Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maggie Nelson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Maggie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents were very open and vulnerable about difficult moments in their lives, the most notable being the stillborn death of my second oldest sister, Kathleen. After her death my dad created a business dedicated to families and the loss of children. He led group meetings, spoke at conferences, and wrote a book (A Guide for Fathers: When A Baby Dies) about his grief. Seeing that vulnerability on a daily bases made me feel extremely safe sharing my own experiences. Whether it was the challenges of gaining weight, the struggles of motherhood, my ADHD and depression journey, etc. I think that real life emotion is what we miss on social media but we desperately crave it.

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

I am a content creator and started my page back in 2020 just before the pandemic hit. I was living in London with my husband and wanted to fill my time with something creative. I was really drawn to the body positive movement after years of self-loathing and crash diets, the notion of loving your body no matter how it looked felt so novel. Once the lockdown began, I had more time to create content and my account grew very quickly. Since then my life has changed dramatically and I have been so thankful for the community that has followed me throughout those changes. Although I still hold space for body positivity/neutrality, it is now more of a space to discover my new fashion sense as a mother, being a representative for women with similar bodies who don’t see themselves in mainstream media, and just having fun!

I work with plus size or size inclusive brands as well as do UGC work.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think the biggest lesson to unlearn is that you have to do what you love for a living. After being laid off, I did content creation full-time and it took all of the fun out of it because it was my main revenue source. That anxiety and pressure translated into my content and performance suffered. Being able to find a job that you enjoy, with a team you respect, and allows you to do the things you love without the pressure of making it your full-time business is extremely underrated.

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

The start of my social media journey was built on a lot of luck. It was the start of the pandemic and everyone was on their phones 24/7. The rise in self-care helped my message of self-love get boosted quickly and because of the nature of the content and the vulnerability I was willing to show, I was able to connect with a lot of incredibly supportive women. Those women have been with me through everything and helped boost my message and have been supportive as I pivoted to new subjects. I think the most important thing was building real relationships with people and putting in time to get to know them and share/help/support however possible.

If someone is just starting their social page, I would ask a lot of questions about what they want to get out of it and what they want it to look like. Craft content that isn’t self-serving and can make someone’s life better whether it’s from education, entertainment, or connection. A lot of businesses think they can just “go viral” and it will solve all their problems, but you have to be authentic to yourself and your brand and not focus on virality. Focus on creating the best community for what you’re looking for.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysizemagpie/?hl=en
• Other: UGC Website: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGkQYSazF8/ZGaMS-TVP596HJG1sc3R_g/edit?utm_content=DAGkQYSazF8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton