal and go let's get your content really good, let's get you paid for your content, then let's help you build that kind of online business. So you know, it's it's all about seeing those gaps and then filling them. So that's really exciting and we cannot wait to watch it all unfold.

Kate:

Let me tell you you know I need to be in touch with you. I'll be like oh my God, I'm having a moment. I don't know what I'm doing, but help me. My motto is fuck it.

Kristen:

No one knows what they're really doing. So let's just try it. Anyway, that's exactly it. Love that motto, love it, love it. Well, thank you so much for your time, kate, and we will be sharing you far and wide, and we can't wait to see what's coming next.

Kate:

Same for you. Thank you very much for having me Such a privilege.