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Evolve or Repeat
Join Liv and Shelby, two midwest twenty-somethings, as they take you along their own personal growth journeys and what it means to truly pour into yourself as a young adult.
Evolve or Repeat
14. Liv Asks Shelby: Navigating the Waves of Content Creation
In our latest episode, Liv and Shelby are flipping the script and taking turns in the interviewer's seat. Get ready to be a fly on the wall during our most personal exchange yet, where we chat about the rollercoaster journey from blogging to brand ambassadorship, and laugh at our nostalgia for the simple days of Vine and Facebook.
Our dialogue isn't just about reminiscing, though—we're tackling the meaty issues, too. The digital landscape is reshaping careers, and we're not shy about diving into its influence on ours. From discussing the transformative power of mentorship to pondering the future of social media platforms like TikTok, we're getting real about the strategies we employ to keep our virtual spaces positive. This is a conversation that stretches beyond your headphones, inviting you to reassess your own online world.
But it's not all heavy talk; we know how to keep things light. Imagine being stranded on a deserted island, but you can only bring three things. What would you choose? Our picks might surprise you! We're also peeking into the complexities of tech and kids, and how our generation can navigate these waters. There's a lot packed into this chat, so settle in with your go-to comfort drink, and let's get into the heart of what makes content creation such an unpredictable, yet thoroughly rewarding, adventure.
Follow the Podcast: @evolveorrepeat.thepodcast
Follow Liv: @livwerth @livedin.studio
Follow Shelby: @the.shelbylenae
People put them up on a pedestal and they're like, okay, well, these people are happy. I need to have what they have. I need to have millions of followers, I need to be invited on a trip to Bora Bora in order to feel worthy. You know, like they're looking up to these people now, like they're the new Kardashians. I've seen a lot more like a trend in like authenticity and like vulnerability, like in these influencers, and I just hope it continues to go that way because, with the amount of time that our society and like everyone is now spending on social media, like we are chronically online as a society, if we're not sharing all of it, it's going to make us feel very alone in like our own personal struggles.
Shelby:Hey we're Liv and Shelby, and we're two Midwest 20-somethings fascinated with all things personal growth, healing and evolving into the best version of yourself possible.
Liv:Over the last four years, we've gone from lost, sad and broke to secure, confident, abundant and full of purpose. Now we're inviting you along our journey to.
Shelby:We teach you everything we've learned thus far and the secrets to building a life you truly love.
Liv:Think it's all rainbows and butterflies? Think again. Friendships, social media relationships and navigating a self-growth journey are all topics we dive into.
Shelby:Think of this as a 2 am conversation with your best friend, mix with the hard truths and obstacles needed to level up.
Liv:So grab your favorite emotional support drink, make sure you're comfy and get ready to challenge your limiting beliefs that you didn't even know you had. This is Evolver Repeat.
Shelby:Hey guys, welcome back to Evolver. Repeat the podcast. We're doing something fun we're interviewing each other. I'm going on a vacation to Texas for a week and a half, so we wanted to pre-record a couple episodes. Obviously, as you guys know, last week we didn't put out an episode because our schedules literally just didn't line up to record, but I am going to edit both of these on the plane and we thought it would be fun to interview each other on our different specialties, because we have a couple different areas that we're both educated in.
Liv:Yeah, anything new with you? Update quick.
Shelby:Well, actually the reason I am going to Texas is I'm going with my old company for like a temporary work opportunity, going to be working at Spring at Break in South Padre, which is going to be very exciting but also kind of nervy for it, because managing college students with an alcohol brand is going to be interesting but excited for that.
Liv:Can you drop what the alcohol brand is, or no? Angry Orchard? Oh hell, yeah, yeah, it'll be fun, that'll be so fun.
Shelby:And then my extended family came to town last weekend. We went to the Badger hockey game. On Saturday they played at Michigan State but I believe, because they didn't win Friday, they didn't have like a chance to win like the championship, which is a bummer, but it was so really fun. I went out with all of my cousins and went to see like a DJ friend of mine from when I used to work in a bar in college.
