Today we’d like to introduce you to Alessandra Mayr.
Hi Alessandra, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! I’m Alessandra, but you can call me Ale. I’m a 23-year-old lifestyle and travel content creator based in Austin. My content creation journey began when I was 19 and Victoria’s Secret PINK asked me to become their Brand Ambassador. I had amassed a following over the years and this was the first time a brand reached out to work with me. I was so skeptical I asked them to send me proof, and looking back it seems kind of offensive! I worked with them throughout all of college, along with other companies like H&M and Course Hero. But the real work started when I graduated in May 2020 (yup) and couldn’t find a job because of the pandemic — or at least not one I liked. That’s when I decided to do social media full-time and started putting in the work towards monetizing my Instagram and TikTok platforms. I did really well — so well that I actually had to stop. I partnered with so many brands that my content felt very inauthentic; my profile like one giant ad. People started unfollowing me because they didn’t believe me when I said that new facial cleanser was “Totally life-changing,” and they were right… So my resolution for 2022 was to only promote products I 100% believe in, and that’s meant declining a lot of pay offers. But hey, authenticity is key these days, and in the words of Mark Manson, “If it’s not a ‘fuck yes,’ it should be a ‘no.'”
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’ve come a long way since I first got that brand deal with Victoria’s Secret, but it hasn’t been easy. People don’t realize that being a content creator is much harder than it looks and that we face a lot of self-doubt and imposter syndrome along the way. Whereas social media is toxic for everyone in the sense that it’s a breeding ground for comparing yourself to others, I feel like it’s even harder for creators since not only are you comparing your appearance and lifestyle but also your number of likes, comments, views, etc. You start to ask yourself why you’re not generating as much engagement as people creating similar or maybe even lower-effort content than yours. You get discouraged from putting hours into a video and then it getting little to no views. But it’s important to remember in these moments that someone else’s success does not mean the lack of your own, and that just because we can’t see the finish line doesn’t mean we aren’t getting closer. That goes for everything in life.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I create content about anything and everything because I don’t believe in having a niche. (EEvery social media strategist is punching the air reading this.) I really don’t, because the most successful accounts are those where people are just being themselves. Humans are multifaceted, and our grids should portray that. You don’t have to narrow yourself down to fashion, food, travel… you can be it all at once. Which is why I call myself a lifestyle creator, because so many things fall into that category.
I do particularly enjoy creating content about Austin and the different things you can do in the city. You’d think I’ve been here for a long time and am a full Austinite, but I’ve really only been here for about seven months (though I plan on staying my whole life!). I’m originally from Honduras, born and raised, but I just love showcasing the vibrance and diversity of every place I live in. I also create a lot of my content in Spanglish (English and Spanish) rather than in one particular language since most of the people in my life speak Spanglish and that’s the audience I want to target.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memories have to be the times that I won spelling bees and poetry contests in elementary school. I know that sounds geeky and also like I haven’t achieved anything since then, but studying for those spelling bees and writing those poems were the building blocks of who I am today. I love writing with a passion. I started a blog this year at alemayr.com (though I’m still working on consistency — yet another big challenge content creators face), and I’m also a full-time writer at The Newsette, a newsletter with over half a million subscribers dedicated to women empowerment. Grammar, spelling, and creativity are at the core of everything I do. I even proofread my boyfriend’s scripts and emails since he’s a filmmaker! It’s incredible how becoming an avid reader at age 6 or 7 made me the writer I am today. It’s honestly amazing how much of an impact our childhood experiences have on our lifetimes.
Contact Info:
- Email: business@alemayr.com
- Website: alemayr.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alemayr/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@alemayr?lang=en
