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Episode 13 - Susan Daggett
162 Plays2 years ago
Susan Daggett is an interior designer and an influencer. We talked about how she grew her passion into her business, Kindred Vintage,, and how she balances being authentic and true to herself with the pressures of running a business on social media.
Follow her on Instagram @kindredvintage
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Transcript
Introduction & Audience Naming
00:00:11
Speaker
Hello and welcome to What's Next. I'm Joel Krogman and this is my show. I was thinking about calling you What's Nexters to create some cohesion amongst the listeners to build the brand and all that. But to be honest, it doesn't sound like me. I also thought about What's Next Nation. What do you think of that? It's got a bit of a ring to it, right? I don't know. I don't think so.
00:00:40
Speaker
Maybe you could all let me know if you think of any more.
Easter Weekend Recap
00:00:44
Speaker
I hope everyone's Easter weekend was good. We spent our Easter at the altar of the bunny. We managed to squeeze in a drive to Chicago over Easter and had the annual Easter egg hunt with the kids and their cousins. And it was really good for the kids. They loved it, but it was a 24 hour trip and it wiped me out.
00:01:07
Speaker
Sometimes I really feel older than 37, and this week is one of those times.
Guest Introduction: Susan Daggett
00:01:14
Speaker
All right, today on the show is my conversation with Susan Daggett. Susan is a designer, interior designer, designs homes, and through her Instagram account, KindredVintage, she is a bona fide influencer.
00:01:26
Speaker
I've gotten to know Susan and her family the last few years through working together to create videos for her Kindred Vintage account. And I've really appreciated her approach to what she does, which is to be genuine and kind and to connect with people by building real community.
00:01:42
Speaker
which I think can be hard to find these days on the internet and even in real life a lot of the time. I really appreciated her candor in our conversation about what it's like behind the scenes when your lifestyle is the product. So I'm really excited to share this talk with you. So please enjoy my conversation with Susan Daggett.
Technical Adjustments
00:02:08
Speaker
Yeah, no fancy required. I'm not fancy either. Hey, Susan. How are you? Good. How are you? Good. Good. There you are. Do you want to scoot over? No, you can. You're the main one. I'm just here for a moment. Yeah, I know. That's why I was moving you to the... All righty. Hi. Let's see. Hey, Susan. How are you doing? Good. I don't know. They're trying to find, I think, headphones. I don't think the headphones are too bad, though.
00:02:35
Speaker
I hear it on my side actually. Oh gosh, how do I turn that off? How do you have that many? How do you turn it off? Here, options. Okay. Can you see me now? Yes. All right. Look at that. We did it. I would not have been able to do that without you telling us what to do. Am I really loud? Now I feel like I'm talking really loud. You can take one ear off if you want and then you're kind of like,
00:03:05
Speaker
Yeah. OK. OK. That's a pro move. That's a pro move. One year on, one year off. OK, because I feel like I'm going to be screaming at you. All right. Cool. Bye, Olivia. Thank you for your help. Thank you. Bye. All right. All right.
Vacation Plans & Family Gatherings
00:03:23
Speaker
Thanks for making the time to do this this morning. Of course. Are you going to tell me when we start? I'm already rolling, yeah. OK. Always roll. That's the rule.
00:03:34
Speaker
Um, so you're on, I got it bounced back from your email that you're, are you out, are you on vacation right now or are you leaving to go to, we're driving to Nashville, staying with Rob's family and then we're going to Florida. So we're going to be there for spring break. That's great. Well, thanks for, um, thanks for doing this on your vacation. Oh, of course, of course. What part of Florida are you going to?
00:03:59
Speaker
We're going to Cocoa Beach. So our uncle has a condo down there. So we're going and staying with him. And then Catherine is there. They're on their way now. Oh, nice. And my mom and Jeff. So yeah. Oh, great. Great. It's like a little family gathering. So it'll be fun.
00:04:13
Speaker
That's awesome. Get out of the gloom of Chicago. Yeah, it's not been the best weather, right? No. It's like gray and miserable here. Yeah.
Beginnings in Interior Design
00:04:24
Speaker
All right. Well, so just to give you a little context about the podcast, I'm talking with people who are doing cool things in their lives.
00:04:33
Speaker
are pushing boundaries for themselves or having to overcome different challenges. I think that in the time that we've spent together working on projects in the past, it's been cool to see how you work and how you and Rob and your whole family work together and Catherine and everyone, but also I've gotten to know a little bit of your backstory.
