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

Erica , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Thank you so much for having me! First off, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Erica Chan Stenvall, I am a newlywed (I got married this July at Malibu West Beach Club), and I am a content creator passionate about design, fashion, fitness, lifestyle and travel. I am also a big advocate of mental health and hope to introduce that side of me in my future content. I am active on Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube (handle: ericaychan). I am also a USC alumni, and am a First generation Chinese American. I learned to create content by first consuming multiple different streams of content, and content from all the different social media platforms. I watched a variety of carefully chosen YouTube videos to learn the information quickly, such as how to edit and film. I also learned how to create content on Instagram and Tiktok, specifically, by spending a lot of time on those apps learning how their interface and navigation tools worked. I think the most important skills are being able to be comfortable in front of the camera, having a clear plan and direction before filming, being able to brainstorm and think outside the box, and of course knowing how to film, edit, and post the content. Knowing what I know now, I would have tried Tiktok earlier, because I think there is ample opportunity to grow on Tiktok, especially as a new creator. And in terms of obstacles, I would stay time. The more time you have to learn something, the better at it you become. Unless you have a mentor, of course.

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.

I got into content creation because I was inspired first by watching YouTubers in the beauty industry. It was fascinating to me how they could create an engaged audience/community and how they were sharing their passions with people from all around the world, all in the comfort of their own homes. I thought that was very interesting and unique, and it came across to me as a career way more satisfying to me than sitting at an office job. To each their own, but as a creative, and as something that has worked a 9-5 corporate job before, I would much rather be doing something else. The type of product I provide is the piece of content, which is content I produce solely for my followers, or pieces of content that I create in collaboration with amazing brands that reach out to me and I enjoy their product. I mainly create Reels/short-form content and post them on all my social media platforms. In essence, I hope to inspire others to chase their passion, since I am chasing mine. And I hope to introduce my audience to amazing products that they may not have known about, or to amazing places or experiences that they may not have been exposed to, either. And they have the liberty to check out these things as well! I am a hard worker and have a lot of drive to succeed, and have a knack for design, I think I have a pretty good eye. (I planned and designed my entire wedding in Malibu for 130 guests, no wedding planner involved. Which is also a business I will be opening up this winter (Andrica Events). I am most proud of being able to work with amazing brands and showcase them to my audience in a way they would be proud of as well.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I realized that long-form content just was not working for me. The views were low, and engagement was low. And I realized posting Instagram pictures would only warrant a small amount of likes. I had to pivot and realized I had to transition to short-form content if I really wanted to succeed. And that is what I did. I did not have Tiktok before, but I registered for an account, and it is doing pretty well, too. I think overall it is very important to know how to pivot. To acknowledge when something isn’t working and having the courage to go another way. It is a risk because you are venturing into the unknown, but it is better to take a risk and succeed, than not taking any risks and remaining stagnant. Change is sometimes necessary to grow.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I would say that I have had backlash, in a sense, from different people that did not like what I do. People very close to me, mind you. They would mock me when I created content, and tell me it was a waste of my time and that it did not amount to anything. They would say I am a try hard. What I realized is that no one’s opinion matters except your own. If you believe in yourself and want to do something for yourself, do it. And don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it, because you are chasing your own dream and your own passion, not theirs. Keep going and don’t give up.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericaychan
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ericaychan/shorts
• Other: Tiktok:
  https://www.tiktok.com/@ericaychan