We recently connected with Ally Young and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ally, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I fell in love with art in high school, so much that I ended up majoring in Fine Arts during college and earned my BFA in 2016. My dream was to own a business in the art field, but I was always stuck on what exactly my business would be. I got pregnant during my last year of college, so it was while becoming a stay-at-home mom that I started making products (based on what the “customer” wanted and my abilities to create their vision) and selling them to people.

After having my first child, I quickly realized how lonely being a young mom could be while my college friends I had made were starting corporate careers or moving further than I could travel while having a family to take care of. It was then that I decided to use my social media platforms to share my motherhood journey, and connect with other moms. When I saw other moms being able to make an income from content creation, I knew it was something I wanted to give a try; but there was so little information on how to get started & be successful.

I ended up having my second child 13 months after my first, and having two littles under two took quite a toll on me mentally and physically. Social media kind of became my outlet since I didn’t have many nearby friends, my husband pretty much being my only support. In 2019, I became a Target affiliate and created a new Instagram account to share & promote everything Target related in an attempt to earn a decent commission. But I knew I wanted to share more than just Target content, so I deleted my personal account and used my Target Instagram account to start sharing motherhood lifestyle related content with a fresh audience. Once I hit about a thousand followers, my growth became stagnant; but I was able to land my very first paid partnership in late 2020. I also started an Etsy shop that same year while pregnant with my 3rd child, but I recently decided to close it to fully focus on content creation.

After being frustrated with my Instagram growth, I caved in downloading TikTok after telling myself I’d never join the platform as video content seemed pretty scary to me. It took about a year before I got comfortable posting on the platform, and once I became consistent with posting and finding “what works” I saw steady growth. Just recently I decided to give Instagram another try, and I’ve finally started growing my community on there as well. Within the past few months, I’ve been making a steady decent amount from paid content creation and I love being able to call it my job although I’m not able to make a living income from it full time quite yet.

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

I’m a wife and stay-at-home mom to 3 littles between the ages of 2 years and 6 years old. Motherhood can become lonely for a lot of moms especially since what older generations call “a village” no longer exists. While social media can be an amazing way to connect with other moms, it can also be harmful when falling in the comparison trap seeing everyone’s highlight reels of life.

With so many motherhood influencers sharing spotless, bright, white homes and their kids dressed in neutrals all the time; I myself felt like I wasn’t doing good enough when that’s all that came up on my social media feeds. But I quickly realized that if I felt that way, so did other mothers. So, I began to share honest motherhood, both the pretty and ugly sides of the journey.

Now, I consider myself a motherhood influencer and content creator sharing everything on motherhood, marriage, family and home; while emphasizing the importance of prioritizing mental health and self love. I’m a cycle breaker — ending toxic parenting styles, setting boundaries, and cutting off those that choose to continue to disrespect my boundaries regardless of their title to me or my children. And in using my voice to share my story, I’m helping others find their voice in doing what it takes to protect the peace and mental health of themselves and the family they created.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My motivation to keep striving to be a full-time content creator will always be my family. I brought my kids into the world, so they deserve the world in return. I owe them all the love, financial stability, and both my emotional & physical availability. Being able to make an income while being home and on a flexible schedule allows me to be as present and active in their lives as much as I can.

My ultimate goal is to be able to make a living income from content creation so that my family never has to worry about finances, and so that we also have the ability to travel and experience the world.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

It may seem like everyone gives this same answer, but be consistent in both the number of times you post and the type of content you post. Whether you can post once a week or once a day, consistency is truly key. It wasn’t until I became consistent that I saw steady growth.

Be authentically you. People want to follow and engage with others they can relate to or learn from.

Treat your following as a community and engage with them. They’re human too. Reply to as many comments and messages as you can.

Post your content, you never know what the algorithm is going to push out. You are your biggest worst critic, so no one is judging you as hard as yourself.

Take breaks when needed. Your mental health should always be a priority, and social media can sometimes affect that negatively. It’s ok to take a step back without an explanation to your audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/wild.young.three
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/wild.young.three
• Other: TikTok: @wild.young.three
  Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Brandon Gorham