00:04:54
Speaker
but there's so much I don't know about your world. So just to start out with just the basics, what do you call what you do or how do you describe what it is that you do?
00:05:06
Speaker
So for me, this is like something that I personally struggle with because when I started this, the term influencer wasn't even a thing, right? And I think that there was like a lot of stigma around that word for people who did it and people who didn't do it. So I don't think that anyone really knew what it consisted of or what it entails. Not even the people who were doing it. It was just like, you know, trying to
00:05:33
Speaker
figure it out as it went because it didn't exist
Instagram Journey & Partnerships
00:05:36
Speaker
when I started. So I had started Kindred Vintage. Actually, I was under a different name when I started and I started by doing markets and collecting vintage goods and flipping furniture and stuff like that.
00:05:50
Speaker
Okay, I did like a couple of Shows like markets that I would bring this stuff to okay. You had like an Instagram account or something that you showed your pieces on Yes. Mm-hmm. And that was very short. So that was probably 2013 and
00:06:05
Speaker
And Lorelei was just a baby. She was born in 2013. So I was taking on a lot, but I knew that I was encouraged by friends and family to kind of do something with my passion. I've always had the passion for decorating and for finding those unique pieces to fill your home with. At that time, I didn't even own a home. So it wasn't like Kindred Vintage was started
00:06:30
Speaker
with home design, which is what it is now. So it was all that type of stuff. And I started on Instagram and then I started sharing there. And I made the decision once we bought our house, our first home to, and it wasn't even my decision really, it was like,
00:06:50
Speaker
staging the furniture inside the home and people would be more interested in what was going on in the entire room than just the piece of furniture. So they were like, show us this, show us this. Like we want to see your home. And that's how it kind of evolved from what it was to Kindred Vintage. And that's when I started being like, okay, how can I incorporate
Passion vs. Practicality
00:07:13
Speaker
my love for vintage homes and vintage things?
00:07:19
Speaker
And so it kind of went from there. So I would collect the pieces still and then use them in interior design. When did you become interested in design and interior design and that kind of thing?
00:07:34
Speaker
So I've always been since a young age, but it was one of those things that I told myself, oh, you can't make money by doing this. I remember when I was thinking about what to do for college and maybe it's just because I was limited as to my resources then, but I remember design and interior design was kind of like a, you had to go to a trade school for it. You weren't going to like your typical college. And I remember being like, I have to go to college and get my degree. So when I went, like I went under,
00:08:03
Speaker
something that, sure, I had a passion for at the time, but I was in exercise science, which is totally opposite. They're totally unrelated. Did you pick that just because it would be a good stable option? Yes. I was like, I don't know what I want to be. I went with what I knew, which I liked to work out back then. I can't say the same as necessarily true right now.
00:08:29
Speaker
But, you know, so I went and I went for my passion then. But yes, it that has definitely. There was a backup, which it's funny because I didn't do I didn't follow my heart or I just thought I had to be more responsible. And I thought that I had to get the degree and that type of stuff. And I just wasn't I didn't know anyone who did interiors.
Growing an Instagram Following
00:08:52
Speaker
So.
00:08:52
Speaker
When you started to gain a lot of followers in an audience on Instagram, at what point did it become something for you where you thought it would be more than flipping pieces at markets and the actual lifestyle side of it, if that's what you would call it, could become its own job?
00:09:13
Speaker
Sure. So I had two really young girls, you know? So when we bought the house, it was actually on Lorelei's first birthday. So it was February 13th of 13.
00:09:25
Speaker
And at that point it just turned, it shifted from here is purely the pieces that I found and here is kind of what we're doing to this house. We completely, that house, we did so much to it and it was such a story to tell. And so I was excited to share that part of it and people were super interested. At that point I had companies start reaching out to me.
00:09:51
Speaker
and be like, hey, we would love for you to feature this. I remember some of my first collaborations were with World Market. And our house was an early partner of mine. And just different companies that I was like, wow, they know who I am, type of thing. Yeah. Yeah. And once I started doing that, then they would kind of reshare me. They'd be like, oh,
00:10:15
Speaker
look at how Susan at Kindred Vintage styled our patio furniture, and then they would reshare, and then you would gain traction that way. And then Instagram was so much more of a community, I think back then, because nobody knew what they were doing. Everything was different. The algorithm was different. Everything was...
