We were lucky to catch up with Gisselle Rodriguez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Gisselle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I have been creating content for over a decade. When I was younger, I would have a lot of free time, because I wasn’t in any sports or after school activities. Therefore, I spent a lot of time at home and began watching YouTube videos.

At the time, I was around 11 years old, and I was also really into playing the Disney Club Penguin online game. Someone showed me that there were other creatives making music videos using their penguin character as the star and editing an entire video to popular songs. I watched so many of them impressed at how the people were creating what looked like masterpieces to me.

Eventually, I decided that I wanted to produce my own Club Penguin Music Videos (CPMV) and began to teach myself how to screen record, edit and post on YouTube. However, learning how to edit 13 years ago was not the same as it is now. Back then, there weren’t many resources as not everyone knew how to edit.

I moved on from Windows Movie Maker to Sony Vegas Movie Studio and now I use Adobe Premiere Pro along with InShot.

Once I moved on to making videos with myself in them, I began to research more on cameras and other editing styles. However, when it comes to making videos with yourself in them, you have to own more equipment like a camera, lighting, microphones and more. This in turn made me expand on my video knowledge to get the best shots, because the better quality your video was, the more views and subscribers you would get.

The skills I found most essential when creating content was being creative, motivated and determined. With videos, you have to come up with the entire concept, direct your own video and have in mind how you’re going to edit. Also, creating content takes time and energy, so you have to be self-motivated, because no one is forcing you to create content, unless you are making a sponsored post. Determination comes in because the algorithms on the social platforms aren’t creator friendly, so some posts may not do as well as others and that can make you feel down.

As far as obstacles that stood in the way of learning more included school. I was always an honors student, so homework occupied a lot of my time after school. My goal was to do well to get scholarships to afford college, finish college and dedicate my free time to creating content. Unfortunately, when my accounts were at their peak, I didn’t have time to be consistent, and that hurt my metrics.

Gisselle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As mentioned earlier, I have been creating content for over half my life. Around 13 years to be exact. However, I didn’t start creating content with the goal to become an influencer. The reason I started a YouTube channel was because I wanted to become an actress, but no agents were giving me a chance. I thought if I made it big in social media by making comedic videos, breaking into the acting world would follow. That obviously wasn’t the case!

I ended up falling in love with creating content and have continued doing it as a hobby. That is why I have expanded from YouTube to Instagram and TikTok. Now, I am able to manage having a full-time job as a communications professional and attend influencing events along with shooting content for personal and sponsored posts.

Most of the companies I partner with reach out to me. I always offer to provide them with photos to post as Instagram counsels, videos (Reels, TikTok and/or YouTube Shorts) and stories. One of my goals is to ensure that sponsored posts don’t sound fake. I want them to sound as authentic as possible. That is the reason I do not have a “niche”, because my life consists of everything you see on my Instagram!

After all these years, I am most proud of where I am today. I didn’t know you could make money off social media or work with popular brands/companies. This year, I have collaborated with Whataburger, the Dallas Mavericks, Fabletics and more. It’s always rewarding to work with brands that I genuinely love and most of the partnerships have been ongoing.

I would like my potential clients and followers to know that I am grateful to be provided with the platform and opportunities that being a content creator has given me. Everyone always says this, but I truly wouldn’t be working with my dream brands if it weren’t for the people who support me. I will always be authentic and not promote something I don’t like. As long as I can keep being a content creator, even if it’s as a hobby, I will try to produce the best content possible!

How did you build your audience on social media?

While I may only have a little over 4,000 followers on Instagram, most of them came from my YouTube, which at one point, had over 20,000 subscribers.

Growing on social media can be hard, and collaborating with brands is more difficult. As cliché as it may sound, you have to be yourself. Don’t be afraid about what people may think. Sure, some people may think you are “weird” or “trying too hard”, but at least you are trying!

Always cross promote your social handles on all platforms. For example, I posted on YouTube once a week, and I would promote my Instagram and Twitter. That way, my subscribers could keep up with me during the week and interact with me. That is major! You should always interact with your followers and find ways to give back.

Most people already tell you this, but you need to be consistent. I’m not the best at always posting, but when I have been, I have seen my Instagram begin to bloom.

Lastly, if you want brands to notice you as a micro influencer, use the hashtags that include “influencer” and “blogger” in them. That is how brands have found me and wanted to work with me. Don’t be afraid of being judged, because at the end of the day, you are going to get contacted by a brand eventually.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I always find it rewarding when my followers tell me that they trust my opinions or love the content I put out. My goal is for people to enjoy my creations, so when a comedic post/story does well, then I know I did something right.

In addition, I like to be as real as I can get while maintaining some privacy. Anytime someone tells me they love my stories and always watch them, or I realize that is what they do, I get a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart. I have sometimes felt like I can be a bit annoying with stories, so it’s reassuring to know that my followers actually watch all of them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gisselle_rdz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gissellesrodriguez
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/gigiactress
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh5Zm3wrwa97i9CAGCgp8FA