Today we’d like to introduce you to Shanna Wallace
Hi Shanna, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m Shan, and I suppose i’ve always been a bit of a “content creator.” When I was in in elementary school, I created a MySpace account (shh) and quickly become the go-to person if you wanted your picture overly-edited in the best way possible for that time period. By the time I graduated high school, I had amassed 13,000 subscribers (which felt like a much larger number in 2014) on YouTube for my hair tutorials.
Unfortunately, I fell out of love with YouTube because doing my hair for content started to feel like a chore. Although my love for content creation was still alive and well, I simply felt as though any content vertical I decided to delve into would eventually feel like a chore– so I didn’t make content. For Years. Until the pandemic hit in 2020 and there wasn’t anything else to do, so I downloaded TikTok.
TikTok exposed me to so many different creators and it was extremely inspiring. I was wasting my talent. So, I started making more content, eventually creating a dedicated page for the only hobbies I’ve ever had that never started feeling like a chore: eating and traveling. The “@shantheleo” page was originally “@piscesmeetsleo” because I started the page with my close friend. Ultimately, it ended up just becoming my page and i’ve been all over the world posting food and travel content ever since.
I think i’m mostly locally known as a food creator, but my real passion is travel. i’d love to break further into the travel industry. It’s just tough, especially when it’s way easier and cheaper to just go to a restaurant than it is to visit another country. I also can’t figure out how to make the algorithm (but really people at the end of the day) love my travel content just as much as they love the food content, but when I figure it out prepare to be sick of me!
No matter how my content performs, I’m ultimately just happy to have such a great hobby that I’m truly passionate about. I started making travel videos specifically because I always got so many questions about my travels. I was honestly sick of answering them, so I decided to package everything up in one place to easily share with others. Funny enough, that’s also why I started YouTube so many years ago (2011 I think). It’s because I was always getting questions about my hair and how I maintained it.
My love for content creation and my love for food and travel just all happen to work well together! I had this professor at The University of Alabama, Mike Little, who taught graphic design. I hated that class. I didn’t see the point of it at all, I was a PR major, I was going to be Olivia Pope, why did I need graphic design? 5+ years later, I’m so thankful for Professor Little AND that graphic design class. It really gave me a great visual eye and. a lot of those skills I learned help me create the content I do today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s actually been a smooth road for the most part because it’s truly fun for me. As I mentioned earlier, I do think my food videos garner more traction than the travel ones, but I just need to keep shooting the dice.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I currently work in advertising. I love it because my professional and personal lives align in the best way. My hobby fuels my career and vice versa. I’m known for being a problem solver, and “the energetic person on the floor.” I’m most proud of the fact that i’ve reached a point in my career where I can sustain myself and afford to fund my hobbies, it wasn’t always that way!
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was the kid who got straight A’s on their report card but that also would get dinged for “talking during silent reading” or talking too much in general. I was always stressed out about my grades because once I started getting rewarded, I couldn’t fathom bringing home anything less than an B, which is how I managed to ultimately graduate college with a 4.0 GPA, but at what cost LOL.I was an extremely bubbly child, often befriending everyone who was open to it. I was interested in hair, and I actually considered being a hair stylist for awhile until I realized how much customer service goes into that career, and I’m not built for it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shantheleo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shantheleo#
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shanvsworld
Image Credits
N/A
