We recently connected with Lyn and have shared our conversation below.

Lyn, appreciate you joining 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 didn’t really have much in terms of tools to learn how to make or edit videos. I had GoPro’s (and now Insta360’s) apps for setting points of view/keyframes, and would take that, export it to CapCut, and finish editing there with fine turning segments, transitions, color adjustments, music, and sound effects. Watching other reels was pivotal in seeing what others were doing (“oh, that was a great sound effect to add,” or “that panning motion was cool”) and Google was my best friend in figuring out how people did that (i.e., where to find sound bytes). A lot of learning was trial and error – exploring the options in CapCut, figuring out what different tools were, keeping them in my arsenal if I liked it, etc.

I think in hindsight, I could have utilized YouTube tutorials more to speed up the learning process, but honestly I didn’t feel like I was slacking on the learning curve, or that I had any expectation to up the video editing game. The ‘research’ I put in on a regular (and ongoing) basis was following and learning from the right creators on social media – the creators that do video edit tutorials, the creators that have large followerships and engagement, the creators that match the vibe and style I resonated with… There really isn’t a right or wrong way to do things, but there are more successful ways. These individuals helped me hone my style of editing, my style of storytelling, to what you see on social media today.

In terms of roadblocks to success or to learning more, it’s really related to LIFE. Content creation isn’t my full-time job; I’m a registered nurse, but also a mom and wife. Social media for me was always just for fun. I enjoy sharing my adventures, lessons, and funny moments with friends, and I love interacting with followers and hearing their stories or how my struggles are relatable to their lives. The day it stops being fun/rewarding is the day I take a break. I always tell my friends and followers, real life comes first. Spending time with my family will always win out over editing recent ride footage or watching tutorials on how to use a clipping mask. Could I be learning more and stepping up my game? Sure. I could invest tons of time (and money) on learning filming and editing technology or buying new software to help, but I am perfectly content with what I have!

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?

Being a ‘content creator’ was never really on my radar. I started riding motorcycles because it was a childhood dream that kept getting pushed aside because of life, family, timing, etc. When I started riding, I utilized my GoPro Max 360 camera to serve a few key purposes: to act as a dashcam in case of an accident, and to have footage to review and learn from as I was learning and improving as a new motorcycle rider. In fact, the whole reason I started my motorcycle Instagram page was to document my progress as a new rider. What I didn’t expect was the funny, sweet, or entertaining moments getting captured, either riding by myself, or with friends I was just making at the time. I figured “oh, this was kind of funny, maybe others will enjoy this as well,” and a few viral videos of positive reinforcement later, here we are!

I think what has helped in my social media growth is that I prioritize staying authentic to who I am as an individual. I share successes, but more importantly, I share mistakes/failures. I believe people relate to that authenticity and the imperfect nature of who we are as people. Social media as a whole is inundated with this idea of absolute perfection, and that’s just not who I am. It’s not who anyone is. We are imperfect beings, growing and learning and progressing along the way. I just highlight that from the perspective of a new rider. I can’t tell you how many messages I’ve received from people similar to me – “I always thought I was too old to start riding, too short, I have no resources or friends to ride with…” Me neither! I started riding in my mid 30s. I’m 5’2″. I didn’t know ANYONE in the motorcycle community. 8 months later, and I have an amazing core group of riding friends I now consider family, a Facebook group of likeminded chill, leisurely riders that is 700 members deep, and a combined 101K followers across my various social media platforms. Seriously, this is proof that if I can do it, anyone can!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

If I have to boil down my goal or mission in doing all this, it is probably to give other new riders that boost of confidence of “hey, if she can do it at her age/height/experience level, so can I!” I aim to be authentic and relatable in my posts, which is why my content ranges from milestones (first wave, first u-turn, first track day), funny content (red light shenanigans with friends) to failures (stalling, dropping the bike, forgetting to strap a helmet). I like to post safety things too – I am an All The Gear, All The Time (ATGATT) rider. There’s an odd sense of responsibility that comes with the new rider niche, in that I’m theoretically inspiring or encouraging people to start riding motorcycles, a generally hazardous activity. I want to continue to be a force for good, encouraging safe riding habits and skills, safety gear, protective equipment, etc.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think this is a common one for a lot of social media creators – chasing views and likes. I understand why Instagram settings include turning off likes and view counts, because there was absolutely a time where I would stare at a reel’s analytics all day, hoping the numbers would go up. That’s not healthy. As I mentioned before, real life comes first, and this was clearly taking time away from my kiddo and my other life responsibilities at the time. I don’t know what snapped me out of it; probably just reinforcing the ‘it is what it is’ mentality’, but really it was my kiddo coming to me to ask if we could spend more time together. That was a definite wake-up call for me. Nowadays, social media, content planning, editing, research has a time and a place in my schedule and life, and if a reel doesn’t pop off in numbers, so be it. I’m not about to modify my content or style to try to garner more engagement. Authenticity is still key.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/small.vroom
• Instagram: @small.vroom
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/@small.vroom
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@smallvroom
• Other: TikTok: @small.vroom

Image Credits

Jason Magsuci
Andrew Perkins