00:10:35
Speaker
chronological order. You could actually see the stuff that your friends were posting. It was a different world and it was such a nice outlet for me who stayed at home with my two girls to be able to be creative and
00:10:50
Speaker
feel like a sense of, Oh my gosh, people actually are interested in what I'm doing. And, you know, then I got to use that design part that I had been storing, you know, and it was just, it was really fun. And I think when I kind of felt like, okay, this is, this is.
00:11:08
Speaker
something is when Better Homes and Gardens reached out and wanted to come and shoot our home. I thought that was a really cool experience. I was like, how am I in a magazine? Then from there, I got the cover of Romantic Homes and then I was in
00:11:24
Speaker
American Farmhouse. So there were all these different magazines that started saying, hey, we want you and our magazine too. Was all of this directly connected to how many followers you had or did the followers grow with the opportunities?
Content Creation Challenges
00:11:37
Speaker
Yeah. So I guess they grew with the opportunities. I think that it was just really about being consistent there and
00:11:45
Speaker
You have to remember back then, there weren't stories. I think stories popped up as I was moving from the lifestyle. So maybe six years ago. So it wasn't even like the connection that you could have now through stories. It was deeper. It was kind of like having pen pills and talking to people on a different level that I think was really charming about it.
00:12:07
Speaker
there were deeper connections so i still have a lot of those original followers who i recognize by like their handles now you know and yeah so i think that both i think it's consistency and i think that it was shares from both our community just different
00:12:23
Speaker
bloggers or influencers and then also companies reaching out and noticing and sharing in the magazine. So I think it was just like an accumulation of everything. I will say like this did not happen overnight. I don't think that the number is everything at all, but that's maybe where opportunities stemmed from. And I think that's true today. Like if a company is going to reach out to an influencer, they want to make sure that they have proper engagement.
00:12:48
Speaker
numbers could be numbers, you know, like, but as long as you have that conversation. And I think that's something that I've really pride myself and kindred vintage on is that I still have those conversations underneath the photo. Like there's still like a lot of people interacting, even though I may not be as aggressive with my sharing just because of my stage of life right now, you know, but I still have that dynamic in conversation and stuff like that going on. You know, I don't care about likes. I just care more about that. Like personal interaction. I don't know if that makes sense.
00:13:18
Speaker
Yeah totally was there kind of like a jumping off point where you said I'm gonna go all in on this and was that what was that like making that decision cuz like cuz like you said Instagram was kind of new and the whole idea of influencers is that a good idea you have get young kids you know all those things might seem risky.
Balancing Authenticity & Privacy
00:13:37
Speaker
Definitely and I think that.
00:13:40
Speaker
I can't note it. I don't remember a specific time that I thought, I want to make this my full-time job. I think that it was just slowly opportunities would start coming and then they started coming more and more and more. And then I got to the point where I was like, okay, I think I need a little bit of help here because for me, family is first and you know that. I mean, it's just, that's how I've always operated.
00:14:08
Speaker
if I'm in the middle of a story, but my kid needs me, I will disappear to take care of that and then come back. At some point, I did need to bring on help. Rob's always helped me with projects and different things around the home, but then that's when we brought Catherine on. We need help with emails. We need help with this, so that type of thing. So that's when it started to grow.
00:14:33
Speaker
How much of being like an influencer is administration and sort of having to plan for the future and think about it's such a curated thing and you really I imagine do have to be quite thoughtful around. Yes, and I think part of the struggle too is when you're somebody who is
00:14:50
Speaker
creative and my brain probably doesn't work in the same way as every business human. For me, I'm just like, oh, whatever happens, happens. Or one day I'll wake up and be like, let's refinish the bathroom. I think that's where people who have more of the organization, I guess,
00:15:10
Speaker
around that stuff, that's really helpful to have those people in your business so that things actually get done that are supposed to be done. It's just not all creative. Can you remind me of what your question was? The day-to-day experience of running a business like yours where you're creating content.
00:15:27
Speaker
So a lot of times if a company reaches out, we are the commercial, we are the face of our brand, we are the person creating the content. So to be able to throw those partnerships in, it actually is a lot of thought to be able to integrate that into what you're currently doing so that it doesn't look so abrupt.
