We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carli Jay a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Carli, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
When I was growing up in Australia, there used to be this TV show called ‘This is your life’. It was a show that surprised usually a well known guest or celebrity in their later years of life with their own life story and remembering all the good things they had done for others with such humility and the impact they had on these people and their communities.
The show would have on all types of people from the guests’ life to tell tales and stories, reminiscing about all the great things they had done. It was such a heart felt show, that even people from their childhood, 20’s, 40’s 60’s and so on, would come on and recount the memories that would often bring the guest to tears as they were given their flowers and thanked for their heroic and selfless acts.
I used to love hearing the guests life stories and how many people they had touched over the years, and I would think ‘Wow I would love to be a guest on a show like this one day, I want to be that rememberable in life for all the good reasons.’ And I knew in order to do so I had to obviously make an impact on people. And that’s all i wished, that one day after i’m gone people would have great tales to tell about me and small memories of positive moments i’d had on ones life. This childhood memory has stuck with me, and I think subconsciously I lead my life with this in the back of my mind.
So for me, with everything I do, I try to show love, kindness and compassion wherever I can. I genuinely love to help people and I want my legacy to be about that. That one day when i’m 80 someone somewhere will remember me for something significant I helped them with at an important point in their life when they needed it. For everyone I cross paths with in my personal life or business, that hopefully they will have a small positive tale to tell about our interactions and remember me for being kind, positive and always having a smile on my face.
Carli, 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?
My name is Carli Jay, and almost 10 years ago I went on a health journey that changed not just my physical self, but my entire life, yet I didn’t know it at the time.
I am originally from Sydney Australia, and in my early 20’s I decided to set out on a huge back-packing trip traveling across the world. I visit 25 countries and over 100 cities in 6 months, getting me from Sydney to London, trying not to fly, so using buses, ferries, trains and cars as the main modes of transport. It was such an eye opening experience that I will never forget. The intention was to work in the UK for 12 months and then backpack another route back to Sydney… but soon enough as I got settle in the UK, it oddly started to feel like ‘home’. And sure enough those 12 months turned in 12 years..
During my time in London, I had put on a significant amount of weight and was at my heaviest of 280lbs. It wasn’t until 1 day in 2014, I woke up one morning feeling so unhealthy, pins and needs running down my body and feeling like I was an old lady yet I was only 28 years old. It was that day I decided to get up and get healthy. It was initially about getting my circulation going, moving my body to get the pins and needles to go away. I started doing 10-15 minutes of exercise a day, looking at my daily calories, portion sizes, the foods I was eating, and making small daily changes as the weeks went on. I didn’t change anything drastically, rather adjusting my bad habits to more positive ones. And slowly but surely I started to increase that exercise to 20 minutes, 40 minutes, 1 hour etc…. to eventually joining a gym, and sure enough weight started to come off. It was then I vowed to myself I was going to lose half my body weight, so I set myself the goal of 2 years to do it. I wanted to make this a whole lifestyle change, something that was sustainable for the long term and that made me as healthy as I could be.
And that is exactly what I did, by Feburary 2016 I had hit my goal and lost 140lbs! I felt amazing, younger than my years and full of energy. I started documenting my journey on instgram the previous year and had grown quite a following, as normal women in her late 20’s/early30’s working a full time office job, no personal trainer, no fad diets, no crazy extreme weight loss tricks and no surgery. I wanted to prove to anyone who wanted to get healthy and fit that they could, and they didn’t need anyone else to do it, they just needed to change their mindset.
From my social media I started getting lots of people asking me for help and advise including professional athletes, so I wrote a biography about my journey called “Half the size but twice the life” that is available worldwide, as I wanted a quick way to explain my whole journey to anyone that wanted it. Along side that I studied as a nutrition coach and launched my own business to help others achieve their goals. I started doing motivational talks at fitness shows and conventions & joining panels to discuss my story sharing advice with others that could really help them.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
As this new side hustle of mine started to take off, covid hit, just as I decide I really wanted to expand and reach a wider audience. Along side that I had always wanted to move to Los Angeles since I was young, and with the world at a stand still i thought why not apply for the visa and see if making my own dream a reality was possible. And sure enough it was, I got approved, so I quit my office job in HR Recruitment & Business management, packed up my entire life and move to LA in 2022.
