We were lucky to catch up with Katherine Rollins recently and have shared our conversation below.
Katherine , appreciate you 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?
Many people think I earn from just one area of my career, but the truth is my earning comes from different avenues. Streaming video games, partnerships, affiliates, sponsorships, and viewer donations is where my earnings come from. Before starting my career journey, I was working two full-time jobs, and while I enjoyed the jobs, I didn’t feel fulfilled. I was working on creating a name for myself as a journalist, but I wanted to do more with it. I had interviewed a very popular video game streamer and told him I wished I would do what he was doing. He smiled and said, “If I can do it, you totally can do it.” That night I told my husband I wanted to try it and, the following business day, put in my two weeks’ notice at one of the jobs and began learning how to stream. I learned that I had to market myself and my streams, and that’s when I discovered social media’s power (good and bad). I was able to engage with people I usually wouldn’t have met. I also learned marketing that works for me and my brand. Most of my audience knows I don’t use make-up, so they know I would not promote or suggest make-up to them, but they do know I love video games and comic books, so they trust that I would recommend good products in that department. That trust leads to them using my links or promo code, and they can save money on some of the products, and in turn, I earn a commission. I was able to learn, grow, quit my “normal” job, and start my own company that helps small businesses understand social media.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The way I introduce myself to people is: Hi, I’m Katherine, aka TheHighHeeledGamer, and I am the Oprah of the Nerd World. I interview people in the Video Game, Comic Book, and Cosplay industries. I also do reviews of “nerdy” products. I have always wanted to write for a video game magazine, but life had other plans, and I was never able to follow that dream officially until my kids got older. I told my husband I wanted to pursue this dream, and he supported me 100%. Once I had a plan down, I sent a cold email to a popular convention, informing them about my journalism goal and that I may not have traditional experience, but I had the passion and willingness to learn and grow. They replied, “We would be honored to give you your very first press pass,” which opened many doors for me. That was over ten years ago, and I am forever grateful to them for taking a chance on me. So I solve three different sets of problems… as a journalist, I make sure the person I interview is the center of attention, we have a friendly conversation, and the audience gets to know the person personally and in the business aspect. I help put people’s stories in front of others. As a streamer, I help people forget their stress for at least two hours. When I stream, it’s for fun and laughs. We are here to have a good time. Yes, life can be challenging, and people are welcome to come to my stream and let me know if they are feeling down because many of my followers know I am a mental health advocate. I acknowledge and talk to them, but they know I will try to help them ease that feeling. I provide a safe space for my viewers. Lastly, as a business owner, I started Nerd World Media. It helps people of a certain age understand social media. Many think it’s just about dancing and lip-syncing, but social media is a new-age marketing tool. People don’t have to buy billboards or figure out have to get a commercial on tv… they can use social media. I help those people see how to use social media to help grow their businesses properly.
There are two things I am most proud of, the first is having people say that they were nervous before the interview, but then they were so relaxed because I did make them feel like they were talking to a friend and not being interviewed. Many come back to promote other projects and products because they feel comfortable with me. The second thing I am proud of is the friendships I have made in my journey. Sometimes I hate saying audience and followers because they are my virtual friends. I have built a community in all three careers, and we have bonded. They support me and know I support them, and I’m very proud of that.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I built my audience on social media by being authentic. I am 44 years old now, a mom of three, a grandma of one, and a wife to a disabled military veteran… I don’t have time to be fake or phony. Sometimes my hair is done, sometimes it’s not, sometimes I’m wearing a nice dress, sometimes I am wearing jeans and a tee shirt. And most of all, I am honest with my audience… if I am feeling down, they know I don’t hide my mental health from them. The other part is I engage with my audience. I don’t post and ghost. When I post something and someone leaves a comment, I respond to them. I leave comments on posts of people I follow and those I don’t. Leaving comments, especially authentic ones, are not only seen by the person who created the post, but it’s seen by people who follow them, and that could spark their curiosity, and they could visit your page and maybe even follow you. I have over a 200% engagement rate on each platform, and I take great pride in that. My audience knows that I take time to talk to them. I’m building trust and virtual friends, which keeps people coming back. That is the biggest piece of advice I can give, engage with people who comment on your posts and comment on someone else posts but make it a genuine comment. Meaning don’t just write, “That’s cool.” If you see something you honestly like, write something along the lines of, “WOW, that’s amazing; how did you create that? or How long did this take you to do?” The follow-up question lets the person know you are interested and keeps the conversation going. Now some people don’t respond, but some do, and sometimes other followers will talk to you as well.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
There were so many things I had to unlearn about social media and being in the public eye, and I’ll narrow it down to three of the most important things I had to unlearn. First, I had to unlearn that follower numbers are not the only things companies consider when working with you. In the previous question, I talked about engagement and my engagement rate, and that is because I don’t have the best follower count, but because my engagement rate is over 200% on each platform, many companies trust me, sponsor me, and partner with me. My engagement rate lets companies know I am communicating with my audience and putting their product in front of many people. The second thing I had to unlearn was not everything I see on social media is real. I used to see people post two to three times a day, every day, and it made me a little sad that I couldn’t put in that kind of time, but then I learned people do batch creating. They take one day of the week and record 20 videos or more in that one day, and release it throughout the week or month. Here I was thinking they were doing that every day when, in reality, they recorded it all in one day. I also follow people who do behind-the-scenes videos because they show how many takes it took to get the right shot or how many hours they actually spent creating the content that we see in ten seconds. This helps me break the illusion that certain content is easy to make. The last thing I had to unlearn was negatively reacting to trolls. There is always going to be someone who says something negative. At first, I used to comment angrily or respond to them with the anger they wanted. Now I thank them for their engagement on my page, or depending on what they write, I tell them they are right. Most recently, someone came to my stream and said I was trash at the game I was playing. I laughed and said nowhere in my bio does it say I’m a professional. I agreed with him that I was trash and I played for fun. He continued to comment negatively about my gameplay, and I continued to thank him for his engagement. He stated I only had eight viewers, to which I said well, I’m playing during business hours but thank you for being one of my eight viewers; that realization made him leave me alone. At the end of my stream, he left over 150 comments, which worked in my favor. Of course, had he said something racist or derogatory, I would have blocked him, but he was teasing my gameplay, which helped my engagement numbers. He may have left 150 comments, but my audience was defending me, and in total, I had over 500 comments on that stream. Trolls are just lonely people trying to ruin someone else’s day… and I can honestly say I have converted two trolls into friends. One called me a grandma thinking I was going to be hurt by it, and when I thanked them and said I love being a grandma, they were shocked they were right, and we got to talking, and now I’m their virtual grandma. The other person made fun of my shoe cam, and when I told them the story behind it, they loved it so much they apologized and followed me, and they have been super friendly ever since.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thehighheeledgamer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehighheeledgamer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HighHeeledGamer
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-rollins/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HighHeeledGamer
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theHighHeeledGamer/featured
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thehighheeledgamer
Image Credits
Katherine Rollins and Zac Rollins