00:15:47
Speaker
But those people have huge teams and influencers typically it tends to be them. A lot of them now have huge teams like the bigger ones, but a lot of times it's like you trying to wear all the hats for your business and that can be tricky, I think. Yeah, for sure. Just a little bit with this podcast, there's the conversations, the part that gets posted, but then there's all this stuff in the background of
00:16:14
Speaker
You have emailing and scheduling things in order to hit the deadlines that you have or to meet the plans that you've made and all that kind of stuff. And then also, you're expected to, on this end, and I'm sure you're feeling, be creative all the time. And it's like you're only human. I think that creativity, it's not something it can force, so it comes in waves. And so it's taking that and trying to channel it into something that you're expected. And I think Instagram has got very,
00:16:44
Speaker
demanding in that sense that you have to, how are people supposed to be putting out reels every single, like everything takes time, you know, it's not even posting it, it's going and buying the stuff you need to make the product to the time to do the project, whatever it is to record it, film everything you're
Future Business Avenues
00:17:05
Speaker
doing. Yeah.
00:17:06
Speaker
put it together and then it's just a lot that goes in behind the scenes that it may not appear that way, but yeah, it's a lot more work. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and then that leads to another thing I wanted to talk with you about, which is
00:17:21
Speaker
Something that I think could be probably one of the more challenging sides of the work that you do, which is that your approach is to be authentic, to bring some of yourself into not just, it's not like, I just want to make money. You want to connect with people.
00:17:38
Speaker
Which I think is great and that's probably a huge reason as to why you have had success and people like what you do because there is that connection but at the same time it's a lot of pressure to be out there and to always have something to say and always make the pressure to be fresh and also then what part of myself am I presenting and what part of myself am I keeping private and
00:18:05
Speaker
I would say that is probably one of the biggest things I struggle with. I'll go through phases where I'm like, oh, I'm fine to be on all the time and to share all the things. Then I'll overthink it and be like, I shouldn't have shared something. Maybe I need to scale back or delete that. There are so many friends that I have in this business that do this job so beautifully.
00:18:28
Speaker
But then, you know, we'll talk real life on the phone and they feel it too. It is, you're putting yourself out there and you're putting yourself out there in a way that is so, I don't, it's just, you're opening yourself up to so, so much criticism or judgment or praise or whatever it may be, but you're putting parts of yourself out there that
00:18:51
Speaker
maybe you're not even the most comfortable with and you know, nothing scripted. So everything's just in the moment. And then I'll be like, Oh my goodness, did I sound silly saying that? So I'm a constant overthinker as it is. So I think that part I struggle with, but I also, I think the bigger part is
00:19:15
Speaker
my kids, like sharing them. And I think where I struggle the most, I've never been one to like make my business about my children, but that's a huge struggle because I share our home and I want our home to
00:19:31
Speaker
reflect the love and the joy and just the life that's in our home. And how do you do that by just sharing still shots of rooms? They are the heart of our home. And so it's hard to be like, here's this or this without sharing them. But they ask to be in our Christmas video, which you have
00:19:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. For the last several years. And it's just such an amazing time. I know it's stressful in the moment, but they love it. They're not stressed. They're running around looking at the Christmas lights.
Family Involvement & Privacy Concerns
00:20:07
Speaker
They love being involved, but as their parent, this is all new. And I don't want to put them out there at the same time.
00:20:19
Speaker
I don't know that this isn't about them, but they're a huge part of it. That's a fine line for me, too. But obviously, their privacy and safety and all that comes way above anything. Yeah. Yeah. And that's probably all stuff, too, that you don't ... When you got started on this journey, it was all positive
00:20:40
Speaker
like positive growth and this is all exciting and then there's like you know the other side to that coin which is where there's like some dark stuff that is difficult to navigate and and figure out because you don't you like you said it's new there's not the consequence some of the consequences are yet to be known yes yes and my girls were also what
00:21:01
Speaker
a newborn and two years old. So they had, um, you know, they've always been like running around, like maybe their backs are in a photo or, you know, stuff like that, but it was never, my focus was never, Oh, look at my, my kids are, this is what they're up to in their personal lives. Like it's never been about that, but you know, if a magazine is going to come shoot our house, first off, they want to be in it. And then, and then second off, like they're a huge part of our home, but
00:21:30
Speaker
I think there's boundaries with everything. And I think that as parents every day, we're figuring them out. But now that they're older too, I need to protect that privacy even more. And I don't do social media. So it's like I never have ever had to even ask the question of that. As a filmmaker, we often are filming things and when a kid comes into the
00:21:56
Speaker
picture, it's like a whole nother set of questions has to be asked and then how much more when it's your own kid too. Overall, I think that they love the parts that they get to be included in. I never have to force them to, as you can say, they're always jumping into shots.