Shelby:He was DJing at like another bar and do the line, there were like over a hundred people like in line when we got out of the hockey game and we showed up and he was like just tell the bouncer like how many people you have and say that you're like here to see me when you go to like the exit door. You know, yeah, and I was like oh, yeah, like we're here to see like so and so or whatever, like we have 10 people. And he's like okay, awesome. Like he just like opened the door, like let us all in, and then like these four guys like tried following us like in, and the bouncer was like do you know these guys? I was like no, and he like pushed them out the door and just like, and I was like this is so fun, I'm dead. But like had our DJ friend like not allowed us to, like come see him and like tell the bouncer like we would have been waiting in line to get into a bar so like two hours, that's insane.
Liv:Don't you love that when you know somebody and you can just hop in the back Like suck it, it feels so fucking good. Oh, it was so much fun.
Shelby:We like dancing the DJ booth all night. It was so fun. My sister had a blast. Yeah, love, how was your weekend?
Liv:It was good we threw a party for my gal Rachel, because she moved back home, so that was a lot of fun just to see everybody. What else did I do? I stayed at my parents. I haven't stayed at my parents in forever.
Shelby:Oh my god, so we had a little brunchy in the morning.
Liv:Alex stayed there too.
Shelby:That's so cute, lauren was there.
Liv:Yeah, we had a fun time.
Shelby:But that was still like nostalgic. Every time I like go home to my parents house and sleep in my like childhood bedroom. I wake up, I'm like what dimension am I? I?
Liv:know, but it also feels weird because our like my mom completely redid our bedroom, so like it doesn't feel like our childhood bedroom.
Shelby:Really.
Liv:Yeah, it's just like it's decorated nice like a guest bed. But so you don't. I don't feel like I, it doesn't feel like my child's bedroom.
Shelby:It doesn't feel the same.
Liv:It's very weird.
Shelby:Oh my god, that must be so weird, it was still a good time.
Liv:I love that.
Shelby:Yeah, my sister still lives at home and my mom left up, like you know, like that poster wall that I had.
Liv:Yes, she left that.
Shelby:She won't take it down. And I think she's just like sad that I don't live there anymore, which is so sad Love you mom, but that's cute.
Liv:But yeah, that's about it. I'm going to a hair class in a couple of weeks, or actually, oh my god, next week.
Shelby:Oh my god, it's next weekend.
Liv:Ohio.
Shelby:Is that the one that you were going to do, and then do my hair afterwards? Yeah, okay, yep, we're putting that on, we sure are. We'll get there eventually.
Liv:Yeah, it's all about lived in blondes and then dimensional brunettes. I love that. And I think some extensions too.
Shelby:I love that so many people are like coming to you for like lived in hair color now. I've seen you like post about it all the time it's like my dreams have come true.
Liv:Like I'm just, I'm attracting all of my like dream clients and I couldn't be happier.
Shelby:You manifested it. Yeah, I know that's like what you wanted to do, like when you first started out. You just had to build the clientele.
Liv:Oh, for sure.
Shelby:Kick in, she's kicking. I love it.
Liv:You level three stylist Almost, almost Should be the next couple months, let's go. It's my retail baby.
Shelby:I gotta get my retail. Hey, anybody in the Madison Wisconsin area, go get your hair done by live and then buy some products. Come support.
Liv:Come support your girl.
Shelby:All right.
Liv:Well, you can get into it.
Shelby:I think we're going to do mine first.
Liv:Yes, which?
Shelby:is going to be on like social media, because I worked in influencer marketing for the last like three years and then, honestly, even in college, I had like my own YouTube channel, which we're getting back into Subscribe, and then like blog writing and all the things. So just kind of wanted to chat about that.
Liv:We love it. Okay, are you ready? I am ready. Hit me with that. We're splitting this into two right Two episodes.
Shelby:Yeah, okay, leves is going to be next week. It's going to be on like being a hairstylist and like her entire journey with that and like think she's learned and female empowerment because that's what it's all about Work environments.
Liv:I just found a hole in my lululemon legs?
Shelby:No, oh my God, and it's not even on the seam. What the f-. These are really old, though, but it's the camo pattern. Anyway, squirrel Okay.
Liv:Ready? Yep, hit me with that. First things first. What drew you to be in content creation? Ooh, that's a good question.
Shelby:Yeah, I in high school I didn't really know what I was doing with my life I mean, nobody really does. But I first remember my high school marketing teacher in my junior year. I don't know what he saw in me, but I think God like literally every day that he pushed me to join DECA it's like this business club in high school and he was like I'm putting your name down Like you're competing with us. It's like I think it was like a Saturday, but I'm putting you down for retail and merchandising. You're going to go compete in this and like you're going to like it because I know you're going to do good at it.
