We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jaila Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jaila, thanks for joining 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 have had the opportunity to work as a social media manager using the skills I learned building my own platform. What started out as a hobby has manifested into a stream of income for me. As a content creator of seven years, I’ve had time to grow and learn with social media platforms like YouTube, which help me further my personal brand as well as my company’s brand. From day one the journey was a lot of trial and error, learning how to curate content creatively but also learning the logistics of the platform, how to interpret analytics, and best practices to further my reach. I realized that as much as YouTube is about luck, it’s also about systems and processes, and the more you learn those systems, the higher probability you have of performing well on the platform. The skills I learned as a content creator were easily transferrable to my role as a social media manager, and it was refreshing to take a step back from being the subject as a content creator and seeing exactly how these systems can work in a different niche and different content environment.

Jaila, 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?

I stopped chemically straightening my naturally curly hair in high school, which was at the time a very unpopular decision for people who looked like me. As I journeyed in learning to care for what felt like a new head of hair, I turned to YouTube for guidance. It was there that I found the natural hair community, comprised of Black women who had also made a choice to love their natural hair texture. As my hair grew and flourished, I wanted to contribute to this online community and help others on their natural hair journey. I began uploading how-to hair tutorials on YouTube in 2015, and have been cultivating a community of supporters ever since. While the internet may seem saturated in hair and beauty content, I am consistently able to engage an audience because of my teaching approach, which presents complex tasks as beginner friendly. I always say, “if I can do it, you can do it too,” and I provide my audience with the knowledge and skillset needed to achieve the look while saving the cost of the service. Beauty has been a gateway for me to explore other topics with my audience, like sharing micro influencer success tips for aspiring content creators, documenting my nontraditional academic journey, and encouraging others in the practice of self-love and acceptance. I am most proud of cultivating a safe space for people to learn and hone applicable skills that make them both look and feel good.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Part of my success in building a social media audience was creating in a niche that was incredibly popular yet not oversaturated at the time. I saw growth in the natural hair community on YouTube relatively quickly because I was creating content that was algorithmically favorable at the time. I think my decision to “niche down” very early on also helped boost my content visibility, which allowed me to grow pretty steadily. From there, it’s important to actively respond to audience feedback. Your content ideas can come directly from your comment section, addressing topics you know your audience is interested in. Cross-promotion across platforms (YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok) is also another huge factor in audience growth. The same piece of content can be repurposed to fit the culture of different platforms. The most important piece of building an audience is engaging with the people who are already consuming your content, and gaining rapport (and ultimately fealty) from them.

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

Canva is in my opinion one of the most underused resources on the internet. It is a one-stop shop for YouTube creatives specifically, and you have the ability to create user-friendly, high quality content for free using the platform. From thumbnails, to intro/outro videos, banners, Instagram Story templates, Canva really has everything you need. I invested in a Pro account because it allows me to do everything that I need to for multiple platforms without ever leaving the app. You can set a brand logo, font, color palette, etc. and apply it to any design template on the website. I highly recommend it for creatives of any level looking for ease of access.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jaichanellie.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaichanellie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaichanellie
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaichanellie
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/JaiChanellie
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jaichanellie

Image Credits
Jaila Johnson, Kiersten Johnson, Jozelle Johnson