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

Alright, Mike thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I’m incredibly happy as a creative and while I still have a regular job for now, I do occasionally wish I had a regular schedule. When I say regular schedule or regular activities; I mean, you get off work and come home and “do nothing” or just “relax”. My current schedule has me leaving work at 5pm and then I typically go to a business to shoot content and maybe even another after that. If I don’t have anything after work then I go home and work on editing content which can take hours of my time. My days off are big days for me because it’s usually a planned day trip somewhere to make content or the rare period of time where I can catch up on all the errands and smaller chores to take care of. So yes, while it would be nice to just enjoy my free time and have an abundance of it, I am happier doing what I do to help promote business and events around the area. I really find satisfaction in providing that insight to others on where to go this weekend or where to eat for a date night and anything along those lines.

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

I manage my own brand “JustPotus” on various social media sites. My main focus is providing my followers with a honest and unique “lens” to the city they live in. Sometimes, whether you’ve lived somewhere 20 years or just moved to an area, you don’t necessarily know all the good spots to eat, to go out for a fun family night or upcoming events. My page helps connect those local businesses and events to locals looking for something new or different. I typically create reels and posts to capture and tell a story of a place and since video is the way of the future, I’ll probably be focusing on longer and longer videos moving forward. One of the more proud things I like to highlight is how easy it is to travel to other cities. While my main audience is in Orlando; I’m constantly in Tampa because to me, it’s just an hour drive west, and I can always show what makes that drive worth it to my viewers. I’ve even taken multiple day trips to New York City and when I say day trips, I mean flying up there in the morning and leaving the same evening. This unique experience is completely doable to the average person and will not have to break the bank, while at the same time, I’m showing how much you can really do in one day. These are just some of the things I will showcase but I’m not afraid to point out if something isn’t worth the drive or worth the wait, I like to keep it straight forward with my audience.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Society and in a bigger part, businesses should really come to reality on the importance of social media promotion and the creatives that help promote their products or services. While many people may think that we go to a place and get paid in “Free Food”, that really doesn’t take into account the insane amount of hours we spend editing, creating new content and researching new methods to tell a story. Not to mention, most of the time, you aren’t necessarily enjoying a dinner like a normal person would, you are trying to capture certain angles, grabbing lights and waiting until the food is nearly cool until you can get the perfect shot and finally eat it. Many businesses reach out offering a free meal for 6+ hours of your time and that’s where the biggest disconnect is. If more social media managers from these businesses were more knowledgeable on what it takes to create content, build a brand, and on top of all that, stay active constantly on social media; then I think we would have more of a thriving system here for creatives.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I really think that the most rewarding thing about being a creative is seeing your work shared around and people being able to benefit from it. I really like seeing people go to these places that I recommend and have an incredible experience and then they pass the word along. It’s also rewarding to see a business stick around because of more reliable regulars coming in that found them through my page. That in itself is worth so much. I also enjoy meeting so many people from all different areas and learning their story and why they put together an event or opened a business.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justpotus/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justpotus/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@justpotus