Shelby:And I was like okay, Like he forced me like step outs out of my comfort zone.
Shelby:But I absolutely fell in love with the organization and business as a whole, to the point where I ran for a vice president position at my senior year in high school and I got the vice president of public relations and part of that role was doing social media for our chapter, like posting on Instagram, posting on Facebook, giving a lot of deadlines for like our members, a lot of like updates and stuff for like our community and things of the sorts like that and just really taking the time to like capture our chapter and like sharing it on social media. I think that's where I really found like the first part of like my love for content creation, because I was able to like curate what we were doing in a fun and aesthetically pleasing way on our Instagram to try to drive more people to join our chapter. And I had so much fun with it that I ended up going to a college for marketing. I went to the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire my freshman year. I forgot about that, Dude it's like a fever dream.
Shelby:Yeah, I was gonna say Don't remember like going there at all. So many things happened there. But I realized that the school was like too small for me and I didn't really like enjoy my time there and I wanted a creative outlet. So I started writing blog posts and I just found my love for taking what was going on in my brain and kind of like again like curating it in a way and sharing it online with other people and then gathering feedback and you know, connections with people online, and I think that's kind of where it all transpired. I mean, I just kind of went with the flow. Eventually like did YouTube and did like some brand ambassadorships, like later on in college when I went and transferred to the University of Wisconsin, madison, but I don't know, it was like it all just kind of happened and I just kind of like followed the path, but it all felt so natural to me that I felt like that's what I was supposed to be doing.
Liv:Yeah, for sure that makes sense.
Shelby:It was like your, it's like your passion, so it just felt natural yeah like had my advisor like not pushed me out of my comfort zone to like join DECA? I mean, he changed my life in so many ways but he it was like the first time that I think somebody really truly believed in me and saw potential in me to push me to step outside of my comfort zone and was like, no, like I see you doing something. And he pushed me to like interview for the position for vice president my senior year and I was like, wait, I think I actually like this. And then I just kind of stuck with it.
Liv:I love it. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Okay, next question how. This is a shorter one, but how long have you been in the content creation world? It's been a hot minute, god, back when the little baby Shelby made her YouTube videos.
Shelby:Oh my God dude, I had to archive all of those off my YouTube channel. You guys go find my YouTube channel now you can't find my college videos, because that girl is just not exist anymore. Well, I started doing it when I was 17, in high school. I mean, if you count like doing it for that's almost 10 years DECA. Oh my God.
Liv:I'm going to vomit Almost 10. Well, like, not 10.
Shelby:Like I'm like oh yeah, like I'm 24.
Liv:No, I'm 26 years old, like that nine years, yeah, nine years.
Shelby:Wow, isn't that crazy? That's crazy. It's been so crazy to like see the social media space evolve and I think, like back when I was in high school and kind of like in college, I was telling my parents I wanted to work in social media marketing and they're like you're absolutely insane, you're crazy, yeah. This was back when, like Instagram was only feed photos. There was not even stories, there was no videos, no, nothing. That's crazy.
Liv:I remember those days. I know those are the simple days, literally, and now it's just like blown up into like so much more.
Shelby:But I think I believed in it before a lot of other people believed in it and I think I started on the path at a good time to where I've been able to like see it grow.
Liv:I think of like Vine too. Like Vine was like the up and coming of-. You just unlocked a new memory of my brain, all of like the famous influencers nowadays, like I was watching, you know, zayn, like David Dobrik's friend. Zayn and like Heath he just did, like a massive body transformation. I watched that. Yes, the Zilla video. Yes, yes, it's so good Dude.
Shelby:I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it.
Liv:But they got famous from Vine Like those and their parents thought they were crazy for like moving to LA and like going to be creating like two second videos and whatever, and they were getting paid to do that. But now look at where they are Like, because social media has just like grown so much, like totally changed since 2017. Yeah, 2016. Oh my god.
Shelby:I'm trying to remember. I think Instagram came out.
Liv:Oh boy, why did it come out?
Shelby:When I was in seventh or eighth grade. I vividly remember I was sitting in our pool in my middle school, out of all places, and this girl that I was friends with she goes are you on Instagram? And I was like what's that? And she was like, oh, this is like making me feel so I know, I know, I was like what she's like. Yeah, it's like this new social media platform because, like everybody had Facebook for like a year or so.
