Authenticity Over Algorithms: Kristen Sellentin on Creating Content People Trust

Kristen Sellentin has built a career on the same thing that makes any good friend worth listening to: authenticity. A Houston-based family lifestyle creator with more than 845,000 followers across social media, she creates content spanning family life, DIY projects, recipes, home decor, seasonal celebrations, and everyday motherhood — and has become a trusted voice for modern families along the way. Her partnerships with brands like Walmart, Target, Netflix, Sony, General Mills, Nike, Michael's, Crayola, and M&M's are proof that relatability, not polish, is what actually moves people to buy.

In this episode, Kristen joins Aliza Freud to talk about what it really takes to build a community versus an audience, why authenticity always outperforms polish, and how she evaluates brand partnerships to protect the trust she's built. They dig into the mechanics of a great hook, the shift toward long-term brand partnerships and UGC, and why — even in an AI-driven content landscape — her community can tell the difference between a real photo and a generated one, and responds accordingly.

Episode Highlights

• From hobby to full-time business — How Kristen's early posts about crafts and motherhood evolved into a career built on sharing wins, failures, and everything in between.
• Community over audience — Why trust, consistency, and authenticity — not follower count — are what actually drive brand results.
• The anatomy of a hook — Why leading with the finished product (not chronological storytelling) is what keeps audiences watching, and how on-screen text and pacing factor in.
• The value of long-term brand partnerships — Why ongoing creator-brand relationships lead to stronger content, deeper trust, and better results for everyone involved.
• Creating multiple income streams — How Kristen has built a business beyond sponsored posts, and why diversification matters for creators.
• Using AI without losing authenticity — How Kristen incorporates AI into her workflow while ensuring her content still feels personal, genuine, and true to her brand.

Kristen's story is a reminder that in a crowded creator economy, the edge isn't more content — it's more trust, built one authentic post at a time.

Links and Resources

Follow Kristen Sellentin on Instagram

Follow Kristen Sellentin on TikTok

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Transcript

Impact Over Followers

SPEAKER_01 0:00

If I share something that makes someone feel better, makes them feel less alone, helps them make a decision, helps them buy a product that changes their life or take a step to a new goal or towards a goal, that is impact. And that's why I do what I do.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Welcome back to the show. Hope you're all having a great week so far. So today's episode is one of my favorite types of episodes to do. It allows me to get the chance to talk with some of the amazing creators and influencers we get to work with on a day-to-day basis that she speaks. And I have such a great one for you to hear today. Kristen Salendin is a Houston-based family lifestyle creator, and she's really become this trusted voice for the close to one million families, mostly families who follow her and follow her content across social media. Kristen started her channel back in 2019 as a way to connect with others and share more about crafting and art. And it has expanded so much since then because obviously, as her audience got to know her, they wanted to learn more about her. So she has added many different types of things: cooking and DIY and motherhood and other topics that her audience now comes to her and is looking to get insights from her on. And I love hearing Kristen's approach to creating content, how she thinks about what do I want to say to my audience, how am I going to get them engaged in this topic. We very specifically also talk about sponsor content. How does she think about working with brands when they hire her to work on content? I think that you are going to find this conversation extremely helpful, whether you are an influencer who is looking to build their audience to even more followers and more connection with the people who you want to connect with, or if you are a brand who works with influencers and you are looking to better understand, get into the mindset of an influencer when they are creating a sponsored piece of content. Kristen has such great ideas for the way to approach content. And whether that's sponsored or non-sponsored content, I think you are going to find it extremely useful because it is not always the case that an influencer can build an audience and then consistently build that audience over time. And Kristen has successfully done that since she launched her channel in 2019. She has really consistently built it and expanded it and worked with some amazing brands in the process. She's worked with Netflix and Walmart and Target and General Mills and Nike and Crayola and MMs and lots of other different brands. So she's got a wealth of insight about what type of content works well for her audience. I think that she also has really great insight on AI. We talked about AI and how her audience reacts to AI and how she thinks AI can be useful to creators and influencers, but also how there can also be major risks associated with it for creators, but also for brands. So I think you're really gonna enjoy this episode. It is so chock full of insights. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed having a conversation with Kristen. We're gonna jump right into it. Here we go.

