We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marielou Mandl. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marielou below.

Marielou, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I’ve been able to support myself fully from my creative work for many years but so much of that is about being creative about being creative. Earning a full-time living from your creative work is not for the faint of heart because it is not always so linear. Personally, it comes in waves – sometimes the season is bountiful and sometimes it is not. Full-time living doesn’t necessarily mean full-time all the time. It is not a destination you reach and you are guaranteed to keep going up. I’ve been in this game long enough to honestly tell you there will be highs and there will be lows but if you anticipate that and use your money wisely, you will have better chance at longevity. And longevity should be the goal if you really enjoy your work. I like to think of independent creatives as if we are independent farmers. We can maintain our farm, improve our skills, expand our tools, and plant the seeds. What we can’t control is the weather. Is it favorable this season? Excellent – double down on what you can but don’t deplete all of your supplies because next season there might be a drought. We just don’t know. Your main crop isn’t popular this year? You have to think outside of the box and maybe switch things up. Stay flexible, stay on top of your work, protect your mind, body, and energy.

In the beginning, I was doing any side hustle I could while working whatever jobs I needed to in order to keep fighting for what I want. For so long, when people would ask me what I did, my answer would be “whatever I need to.” I kept at it, I kept learning, I kept growing my skills and my network. My creative work in the beginning is much different than it is now because I was flexible enough to follow what works for me and what also makes money. I didn’t have the privilege of mentors but I got very good at researching, observing, and learning from what I could see. Could things have happened faster? Perhaps, but my journey is mine and I wouldn’t have the savvy I have now without everything I have experienced.

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

I want to start by telling you, reader, aspiring creative, yes YOU. You are what you tell people you are and if you do not clearly tell people who you are they will make their own assumptions which might not be aligned with what you actually want to be known for. Its not written in stone and will evolve but whatever that is now – think about it, practice it, claim it, say it, own it.

I am a host and content creator. Projects I have hosted include podcasts, pageants, interview series, travel shows, live events, and even training videos. Somewhere out there, are some Panda Express training videos that I am hosting. I’ve never seen them personally but I sure did work that gig. If you saw it, please tell me.

I am also a content creator, which for me means I am on camera but I also write, shoot, direct, edit, and post. It is a much different monster than being a host for hire but it is truly and fully me. I love executing all the roles and it works for the level I am at.

What I am not is a content creator that will write, shoot, direct, edit and post for someone else. I am working toward directing more narrative projects in the future but do not mistake that for me being the person you can recruit to make you internet famous. No, you cannot hire me to do all the work on your podcast. Need me to host this podcast, we can discuss. Need a guest? Sure. Want to sponsor or have product placement in my projects, have your people call my people and by my people I mean email me.

This goes back to what I said earlier – you are what you tell people otherwise they make assumptions and start to place you in their mind where you can help them. It’s natural but you gotta help them place you in a way that is true to you. I used to be very vague about what I did for a few reasons. Primarily, it was because I needed all the work I could get and I really was eager to learn everything I could. Also, I didn’t really give myself permission to say what I truly wanted. As you progress, your heart and gut will tell you very clearly if something is or isn’t what you actually do, who you actually are. Listen to that feeling and follow it.

I absolutely love creating my content all over the internet. On my main YouTube channel, I create content about creating content – I make videos about software, hardware, video editing, making money, and sharing insights about the creative journey. Most of these tutorials I do in short livestreams, which is such an effective and exhilarating way to put out content once you know how to do it. I have some Skillshare classes about the same type of topics.

There are other platforms where I review lifestyle products and share my honest opinions with other shoppers. This is a content type I got into purely because it is SO much fun for me and also brings in money. It is what I internally call “influencer sh*t” without the lies. You can’t pay me to say something is good when it isn’t. That just isn’t on the menu.

At the beginning of next year, I am returning to interview podcasting with a project I am currently developing that has nothing to do with the topic of content creation. I’m very very excited about it! Keep your eye out for that.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have a photo of my 13 year old self sitting next to my work station. She was weird, quirky, nerdy, and awkward. She was smart. When asked what she wanted to be when she grows up, her answer was ‘free.’ I honestly had no idea what that would look like but I knew I had not seen myself in any paths presented to me.

Earlier in my creative career, when I really was starting to see it form, I was sent on a project to film a live performance at a middle school in a small town in Oklahoma. As I’m setting my my tripods and cameras, lugging my gear all around this gymnasium, a group of girls come up to me and ask ‘Are you the one filming this?!’ I say yes, not thinking too much about it because its just what I did. But their response sticks with me to this day. They said ‘We didn’t know girls could do that.’ I smiled, told them ‘yes, of course!’ then proceeded to hide in the bathroom crying for the next few minutes because I was overwhelmed with emotion. These girls hadn’t even considered that was something they could do because they had not seen themselves represented in that career path but now these girls could believe it was an option. Don’t worry, I pulled myself together and got the job done fabulously knowing that my existence as a creative female meant something.

In a society that loves to tell us what we can and cannot be, existing as truly ourselves is the disruption we need to be free. This is what drives me.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I’ve been on social media as long as social media has been a thing. I have always enjoyed the concept of sharing creativity freely in places where people might actually see it. I remember jokingly/seriously/jokingly telling people that Instagram was my art. Look at me now. It was very different in the beginning with little to no expectation. It was just fun. My content skills grew from sharing a lot, telling stories, going on adventures, and living my life. My audience grew when people started to notice I knew how to create content and associated me with social media. My most popular content was straight from what people would ask me. I would get questions on how to film this or how to edit that. Once I got a question three times, I would just make the video. It was easier than having to explain it from scratch each time. I wanted to help everyone and making videos was an efficient way to do this. I continued to build this library and in turn, build my audience. A lot of these tutorials didn’t do much in the beginning but because I had made them, posted them, and covered a lot of related topics when people were searching, it was there ready for them. Sometime in the past few years, it seems like a lot of people had a lot of time at home and suddenly wanted to know how to make videos. We may never know why this spike happened but it was totally a ‘build it and they will come’ moment.

If you are just starting to build your social media presence now, make as much as you can about what you know and there is PLENTY you can share. Don’t consume too much content but make a lot of content because your goal early is to learn how to create, release, and repeat. Your skills will get better. You do not have to be on every platform. You really don’t. There are so many people on each social media app and despite what you might feel, you do not have to reach every person on the internet. You just need to find your people. Stick to the apps that you feel good spending time on. Try a few different things, see what works well for you. What comes easiest to you. What is fun for you, ’cause if it ain’t fun, it will feel like torture and I don’t want that for you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/marieloumandl
• Youtube: youtube.com/marieloumandl
• Other: tiktok.com/marieloumandl