We recently connected with Magen McLaughlin and have shared our conversation below.

Magen , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The story behind Explore Monroe + Explore Union and it’s mission, is that I wanted to create a space where small locally owned businesses could be showcased and locals could have an easier place to find hidden gems and stay in the loop with local happenings and events. In 2021, during the peak of COVID, I was a new at home mom and looking for things to do, places to eat, locally with the kids. In the past, when planning activities or finding places to eat for upcoming trips, my go to was always to get on Instagram or Facebook and find pages in that area that cover things like that. I looked for some locally and was surprised to find none. With a background and passion for Marketing and Social Media and being a new bored, stay at home mom, I decided to create Explore Monroe. For the first year, it started off with me documenting our family outings on these socials, and at one point, I almost gave up because I wasn’t really creating any traction. I took a few months to regroup and focus on showcasing the small businesses, historic buildings, and my time at local events, and that seemed to be a hit! Shopping locally small businesses as often as possible, is really important to me. I want to encourage others to do the same, and to foster a sense of community and pride through my Explore pages.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Prior to creating Explore Monroe + Explore Union, I worked for a locally owned Automation + Tech company for years. Starting off as an Administrative Assistant while in school full time. Juggling a full time job and being a full time student, you have to be incredibly organized and disciplined, two important qualities that still help me today. If you’ve ever worked for a small company, you know it comes with wearing many hats. As the company grew, I found my niche and ultimately fell in love with Marketing and Social Media. Having this prior experience is one thing that helped me gain the confidence I needed when pursuing the creation of Explore Monroe, the rest was faith. Faith in myself, and faith in what I wanted to bring to my community.

Through my Explore journey, I gained experience in content shooting, creation, and publishing. I started working and collaborating with small businesses local to me and helping them grow their online presence and reach. As an empath, helping others and connecting with them comes naturally, and I wanted to do more, so I began offering my services as a Freelance Social Media Manager to those interested. As a social media manager my main goal is to sit down with my potential clients and figure out their social media goals, brand voice/image, and strengths/weaknesses. I offer long term and short term services, one on one coaching, and more. I try to be open and work with these small businesses in any way that works for them and their budget while still making sure I take care of myself, this is what sets me apart.

My proudest moment so far, In 2023 I was nominated and voted for “Best Influencer” for The 2023 “Best Of” Weeklies’ Reader’s Choice Awards. This was such a huge win for me and I can’t thank my community enough for supporting me.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building a social media audience takes time and patience. You want to build it organically to keep your engagement up. For me, it took about a year and a half to really grow mine, and I’m still working on it daily. I want to make sure the followers I get are coming because they genuinely are interested in the content i’m giving them. Figure out your target audience, and create content FOR them. The followers will come. Another way to grow is by participating in or hosting giveaways. This is a great way to gain new followers and get to know your community.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being creative is what drives me. I love showing my artistry through the photos that I take and the reels I create. If you don’t have that passion and love for what you’re doing it can make things tough. Being able to have full control over content + creation is what sparks my creativity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.exploreunioncountync.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/exploremonroenc?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exploremonroenc?mibextid=2JQ9oc
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ExploreMonroeNC?si=H_eqOLUiZcnhggbp
• Other: You can find Explore Union on Facebook + Instagram as well at the following handles: Facebook: Explore Union Instagram: @exploreunionnc

Image Credits
Outfit: Provided By M-Bellish Photos: Explore Monroe NC