From Corporate To Creator

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Kristen, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

I love talking with you. You are someone who I know we as a company, as she speaks, we have tracked and worked with you over time and have loved watching your ascent, seeing your community grow, your followers grow. It's really been so wonderful to see that happen. We love when we get to watch really good creators, influencers be able to grow because of that talent. So, first of all, congratulations. Oh, thank you. It's definitely been a whirlwind, that's for sure. Yeah. Well, let's talk a little bit. Maybe we can start with. I know we've worked together on a bunch of campaigns, but for those who may not be familiar with your story, can you tell us a little bit about how you got started? How did you start in this space at all when you started and how has it evolved for you?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

I say it's been a whirlwind because I started in 2019 and I can't believe now we're in 2026 already, right? But when I started, it started just with a passion for finding myself again and using my creativity that I had not used in many years. I was in corporate America and I had really suppressed a lot of that, but always been, you know, toying behind the scenes with whether it was crafts or art or cooking. And in 2019, I needed a way to start to make an income and provide for my family, but I wasn't ready to go back full-time into a job. So I say it started as a hobby. And I was watching other influencers, as this term influencer was starting to become a thing, and brands were starting to pay influencers. So I was watching this start to evolve and wondering how do I do this? So when I started, I really started in the crafts DIY motherhood space when that was that was kind of starting to take off and have a little shift online, and people wanted to see you know DIYs, and then videos started to evolve too. But in a I did that for about a year, and people really I mean, I was gaining followers quickly. I was growing up community quickly, and I I was shocked. I didn't I didn't know what to do with with all of that. I wasn't expecting it. I was just sharing the things that were making me happy and I was passionate about and my creativity. And I've always believed that people connect with people. People, people drive your community, and it's not about perfectionism. So while I look back in that first content I was creating was pr now looks pretty bad, right? People at the time were loving it. And so I started sharing the wins. I and instead of just crafts, I started realizing I need to share me. And I started to share my wins and my failures and all the messy middle in between and my family. And people were joining my community quickly and they loved the authenticity and were there with every comment, with every DM that was sent. This community has grown and grown. And after I would say about two years, I was finally able to connect with enough brands and have start to have this presence with brands and be able to make this a full-time job. And so there was a shift from just creating the content and having that that hobby and that fun to this is now a brand and a business. And I I early on learned, because I was in the business realm for a long time, that I have to brand myself and this I will be the brand. And that was when the mental shift happened was when I said, I need to make that that transition to from a hobby to a business. And it happened a little faster than I thought. But here I am today. I've worked even this year, I've worked with over a hundred brands and we're only halfway through the year.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

And that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful every day I don't take a second of it for granted or my community for granted because they're the ones that trust me and come to me every day. And I just love that. That's why I still show up every day and I'm consistent every day because of my community.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

I love that.

Consistency And Community Trust

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Well, let's talk about the community. I want to get into the community because one of the things that I think people who are successful at what you do and you've made a full-time job, which means that you are in the small percentage of there are lots of people out there who are creating content. The people who can do this as a full-time job, you're in already the small percentage of people who can do that. So it's just still wild to me.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

I still don't believe I don't believe that. And through this, I've been able to hire a team, including my relatives. That's amazing. It's mind-blowing to me. It's mind.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Yeah. Well, and there's a there's a freedom associated with that. But I think one of the things that I noticed as a person who sees a lot of people who are in this space doing what you're doing, one of the things that I see as consistency of the people who are successful, they're people who maybe started with like, oh, I want to find myself. I want to show another part of my life. I'm gonna show how I do crafting or whatever. But then recognize pretty quickly that what you're doing is building a community because people are interacting with you. Your followers are your community. So one of the things that I've seen as a success measure of people who are able to do this for the long haul and make a career out of it as you have, is that they have this understanding that what they're building is community. Can you talk a little bit about how you think about community, which are your followers?

