We recently connected with Ashley Pohl and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

I still remember very first time I landed a paid gig from creating content. I’d just laid my youngest daughter down for a nap and was checking my email when I saw the subject line that said, “You’ve been selected!” I quietly jumped up and down, did a little dance, and immediately texted my husband the exciting news.

It was for a frozen pizza company, and the theme was “game day,” since it was so close to Super Bowl Sunday. I went all out! I painted my face with those black lines under my eyes, bought football-themed plates/napkins/cups, and even purchased lighting equipment. What’s funny now is that I was only paid $10, so I technically lost money on that endeavor.

However, it was also the gig that catapulted my hopes and dreams. It was pivotal to my career because it made me realize that content creating could actually be more than just a hobby; it could be the job of my dreams. And three years later, here I am!

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 back background and context?

My name is Ashley Pohl and I am a wife, mom of two girls, pharmacy technician, and content creator over at @ashleynicoleandco on Instagram.

For me, content creating originally started out as a hobby; I never really intended to make money from it or to pursue it full-time. Though I happen to have a degree in Journalism & Digital Storytelling – I had plans to be the next Erin Andrews – those plans quickly changed. I met my husband, we got married, and we started a family. Those plans to become a sports journalist completely dissolved in favor of being a stay-at-home mom, but I still loved taking photos of my girls and sharing the ups and downs of motherhood through social media.

After my daughter was born, depression and anxiety really hit me hard. I wanted to shed more light on that. I wanted other moms to know that they weren’t alone.

Eventually, I formed connections with lots of other moms and had the opportunity to learn from them. Several of these mom friends were already making content and profiting from it as a full-time job and I was honestly just amazed. I was already doing the creating – I was thinking, “Could I actually earn income from it, too?”

Through these friendships, I learned how to connect with my followers and how to build my own brand. I learned how to reach out to brands and over time, brands started reaching out to me, too. Now I get to combine two of my passions- photography and writing – and still get to be home with my family. And on top of that, get paid! It’s truly a dream come true

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

The first step to building a social media presence is figuring out who you are and what you have to offer. You have to give people a reason to come back to your page. Are you a mom blogger who shares humorous stories and tips/tricks to surviving motherhood? Are you a baker who shares delicious recipes?

The second thing to remember is that people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. So engage with your followers! Respond to each and every comment and each and every message. Building relationships with your followers is essential to building your brand! As an introvert, I definitely struggled with this part at first. But the more you do it, the more it becomes a habit. Before you know it, you will not only have a social media presence but you might just make some friends along the way.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Slowly but surely, this little social media evolved into a full-time career and I am so glad it did.

At first, I started out doing collaborations here and there for free – a brand would send me their product, I’d create/post photos of their product, and that was that. I thought it was a pretty sweet deal at first (who doesn’t like free stuff?) until I started making other content creator friends.

Through those friendships, I learned so other content creator friends were making hundreds of dollars doing the same thing I was doing. The only difference was that they negotiated their rate, and I ignorantly had no idea that was even an option!

Those friends also opened my eyes to the world of paid collaborations. They taught me how to pitch to brands, showed me all kinds of different platforms/apps that they use to meet brands, and all sorts of valuable information. (Having friends/connections in the business is a game changer!)

Since then, I’ve applied my heart out, pitched to countless brands, and have learned the art of being an affiliate ambassador. I’ve come a long way and I’m excited to share with other content creators what I’ve learned so that more people can do what they love for a living!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ashleynicoleandco
• Facebook: www.instagram.com/ashleynicoleandco
• Other: TikTok: @ashleynicoleandco

Image Credits
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