Liv:Yeah, Facebook was the hot commodity.
Shelby:Oh my god, everybody was on Facebook Like I vividly remember on seventh grade, like being on Facebook.
Liv:Those memories still pop up. Dude, I just got memories. It's like, for truth is yeah, the pictures I used to take with my friends.
Shelby:Oh my god, what were we?
Liv:on. What were we on?
Shelby:And I'm so upset at myself, but I think when I like cringed myself out in high school at one point I went back and deleted all of my old video or all my old photos on Instagram, and that was like when you would take a photo and then you would like edit it with like the filters on Instagram and it was like this weird, like sepia, like vignette, like it was like so grainy, like back with like grain, like wasn't a choice.
Liv:I was a grain girl. I was a grain girl, yeah.
Shelby:Oh my god. Anyway, anyways, social media has been around a long time.
Liv:Yeah, it's been a minute. What's your favorite thing about content creation and building a career in social media?
Shelby:Oh, that's a good one? I think there's. I can answer this in like two different ways or like two parts. My favorite thing about content creation. I think I've always been like a creative person, like fresh out of the womb. I always will tell people like I was like stealing my mom's scotch tape and like rolls of white copy paper and she would get so mad at me because I would build houses out of paper with rolls of scotch tape for like Barbies and like polypockets to play.
Liv:I had perfectly great polypocket houses, but I was like I want to design my own. I'm so dead.
Shelby:Oh god, I was a girl that was sitting on the bench at elementary school with a sketchbook and colored pencils, like trying to draw like prom dresses, because I thought I was going to be a fashion designer. We've talked about this.
Liv:Yes, we both had the same childhood. Yes, I literally had a whole ass sketchbook full of wedding dresses Literally.
Shelby:But having a creative outlet and the ability to curate something and make something aesthetically pleasing satisfies the right side of my brain and the need to constantly be creating. Also, I have this deep desire to connect with other human beings and have conversations and to impact people positively with the stuff that I create. So it always just felt natural for me to kind of marry the two together with social media. I don't know what it is for me, but something about an aesthetically curated Instagram feed just sets her soul on fire.
Liv:It really does.
Shelby:I love it so much, and then also having the opportunity to create something like with my phone take photos, take videos, edit it together with music and make it look all pretty and aesthetically pleasing and have it be something that I made, and then also have that opportunity to share what I've made with other people online on a consistent basis, I think is what really attracted me to it. But at the same time, the influencer realm right now is growing at such a rapid pace and I think it's because of COVID. We spent so much time on our phones and especially on TikTok. That's when TikTok blew up, but I think we all became addicted to our phones at that time because everybody was talking about COVID going on and there were all these dance trends blowing up and this was like when Charlie D'Amelio was like you just sat around and like scroll down your phone because, like, what else was there to do?
Shelby:And I think everybody became attracted to the idea to becoming an influencer. Where I feel like now, personally working in social media marketing and influencer marketing, it feels like everybody and their mother is trying to become an influencer and make money off of social media. And I think it's the pendulum has swung so far in the direction of everybody wanting to do it that at the same time I'm like but I don't want to do it in the way that everybody else is doing it. You know, I'm kind of just like sitting back right now and watching the way that the space is transforming. There's so much controversy around it. I mean, did you see, like all those influencers go on the tart trip Everybody's talking about, like how insensitive it is and like how much money is being spent on these influencers and like, great, like I get. It's like a form of like marketing and it's what influencers do.
Liv:But at the same time, I'm like I don't know, I don't know, well, they have so much money because they don't put their money in like the middleman, where like all of the advertisements and like that type of shit. So that's why they have all this money to spend on fucking influencers. I mean, like, right at the end of the day, somebody has to do it, right? Like somebody has to promote the brand, whether that be on advertisements on billboards, like influencers promoting it Like it's somebody's got to do it.
Shelby:I know and I think honestly, in the last year it started to trend more towards authenticity and like vulnerability, where I think a lot of it before was very surface level oh for sure, and you and I are not surface level people Like I love creating aesthetically pleasing things and like obviously, social media is a highlight reel, but at the end of the day, like it's hard for me to like get behind like social media 100% when you know that on the back end, like there are a lot of people that are in those positions that are only sharing the highlights of their day, because then they people put them up on a pedestal and they're like, okay, well, these people are happy, I need to have what they have, I need to have millions of followers, I need to be invited on a trip to Bora Bora in order to feel worthy.