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Sure. There wasn't a there wasn't one huge moment that happened that gave me this big community. They've been consistently coming to me through my content. And because I show up consistent and because I'm authentic every single day in everything I post, from a story to a video to, you know, a message. It's me and I share quality share quality, quality over quantity. Brands may like my content, but they what they really love is the trust that my community has in me, right? And the authenticity that I have built. And that that is you just can't get that not like we've talked about before. I mean, not every creator has that. So I'm very blessed to have this community that trusts me and every product that I share.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Well, and you're getting real-time feedback from them. This is the thing that I try to emphasize to the brands that we work with, the the creators, the influencers that we work with, the ones who are doing this and do this well, they understand their audience and what's going to resonate with their audience way better than any of the rest of us. And that is because you engage with them, you see how they you talk to them all the time. DM, comments they put on your posts, but also how they're how people react to content. Just like, did that content resonate? Are people engaging with it? Like just even without knowing the comments, right? You can you have a sense for what insight, what information you can share that is going to engage your audience.

Choosing Brands And Building Concepts

SPEAKER_00 11:29

And I would love if you would talk a little bit about how do you think about this for brands you work with? So a brand comes to you. Do you have a process that you think through of like, do I want to work with this brand? And then, okay, yes, I'm gonna work with this brand. How do you think about creating the content? Can you talk a little bit about that process?

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Oh, sure. Cause that's a huge part of my everyday. And the bit, the big, not just being a creative mind, but like you said, the how is the audience gonna perceive this? Are they go, is it gonna resonate with them? Are they gonna click that link? Are they gonna purchase this product? When I'm first approached with a campaign from a brand, I number one, I always say, can I have a brief? I want to know what their goals are. And I know, I want to know if I can meet it or if I'm the right creator for them. Because not every product and brand is a good fit for me personally or my audience. And I've turned down not too many, but I have turned down campaigns in the past where I just know that it's not a good fit for whether it's me or my audience, typically. You know, creators are smarter or audiences are smarter than ever. Creators are smarter, but audiences are smarter than ever. They can see right through that just that fakeness, you know, when it when it looks forced and when it's when it feels like a heavy, something heavy, they're gonna immediately scroll away. You've got to be able to hook them, show them a problem and a solution. It's gotta resonate with them. I want to see a brief after I've reviewed it. Typically I know what the product is, right? There's a few times I'm like, I don't even know what this product actually is. It's new, you know? Maybe it's new. That has happened. And I'm like, okay, now I need to figure out this product. And then I then my creative brain starts to work and I start toying around with what's the best way to show this to my audience, depending on what the product is. And that's where the fun for me, that is the most fun part. I love the brainstorming. Brainstorming is so fun. I like to think about how I how would I use this product in real life. And sometimes that by when I've pitched to a brand, I come up with the concept, then I send it to the brand for approval. And sometimes by the time I get the product in my hand, I've actually changed that and thought of something that I think works better. So it's a it's a very long process mentally. Yes. And I'm hoping the whole time that the brand is with me because the brand needs to understand that yes, we're good, I need to, you know, meet your guidelines and whether that's legal or your goals for this campaign, but I also need to have the creativity so I can get my audience hooked and show up authentically with your product.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Yeah. So when you think about your audience and how they're going to react to for purposes of what we're talking about now with sponsored

Hooks That Keep People Watching

SPEAKER_00 14:20

content. So something where a brand comes to you, they want to work with you. Yep. When you say your the audiences are smarter than ever. And I agree with you 100%. So I think too that maybe in some ways it's gotten a little bit harder to get people's attention just because people are now so used to seeing sponsored content. Knowing that, how do you think then about what you're going to say to your audience to hook them? Because you talked about hook and I love that. That's a big deal, the hook. And then holding their attention, which is showing the problem, the solution in a compelling way. How do you think about how the audience, your audience is going to react positively to and what they're going to react negatively to?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

