We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Devon Jade. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jade below.

Jade, appreciate you joining us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

I had this thing I did, call it a ritual or a tradition I suppose, whenever a friend would come over to my apartment. I’d show them to the bar, and have them pick out three bottles. They’d scan my selection and pick whichever three were most interesting to them, then I’d find a way to put those three bottles into the same cocktail and name it after them. It was cute! They got to have a drink tailored to them, I got to practice creative mixology.

The best part of the experience was walking my guest through my thought process, giving tidbits of cocktail trivia and making jokes the whole way through. I’m told I’ve always been a bit of a showman, and that naturally seeped into my explanations. More often than not, they were met with gratitude, and then saying, “videos of this would totally blow up on social media.”

I was stubborn. I felt unsuitable with the culture of social media creators, and I disdain the very capitalist idea that every skill or hobby must be monetized. The idea of this special ritual I have with the people I care about being turned into content saddened me. I told my guests this, and they’d say, “sure, sure… but you’ve REALLY got to get this on social media.”

I sat with it. I considered how brilliant it is when creators make content based off comments, because it necessitates engagement. You comment because you want them to use it, and if they do, you share it. I hadn’t seen anyone do that with cocktails yet.

In November, I decided to just try it. Of course, they were all right. Within /days/, I was receiving hundreds of comments, shares, and follows, and it just kept going! Before I knew it, I was getting sample bottles from distillers to star in my videos, and people we’re reaching out to me for collaboration. I really try to capture my authenticity that made the tradition with my friends so meaningful, and now I’m getting to do that on a massively large scale.

Jade, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I make cocktail videos on social media, I take commission out custom cocktails for gifts & events, and I teach virtual mixology classes. The value that permeates everything I do is accessibility. I want to reach those who are curious but assume they have neither the resources nor knowledge to make great drinks. I want to show them how much they have at their fingertips, and how fun the process can be. I’m not interested in showing anyone the “right” way to do things, as if there’s a secret to elevating your cocktail game that high-class bartenders possess. I’m interested in teaching my audience to make drinks with love.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I was so hesitant to build a social media presence because in my mind, you had to turn your personality into a marketable commodity. I wasn’t even selling a product when I was first starting out, so my brand was just me. That was terrifying, and prevented me from trying at all. Then I met Bryan Inman (@therumchampion on IG). He was hosting a rum tasting, and I found that his life mainly consisted of making videos about rum and traveling around to talk about rum. I asked him, “How do I do what you do?” His answer, of course, was “start making videos.” But after I expressed my concerns about selling my soul to capitalism, he told me, “don’t make it about you, then. It’s not about you. It’s about the drinks.” Duh. It felt so simple after that. I don’t need to sell my personality, in the same way that I wasn’t giving my friends my personality when they came over and wanted a drink. I’m not making videos for growth or success, I never was. I have something to give to the world. I gave it to my friends, and now I’m doing the same thing, except with a camera in front of me.

If I could impart any advice to someone wanting to build a social media presence, it would be this: If you have something to give to the world, give it. There is a dire need for authentic social media presences fueled by the desire to truly give.
The tricky thing is, your personality is going to end up being your most valuable asset anyway. It is the most unique thing about you, after all. There’s eight billion people in the world; some of them are bound to like you. In my experience, though, I’ve never been drawn to someone on social media who was selling themselves. Those with something to offer and the confidence to offer it got my attention. And the people I like get a follow. I am new to this, so take everything I say with a grain of salt, but I’m pretty sure that’s how social media works. Maybe I’m naive, who knows!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I prepared for the hate. People can be cruel, and they’re most cruel when free of consequence, like on the internet. I braced for it. Transphobia was the first challenge, but that’s not what I want to talk about here. Far more than my gender, I get the most hate about my hair! They’ve called it ugly, horrible, greasy, nasty, oily, everything. Hundreds of people have not-so-nicely told me to use dry shampoo. I like my hair! I think it’s cute. And sometimes it gets a little greasy when I go a few days without a shower. That, to me at least, is normal. However, people don’t expect to see “normal” looking people be successful on social media. My hair was made fun of because it didn’t look like I walked directly out of a salon before filming.
Celebrities, influencers, most successful people have an incredibly high standard of appearance. Firstly, that standard shouldn’t exist at all. Secondly, I shouldn’t be held to it just because I have a following on Instagram! I don’t have the time money to make my hair jaw-droppingly perfect every time I record a video. Even if I did, I wouldn’t! Why should I care!
Beauty standards in all contexts are horrible and soul-crushing, and they get worse the more people you have looking at you. Nothing about you changes, but they talk like something was supposed to change. We’re all people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ko-fi.com/jadevon_drinks
• Instagram: @jadevon_drinks
• Linkedin: Jade Delgado

Image Credits
@the.bitter.life (for the darker pictures only)