Career Champion: Lucie Fink
Introducing a new series to this bloggity: Career Champion! One thing I love about the blogging community is meeting incredible, strong, beautiful, courageous and wildly talented, smart, innovative, entrepreneurial boss babes, chief chicas, inspiring women. Every month, I'm going to spotlight one of these incredible role models and share a little bit about what makes them amazing.
I am so freaking excited for this month's champion. Drum roll please - Lucie Fink! You may know Lucie as the host and video producer for Refinery29's series "Lucie for Hire" and "Try Living with Lucie." I've been fangirling over her for years and it was a honor to speak to her about her career and life advice. Read on to learn all about this inspiring woman!
1) You have an incredibly inspiring career. You're a stop-motion artist, a video producer at Refinery29, and a content creator-- can you share more about your career and what you do every day?
Each day is entirely different - some days are fully spent on-set and others are spent in the office planning for new videos and editing content that's already been shot. I have a new video that goes live on Refinery29's YouTube channel every single Friday, so I'm constantly working to stay ahead of the game. I also need to manage my personal social media accounts (Instagram and YouTube) which can feel like a full-time job, too!
2) How did you get into that career?
THIS video explains my career path! I switched from being a neuroscience major to a creative writing major, and the rest was history.
3) Your social following has grown rapidly. What's it like to be considered an influencer? What do you do every day on Instagram?
It's a lot of work to manage an Instagram account -- I'm not going to say it isn't fun, but it's definitely not ALL fun and games. There's a ton of back-end production and planning that goes into creating content for Instagram and scheduling it out. I don't typically plan my posting schedule; I like to see how I'm feeling that day and find a photo or video to fit my mood. Sometimes, the content I'm sharing is sponsored by a brand (where I'm paid to post it), but most of the time my posts are editorial. Sponsored posts can be great (since they bring in $$$!) but I think it's important to pick and choose with brands you work with -- remember, YOU are your own brand, and you should only be partnering with brands you believe in and actually like.
4) What advice would you give to other women looking to have a career in content creation?
Make sure that all of your social media content is unique to you (don't copy someone else's Instagram 'theme' or color scheme). The content creation space is incredibly saturated, so if you want to stand out, make sure to bring a fresh angle and be yourself. There's only ONE you!
5) What is your favorite thing about being a content creator? What's the biggest challenge?
I love having the ability to be creative and to be constantly in motion. It is a little tough, however, when social media is your JOB because sometimes the line between 'fun' and 'work' can get blurred. I often have to remind myself to put my phone down so that I can stop working!
6) You just got engaged - Congrats! How's wedding planning going? Any advice for other brides-to-be?
Wedding planning is going well so far! We are working with a wedding planning team and they're making our lives so much easier. For any brides-to-be out there, if you have the ability to, my advice would be to use a wedding planner! I don't know how I could possibly manage this all on my own on top of a full-time job...as I've come to realize, wedding planning IS a full-time job.
7) Go back to college graduation: what would you tell yourself?
Keep on creating! Oh, and get some sleep. Take a deep breath. Everything will be okay.
8) How do you find inspiration?
I love watching documentaries and listening to podcasts in the self-help / self-improvement space. I'm constantly inspired to better myself and find more efficient and enjoyable ways to live.
9. Who is your role model?
My twin sister! She's a powerhouse badass woman in the workplace and she always stays true to herself.
Rapid Fire:
Favorite food: PIZZA and cookies!
Favorite healthy snack: Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups (that's healthy, right?)
Favorite workout: Yoga
Favorite phone app: Headspace (a guided meditation app!)
Favorite book to read: I'm currently reading The Idiot's Guide to Ayurveda and I'm reading it SOOOO slowly so that it never ends :)
Favorite place to shop: Michael's or Blick or really any store that sells journals, pens, markers and craft supplies. I am a BULLET JOURNAL JUNKIE.
Best way to spend a Friday night: Cooking dinner, getting ice cream, snuggling up and watching Netflix.