I think one of one of the biggest changes, you know, there used to be a lot of unboxing videos. This always comes to my mind. And people just aren't, they just aren't as interested as in an unboxing. At least my audience is not. That came to my audience. I they're very particular. They used, I feel like they used to love that surprise, but no, not so much. They want to see that final product in action. Typically, my my my initial hook is let me see. They want an action. They want to see that, whether it's a final recipe or, you know, if it's a if it's a vacuum, they want to see it. Oh, there it goes. It worked really well. It picked up there. You know, they want that instant gratification versus here I am. I'm walking in. I'm going to set this this grocery bag on the counter. Now I'm going to take the stuff out. You know, they're not going to, they're going to go, oh, I could, I see that every day. You know, I do that myself every day. There's a time and a place for those as well. And I I get, and I as a creator, I understand when a brand needs to show their brand. You know, sometimes we get the guideline, you've got to show that brand within the first three seconds or whatever it may be. But audiences are not gonna, they're not gonna love that. And my audience, now there are there's a big difference, you know, if it's a um a retailer-based, a retailer-centric creator, they've already got all these interested audience members who love that retailer. So if you share, hi, I'm walking into this store, come with me, that may work really well for them. But for me, my audience is just gonna go, oh, Kristen's going to shopping. You know, there, I don't feel like they're gonna be as hooked. I have learned, I've learned over the years, I need to show that gift basket right away or that final recipe. Something out of the ordinary, even, is uh something funny, you know, depending on what but Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

I love that uh we were just looking at some of the best content from a couple of campaigns. And one of the things that we noticed as we were looking at the best performing is let's say it's a food product that you use as an ingredient for something. Show the finished product of what you made first, and then you can back up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yes, that the hooking pool, that that big scoop of ice cream, whatever it is. Yeah, those that that works that hooks me in. That makes me go, ooh, that looks delicious.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

I want to make that. And that that is, I think, I think that sometimes people think, oh no, show it in chronological order. You go to the store and you pick this up.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

You well, no, don't do that. Yeah. I I people have asked me over the years, other creators or people that are trying to get into being an influencer, and they've asked me, you know, for tips and tricks. And that's one of the first things I always tell them because I personally feel like I made that mistake myself way back when where I thought I needed to start a storytelling in the chronological order. And and I was like, this isn't people aren't watching. Now we have all these insights on our algorithm or you know, in our platforms too, and you can see the drop-off rate and the retention rate. And that's very helpful. And that has taught us as creators a lot of what hooks people in. Having that great hook text on the screen is so big too now because people want to they they're gonna read it. You need to have something that they go, ooh, let me keep watching.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Yes. So it's the text on screen. It's text on screen, it's what you're saying verbally or what you're showing, what you're showing to get the audience in and interested in that hook.

When Brands Push Back

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Can you talk about an example of a campaign where you wanted something very particular? You used your understanding of what your audience cares about, and this notion of showing the problem, showing the solution, and being able to do that in an authentic way for your audience, where you were able to kind of switch their perspective and get to a good outcome. And what was that example of a good outcome?

SPEAKER_01 19:22

I'm trying to think. I don't have to push back against brands too often. Most most of them I work with value, in my opinion, when I don't think something's going to work. I did recently have have a brand though that I pitched an idea to and they were on board. And then once I sent the content, they pushed back and said, no, no, we want it done this way. They wanted more, their product shown more. And that's great and all, but that's not what my audience is going to want to see. So then we have to come to the table and start compromising of okay, how how can I integrate this product in a natural way that feels natural and not forced like I'm it's an ad. Right. And that that was a little bit challenging. We met in the middle. I put their product in some more scenes. But yeah, it depends a lot on what the product is. And you want content, sponsored content to come across authentic. That's the main thing. And if I'm pushing this product and I'm talking about it too much, or I'm showing that label too much, people are gonna go, Oh, okay, well, geez, that now I know it's an ad, and I just like a commercial on TV, they're gonna turn away.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

That you lose that authenticity. And that's not it just doesn't align with the audience. Understand that that there's a certain amount, there's like almost a certain limit of how much you can show that product before they're like, oh, yeah, we get it. We get it.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

It's there's a sponsored pose for this brand.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Yeah, exactly. And you know, there's there have been times over the years where I just have to do what the brand wants. And and what I do, uh and my man, I have a manager now. So my manager's really good about this. I mean, we we set those expectations and we say, this is how Kristen would like to do it, and she knows is gonna resonate. But if you want to do it this way, we will do it that way. We just don't feel that it's gonna perform as well. So we we lay out that expectation. So you set it up. Yeah. I I don't I don't want to, I don't ever want sponsored content for a brand to fail. I that bothers me more than anything because it's me. It's me, it's my brand, it's my name, it's my image. So for something to fail makes me feel terrible. 100% and so I I I definitely like to lay out those expectations. And you know, that's all I could do at the end of the day, and then I'm off to the next one, and and hopefully it goes more successful.

