How do you stay motivated to create new and interesting content after nearly ten years? How do you not run out of ideas or things to say? How do you not lose faith in if people are actually listening to you? How do you maintain the platforms you have built while you are changing as a person?
These are some of the questions that run through my head on a daily basis.
StyledByKaylaXO turns ten this year, and while I am so proud of this fourth grader that is my brand, it comes with a lot of stress and insecurity. Why? Because I am very aware of the fact that today's SBK is not the SBK some people started following in 2012. I am not the same KAYLA that started this brand in 2012. And though obviously most people understand that someone cannot possibly stay the same between the ages of 17 and 27, it still is a thought poking at the back of my mind. Will people stick around if I am not the "same Kayla" I was?
And the answer to that question is - maybe not! And the follow up question is - why do I care?
As much as I am a content creator, I am also a content consumer. There have been plenty of content creators that I loved over the years who have shifted the content they create and I've made the conscious choice to either continue following or unfollow them. Why shouldn't people be free to do the same with my content? If it means I get to make the content that I want and is most authentically me, therefore helping the most people, who cares if a handful of people who were on the same wavelength as me at 17 aren't on the same one at 27. We all grew up differently!
Coming to this realization has been a game changer for me in terms of my content creation. I've given myself permission to step away from things that no longer serve me or my desired audience and turn my focus toward the content I want to make. Giving myself this freedom helped me to launch my podcast - Life, Styled. It gave me the confidence to focus on the platforms I prefer - the blog and Instagram. It gave me the desire to make MORE content than I had before, because it was all authentically 2022 Kayla, 27 year old Kayla, me as I am now. I now feel so much more comfortable with the content I am putting out and the direction that SBK is going. It's an AMAZING feeling.
After being in the content creation world for nearly a decade, I know all to well the judgement that comes with it from friends, family and strangers who stumble across your content. For the longest time it bothered me. I let those opinions of others seep into my own thoughts and doubted my why. It's really hard to feel motivated to create when people are constantly questioning why you are doing it and acting as though it is something "stupid" or "trivial" or "pointless." But knowing why I do this has made a world of difference.
I started StyledByKaylaXO in 2012 to fill a hole. As a teenager who LOVED beauty, fashion and pop culture content and consumed it constantly, it was incredibly exhausting and infuriating to not have any creators who looked like me. The internet of 2012 was not a fat-friendly space in the least (not that 2022 is much better... but still!) and so it is totally understandable that their were not a lot of plus sized teens and young women willing to join that space, but I was 17 and overly confident and so I said F it and started my YouTube channel. It was incredibly empowering for me to make these videos at all, but even more so when other girls started finding my content and being excited that someone who looked like or felt like or lived like them was creating the content that they wanted to see. I was reaching people, not many, but it didn't matter because I had fulfilled my why - I filled a space.
As I've gotten older and the content creation space has gotten more saturated (which I think is a GREAT thing so come at me people who think there are too many "influencers" - you're wrong!), my why has shifted a little. At its core, SBK is still about holding space for people with similar identities to me, and somewhat for taking up space as a plus sized woman (fat pun intended) in a world created for and run by thin people. It also is a space to motivate other women to take on their dreams, no matter what they are, and find confidence in being their absolute 100% most authentic self. My content is 100% me and I try to encourage others to be the same way. StyledByKaylaXO's current tagline is "My life, styled by me." Which is essentially what you see and hear and read on any of my platforms. My goal is to encourage other people to use that tagline as their inspiration for creating the life of their dreams. That is my why.
Having a clear why makes creating content so much easier and way more fun. That's not to say there aren't still challenges though. Platforms are constantly changing their algorithms and priorities, new platforms emerge, and interest in platforms change. Instagram's move toward being more video based was a HUGE challenge for me at first. I didn't want to make reels, that's what tik tok was for. But slowly I'm finding my groove in that space and learning to enjoy it. I use Reels for more why-based content and motivational content, and save the dances and silly filters for tik tok. You find what works for you and run with it. And what works for you, may not work for the next person, that's the beauty of social media - there is a space and a niche for everyone. You just have to find yours.
StyledByKaylaXO is the thing I am most proud of in the world. It's my baby (or I guess child since it would be in the fourth grade now...) and I look forward to continuing to grow with it and change with it. I hope y'all will join me.
xo,
Kayla
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