Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Edwards.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Growing up, I always loved being in front of a camera. As my family and friends would say, “you are not camera shy!” It wasn’t until 2018 that I realized I wanted to share my story through pictures and videos. However, the fear of failure kept me from pursuing that dream. At the start of the pandemic, I decided there’s no better time to start since my workload wasn’t as heavy as it was in the past. With the encouragement of my immediate family and friends, I posted my first video on YouTube. It was a “Get to Know Me” video and I received so much support from everyone that watched the video. Now that I had pushed my past my fears, I knew that it was time to get to work on content that showcased my journey. I always wanted to be a travel blogger but the pandemic put my travel plans on hole, so I decided to focus on the next big part of my life- my natural hair journey. At that time, the natural hair community was saturated with everyone sharing their hair journey. I had a moment where I thought that it was no point in trying to make videos about natural hair. However, I saw a post one day on Instagram that shared it’s okay if the content you create is focused on a highly saturated category; you have something to add to your content that makes you unique. After that, I knew I could showcase my hair journey and tailor it to my personality and love of helping others. Since then, many of my supporters have asked me questions about natural hair care, I was featured in multiple magazine articles, and I was invited to speak on an IG live about my natural hair journey. Over time, my content expanded to beauty and fashion and just recently traveling. I have over 200 subscribers on YouTube and 1.5K followers on IG. I try not to look at the numbers but instead focus on how I can best engage with my supporters.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My journey hasn’t always been a smooth road. I battle with imposter syndrome, comparison and moments of content block (similar to writer’s block). When I first started my content creator journey, I compared my content to that of bigger influencers. I would always ask myself “what am I doing wrong?” I focused so much on others and trying to recreate their content, not realizing that wasn’t what my subscribers wanted to see. It took me a while to realize that I could look for inspiration but what would make me standout is being my most authentic self. Another struggle I had on my journey was my lack of motivation for creating content. There would be weeks where I struggled to come up with content, creating content and sharing it on social media. That was closely related to the fact that I was exhausted from my 9-5 job that I didn’t have any energy to think of creative ideas for content. I didn’t understand how some influencer/content creators worked full-time jobs and were full-time content creators. I ended up falling back into that comparison mindset, which didn’t help with my motivation. I had to find a way to balance everything I was doing so I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. Buying a planner and utilizing Trello really changed the way I was able to organize my life and create moments of creativity.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I currently work in higher education at a public, 4-year institution. I have been in the higher education field for over six years. I enjoy working with college students, specifically those in housing. I get the opportunity to engage with them from their first year of college to their last year and graduation. Watching students grow throughout their 4-6 years in housing and on campus is so amazing. Beyond student engagement, my role requires a lot of project management, event planning and supervision. Over the last six years, I have planned and implemented over 100 small and large-scale events, supervised and advised a variety of students and learned so much about working in higher education. One of my proudest moments in my career was graduating with my Master of Education in Higher Education. Working full-time and going to school for my master’s was challenging but walking across that stage to get my degree was worth it. Acquiring my master’s helped open doors for me in my field. Though I love working in higher education, I started looking for opportunities outside of education. I feel like this new phase of my life is calling me to something new and I know I will have to step outside of my comfort zone. But that is one of my favorite qualities about myself, I never shy away from a challenge, And even though transitioning out of higher ed is scary, I am ready to face this new phase head on! My skills and experiences have prepared for what I want to do next.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
One of my favorite podcasts is Affirmation for Black Girls on Spotify! I started listening to this podcast a few months ago, and it has helped me navigate through some difficult moments in my life. Tyra the Creative is the host of the podcast and her affirmations at the beginning of the podcast allows me to be reflective and give myself grace. Reminding myself that I am capable helps me when engaging at work and creating content. Hearing about another Black women’s experience navigating through the world as an aspiring actor and content creator fuels me and helps me work and be patient with myself. Another resource that I utilize daily is Spotify. Music calms and grounds me. I have a playlist for every emotion I face and knowing I can go to them to help me process through I throughout my day/week/month. Processing through my emotions via music allows me to center myself to be able to complete the work I need to do.
Pricing:
- Sponsored YT video: $250
- IG post(s)/story: $125 per post/5 stories
- Project management: $200
Contact Info:
- Email: jas.nicolelifestyle@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsonlyjasnicole/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ItsJas.Nicole
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/itsonlyjasnicole
