We were lucky to catch up with Aolani Coban recently and have shared our conversation below.
Aolani, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I decided to devote my total energy to my creative abilities in a moment of tragedy. It was a weekend in September 2021. I was leaving an AfroSoca festival at 1 am and I’d had so much fun! On the drive home I literally thought to myself “I could do this! Work two jobs all week. Have a little fun on the weekends. Take a vacation every couple of months. I guess that’s regular. I can be regular.” In the midst of me committing to these thoughts, I accidentally drove through a red light and was T-boned by oncoming traffic. Fortunately, no one was hurt but I had a moment when my life flashed before my eyes. I played back just a few moments prior to the accident and thought “is that really how I would want to lead my life? Am I truly content with being regular?” NO WAY! I’ve never been regular. My childhood was spent being identified as weird. Cool, but weird. And I loved it! I love being the outlier. I love my creative edge and capabilities. Creating in any form be it dancing, writing, fashion, editing, etc., are the only times when I am the most grounded and fully immersed in the moment. When my mind, body, and soul are in full alignment. As a creative, there are humbling times when the money is not flowing and I find myself squandering for a part-time job. But even in those times, I never forfeit my creation. My creation is a manifestation of the U-N-Iverse creation within me. We are all creative because we are all a part of creation.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
Well, hey y’all! My name is Aolani! I am a dancer, writer, spiritual advisor, and all-around content creator! I’ve been a part of the dance community for 20 years now. I’ve achieved many amazing feats throughout my dance journey including international travel, theatre performances, music videos, and a BFA in Liberal Studies with a dance concentration. Dancing has always come naturally to me and is the safest haven this U-N-Iverse has provided for my Spirit. Pursuing my dance career led me to become a content creator. Learning how to brand myself on Instagram taught me marketing, SEO, and ultimately how to stand out in a crowd by being authentic. However, in 2020 when the pandemic and quarantine happened, I had to put my dance career on hold. It was then that I actualized a new outlet of creativity- writing.
Throughout my educational career, writing was always my niche. Math, yes. Science, not so much. Reading and writing, definitely! I got an idea to start a blog where I would candidly write about my feelings and thoughts while navigating such a tumultuous time in the world. I found that staying in my house made me focus on my healing in ways that keeping up with our fast-paced society hadn’t given me before. Thus, The Coban Chronicles LLC was born.
The Coban Chronicless LLC is a platform that discusses Universal Spirituality, Holistic Living, mental and emotional health, and entertainment reviews in a blog format. The Coban Chronicles LLC is about a journey. Meye journey. Our journey. It is an avenue for me to share meye thoughts, feelings, learnings, and rituals. It is a safe space where eye deep dive into life’s cultivated experiences that keep me grounded. Healing the mind, body, and soul are the tiers of The Coban Chronicles, and guiding people toward their divine cellves is my ultimate service to this U-N-Iverse.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Building social media presence is just as easy as it is difficult. The main thing to focus on when building your social media presence is not to focus on building your social media presence. When creating your social media presence you want audience outreach to be as organic as possible. The followers will come! Focus on the quality of the content that you are creating. Is it authentic? Is it niche specific? What is the purpose of the content- to persuade, inform, entertain, or to answer a question? What service are you offering, and how are you highlighting that with your creative abilities?
Remember, quality over quantity. Many influencers and content creators tell you that to build your presence you have to post consistently. Not true. The quote “distance makes the heart grow fonder” is valid in this case. You may stand to oversaturate your audience if you are posting the same kind of content day in and day out. Take creative liberties, don’t be afraid to change or revamp a working formula, and be authentic! If you like it, post it. Your audience will find you!
Take advantage of the trends! Trending reels, trending sounds, trending hashtags, trending filters, etc. You don’t want to hop on a trend after its peak. Trends with 10k engagement or less are the best trends because it doesn’t have an oversaturated audience. Speaking of audience, make sure you are engaging with your audience. Reply to your comments, follow and engage with other accounts in your industry, and engage with your favs’ followers to tap into your intended audience. Genuine engagement is what’s going to help you build your audience the most.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
An important lesson I’ve learned is one that I see haunts many creatives and that is defining your worth and accepting your journey- otherwise known as imposter syndrome. The belief that you aren’t who you are. If you are a dancer, you’re not good enough to be booked. If you’re a painter you’re not good enough to charge $500 for this piece. In my case- if you are a healer, you’re not in tuned enough to help others.
Throughout history, the arts as a genre are looked down on. Creatives in the arts are criticized viciously, underpaid, and under-appreciated. However, the arts are what push society forward to date. The world as we’ve come to know is a form of celestial creation. Planting a seed and watching it grow is creation, it is art. Mathematicians who find new formulas to defy old science are creating, it is art. We need all forms of creation to sustain life and every outlet for creating is a form of art. So your art- be it dance, painting/visual art, singing, writing, photography, editing, acting, etc is of equal importance to the sustainability of this universe as all other forms of creating.
When you feel as though you are not good enough remember that your very specific creation adds to the sustainability of this world. You are fulfilling your purpose simply by existing. Repeat confidence-boosting affirmations to yourself. Couple your faith with action, let lessons from experiences be the inspiration that guides you, take rests to refuel and recharge your Spirit, and accept the pace of your glorious journey. It’s never a matter of if it’s only a matter of when, and when is divine because time is a made-up construct. If you focus too hard on the “light at the end of the tunnel,” you’ll miss the writings on the wall.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cobanchronicles.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/cobanchronicles
- Facebook: facebook.com/thecobanchronicles
- Twitter: twitter.com/cobanchronicles
- Other: pinterest.com/cobanchornicles
Image Credits
Kasee Brown Photography, SoSav Photography