00:22:18
Speaker
I made the decision a while ago to make my account and my business about the design. I think that's hard because I know for a fact that followers want to say, show more of you, show more behind the scenes, show more of your everyday to day life. For me, a lot of my everyday to day life
00:22:40
Speaker
revolves around them. So it's that boundary again, where it's like, I don't think you guys really care about what I'm eating for lunch. You want to know the things that our family is doing.
Future Aspirations in Design
00:22:50
Speaker
And then you're like, you have to be very selective with what I choose to share, I guess. Yeah, absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. You have to be specific about that. Yeah. So what is the dream for you with the business? What do you hope for the future? And where do you hope this grows, continues to grow into?
00:23:09
Speaker
Man, that's a good question because I honestly think about it all the time. The thing is with me, I think there's so many different avenues that I could pursue, but it's finding that inner joy. Why did I start this in the first place and what elements of that do I want to carry on to the next venture?
00:23:32
Speaker
I could design other people's homes. I could do e-design. I could flip furniture like I used to and find those special pieces. I could do an Airbnb, which more than that. There's just all these different avenues that you could do. You could do a store. I think that I've dabbled in
00:23:58
Speaker
designing for friends and family without even necessarily sharing it on Kindred Vintage. And that's been like rewarding. And I love being able to help people I love. And I've really enjoyed that. So I think that I would definitely love to incorporate some sort of design for others in the future. So however that may look, whether it's e-design or whether it's doing makeovers for
00:24:27
Speaker
a family in need or something like that, something in the realm of design. But then my passion is always, always.
00:24:37
Speaker
thrifting and finding those unique pieces and they usually tend to be humongous cabinets that I'm like, what am I going to do with this? We buy it anyways and then we bring it home and we're finishing it in the garage and then we have to figure out. I would love to see some of these unique things that I can envision in somebody's house that I actually
00:24:58
Speaker
You know, because I think that if you're going to go and buy everything new from a store, you're not going to have that character in a room that you would if you find some like loved, unique pieces. So I would love to somehow mesh the two. So, you know, if you need help with a room and then I have this awesome cabinet that I own and have worked on and be like, this is the perfect piece for that. So maybe meshing together those two in some sort.
Expanding Beyond Instagram
00:25:23
Speaker
So in a way you sort of see it kind of moving away from like the influencer Instagram space into something else. So I would love to have something tangible because I think that, um, Instagram itself, you can't ever rely on an outside party to, you know, forever. And I, I've always known that, um, I do have a blog I need to get better with sharing over, you know, there as well, but.
00:25:53
Speaker
Yeah, I don't want to be completely dependent on an app that I have absolutely no control over. I will always do Instagram. I really will. I do enjoy the community there. I love being able to connect with people that I won't see in my everyday real life. So I love that aspect of it.
00:26:13
Speaker
So I'll always do it, even if it is, okay, I'm going to go design this obviously with consent and stuff. I would want to share what's going on over there on my feed. Yeah. Yeah. I will always, I feel like I'll always share our home too, as you know, as interesting things come up, but I don't want to just like solely be doing ads or, you know, that type of stuff. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. I have cut back, I think tremendously the last year and a half. Was that intentional?
00:26:43
Speaker
I think I was feeling burnt out. I think I was feeling like I was doing too much and too much that didn't speak to my heart. I really was not into what I was sharing and what I mean by that is different companies.
00:26:57
Speaker
across the board will reach out to you. Say it was a vacuum. I'd be talking about a vacuum and I'd be like, okay, yes, I do use this vacuum. Yes, I do love this vacuum, but I have no passion about sharing about it. I was trying to do that across the board on a lot of things.
00:27:16
Speaker
I think I ran into a wall and I was like, not happy.
Community Connection & Personal Growth
00:27:20
Speaker
It wasn't doing anything for me creatively, for sure. And I just kind of felt like I was veering away from why I do what I do. So I think I took a big step back.
00:27:33
Speaker
And at that time too, it was COVID and all the craziness. So I felt like I had to just like recenter and just kind of think about what was best for me and our family type of thing and stay true to the business and not just do things to do them.