Why Long Term Partnerships Win

SPEAKER_00 21:55

But what I would love to get your perspective is I have a few questions sort of on this end. And as it relates to working with a brand on an ongoing basis, almost like Oh, I love that. Can you talk a little bit about do you have a preference in terms of the way you work? And is there if the downside for some brands will say, well, if we work with an influencer once, then we already hit their audience. So talk a little bit about the benefit of working with a brand on an ongoing basis.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

That's funny you say that because that's the first thing I say back to brands is people need to see things two or three times before they're going to purchase. They need to see things multiple times before they trust a product. So just because I've said something, hey, I love this, doesn't mean that they're initially going to trust it. And there's a big difference in price too, if it's a dollar candy bar versus a $50 bike helmet. Let's say they're going to need more, more time seeing that bike helmet before they're going to make that purchase. So it definitely depends on the product as well. But I over the years, I I've pushed with almost all of my partners. I always, I always ask, hi, do you have another campaign? After we're finished, I do a little wrap-up, you know, and ask them if we can continue to partner. Because I am a I'm a big proponent of a long-term partnership. It's it just makes so much more sense. I I get where the brands, I do understand where the brand says we want in front of different audiences. But if I have an audience that trusts that brand and and is is enjoying that content, why not show it to them a couple more times? Even if it's just a year, you know, if it's a quarterly partnership and you know I'm gonna make you strong content, let's keep that going.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

And you're likely to give them more value than you would on a one-off. I mean, that's the other thing that, you know, I think sometimes people miss is that if you work with an influencer on more than a one-off situation, two, three, four, whatever, you're gonna get more value because it's like anything else. If you you understand the brand, there's some efficiencies on your end, and you're probably willing to provide some benefit for the brand by doing more than one deal with them.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

So, an example, I had a partner who was consistently hiring me for several years, and then last year came and said, We've never done this, but we want to do a long-term partnership with you. So fantastic. Absolutely love them, love their products. And they, over those years, had realized that I have a very good knack for gifting and showing people what to gift to their children or their teachers or anyone, really, especially holidays. So they said, we would love to set this up where you're a long-term partner, and instead you basically they gave me creative freedom and said, we want you quarterly to make us content that you post, but also they run for ads as well. And it's just a win-win. Yeah, I'm selling their products, people are clicking, they sales are converting. They they saw that and went with it. And I'm so thankful they did because I we do have such a great partnership, but they took a chance and they've never done something like this. And now I think they've done this with several creators, but that's I I hope that more brands would lean into that strategy because creators are influencers are we've got these communities and they trust that the things that we're showing, and if we're doing it in a great way, they're buying wouldn't you want to keep that cycle going? That's what I've always thought. If you like what I'm doing, why don't you have me do it more often for you?

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Yeah, a hundred percent. I am with you, and I think there's a lot of movement in that direction, which is good. I think it's also it's great for the brand.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

I think it is. Brand strategies have really changed, as you know.

UGC And New Brand Demands

SPEAKER_01 25:58

I mean, I was gonna ask you how brand strategies have changed, but I I see it this year really starting because I've been asked to do more UGC and I've had more long-term partnerships come up than when you say more UGC, tell people what you mean because there's also a lot of definitions of UGC out there. So when you say get I I'm making them content that I'm not posting on my channels that they own and are posting on on their channels.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Oh, interesting. So you're not actually posting it on your Instagram or TikTok. No, you are creating it. Yeah, so you're creating the content, but they're the ones that are doing the paid amplification or using it on their pages, on their on their own social channels. Okay. Got it. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

