We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ella Rose McFadin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ella Rose, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I am very fortunate and lucky to be able to earn a full-time living from my creative work. Although, I wouldn’t say it is all luck. I was able to get into the influencer and content creator industry at a time where it was taking off and having a big moment. I had just been let go from my Client Relations role at Gucci corporate (during Covid layoffs) and had a small following on Instagram since going to college at CU Boulder.

I always loved posting on Instagram and viewed it as a creative outlet for over 5 years before ever viewing it as a business. I had the free time on my hands now and thought I would give it a shot. Within the first 6 months of viewing it as a business and partnering with brands, I was able to double the income I was previously making at my corporate job, even during the pandemic. I was so excited about sharing snippets of my life online and creating relationships with brands that it was all I could think about. I worked on it every morning until every evening. Reaching out to brands, creating and editing content, connecting with my followers online and working really fast to keep brands happy. I wore every hat and learned so much in that first year.

I also learned a lot of professional business tactics at my corporate job that has helped me so much in my business now as a content creator. Going into an office every day from 9am-7pm, you learn a lot and it is a major wake up call after attending classes and hanging with my friends every day but I was 21 and so excited about it. I learned great email etiquette and management, planning agendas, meetings, calendars, events and getting everyone coffee while also being client facing during our week long client brand experiences (even if it was just to open their car door or ask if they were thirsty). I basically got a taste of hustle culture in NYC and seeing how damn hard people work. It was really inspiring and I wanted in. At this point, my main goal was to climb the high fashion corporate latter.

A major step for me in my creative work was signing with management. I was really hesitant at the time to let go of any of my earnings and not be responsible for everything, but the lesson I learned here was that you simply cannot do it all and delegating tasks saves time and money (I keep this in mind at all times). Believing in yourself is also very important. If you don’t, how can you expect all the people who follow you online to? They are your business anyway. Another big lesson was the importance of saying no, or “kindly passing” on certain opportunities where your work is not being valued or it simply doesn’t align with you, your content or your brand. A lot of times, they come back and offer you what you deserve and the times where it doesn’t align with your brand you are protecting your own peace and your business which is how you create a loyal following.

I think ways to speed up the process, or grow quickly on social is finding a niche and being consistent with posting. However, I did neither of these things. My social and business growth has been relatively slow. I have had my page for a decade and some followers who have been around since I was in High School. I didn’t always treat it as a business and I haven’t always been super consistent with my content. But, I have always connected with my community and I believe that even though I have a “smaller” following, my following is very engaged with me and my content. I continue to have a slow growth on all of my platforms and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t think I could handle blowing up over night and I like the idea of gaining a following slowly but surely while gaining people’s trust.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi, my name is Ella Rose McFadin.

I am a lifestyle and fashion content creator, youtuber and brand owner. I have a small clean beauty brand called Skin by Ella and we are launching our new line in July 2024. I live with my boyfriend and rescue pup in Williamsburg in NYC. I just bought a house in the Catskills in New York and am working on renovating my year round weekend oasis. You can follow along below on all the adventures.

https://skinbyella.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ellaarose/

@ellamcfadin

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvkCXERHO-0u5AW2wuzEXWA

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think how being creative can take a lot out of you would be hard to understand as a non-creative or someone who simply clocks in and out of work. Coming up with creative ideas, concepts, briefs etc is so much fun, but it is tied so close to you so when it isn’t received as you had maybe hoped it is easy to take personally. I also feel like almost everything has been done at this point. Of course there are new trends and viral moments that happen, but having a new idea as a content creator is really hard. My favorite part of the job is when a brand has full trust in me to bring a vision to life. They have seen my content, align with it and trust that I can bring their vision to life. I love having face time with a brand to fully understand their vision and minimize the chance of a reshoot by understanding how they see this coming to life and what they like about my content. Sometimes it is hard to come up with new creative concepts which can be very draining and it is exhausting to create the same thing over and over again in a different way. I think a lot of people view creative jobs as fun which is very closed minded as it really takes a toll on you just like any other job.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In the past couple of years my content and identity online has pivoted from a fashion influencer to a lifestyle influencer. Of course I still have a fashion focus but I have grown to understand my audience is more interested in other facets of my life such as home decor, health, fitness, food, travel etc. and sharing more of that has also helped me find a new sense of creativity in this career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://skinbyella.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellaarose/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvkCXERHO-0u5AW2wuzEXWA