00:27:49
Speaker
Right. That makes sense. When it seems to me too that it could be maintaining who you are and being true to yourself and that it doesn't end up feeling like a trap, but it feels like something that gives you the freedom that you initially loved from it. Yeah. I always think about that. You have to go back to why you started.
00:28:09
Speaker
Why am I doing this? You know, no one's forcing me to do this. And I just have to have that joy and that passion there to be able to continue. And I felt like I was, I was just like doing what everybody else was doing. Cause that's what you had to do to be seen or make money or, you know, this or that. And that went on for really, really a lot of it for like a year. And I just, I didn't find happiness. I was, I was feeling like I was.
00:28:35
Speaker
being pulled away from the core of what kindred vintage is. So I think I just had to really reevaluate. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that it's left me in this state of I'm not really sure what, you know, what's next because our house is pretty, it's not done, but I've done a lot to our house and I'm not planning on knocking down any more ceilings. I don't think, but you know what I mean? So it's like, okay, yeah. Like it has to just,
00:29:04
Speaker
And that was unplanned too. But what do I foresee next because there's only so much you can do to your house and only so many times you can redo it. And I don't want to just be redoing a room to redo a room. I want to redo a room because, okay, we've lived here five years and now I really know our home and I know the feel of our home.
00:29:28
Speaker
I threw this together when we moved in just to have something done and now it's time to make it us. That makes sense to me, but to just be like, all right, I did this room last year, now let's redo it just for the sake of redoing it. So one thing that's come up a lot in the conversation is your connection to community. Do you feel like that's a really central piece to the why behind what you're doing?
00:29:54
Speaker
I would love to do more of that. I think that's something that's been lacking with just being online. I think that when the girls were younger, I was in my house all the time because I had to be. Anyone with young kids knows that.
00:30:15
Speaker
do things and connect just online and not have that sense of, Oh, I want to go out because you're like, Oh, we have naps or, Oh, this, or, you know, so now I feel more of, okay, I would love to connect with people in a different way, like in real life, you know? So, yeah. Yeah. I think that with the times that I have helped friends out, um,
00:30:37
Speaker
with things, it's just been rewarding in a different way. Yeah. As your life changes, the thing that you're doing, because it's so much of an extension of who you are, it also has to change. It has to evolve and grow with you or else it doesn't feel authentic anymore. Exactly. That makes total sense. Sorry, go ahead. No, go ahead. No, I just feel like I'm not one who is really good at being in front of the camera, which is a hard
00:31:05
Speaker
thing for what I do.
Struggle with Self-Image Online
00:31:09
Speaker
But in real life, I feel like I should, I have a whole different side of me that I don't share on Kindred Vintage because I'm trying to be my professional workplace. But you've been at our house while we're doing videos and we're quirky, we're funny, we're constantly cracking jokes. The banter is great. But I feel like I just don't have
00:31:35
Speaker
If I'm talking about painting my floors, how am I going to throw that into, you know, it's just a whole different dynamic. And I feel like I do so much better one-on-one or like in person than I do recording myself because then I'm thinking I'm an overthinker. So I'm constantly like, okay, I stuttered or.
00:31:57
Speaker
That didn't make any sense. And I think that it puts so much more pressure on me recording myself. And you're staring at your own face like, who wants to do that? Not me. So I feel like I just do, there's a whole different side of me that my friends and family and people who actually know me in real life know that I can portray on social media. I don't know if that makes sense. Do you wish that side of you could be portrayed? Or is that a part of you that you're trying to protect?
00:32:27
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, I think that in real life I can't take it back because I'm quirky and I just, you know, and then I'll be like, okay, well, if that was awkward, I can't delete it, you know? Hopefully they're still friends with me tomorrow, but no, for real.
00:32:44
Speaker
I'm goofy and I think that when I do that and it's my own hands recording my face, I'm like, that was really awkward. We're going to take that back. We're going to delete that part. Then I'll keep it up for an hour and then I'll be like, oh gosh, it was actually really awkward. It's like eating it and I'm like, okay, I'm going to delete it. It's nothing even, but it could be just me.
00:33:07
Speaker
being goofy, but when you're watching a film of you over and over, you're like, oh no, no, we're not gonna leave that there for the world to see. Stuff gets in your head and yeah. Well, so if those kinds of posts are regular, how do you work through the anxiety of
Social Media Challenges & Identity
00:33:26
Speaker
that? Because I would imagine that that is present every time. Just with the podcast, I feel a little bit of anxiety and just, you know, there's... Yeah.