The expansion of my business in LA has rapidly grown in to coaching people in all areas of their lives, from weight loss, health & wellness, to helping small start ups and new business ventures, social media & digital marketing advise, working with Athletes, celebrities and influencers, and even assisting established businesses with their goals and strategy.
When I look back it’s been almost 14 years since I left Australia back in 2010, and if you had of told me then what i’d be doing over the next decades I never would have believed you. The journey has been more than I ever could have imaged, but that’s down to resilience, optimism, consistency, hard work and a lot of risk taking!!
Im a big believer in ‘if you put the work in, you’ll see the results’ and that goes for all areas of your life. There is this quote that says ‘don’t be mad at the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do’ and it’s accurate.
From that mindset my business ‘Miss Carli Jay corporation’ was born. It is a Business Services & Coaching company that specializes in consulting, branding, social media, content creation, project management, business development, strategy, process improvement, operations and coaching (health/business/life) for individuals, small businesses, basketball teams, athletes, sports venues and celebrities worldwide
As I had worked in the corporate business world for 20 years, worked within social media for 8 years, and being a qualified life & nutrition coach who has worked with athletes all over the world including professional soccer players in England and basketball players in the US. It was from here I decided to combine all of my skills of working with athletes & celebrities, social media and business to help others achieve their goals.
In summary I love helping to bring other peoples visions to life. This truly makes me happy seeing others succeed!
How did you build your audience on social media?
The day I started my main social media page on Instagram @misscarlijay I never could have imaged what it turned in to. Back in 2015 social media was slightly different and i hit a niche at the time in the wellness industry and specifically weight loss.
I started documenting and posting my journey on my instagram, I didn’t really tell anyone or ask people to follow me. I just started posting, almost for myself really. I didn’t know a lot about socials, algorithms or anything back then, i just posted what felt right and wanted to give out free advice to help others. From there my page just grew rapidly! My following started increasing by 1000 per week and soon enough I was at 50000 in the first year.
I believe it was from me being very authentic with my posts and captions, as well as showing health and weight loss in a positive realistic way.
I had capitalize on the trend of #transformationtuesday when hashtags really pushed your page on the explore tab, and my weight loss pics were seen by millions of people including many celebrities, even Kourtney Kardhasian liking one of my pictures, which in turn increased my following even more.
I wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel or try cutting corners, I was just a regular girl in my late 20’s, working a normal job trying to get healthy. I aimed to be genuine in all my posts with the hope it would inspire or help others that were also wanting to get healthy, fit or loose weight, and with everyone that started to follow me, comment and ask questions, I always made sure I responded to every single one of them. And to this day I still do! I feel if someone has taken time out of their day to show love, ask for my help or want a bit of advise that’s the least i can do to thank them for their support over the years.
So in summary I would always say with any form of social media, share what you feel comfortable with, don’t try to copy other peoples content because it works for them and they get likes, post what feels natural and real to you. It shouldn’t be about getting likes, it should be about sharing things you are happy to put out in to the world.
Socials have changed A LOT over the years and I don’t feel it’s so much an overload of information, but rather it can be an over load of opinions (that we maybe did not ask for!) but that’s the nature of putting everything out there. So i’d say take everything with a pinch of salt that you get back. Some people will love your content, others won’t (and they may make you aware of that lol) But don’t take anything personally from people you don’t know personally! Not everything needs a response. Just keep being you, find your niche for socials and post what you enjoy no matter if you have 100 followers or 1 milli!
Don’t be afraid to unfollow people that don’t align with your values, interact with people that do, learn about your market and what you are trying to achieve through social media, be consistent with the content and keep being true to yourself!
I specialize in social media management and strategy, so if any one does want further help they are more than welcome to get n touch.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.misscarlijay.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/misscarlijay
- Facebook: facebook.com/misscarlijay
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/misscarlijay
- Twitter: twitter.com/MissCarliJay
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/MissCarliJay
- Other: My Biography: https://www.amazon.com/Half-Size-But-Twice-Life/dp/1528915518/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1706123942&sr=8-1