I've done that a s a little in the past, a couple times a year, but this year I've had more opportunities, and mostly with brands that have hired me, liked my campaign content. The the campaign has performed well, and so they've come back and asked me to make them content. We're yeah, over the years, brands have I think have they've realized that we are an integral part of their marketing. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Well, I think that what's and I think initially when we started in the space, it was seeing working with influencers who weren't called influencers back then, we're called bloggers, but right, but back then it was like, okay, they are they have an audience. So this is like a media play. I'm just gonna get, I'm like buying media. I'm gonna, yes, they can, yes, write about the product, but really it's about the P their audience and what they see, and that I'm getting access to that audience. I think what's happened over time as the content has gotten better. I think as influencer content got better, the tools got better to create content, influencers got better at creating the content, and brands need so much more content because we're living in a digital world now. I think the the content became a huge part of the benefit of working with creators. So it's interesting that you do have brands that come to you and say, Hey, we would love for you to create content for us. We're gonna post it on our channels, we're gonna do paid media behind whatever, but and you don't even need to post it on your channel. That's really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Personally, I find it sad. I love to share my content. So part of me gets a little sad. Yeah. When I say go, okay, bye. It's like my baby, right? Yes, yes, enjoy. I love to post that, but that you know, that's that was not the goal. Yes. I do, and I love seeing my content, of course. I love seeing all my babies out there.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Yeah, yeah.

Affiliate Income And Revenue Mix

SPEAKER_00 28:44

So I know when we last spoke, whenever on our last conversation, you were talking about the different ways that you make money as an influencer. You have brand deals that are like sponsored content where they're either sponsoring your content or they're getting content from you that they're gonna use and they pay you for that. But then you also mentioned you have affiliate income from you know, from posting links. So can you talk a little bit just today, as where we are today? Are you still more heavily on the brand deals versus the affiliate? Can you talk a little bit about that and just make up?

SPEAKER_01 29:20

I love multiple revenue streams. What successful business doesn't. 100%. When I first started, the first way I made money was affiliate income through different platforms. And that's continued. My it's still about 20%. So 80% is brands, is sponsored content, employment comes from affiliate or ad revenue from my website. Yeah. Yeah, it's a big part of what I do and sharing all the products that I love. Because I love sharing my sponsored content and making that content for brands. But it's also nice to have that income coming in from just the stuff that I love that I'm sharing kid products, kitchen, home decor, you know, what whatever. I will share it. I'll put a link on anything as long as I love it. So affiliate income is such a great way for creators, influencers to make, to make a little money. It's a little side hustle, you know. Yeah. There are okay times of the year, it's it's more lucrative than others. Holidays are big. But if you're not, that's what I tell people too. One of my tips, if you're not making affiliate income, you're just missing out because there's so many almost, I feel like almost every brand is now on some sort of affiliate platform. And we all love things that we have and use in our daily lives. Why not share them, put that link on there and make a little, you know, make something? Yeah. It adds up. Even those five cents adds up over time.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

All right. Well, thank you. That is helpful. So you've worked with so many big brands, yeah, big retailers and big brands like Crayola and Netflix, lots of different companies. What really separates a great brand partner from one that is more difficult and just generally, so people understand what makes it easier versus harder when you're working with a brand?

SPEAKER_01 31:18

When they trust you and they trust your process. When they see that you are the creative and when they understand all of that, that you know your audience better than anyone. When they start putting too many guardrails and they start stifling that creative process and not listening, that just makes it so hard. When you're meeting all of their guidelines, you should still be able to drive the creativity process because you know your audience better than anyone. You know that community better than anyone and how they're gonna accept that content.

AI Efficiency Without Losing Voice

SPEAKER_00 31:50

Yeah. So we're in an age now where there's lots of AI content. Oh, yeah. And I am curious about your perspective about how AI is going to impact creators and content creation. So, can you talk a little bit about how you're thinking about AI and what the impact is?

SPEAKER_01 32:10

AI will make creators more efficient, but they're not going to take away that authenticity ever. AI can help you brainstorm, help you stay organized and edit and research and be extra productive, but it can't replace those lived experiences and those personal stories, relationships, or that genuine trust that you've built with your audience. So I've I look at it as a very powerful tool. And I am embracing it and using it in my business where it is helping me become more efficient. But it's at the end of the day, it's still me and my voice. And my my community isn't going, they don't respond that well when I share or when I've when I've toyed around with it. I've put a little AI something in my stories. It does not perform. It just doesn't perform as well. They just interesting. They know. You know, they know. People know and they think they know too.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

So what is an example of what you could put into a story that is AI, just so people wrap their heads around it?

