We were lucky to catch up with Samantha Lux (she/her) recently and have shared our conversation below.
Samantha, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I remember being in 1st or 2nd grade and coming home to binge-watch YouTube videos with my friends and loving the sense of community that the old-school YouTubers were able to create, it was an escape for myself and so many other people who didn’t feel connected at school. YouTube was my main source of entertainment for most of my childhood and into my teens, and it was actually the portal to my first exposure to a trans woman who lived a happy and healthy life, as most if not all of the representation I’d seen was girls who tricked men on Jerry Springer for laughs.
I studied media in college and learned how powerful it is, and how it can be used to create or destroy the most intense manifestations of prejudice, and decided to start using YouTube and social media to fight against the transphobia that I was seeing online every day, and provide a positive, healthy example of a trans woman for young trans kids who may not know why they’re feeling the way they are.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I create LGBTQ and women’s rights-centered content for social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram where I discuss current events and viral moments surrounding the communities and give my thoughts as a transgender woman! My favorite videos to create involve spreading trans joy, fighting back against misogynists and transphobes, and sharing stories from my journey of transitioning.
I also frequently speak at businesses, non-profits, etc. who are looking to create a more understanding and welcoming environment for everyone. I, alongside my mother (who has expertise in the corporate world), tell our story and effectively motivate individuals to think compassionately of the LGBTQ community.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I’ve been on YouTube, posting about my transition in a very intimate way since I started my transition 8 years ago. Since the beginning there have been comments calling me the worst names imaginable, comments about my family, comments about how I shouldn’t be alive just because I’m transgender. I’ve had other YouTube creators make transphobic videos about me and had their millions of subscribers sent to my channel to harass me. The hate that I receive is not easy to handle, but the love that I get, and the messages of thank you’s from trans people or from parents of trans kids, makes it doable.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
There’s 3 traits that I believe are key to building an audience on social media, consistency, originality, and authenticity. Consistency is to play into the algorithms of social media platforms, the more you post, the better your content will perform. Originality is finding your niche or corner of content creation that you can focus on and build community around. Finally, authenticity will keep your content sustainable – if you don’t enjoy what you’re creating, eventually that will become apparent in your content!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_samanthalux/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_samanthalux
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuMoaBp0ozi9c-67AFWtg-Q