We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Calii a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Calii thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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?
I became a Chef in 2019. I walked off my job at the time and decided that in order to be present full time in my sons life as well as live life on my own terms I was going to have to dig deep and find my purpose. I realized I’m great at cooking and marketing. So, I said to myself ” I’m already a artist and content creator” why not incorporate all those skills and monetize off it. So when reels were introduced to Instagram I started learning the trends and found my niche. I put myself on a posting schedule for 30 days now and went viral. I have 103K followers and I’m now making money per every reel posted. If I would’ve known a consistent schedule and sticking to your specific niche would take me this far I would’ve started a long time ago!
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?
Let me introduce myself, my name is Calii Social Media Influencer, Content Creator, and Chef (Calii Cooks). I started my journey to content creating and entrepreneurship in 2019. It took me awhile to find my niche and attract the type of engagement that I wanted but in 2022 I told myself I wanted to be successful as social media influencer and in under 60 days I went from 10K followers no monetization to 103K and making money every day making reels. I will be offering my e-book and hosting a social media course summer 2023.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is I have people who look forward to seeing my reels every day. I enjoy engaging with new people from around the world and bringing good energy while also being relatable. Its also really rewarding that celebrities I look up to are now following me and even having one on one conversations with me which is mind blowing!
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I feel as though some not all non-creatives can sometimes be judgmental. It takes a lot to be in front of people who know nothing about you but have negative opinions because you chose this reel sound or because you may be more comfortable in your skin then another person, We are all different for a reason and we all have something to give to the universe. We are just in a time where freedom of speech has been taken to the next level you just have to have tough skin.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/iamcalii?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=cc2d5e50-57e5-4bc1-8988-331c9a4c4c52&fbclid=PAAaY1JLpAfxYvmVv6d0zGy-nXg1GcE7Mu4vIPXn0AGQd_Kz_NEszIQY4JITI
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamcalii__/?hl=en&__coig_restricted=1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRf0SbunBBU&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Flinktr.ee%2F&embeds_origin=https%3A%2F%2Flinktr.ee
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamcalii__
Image Credits
Image Credit @beajjphotography