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Oh, just um, I I've tried a few graphics, you know. I like, hey, make me a collage of these dresses that I can use. And it could just be a little bit of me too, because I I know, right? It's that it's AI, but I just don't see the reaction more than the reaction, isn't the positive reaction versus if it's a photo of me in that dress. Interesting. They they they'd rather yeah, they want to see it in real life versus versus an AID image. That's the only that's my only example that I've looked at. But I know I know some there's creators that it's working well for. So far, I have not found that. Maybe I haven't toyed around with it enough. But yeah, I love it when it comes to helping me on the back side of things.

unknown 34:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

Automation tools, you know, to send out my affiliate links. It's been fantastic. It's taken hours and hours off of my plate. But I still show up every single day. You know, it's still me because AI just can't replace that voice.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

We see it the same way that it can make us more efficient, but it does not replace the lived experiences, the personal stories, and that genuine trust that you've built with your own. You said that's what you said. And I wrote it down because I said that is such a great way to articulate the difference.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

So I start to think about my husband and I talk about AI a lot and how how it could be more make my business more efficient because I'm a one-woman show. I do have a small team behind me, but right, there's only so many hours in a day. So we talk a lot about how I could use AI to improve my editing process and take things off my plate. But uh I start to think about the days when when you know, it's we still have it, right? You call a business and you get that that automation and you're like, okay, I'm pressing two, but it won't go through. We're learning through this AI process of when it makes sense versus when it's obnoxious. Yeah. For a lot of people, I think it's coming across right now. It's new, it's new territory, and people are thinking it's scary and it's gonna take away jobs. But I think when it's done right and we find the the proper way for it to be applied, that it's going to be such, it's such a valuable tool.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

Yeah. But good to know that there is, I love hearing your perspective on this because, you know, I think there has been this question mark on all right, is influencing our creators just going to become AI? And I think to your point about trust, it's just not there if it's all AI.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

I don't think so. The things that I've seen that are the the creators or influencers I've seen using AI, if they don't put a paid strategy behind it, I I don't think that it resonates like it it should. I think and that's that's something I'm I'm personally studying because I'm very interested in it.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

Yeah. That's great. I love that. Hopefully we can get more on that in the future from you.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

I know.

SPEAKER_00 36:20

When I'm back on the podcast, I'm sure things will change. Right. Because things are changing so much so quickly. I know, I

Defining Influence As Real Impact

SPEAKER_00 36:27

know. Well, my last question for you, Kristen, this podcast is called Women of Influence. What does influence mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Influence to me is not it's not about having the loudest voice or the biggest audience, the most followers. It's making an impact. And for me, it's creating that trust and using that trust responsibly. If I share something that makes someone feel better, makes them feel less alone, helps them make a decision, helps them buy a product that changes their life or take a step to a new goal or towards a goal, that is impact. And that's why I do what I do. So when I get a message from someone that says, Because of you, I did this, it makes me tear up because I get I get those more often than I give myself credit for.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Yeah. That's a big, that's something big because I've made this imprint on someone else's life and I've never met them in person. I don't know really anything about them, to be honest. I know their name and their, I know their screen name and this little picture, but yeah. Oh, I love that. That's influence to me is making that connection and changing someone's life without even ever shaking their hand. That's wild. I mean, not if not everyone gets unbelievable. That's yeah, it really is. And that's what makes that's another reason why I consistently show up and I'm so thankful for the community that I have. I love to empower them in small ways that they may not even that I may not even realize and that they may not realize. You know, not just something like this is the Christmas, this is what you sort of put on your Christmas tree, but maybe something about your children and hey, this book helped them, my kids do read better or whatever it may be. No, there's small ways to impact. That's what real influence is. I I that's me.

SPEAKER_00 38:20

I love that. Well, Kristen, if people want to follow you, yeah, uh, what is the best way for them to do that?

SPEAKER_01 38:26

Probably my Instagram, that's the easiest, but my handle's the same on all channels. It's at Kristen Celentine.

SPEAKER_00 38:33

My name. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for spending this time with us. You're always so generous with your insights, and it's great being able to talk to you and kind of seeing how you've grown and nurtured your community. It's lovely to see the success. So thank you for starting with us.

SPEAKER_01 38:51

You are so welcome. I'm so thankful that you asked me to be back on. It's been great.