We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexis Mueller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexis, thanks for joining us 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?

Being able to create a full time living doing something I love was always a dream of mine! When I was little I always knew I wanted to work somewhere in fashion and in the creative industry. To be able to wake up every single day and be excited and passionate for what I was going to be doing for the day as my work. I didn’t want to be bound to a job that I did not like or that I was not passionate for. I was always a little scared to start posting more artsy and unique images to my socials because I was scared of what people thought. But then I came to a realization that no one really cares as much as you think they do, they are usually more focused and worried about what people think of them. We are on a floating rock and get one life to do what we love and pursue our dreams, so I simply said well why not then. I got a canon camera for Christmas my freshman year of college and started to take pictures and posted consistently. I loved the idea of creating a vibe or aesthetic to your page and creating something beautiful but not too thought out. I wanted my pictures to still capture the idea of being in the moment but just documenting small beautiful memories throughout my life to look back on. I loved trying out new poses and getting the “shot” with my camera. I had a few companies start to slowly reach out to me asking to do a “collaboration”. I had no idea what that really meant but they were offering a free product in exchange for me to post a picture to my Instagram. I honestly freaked out and said yes immediately! That is when I started to do some research and found out about how to create your own media kit (which basically showcases your best work, shows demographics, and how much you charge to create content) and I started to email it out to a bunch of companies I was interested in working with. From there it went all uphill fortunately :) that doesn’t mean to say that I have made it to where I want to be at all but I am learning to soak in the present and enjoy where I am at now, because truth is I started social media for me to have a creative outlet. Creating content and putting together outfits is my “art”. It was a long journey to start receiving real compensation for my work, it does not just happen in a couple days, weeks, or months even. I started to see a steady stream of income around three years later. I learned to stand up for myself and to make sure I was researching to be sure I was getting paid fairly. If I could go back and tell my younger self to just start and not care what anyone thinks I would do it in a heartbeat. But I am so incredibly thankful to also say my younger self would simply freak out to see what she is doing now :)

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For anyone who did not know me previously before this article, hi! :) My name is Alexis, I am a 22 year old living in Southern California with my boyfriend and my cat Mango! I love to create content that might put a smile on someone’s face or give them inspiration for a new outfit, to travel somewhere new, or try a new recipe. I got into content creating by always watching girls who did fashion knowing I wanted to do something similar someday. It led me to asking for a camera for Christmas my freshman year of college to now thankfully doing content creation full time! I always love to work with companies who match my vibe and values and create aesthetic and beautiful content capturing their product. I would say I am most proud of getting out of my comfort zone. In this industry you have to be willing to put yourself out there and that was a little hard for me to do for awhile but I got there, and I can really say the absolute best things come from getting out of your comfort zone 🤎 I would want everyone to know who is reading this article about me is that I create not to just make a living but to also express myself and show things that I love. But I also want everyone to know to try and look at social media as a piece of art, to know that it is only the highlight reel of everyone’s life and to try and not compare (even though it is hard) because how your life feels is better than how it looks online. So with that being said I always try and have fun with it, don’t take life too seriously, and express yourself

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I personally think the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is meeting other creatives in the industry :) I can say that I have met some of my closest friends through the social media world who have a similar mindset and passion for creating. It’s always so rewarding hanging out and spending time with other creatives because it makes me so motivated and inspired to see their art and how they create it 🤎

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I would say a very important aspect that I have learned throughout my journey is to not focus too much on the next goal or number of followers you’d like to reach. While it is important to have goals it is also important to stay in the present. I’ve found that focusing on the people who are already following me and what they like to see has helped my mindset and to be happy where I am at. I feel like if you are not in that mindset you will never truly be content or happy with where you are whether that be 2,000 followers or a million followers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alexismmuellercom.wordpress.com/
• Instagram: alexissmueller
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZeQn3ubUGCXjLXYtcbX6HQ