Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elisabeth Wykert. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Elisabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I regularly asked God, the universe, myself…. fill in the blank… why did my purpose have to be an artist? Why couldn’t I have just gotten a regular job after earning my 4-year degree? (Which thank goodness I got that degree in the late 2000s when it only cost me $14,000 for a 4 year degree.) Why did my path have to be this risky, uncertain one? All I (thought I) wanted was that 9-5 corporate life. So have I wondered what it would be like to have a “regular” job? I tried it. I failed at it. Being an artist is my back up choice. I got nothing else.
I found it funny that as soon as I committed to being an artist, lots of those beautiful corporate jobs I used to want started pouring in. I kept turning down full-time work that stemmed from what I signed up as part-time, temp work. I finally got sucked into a “perfect” “regular” job. Absolutely the best job you could imagine. Amazing coworkers and bosses, the ability to be trained and promoted within, an office comprised of about 80% women, and all within the City of Anaheim, California tourism sector. Meaning PERKS. I got to see Jason Derulo perform 10 feet in front of me at a luncheon. A LUNCHEON. Those are some sweet perks. And with all that perfection, I wasn’t happy. It was a nice tourniquet to distract me from the bleeding of where my time should be spent, but it wasn’t fulfilling to my soul. That job taught me if I couldn’t be happy there, I would not be happy anywhere that isn’t focused on entertainment.
As for the question am I happy as an artist, I assume the answer will always be as it has been, yes and no. Yes I have wonderful times of fulfillment, sometimes when I’m paid or praised, other times from bringing an idea to life or having a brilliant breakthrough. And there are times of hopelessness wondering why I even try. But alas, here I am still working on what I feel is my soul purpose in this life to bring a little laughter to the world and I even get paid doing it. That’s a feeling I hope everyone gets to enjoy

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?

I grew up in a small town of 400 people. Later went to the University of Missouri-Kansas City for a degree in Psychology, tried accounting for half a semester, and ended on a degree in Communications, emphasis in Public Speaking. I only switched to Communications after taking an Advanced Public Speaking course to fulfill an elective and the professor asked me several times to please just have a conversation with her about the possibility of switching. I would have never guessed that almost 15 years later I would be known as Internet personality and stand-up comedian with a deep love of acting, but here I am, constantly surprising myself. In 2013, my husband and I moved from Missouri to California so I could study acting, specifically at the (now named) Speiser-Sturges Acting Studio. Acting will always be my first love in art and I hope to do more of it in my career. While in California I picked up stand-up comedy, as any person with a degree in Public Speaking and childhood trauma would do. I wasn’t too shabby and I met some great connections along the way.
Although I had already posted on social media since 2008, in 2019 I began strategizing to get noticed on the new Tiktok platform. During the pandemic, I started seeing a lot of growth thanks to my humorous and carefree take on dance trends and have seen steady success across the 4 major social media platforms (Tiktok, Youtube, Instagram, & Facebook) since.
I have recently started coaching and offering a course on how to grow on social media. It’s open to all people, but I clearly have a teaching advantage for comics and artists which is something that is not widely available. Trust me, I looked. Through my looking for more information to grow on social as an entertainer, not a financial advisor wanting to buy real estate or sell on Amazon, I’ve become a bit of an expert in my field. After giving a lot of friends advice on growing, that’s what led me to start charging for it. Don’t worry, I’m pretty affordable because most comics are broke.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

First, write down why you want an audience on social media. You have to have a decent reason why because if you really want to succeed, it’s going to be a lot of work and you will have to fall back on that why to keep doing this insane thing for free. For example, my original reason why was I wanted to build an audience so I could perform my stand-up comedy. If I build an online audience, those are people I can convert to butts in seats. Wanted to give an example before you BS your way into saying “I just really love my dog and they deserve to be seen by the world.”
Second, study. Look at successful content creators in the area you want to go into. And by successful, I mean anyone who is doing better than you. Clearly we want to look at the people with a million subscribers, but looking at them can sometimes be like seeing the chemistry of a tv show in season 8. It’s a whole different ball game than the pilot episode. If you see a viral video that interests you or is what you want to create content in, go to that creator’s page and look at all their content. See what’s doing well, what is not. What hashtags do they use? What is their description for the video? Study.
Third, and this is where I lose everyone. Post 3 times a day. Sorry, that’s my rule. When I started on TikTok, I posted 3 times a day for about 3 years. Sure I took some “vacation” time, missed a day here or there over the years, but not in the beginning. For the first 3 months, MINIMUM, make a commitment and stick to it. You’re building a habit. And who knows, maybe you’ll put on a leotard and dance in Target and that becomes your whole life all because you were trying to think of something fun to post for the day.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

GO TO LIVE SHOWS. Stop making us beg for it. Stop acting like $10-$15 is a lot of money for a night out. I know how much you spent on the Eras tour. You can put down $15 for 90 minutes of fun. Y’all went nuts during 2020 about how you HAD to get out of the house, now you’re sharing memes about how you wish your friends would cancel plans. Oh my gosh! Get out and LIVE! This world is so cool. Check it out sometime. Be mad when people cancel on you. And then still go because you are a grown up who can go do things by yourself. (Spoken from a women who went to a Pitbull concert by herself and made friends with a bunch of Gen Zers.) If you cannot go to a show, TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THE SHOW. If I’m traveling to a city where no one knows me, my video that has 10 million views isn’t selling a lot of tickets. You, who saw that video, telling all your friends I’m in town, that sells tickets. Sharing is caring, and it’s free. I have lived in my current (smallish) town in Missouri for 2.5 years where I film content outside in our very recognizable city and have performed 6 Headlining shows here and I still have people say “I never knew you lived here!” So please your word of mouth.
The biggest thing society can do is stop saying “regular” jobs. I catch myself too, rarely but still, because it’s so embedded in our language that being an artist isn’t a “real” job. I filed a “real” tax return that says I do indeed have a “real” job. Using this language isn’t just hurtful to artists, it’s hurtful to everyone. It plants this subconscious thought that “real” jobs only consist of things you hate. That sounds like a “real” bummer. I believe we all have a purpose in this life and that everyone should be fairly compensated for it. It hurts my heart every time I read a comment about how I should “grow up”, “act like an adult”, “get a real job” and so on. I am 35. With my genetics and with continued medical advancement I will easily live til 100. And there are people thinking it’s “normal” to stop having fun for the next 65 years? Ugh.. this hurts so much to think about how much misery is in their life. It’s 2024. Technology alone has created some really weird job titles that seem very unreal. And the more I learn about different people’s line of work, the core of everyone’s job is pretty much the same. You got to educate yourself on some level, you have to work for free or for a a little amount of money for awhile. Most people end up doing something they don’t really want to do because they hope it leads them to thing they want to do. Overall, they get to a place where they have achieved a livable or greater level of satisfaction with what they do. All jobs, are “regular” jobs.

Contact Info:

• Website: linktr.ee/elisabethwykert
• Instagram: @elisabethwykert
• Facebook: @elisabethwykert
• Youtube: @elisabethwykert
• Other: Tiktok: @elisabethwykert I’m the only Elisabeth Wykert in the world (that I know of so I get all the easy social media handles.)

Image Credits
The photo on stage in the gold leotard is by Athletic Storm Photography