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

Brandon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Yes! Thanks for having me. I started The Guide as a campaign to raise awareness of the multifaceted aspects of GBTQ culture and promote self-acceptance and body positivity amongst gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and questioning men or people. My followers and I believe everyone deserves to feel seen and heard, regardless of their body types, kinks, or social tribes.

As part of that, it was also important for me to raise awareness around the mental and physical health of GBTQ+ individuals and uncover the roots from which our cultures came. That means creating space for people to exist.

Even though there are stereotypes and cliches, I want to use The Guide to break down negative connotations associated with some queer “labels” and encourage people to embrace their unique identities and live authentically — whether they’re a Bear, Twink, Gaymer, or beyond.

Brandon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Absolutely. I’m just a regular guy who’s struggled to find a place in gay society, like everyone else. I’m a gay, black man who doesn’t fit the masculine, white, tall, and muscular trope that sits atop the LGBTQ+ food chain. Living in New York didn’t make that any easier.

By trade, I am a user experience designer with a background in graphic and web design. Hence, I’m the sole showrunner behind The Guide and create most of the content you’ll see on my social media accounts. What I thought would just be a book ballooned into a social media campaign striving to challenge the status quo of gay body norms. It’s a tough job, let me tell you!

What made you come up with the idea for The Guide?

The idea for The Guide came to me during a happy hour with friends when gay dating came up in conversation. I shared my experiences with the apps, navigating queer spaces, and the pecking order of our social groups. My friends were highly entertained by all the terms gay men use to describe their body types, like manatee, daddy, and panda bear. Someone joked about needing a pocket guide to keep track of them, and that’s when the lightbulb flickered.

I initially intended The Guide to help straight people better understand the gay community, but I shelved the idea for over a year in fear of public reaction. I knew how sensitive labels are, but I wanted to leverage my design background, take a risk, and put a pocket guide together in time for Stonewall’s 50th anniversary in New York.

I suppose as I’ve grown older, I feel obligated to give back and push back against the rampant shaming that occurs within the LGBTQ+ community. I discovered during initial research that any similar resources didn’t cover the whole gamut of queer identities. Most contained some degree of judgment or snark against one tribe over another, and I knew I didn’t want The Guide to do that. Part of me wanted to level the playing field and position our tribes as equals.

Since The Guide’s launch in 2018, it has become an empowerment tool for GBTQ+ men to discover themselves and others who look or feel like they do. I still post colorful aspirations, mantras, and videos on my social media accounts to underscore the importance of self-acceptance, tolerance, and open discussion for body liberation and positive self-talk.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The Guide is a self-funded project, so any sales go back into its production and upkeep — first and foremost. (That’s not including my time creating social media content and writing new editions.)

People don’t realize how expensive and time-consuming printing, shipping, design production, advertising, and packaging are.

I knew I’d avoid sitting on inventory that would take forever to sell if I self-published. Plus, the broader LGBTQ+ community is constantly changing, so I needed a solution that would allow this project to evolve. I set an initial production budget of $500, intending to break even in the first year, but I found several ways to save on expenses.

Since I have a graphic design background, I saved a considerable chunk of overhead by designing the publication myself, including all accompanying social media content. I knew where to go for printing. While I had to purchase stock photography, I was able to barter with a few influencers and photographers who agreed to gift me their images to appear in The Guide in exchange for credit and free books. (I thank them immensely for helping the “little guy” out!)

I initially used an online publishing service called MagCloud that allowed me to run as many or as few copies as needed to gradually test The Guide’s reception and increase production depending on demand.

Shipping is a whole other animal. UPS and FedEx were out of the question, especially for overseas customers, but I stumbled upon a service called GoShippo that allowed me to print labels at home for discounted rates. Today, The Guide is available on Amazon, offering more efficient production and shipping fees.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

This is a complicated question because when I started The Guide, the resources I have now didn’t quite exist a few years ago, but I’ll share a few of my life savers:

Adobe Express has helped free up massive amounts of time to create video and image content without needing the complete Adobe Creative Cloud suite — and I can do it on the go. I have access to stock image, audio, and video content — as well as fonts and other visual assets — to create social media content in a snap.

• Metricool is an online social media planner that won’t break the bank, enabling post scheduling and analytics to ease the burden of manually posting content one platform at a time.
• Upbeat is an online music-sourcing platform offering free music tracks if you’re looking for background music.
• Lastly, Pixabay and Pexels offer free stock image resources if you need visual content for a blog, website, or social media post. Photographer credit is appreciated but not always required.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thegaybodyguide.com
• Instagram: thegaybodyguide
• Facebook: thegaybodyguide
• Twitter: thegaybodyguide
• Other: Amazon shop: https://a.co/d/27Jz1lJ