We were lucky to catch up with Ava Mannino recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ava, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’m in a unique position. I’ve had my digital diary, @avocadoaficionados since college, took a break during covid and recently began creating consistently again. I evolved from super healthy desserts, to healthy meals and desserts, to fitness routines and food, and then I came back around in the ever evolving landscape as a “nourishing recipes” and “french bulldog care” niche. I simply adapted my life circumstances to reflect my content.

@Avocadoaficionados was always a creative outlet and hobby. However, my unique advantage comes from working in social media and creative strategy in my professional career. Training myself on video editing, authentic storytelling, proper hooks and CTAs, weaving in nutrition content and dog content – all of this became a natural evolution for me. My dog is a huge part of my life and I work in the pet supplement industry, so the niche really works well. I’m not only an advocate for human health, but our furry friends.

I watched social media change dramatically since 2017 when I was just a photo based foodie. When 2020 hit and video format took over, it was overwhelming. We went from, ‘let me just snap 1 photo of the beautiful final product of my recipe – none of the ugly parts that it took to get here’ to ‘let me film the entire process, the good, the bad, the ugly, edit it, keep a mix of good and authenticity and then finally post it all.’

ADAPT ADAPT ADAPT is my motto. The media basically said: “it’s time to put in more effort, enjoy the process and spend more time perfecting your craft”. Having creative video filming and editing in my back pocket has significantly helped me grow in my creative niche as a content creator and micro influencer as well as in my career.

I get to interweave creator partnerships, influencer marketing, paid social strategy, organic social into @avocadoaficionados and right back into the dog niche/ pet supplement space as an internal expert and ambassador. I’m extremely grateful and proud that these 2 aspects of my life mesh so well.

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?

Hello all! My name is Ava and I’ve worked in CPG for the last 4 years – from oats to coats (dog skin and coats, that is). I have evolved into a marketing professional – dipping my toes in many aspects, including organic social, paid social, influencer/creator partnerships, affiliate marketing, email + SMS – in both creative vision, strategy, and execution.

Content creation has been a huge part of my life the past 8 years, It comes in waves. You’re either on fire, or have no desire. But ultimately, having the discipline to just film and edit – it’s always worth it. Whether it’s medjool dates dipped in almond butter and chocolate, a harvest chicken roast or an allergy supplement testimony for my dog; you sometimes just have to start filming and stop overthinking. You can be your biggest roadblock if you let yourself.

Speaking from passion and personal experience unlocks the keys to the kingdom. And that’s exactly what I started doing. From a rather rigid niche and not wanting to budge from food + fitness; I realized there is nothing wrong with integrating content about my dog. This opened up a niche opportunity for myself to integrate my work and creative outlet. Since then, she’s become the face of the brand.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Content doesn’t need to be perfect. But it should teach you something by the end of the video – whether it’s 15 or 90 seconds. Effectively getting the point across, the call to action integrated.

Another one for the camera shy peeps – showing yourself on camera is always going to be more engaging and effective than keeping yourself on the other side. Get yourself together, put on a nice outfit and start talking to the camera. It also improves your public speaking. Humility > ego.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The Bible. There is a higher power guiding me, inspiring me and keeping me grounded, This goes far beyond my professional career and flows in my personal life.

Sirach 5:11-14
Be consistent in your thoughts; steadfast in your words. Be swift to hear, but slow to answer. If you have knowledge, answer your neighbor

Contact Info:

• Website: https://avacmannino.wixsite.com/website
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avocadoaficionados/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avamannino/