Shelby:You know, like they're looking up to these people now Like they're the new Kardashians, and I've seen a lot more of like a trend in like authenticity and like vulnerability, like in these influencers, and I just hope it continues to go that way because with the amount of time that our society and like everyone is now spending on social media, like we are chronically online as a society. If we're not sharing all of it, it's going to make us feel very alone in, like our own personal struggles.
Liv:Yeah.
Shelby:I'm saying that probably like did not even answer the question.
Liv:Well, no, that's your favorite thing could be the fact that, like people are getting more vulnerable Absolutely when it comes to content creation and social media. Like I, my favorite influencer right now is Avery Woods. Like I'm, obsessed with her because she is so vulnerable, she shares her highlights, she shares her low moments and, like, I just love how authentic she is and I really hope the influencer goes.
Shelby:Influencers go in that direction, like the newer and upcoming ones, you know stay in touch with society and don't get like two out of touch with the way that things are going. And I think that's what I liked about the job that I had for a couple years is I was working with college students and young adults that were like more micro influencers and I was able to be more of like a mentor role to them because I had experience like doing what they did, but like years ago and saying, okay, this is how it shifted. Now it's my job to like watch the trends and watch like what brands are looking for when they're trying to promote products and then find people that match that. But then I'm also kind of like holding their hand and like teaching them like different trends and things that are going on and helping them to like become an influencer.
Shelby:If that makes sense that makes sense.
Liv:Well, I think it's fun too, because you get to kind of be like a mentor and you have that in you.
Shelby:Love that yeah.
Liv:Yeah, okay, I feel like this is kind of a loaded question, but how has social media impacted your career? Is that too broad? Is that too low? No, I don't think so. Okay.
Shelby:I think I always wanted to have a career in social media because it was something that came so natural to me that, although I didn't necessarily know what it would look like post grad, I stayed confident in the fact that I would eventually get a job in social media marketing.
Shelby:I mean, I was a COVID grad and I graduated in 2020 and I started working in marketing at an insurance agency. And I only did that because, like, I had student loans that I needed to start paying back. And I took a job because I needed money, not because it was my passion. But after six months, I was like, wait, this is not what I want to be doing at all. And I had the freedom and the ability to leave that job because I was still living at home due to COVID. And, funny enough, like two months later, the job that I had for three years fell into my lap and it was a company that I actually was involved with in college. And it all kind of like clicked for me in that moment and, honestly, like I try thinking about what our society would be like right now if Facebook and like, instagram, like didn't take off when they did, we would be like so different, like we would not be sitting here today.
Shelby:No, I really don't think so because, like, how do you learn about podcasts? How do you learn about?
Liv:you, we wouldn't have met each other.
Shelby:No, oh, my God, that makes me want to throw up.
Liv:Well, I feel like we would have definitely crossed paths in some way.
Shelby:But I mean as well string theory.
Liv:But I don't know we wouldn't have met on social media the way that we did.
Shelby:It's just such an integral part now of so many careers. I mean, you think of social media managers, you think of influencer marketing, you think of like brands as a whole, like they look to social media now as like the new way to promote their products that if that wasn't a thing, geez, I don't know where we would be.
Liv:Social media is everything.
Shelby:There are so many careers now, every business that's out there.
Liv:You need social media Every like I think of my career that I'm in, like in school. They made a separate unit for social media now because it's such a big part of our career.
Shelby:Really, yeah. I mean, that's smart for hairstylists too it is.
Liv:I mean that's how I've grown my clientele. I mean it's all by word of mouth and social media, I think, at the end of the day, yeah.
Shelby:I think it was hard for me, like in the beginning, especially like in high school and even in the beginning of college, when social media was just so new for me, to conceptualize what my career would be at the end of college and like post grad. But I always knew that like I would have some hand in social media marketing in some way, because it was something that came so naturally to me that I think now, like you said, like I genuinely would not have the career or like be in the place that I am right now working with a company that I am now, had I not you know, started down that path when I was so young.
Liv:It's crazy, it's literally our whole life, literally.
Shelby:I have no idea what I'd be doing right now I would have it up and for social media.
Liv:I honestly don't either, because I don't even think I'd be in the hair industry. Oh, like I had, I didn't, like I realized my passion for hair once I was in that business.
