We recently connected with Mariah Douglas and have shared our conversation below.
Mariah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Overall, I would say yes I am happier as a business owner. Though I love the journey of being a content creator and being able to monetize my creativity, life sometimes throws you curveballs that will have you wondering if it would be easier to go back to working a regular 9-5.
I recently experienced this in the middle of my last pregnancy. At the time, I was offering social media management as a service. I had just resigned from one contract and my other client called to let me know I was no longer needed and my contract would be terminated in two weeks. It happened to be a week before Christmas & my birthday. My last day for both contracts fell on the same day. On top of this news, I was simultaneously having to find a new OB while also going through a really emotionally heavy family situation. I’m not going to lie, I panicked. I felt like my whole world was crashing and burning.
How was I going to prepare for a new baby? How was I going to continue to pay my bills? As an entrepreneur, there is no maternity leave. Planning your finances falls all on you. I was stressed to say the least. I constantly thought about looking for a new job working a 9-5 but couldn’t fathom interviewing while 6+ months pregnant. I cried a lot. Anxiety plagued my mind more times than I’d like to admit. What kept me going was my faith.
Some days I had more faith than others, but I continued to pray. God never let me down before and I knew He wouldn’t fail me now. He is the reason I am even able to have a business and be home with my children. I am now 9 weeks postpartum and God remains faithful. He has made provision for my family and has given me direction of where my next steps will be. I am currently working on some other projects that I believe are the answers to some of my prayers. In the meantime, I continue to trust Him and that keeps me from entertaining going back to 9-5.
Mariah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Mariah Douglas and I am a lifestyle, motherhood and food content creator. For me, content creation fell in my lap. Shortly after I had my oldest daughter, who is now 6, I got a lot of questions about what I used in my natural hair and how I styled it. So I started creating YouTube videos in my spare time, sharing different products and hairstyles for my natural hair.
Eventually I ventured into sharing some food content on my Instagram and some of my favorite memories of myself and my daughter. From there I was a brand ambassador for a couple brands, participated in a few brand campaigns, and then I started doing some brand partnerships and sponsored posts.
I volunteered at a hair show for one of the brands I shared quite often, and through networking became a brand ambassador. That led to me actually becoming a contracted social media manager, and it really opened the door of opportunities for a different side of social media.
After working for them for about 7 months, I was contracted as a social media manager for an agency. I worked as a social media manager for about a year and half and it really opened my eyes to what really goes on behind the scenes of running a business and having a social media presence. It also shed light on how much business owners lack understanding of how to communicate and build community with their customers. It really is much more than throwing some graphics together or taking quick photos and posting them. People want to feel like they are a part of a community, and that plays a big role in how much they engage with your business online.
I had a good run with that; and while I genuinely enjoyed helping those businesses grow and connect with their audience on social media, I’m not sure I’ll go back to that part of social media. I found that my passion is really in content creation. It’s where I feel most creative.
I am currently working on building out a separate branch of my brand around my food content. I am planning to release some exciting digital products soon. Aside from the food pillar of my brand, I also offer my content creation skills as a service to other brands and businesses. I create videos and shoot photos for brands to use in their ads, and/or share on their social channels. I am always open to taking on new clients that align with my brand values. Shoot me an email if you are interested!
What I am most proud of is that I am able to share my life journey of being a millennial mother & believer, my love for food and my overall lifestyle, monetize it while also making an impact. In a world where “influence” is often misused, impact is where you really build legacy. When I have finished my life’s race, I want to be remembered for the impact I’ve made on the earth and that is the legacy I want to pass down to my children. Juggling motherhood, wifehood, being creative, and entrepreneurship is not easy but when I get messages from people telling me how much they are inspired and uplifted by my story, I feel fulfilled. Inspiring and uplifting others is my bottomline “why.”
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson I had to unlearn was that I needed a lot of followers on social media to be successful. The definition of success is really objective, but the lesson is the same. For me, success directly correlated to my ability to monetize my creativity and that caused me to equate my value to numbers. Whether that was numbers in terms of money or my follower count, it was unhealthy.
I’ve learned that first I need to be solid in my identity in Christ before anything because without that, the foundation for anything else is shaky. While I am still on that journey, being intentional about knowing who I am has helped me to shed the expectation that I have to outperform myself to prove that I have worth.
I honestly can say that I really don’t care about my follower count anymore. It does not define me, my worth or the value I bring. Instead, I focus on making sure that anything I publish to the world is with the intention of helping someone. Whether it be by sharing about motherhood or sharing my creativity in the kitchen, I strive to always show up ready to serve. I trust God to orchestrate financial opportunities. It has honestly taken the stress out of creating, making it more enjoyable.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My audience on social media was built through my transparency and authenticity. I believe transparency is where we all grow. It can be uncomfortable sometimes sharing the ugly parts of my life on the internet, but I push through because I know someone reading it needs to hear it. Someone needs to know they are not alone. Someone needs a gentle reminder that they are human and it’s okay to not be perfect. Whatever I share, I am always authentic to who I am. When people interact with me on social media, I want them to feel like they know my true personality. I don’t ever want someone to meet me in real life and think “Wow, she’s nothing like she is on the internet.”
My advice to anyone just starting to build a social media presence is to just be yourself. When people comment on your content or send you DMs, respond and be genuine. Don’t focus on your follower count. Focus on bringing value to your audience. Something someone asked me during a social media coaching class was “If your follower count were actual people in a room, would you be able to connect with them?” That really shifted my focus from numbers to value and is a constant reminder to not be hyper focused on the numbers. Focus on the people first and the numbers will come.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/themariahdouglas
- Facebook: facebook.com/themariahdouglas
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariah-douglas-b6451b46
- Twitter: twitter.com/_mariahdouglas
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/MariahDouglas12
- Other: tiktok.com/themariahdouglas
Image Credits
Ahmad Sweeney – Sweenshots