00:33:34
Speaker
I open and close each one with some of my own personal thoughts and the degree of, and I've talked about this before, but the roller coaster ride of my emotions throughout the week, because I try to post one each week, is absolutely insane and nobody
00:33:52
Speaker
that's not living in my head could understand the degree to which- I know and it doesn't even seem like a big deal and it's not to anybody else. I would never think that of you and you probably wouldn't think that of me, but I think that we just go, you're trying to edit yourself, I think is what I do. I try to have this professional voice because I want to come up, I'm not goofy all the time, but I want people to see my
00:34:16
Speaker
I guess that I could be a serious adult over on Kid Your Vintage. But you know what I mean? I just think that I have a different style but then over there I'm trying to be professional and maybe that's because in my last job I was the boss. I had to have this professionalism I guess about me and I do want people to take me seriously and I think that's another fine line. You're like, how much of my
00:34:42
Speaker
My real self, they're all real because it's me. Right. It's just how much do you curate it or how much do you limit the picture? Yes. All of us wear different hats and we're all these different things. That's what makes us who we are. But I want people to know that if I do design their house, I'm not going to be walking in there like being.
00:35:02
Speaker
You know silly so it right right you're just kind of like how much of the background do you show. I think that's it's a big struggle for me and I overthink so yeah. I do you resent it at times or do you feel like you wish it was easier okay so.
00:35:18
Speaker
I think on that note, I kind of had to make the decision, am I more? Here's my design. Look at this pretty photo. And this is before reels, right? This is before, I think the last year that reels just like blew up. But before that it was like, here, I, I can be silly or I can be myself in my stories, but then when you come to my page, I want it to be curated and zine type feel. So you're coming and you're saying,
00:35:43
Speaker
Okay, even though she's quirky, she knows how to decorate a room, right? So that's kind of what I always had in my mind. I made the decision to be like, all right, I'm going to go more the curated look over there. But I think that honestly, I really do think that people want more of that human behind the scenes type stuff. And it's just me trying to get out of my own head to be able to say,
00:36:09
Speaker
You're great, Susan, and all parts of you are. So that's so hard. You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. My insecurity. Like that's self-acceptance. Yes, and people will still know that you can do a good job with Decor or whatever.
00:36:23
Speaker
Yeah. For me, the thing that's so hard about that is because I'm an approval junkie, I will read the room and change myself to be whatever I think will acquire the approval from whatever high status person. I think we probably all do that to a certain extent. You know what I mean? Yeah. It is hard. It's hard to, the social media thing is just so new and our parents never had to deal with this. Like we were never taught how to do this. So we're all, we're the parents now who are
00:36:52
Speaker
you know, trying to teach our children the next generation coming up, like how to do this. And I think that it's all a learning curve. And a lot of it is about, you know, deciding what you feel comfortable sharing or not.
00:37:05
Speaker
Yeah. And I think it's interesting too to go on that journey of self-discovery and asking yourself these questions that you're asking of the ways we get our identity and how we feel good about ourselves and all that. Because that is also so intrinsically tied to social media and at least a lot of that cultural conversation around it.
00:37:23
Speaker
It's wild and it'll be interesting to see where everyone is in 10 years. The other thing too is creating the videos that we have for Christmas, the Christmas tours of the last few years, after the video is posted and then looking through the comments, it's so addicting.
00:37:43
Speaker
the thousands upon thousands of positive comments saying how much they love what you've done and the work that you're doing. Yes. On one hand, it's incredibly encouraging that the internet seems to be this gathering place where people just say whatever they want about each other, often the worst things come out there. But on all those comments, I never read a single negative comment. I will say that I am super, super grateful
00:38:11
Speaker
I don't know what it is, but I think that I've maybe got a handful of mean comments like in the years that I've been doing this. That is what keeps me motivated and inspired and seeing how much my audience is inspired by what I do. And I think that that for me is so rewarding that it makes me want to continue and to be better. And I think that it's also, I love every single video that we've done.