Shelby:I mean when you really think about like the choices that people make and how like it leads to the way that our society transform. I mean, what if Mark Zuckerberg never had the idea to start Facebook? Bro?
Liv:Like where would we be? That's so crazy. Instagram probably wouldn't even be a thing.
Shelby:That's so crazy, wow. Well, that's your sign that if you have an idea like, who knows, you could change the world with it.
Liv:I love it. Okay, next question what is some advice you could give someone who is looking into using social media as their creative outlet? Slash possible career.
Shelby:Ooh, this is a good one, and I think this is a lesson that I've actually been learning a lot recently is don't try to be something that you're not. I think a lot of people try to do what everybody else is doing on social media, and it's so hard now, especially when there is short form video content. I mean, you can sit on TikTok for hours and I've said this before but your brain is not meant to consume that much content in that short amount of time. I mean, you're experiencing all the emotions. You're getting these constant dopamine hits where you become addicted to what is going on on your phone screen, to where you think that you need to be what's on your phone screen in order to be happy. You know, I like following a lot of like the aesthetically pleasing, curated content, like where they like do their morning routine and they're like making their bed and they're folding it all night.
Shelby:It's like, yeah, maybe that works for them and like that's their lifestyle and I like watching it, but that doesn't mean that that's me. I don't have to change who I am to become successful online just because that's working for somebody else.
Liv:And I think we used to do that Like. We used to like try to be something that we weren't, and that's why we weren't as successful as we wanted to be.
Shelby:No period. I mean, I literally just learned this, like a couple of weeks ago, where I was talking to I mean, I talked about this, I think, last episode but a business mentor in mind that I invested in and she was like girl, you don't have to do short form content if you don't want to Like, if that's not something that comes naturally to you, and you have to expend so much energy to try to come up with like an idea. If YouTube was working for you, if blog writing was working for you, if doing a podcast is working for you, like that is what you are meant to do, because you need the space and the time and like the depth to like talk about topics that you want to talk about. Just because other people online are doing TikToks and they're doing like these curated like morning routines. You don't have to do it that way consistently to be successful. Like if that's not something that comes naturally to you. Don't try to fit yourself in that box just because it's working for somebody else God bless, thank you.
Liv:Snaps to that.
Shelby:Snaps to that baby.
Liv:That was a perfect answer.
Shelby:And it goes back to like authenticity and like vulnerability and like being true to yourself. I mean, I moved away from like long form content for four years and it took me four years to realize that I'm not that girl. I'm not the girl that can be like Emily Kaiser or Avery Woods. That's like posting all of these like short little, like vlogs and stuff like on TikTok, because that's just not the way that I live my life and I don't want to necessarily You're not passionate about that.
Shelby:Yeah, and that's just good for them Like.
Shelby:I love watching them but it's just not how I want to do social media. And if you look up to somebody and you admire what they're doing, you can watch what they're doing, but not let it affect your own journey with social media. I think it also goes back to like knowing yourself. I talk about this all the time and we talk about this all the time on the podcast. But if you don't have a solid relationship with yourself and know what it is that you want out of social media and you're only doing it because you want what somebody else has like aren't red flag, like you should not even go into social media unless you know why it is that you're doing it and how you want to do it and what aligns with you.
Liv:Yes, I love that.
Shelby:Period Period Puget one off first. Okay, we're getting down here, All right so I'm also sorry if I'm sniffly everybody. I think I'm getting allergies. I am too.
Liv:It's allergy season. How do you keep a positive attitude around social media and content creation when there is so much negativity out there?
Shelby:I think a lot of people have a lot to say about social media and they say that there's a lot of negativity. But there's also a lot of positivity on social media and I think it really does come down to having the responsibility on who you follow and the media that you consume. I mean, you and I were literally just talking about this in the elevator, but I learned this like in college when I was getting my journalism degree I think it's called confirmation bias but you follow people and consume media that reaffirm back to you what you believe. If you're following a lot of people that don't align with the person that you want to be and you're consuming that media, you're naturally going to gravitate that energy into your life. I am so protective over the people that I follow now on social media. I mean, let me go look at my Instagram. Right now I think I'm following maybe less than 400 people Damn 320. Oh my God, like I. Just if you are not I don't even want to look.
Liv:I have a. Really I never scroll, though that's my thing. I never really scroll on my feet anymore. I go on like reels and then tic tac. Like I never catch myself like scrolling, like this, yeah and I've caught myself so much like doing that.
