We were lucky to catch up with Kay Schmelly recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission as an influencer is to spread awareness for mental health and body positivity. It means so much to me because I’ve battled anxiety, depression, and CPTSD for most of my life. When trying medicines to help me, one made me gain 40 lbs, and I despised my body. The media is really good at showing people’s good sides, and in the end, it only hurts people. It was tough for me to go on my phone to see super skinny, pretty girls on my phone and it shattered my confidence. Instead of just dwelling on it I decided to bring awareness to it so that I can help people feel okay in their own bodies by seeing what is real.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Along with spreading awareness for mental health and body positivity, I also collaborate with brands and review and post them on my social media. I try to stay in a category of products that can benefit someone’s mental health such as skin care, supplements, fashion, art, etc. I plan to continue to grow and keep spreading awareness for a long time. I also am going to college for business and marketing to increase my knowledge about marketing.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

A lot of people think being an influencer is easy and just handed to you. WRONG. It takes a lot of time to come up with trending, fitting content ideas, create and edit content, figure out proper hashtags, contact brands, receiving no’s, check analytic data on every post, engage with others, learn what you’re doing right/wrong, etc. As well as dealing with the people who want to see you fall. Some days it can be very motivating and hard, and other days it’s my favorite thing to do.

How did you build your audience on social media?

To be honest it was just luck. I gained all these followers from a random viral video and had no idea what to do with them. I slowly shared some of my story and got many DMS being told I helped people, so I made my platform based on awareness of mental health and body positivity. My advice would be to look at people’s profiles who are where you want to be and LEARN. You can always learn more. Mindset is EVERYTHING. Failure will always be a part of everyone’s success. Post consistently and be confident in everything you post.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @kayschmelly