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

Hi Sade, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

The funny thing about being a content creator or social media manager is that you will never stop learning. I consider myself knowledgeable, but it’s so hard for me to call myself an expert. That could also be my imposter syndrome talking, but it’s true.

I think I learned to do what I do by always being curious. You have to be curious in this world. You have to be curious about changes in the landscape and the whys. Why is your platform successful, why is it failing, why is it stagnant, etc. That by itself is a skill and it’s very essential.

With that said, you need to pay attention to the latest trends, what people in your niche enjoy, and identify what you enjoy. You need to have the desire to understand before you can actually learn.

Regarding speeding up the learning process, if you’re working toward being a content creator and managing a platform, it’s all about trial and error. Learning what works, what doesn’t work, all that. There’s really no speeding it up. I guess you could cheat and buy followers, likes and participate in engagement pods, but that’s no good for your platform.

I will say, before I knew the “trial and error” aspect of marketing, I looked for processes that will bring me success instead of creating my own. I wanted step-by-step directions on how to create content that wouldn’t fail, but ultimately, that doesn’t totally land for me. Nothing is guaranteed.

Accepting that something you worked really hard on will fail and having to learn why was an obstacle for me.

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

From when I graduated high school in 2010 to the middle of the pandemic in 2020, I worked in administrative roles in so many random fields. Banking, mental health services, law, and marketing. It was in 2016 when I was working at a law firm that I was completely over that work.

You know that point you get to where you’re no longer comfortable, and you just need something else to be fulfilled? That’s the point I reached. I was so bored. I was over waking up in the morning just to file documents and order catering for people who made triple my income.

When I reached that point, I was able to look inward. I am a very creative, kind of strategic person but I didn’t really have an idea of what to do with that. I didn’t go to college (yet), so I didn’t know what my options were.

At the law firm, I connected with the director of PR and communications. He was really kind and explained his role to me and I was fascinated. I started my research. I learned my options. From there, I was able to come up with a rough plan on how to execute – that started with going to school.

I had a fleeting dream of getting into public relations, but that dream transitioned into learning the social media landscape. I wanted to ultimately learn to utilize the platform(s) that I spend 80% of my time on.

I went to MCTC for my associate’s degree and while I did that, I started to use Instagram as my playground. I created an account @experiencemsp. I would take user-generated content and post it to that page. I wanted to be a resource for visitors and locals to discover what the Twin Cities has to offer. I would round up local events, share bomb food, highlight local boutiques, and just anything that makes up Minneapolis/St. Paul.

However, I came across eat drink dish, which does the exact same thing, just food-focused. While in school, I connected with Golnaz who started the page and quickly started to work with her. I went from foodie to super foodie. Today, I love creating food content. I love trying new restaurants and playing with my food. I love all that shit.

From 2020 when I was let go from my office manager role at a marketing agency, I connected with Emily Tapp and Meg Steuer at Greater MSP to assist with social media efforts for both Make it. MSP. and Forge North. From there, I had a brief stint at an agency that almost broke my spirit, but found my place at Visit Saint Paul where I showcase the beautiful city of Saint Paul alongside a small but mighty team. In late 2021, I connected with Sarah Edwards to help promote and showcase Fashion Week MN events and SONDER, a very sick event that is happening 2/4/2023. Follow me, @iamsarahedwards and @somegreatpeople for info on that.

I am very busy these days. I work full-time on Visit Saint Paul while assisting with Fashion Week and eat drink dish and lastly managing myself and my independent content creation opportunities and creating new connections and maintaining existing connections.

What sets me apart is that everything I do, I do authentically. I put my heart into everything that I do. I love to piece things together to make something beautiful and as I see it or document my experience exactly as it is. There’s no bullshit with me.

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?

Yes! I don’t consider myself an influencer. It’s an outdated term in my opinion. A lot of people will agree with me. When I think of an influencer, I think of someone with 108K followers, who has an aesthetically pleasing feed and posts content that I personally can’t connect with because they only talk about their clothes and partnerships. No offense if I just described you, but that’s not me.

I’m messy A. F. and although I do love aesthetically pleasing posts from time to time, I need to balance it with the real shit, because that is what makes me, me. My dark thoughts, my views on human rights, memes that make me laugh, cats, etc. I am not going to only post about food, fashion and Saint Paul, because there’s so much more to me and I’m not managing a finsta on top of all of the accounts I manage so I can share all of the other things I want to share. I don’t have time for that.

So, what do I consider myself? I consider myself a connector and a content creator with a micro, but engaged local audience.

However, “content creator” is now replacing the term influencer, but I literally create content so I’m going to have to deal with the connotation.

Another thing, creating content can be overwhelming – I feel lame even saying this but it’s true! It’s glamorized because content creators get free stuff or attend fun events. While that is so much fun and super dope and I love it, there are still so many expectations that you feel like you need to meet.

Another thing is I am glued to my phone. I have to force myself to look up and enjoy the moment. To be honest, sometimes my reality gets a little skewed because I spend so much time on my phone comparing myself to others, constantly tracking how a post is performing, and having social media fomo. It’s fun, and amazing but also at times mind-numbing work. A big part of my self-care is going on DND and not being on social media.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal with everything that I am doing is to connect people to amazing businesses and brands. That’s really it. There is so much that the Twin Cities has to offer, so much that it’s hard to stay on top of everything, so I want to be a resource. My DM’s are always open to answering questions or making new friends. I’m open.

Through social media, I want to spread awareness. I want the businesses that I partner with to reach a new audience, and I want to be the ripple effect. I care about these businesses so much, that I will go days without relaxing because I am constantly running around capturing content to share online and creating something that may or may not perform.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sadeyoungmn
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadeyoung-mpls/
• Other: @fashionweekmn @visitsaintpaul @eatdrinkdish

Image Credits
Michael Sheldon – @michaeljsheldon Sheldon Powell – @sheldonjpowell Carleen E. Olson – @carleen_ceo