Shelby:Now, like that I've had more time. I don't think I realized, like how much time I was mindlessly scrolling and I think I was doing it because I was trying to run for my own internal environment. But I've been a lot more careful about scrolling and the media that I'm consuming and protecting my space and if I see somebody posting something that just does not align with my values or whatever, like maybe that's just like their life and that's fine, like it's their page for a reason, they can share whatever they want to share. But I protect myself and protect my energy and I unfollow the people that I don't want to see their stuff. It comes back to like your own personal responsibility and making sure that, like you are protecting your energy on social media the same way that you would when you're protecting your energy with the people that you surround yourself, like in person. Like you don't want to walk into a room and be around like all these people that are, like constantly bitching and complaining all the time, because you're going to become the six-bitcher and complainer.
Shelby:You know like if you want to be a positive person, if you want to achieve things with your life, if you want to level up, if you want to grow as a person, you need to surround yourself with those types of people, like in person, but also online. I mean also like to like, aside from social media. I think social media and like the actual media, like news media, have become so intertwined to where like I hate watching YouTube videos now because I know the election is coming up and you have all of these ads about all these people like hating on one another.
Liv:It's like can we talk about what we want to do for our country, please?
Shelby:I love them, guys Like stop hating on each other and like spread peace, anyway, anyway. That it's like I try so much, like I don't turn on the news on my TV.
Shelby:I try to like only watch, like YouTube videos, and if there's like an ad going on, like I'm right there waiting for the skip button, like you know, just protect your energy as much as possible and know what it is that you want out of social media and if you see something that is negative, like block that person or like I think there's like a setting on TikTok where you can click like don't show me stuff like this anymore or something like that. But I mean, if you're just mindlessly scrolling and you're not like actively scrolling and paying attention to the media that you're consuming, it will mess with your brain.
Liv:Where do you see social media in five years? Ooh, I know that's kind of a hard question, but yeah.
Shelby:I mean and I was thinking about this too, I think, like a couple months ago the only way that I know this is because, like it had to do with social media but I think the government was actually contemplating shutting down TikTok again. Do you remember when that happened, like a couple years ago, and everybody was like breaking out like this is the last TikTok I'm ever gonna post, and then like it was there in the next day and everything was fine.
Liv:I feel like TikTok can not ever go down.
Shelby:And that's the thing too is like I think that there are just so many jobs now like social media, marketing and like all the things that TikTok is such a heavy integral part of that. I feel like if the United States would make the decision to ban TikTok, it would just send, like, our economy into a spiral you know what I mean. Like so many businesses and so many individuals make their livelihoods solely off of TikTok that if that just went away, there would be like a crisis.
Liv:I think it's like to that point now.
Shelby:So I don't necessarily think that TikTok is going to go away. I mean, I don't know what our government's gonna do about it, but man, that is a tough question. I think short form content creation is here to stay, but I think our society is gonna become a lot more educated in the next five years as to how it really has been impacting our younger generation. I mean, I think to iPad kids and kids that like desperately need their iPad or they will have like a mental tantrum or like a mental breakdown or a tantrum, and it's like we were going out and like playing out on the swings and like spending time on like our own reality. And I think the pendulum, like I said, has swung so far to being chronically online that a lot of our generation and our society is like up and coming with social media, have forgot what it's like to spend time in reality, because social media has become more interesting that we're becoming like robots, almost, you know, like we're not thinking about, like how is social media affecting me and my growth as a human being? Like if something's going on in your internal world and you're just like so used to, like clicking on Instagram and TikTok. Like I had to remove them off of my home screen and like I have to like actively search for Instagram and TikTok on my phone now, because it's just like this mindless thing whenever I'm bored I reach for my phone. I know exactly where to press, like for my thumb to go to TikTok, I know exactly where to press to go to Instagram. Like it's just such this like ingrained part of my brain and I'm like whoa, this like doesn't even feel like a conscious choice anymore. You know, it's just like so automatic.
Shelby:And I think that's where, like, the next generation is up and coming and it's so scary to think about.
Shelby:But I really hope that our society and our generation now that didn't have social media as kids and then recognize like how much of an effect it's had on us that we learn to teach our kids like the importance of time limits on social media and the importance of going and playing out on the swing side and, you know, going riding your bike.