00:38:41
Speaker
And then every year I'm like, how am I going to up that? And that is a feeling that I don't like because I'm like, why am I trying to outdo myself? Like I'm not competitive with anybody, but myself. And I think that that is, that's a hard thing because there's only so much that you could do in the same space to make it look different every, you know, but I think that more than that, it's the feel of the videos and it's the feel of our home. And that's kind of what I was saying about the girls, like to just see them in their natural,
00:39:09
Speaker
Element like in those
Community Feedback & Motivation
00:39:11
Speaker
videos. They're just so special and I think that that does like come across to people who are watching Yeah, yeah, I just those those are some of my favorite things
00:39:20
Speaker
It feels real. Again, it just feels genuine. I will say that you have done such a great job capturing that though because it's literally just us running around being like ourselves. You're the one who is capturing the field.
00:39:40
Speaker
I don't even know how you do it. I would never be able to do video. It's such an art and the talents and you're so good at it. It's incredible. Thank you. I appreciate that a lot. When people can sort of be themselves, it's not like acting and it's not trying to get the time. I'm just going to have to hire somebody to follow me around then because I clearly am not doing a good job capturing it myself.
00:40:05
Speaker
No, not at all. I think it's great.
Authenticity & Genuine Connections
00:40:07
Speaker
Thank you so much. This was really great. The whole Instagram influencer idea, it does seem like a lot of people sort of want to do that.
00:40:17
Speaker
for their career or whatever, but it does seem now that it's not something that's necessarily, it comes out of such a genuine or organic place and it's much more like a system that can be gamed. It really can be. People are so talented. I think that so many people are doing this now. That's
00:40:39
Speaker
In a way, it could feel oversaturated, but I think that the people who are going to be around a while and the people who are going to have those connections are the people who are just genuine, everyday people, just doing what they love to do.
00:40:59
Speaker
There's even like classes in school now, like to be able to do, you know what I mean? It's just, it's wild what it's turned into. Yeah. I had one of our old neighbors, he sent me a, this is really funny, but he sent me like a photo of his classroom at Elmhurst college and
00:41:15
Speaker
Up on the board. She was teaching about marketing and you know on social media and it was my home Mike she took like a screenshot of it and he was like Did you know that like you're being talked about in our in our like marketing class and I'm like what so yes It's like all you know, they're this is actually like a real thing now and yeah Yeah, I don't blame people you get to be creative you get to you know
00:41:43
Speaker
make an income and do what you love to do. So I think that it's a really cool opportunity, but yes, there's a lot that goes into it. Yeah. And it's like with anything, you know, it's, I guess it's kind of what you, the intention with which you do something and it's the integrity you have as you do it. And it's how you care for people and yourself and all of that stuff that really makes it something that has longevity and can make an impact on, like ultimately make a real impact on, on people and the world for good.
00:42:13
Speaker
Yes, and I think that there's room for everybody, and everybody is amazing. But yeah, there's going to be accounts that are just there to make money. Sure. But yeah, for me, I love to connect with people who are real people. Yeah, it's like being a banker. You can be a banker strictly to make money, and you will make very specific choices. Those aren't the bankers that I want.
00:42:40
Speaker
I want a banker who cares about more than just making money. Do your passion, do your thing, make your money, but be a good human at the end of the day.
00:42:51
Speaker
Cool. Well, thanks so much, Susan. Yeah, I appreciate your thoughts and your time, and I hope you guys have a really good vacation. Thank you. And thank you for having me. I have never done a podcast, and I know I'm not the world's slickest speaker, so I appreciate you. No, it was great. Yeah, and hopefully this isn't too jumbled for you.
00:43:12
Speaker
What I love about this format is it allows for the humanity of who we are. Our words don't always come out in the right order. I know that, yes. I watch back my stories and I'm like, what was that? Yes, exactly. Thank you Joel. Until Moe said hi. I will, yeah. Thanks Rob for setting this up as well.
00:43:38
Speaker
I don't think he can hear it, but he's looking. Oh, good. You're welcome. All right. Okay. Safe travels. Bye. Bye bye.
Episode Conclusion & Reflections
00:43:57
Speaker
You can follow Susan on Instagram. Her account is at KindredVintage to see her home and designs and what she's up to. You can also see those videos that we created together on her account. The link to her Instagram handle is in the episode description.
00:44:12
Speaker
I really enjoyed that conversation with Susan. And when the recording kicked off with the whole family involved, getting everything working, I thought it was perfect because that is exactly what it's like at their house. From my experience, they have a really cool family dynamic and family unit with how they support each other. And I think it's pretty cool that it happened even in the conversation.
00:44:35
Speaker
Alright, that's it for this week. I wanna say what's nexters, but maybe it'll grow on me. We'll see what happens. Thanks for being here, and I'll see you next week.