We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Pangborn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, appreciate you joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?

I worked as a Physician Assistant in Primary Care through the pandemic and was experiencing extreme burnout. I invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in my education to become a PA, as well as thousands of hours of hard work over seven years of school. The thought of doing something different was scary, considering all the time and money I had invested in this career path.

But as time went on, I realized all the time and effort I had put in was not a good enough reason to continue down a path that wasn’t making me happy. Instead of letting the fear and investment keep me where I was, I took a calculated risk to start my small business—and I am so grateful.

My mental health is now better, my physical health is better, and I am more successful financially (and in many other ways) than I was in my old job. If I had let that fear hold me back, I never would have leveled up.

That’s how I learned the very valuable lesson that if something isn’t serving you anymore, it isn’t worth hanging on just because you’ve invested so much into it. There has to be a point where you forget about what past you did and prioritize what is best for your future self.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I moved to Sedona, Arizona in 2018 to start my first job as a Physician Assistant. I spent 5 years serving my rural community as a healthcare provider, including through the pandemic. In my free time, I started hiking and leaning into my love for taking photos. I started posting them online and began gaining followers over time. Once I hit 50K followers on Instagram, I started making some money through brand deals and saw an opportunity to pursue this further.

I heavily pursued increasing my income through my social media presence for about a year while also working as a PA. Then, after I had some predictability to my income via social media, I pulled the trigger on buying a campervan, quitting my job, and pursuing content creation full time. I now create USA travel and outdoor content while traveling across the country in my campervan.

By focusing on providing value and approachability in each video, I have grown my community to over 500K people. I want the outdoors to feel inviting and like a space everyone belongs. These missions come through in my content just by being myself. I love the outdoors, but I am not a hardcore hiker or backpacker. I like to adventure and then sleep in my comfortable bed at night, and I want others to know that whatever type of outdoorsy you are is enough—you are outdoorsy even if you don’t sleep on the ground or hike massive mountains in your free time.

Through my content creation and understanding of social media marketing, I have created for and worked with incredible small and large brands. I have had some very successful campaigns by continuing to provide value, entertainment, and education while organically integrating products into my usual type of content. I’ve also dabbled in creating visitor guides to places I know well, like Sedona.

I am most proud of the fact that I took a risk on myself and was brave enough to take a leap that really paid off. I have learned that it’s okay to be scared to do something—you just do it scared. There will never feel like a perfect time to make a change, but imperfect action is better than perfect inaction.

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

My biggest recommendation is to be true to yourself. A lot of people tell me, “No one online looks like me or is posting about what I like, so I don’t feel like I belong there.” In my opinion, not seeing someone like you online or not seeing your interests represented is the exact reason you should start posting. That makes you unique and it might be the very thing that helps you succeed on social media. If there isn’t representation of someone like you, you can be that representation. Lean into what makes you different and just start.

In a world of AI, the one thing AI won’t be able to replicate is you. Your personality, your quirks, your unique perspectives. Be authentic and true to yourself to stand out and connect authentically with your audience.

Consistency is also important when growing online. Make an attainable goal to post a certain number of times per week and stick to it. I post 4 reels per week every single week and have for years. I think posting 4x per week every week is better than posting daily for a week then none the next week. In my opinion, consistency is more important than quantity when it comes to growing online.

Understand your follower’s needs. Mine want to know what to do, where to go, and how to do it in regard to traveling the USA. Bring value to your follower and center your content around your followers, not necessarily you. Speak in a way that relates to them. For example instead of saying “I went to xxx restaurant for lunch” reword it to focus on your followers’ interests by saying “If you love seafood, the lobster is to die for at XXX restaurant” you are taking out “I” and replacing it with “you” which helps you relate to your followers.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think some people won’t understand my lifestyle because it’s unconventional. But something beautiful about life is that you can just change your opinions on things whenever you like. You can plan your life down to every single detail but sometimes life throws our plans off the rails anyways. Truthfully, I used to dislike hiking and didn’t understand the appeal. I also never anticipated or really wanted to be a content creator or live in a van until things started falling into my lap and I started trying new things. Don’t be afraid to do something new and it’s important to be aware and looking for opportunities that “fall into your lap” when one is presented to you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @pang_bang
• Facebook: @pang_bang
• Other: Tiktok: @pang__bang (it has two underscores)
  My full name is also Nicole Pangborn – many people think my last name is Pang because that is what I have on socials.