Shelby:Like kids don't even ride their bikes anymore in neighborhoods. It's so sad Like everybody's just spending time inside and like we wonder why we're so depressed as a nation right now and as an economy and globe as a whole, it's because we're just spending so much time online. So I think in the next five years, hopefully, our generation that had time without social media and then had it introduced when we were like in high school college, as we become parents fingers crossed we're going to recognize how much social media has fucked up our kids in this current generation so we're able to lead the next generation with more of a positive direction with social media and not to say that like we want it to go away, but just finding a better way to balance our physical reality and our online reality.
Liv:I love that. That was like a very deep answer, I know, but I friggin hope so that that I hope that that's real.
Shelby:My kids are not getting like an iPad or introduction to social media until their brains are at least somewhat developed.
Liv:But then you think of schools like schools already. They have iPads. They're on iPads all day in school. It's so scary, so it's like they have access to everything.
Shelby:It's so scary.
Liv:And it's actually terrifying, oh my God.
Shelby:It just it gives me anxiety, like to think about, but I hope that our generation just wakes up and steers us in the correct direction, because we could be on a downward spiral fast with our addiction to social media Anyway on a later note.
Liv:Yeah, but like you said, there are a lot of positives. Like we wouldn't have met People, wouldn't be able to connect, as well, exactly Like you know what.
Liv:I mean, we've met so many people through social media, we have careers with social media, like it's done a lot for us and it can be very positive, but obviously in reality there are those downfalls. With social media, as well as anything. Everything has its pros and cons, yeah, but I think you answered everything really well. That was pretty much everything. Great. I had a fun one. Did you see the fun one? I added no. What are three things you would take to a deserted island? Oh God.
Shelby:That's on a left field.
Liv:I know right, Not your phone.
Shelby:Not my phone, definitely not. I would chuck it in the ocean. That would be the first thing I would do. I think I would bring an unlimited amount of paper. Wait, why paper? Oh well, my second thing would be an unlimited amount of art supplies. So, all I would do is just sit and color all day, and then obviously probably would have the necessities.
Liv:All you need is your coloring book and a house.
Shelby:Maybe that and film cameras.
Liv:Oh yes, but who's going to see that?
Shelby:Yeah, maybe not. Actually, that would be cool if somebody found me then and I would be able to document all my adventures. But also, if I'm on a deserted island, what is it?
Liv:Take pictures of it Maybe get some shelter.
Shelby:Yeah, maybe get some shelter what I'm thinking of if I would have all the necessities what would be the? Three additional things that would bring that's fun yeah. Obviously it would be food, water and shelter. That would be my three if I didn't have the necessities. So paper, paper, art supplies, colored pencils, pens, all the things, because then I could also use the paper and pen to journal and sort out, probably why I'm depressed on a deserted island by myself.
Shelby:Ooh, maybe a tape recorder and a microphone Because film cameras there's probably nothing to take pictures of. But talking for me is a way of getting my thoughts out and a form of therapy for me. I love talk therapy and that's why I love this podcast so much is just being able to talk about things that are going on in my brain, sorts them out for me that, I think a tape recorder and a microphone will be great. I make my own little podcast about living on a deserted island.
Liv:That's so you, that is so me. Art supplies. Art supplies, paper and a tape recorder. I'm set, I'm ready to go, I love it.
Shelby:I'll pack tomorrow. I love it.
Liv:All right, well, that is everything. Those were good questions. Thank you, did. They just popped in my head.
Shelby:They're great. Honestly, I'm not going to lie. The questions that I had for you. I used chatGBT to generate them and my questions ask a hairstylist and I looked at all of them and I was like, mm. I'm going to change this one a little bit.
Shelby:So you guys if you want to hear Liv's episode, we're going to record that one. Next, we're going to talk all about her being a hairstylist and what her whole journey is like. But my Instagram is at theshabbylanay. Liv's is at Live Worth and Liv'd in Beauty for her hair page. And then our podcast Instagram is at evolverapythepodcast. You guys would love to go give us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. That would be amazing, helps us grow the show and I think in a couple of weeks we're going to try to start doing video podcasts. Yes, I don't know if we keep talking about it, but but it's going to actually happen.
Liv:It's going to actually happen this time. Yep, yeah, we're going to do that. I'm the problem.
Shelby:Yep, I'm the problem, it's me. It's fine, all right, see you guys next week. Bye.
