Dec 16, 2022
The influencer space has taken
the world by storm in the past years. We are now consuming content
at levels previously unimaginable, and we're seeing essentially no
end to this momentum soon. But what does it mean to become an
influencer? And how do you even become one?
In this episode of The Pollen
Podcast, Diana talks to Melanie Phillips, founder of Headstands and
Heels. She talks about her journey from being a corporate career
woman to becoming a full-time blogger and influencer. She also
shares her multi-ethnic background that has shaped her personal and
entrepreneurial outlook. Your passion project will remain one
unless you make the big leap — this is what Melanie learned from
her journey.
Listen to this episode to
discover what it means to be a full-time influencer!
Create your own creative
entrepreneurship story of clarity, professional confidence, and
profit. Join Diana’s 90-day group course Camp
Clarity and learn
everything you wish you already knew, like how to land dream
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🔥Here are three reasons why you should
listen to this episode:
- Learn about Melanie’s multi-ethnic background
and how it contributed to her unique outlook on life.
- What the transition from a corporate career to
an Influencer looks and feels like.
- What it actually means to be an Influencer and
how to do it full-time.
📘Resources
🎧Episode Highlights
[05:33] Getting to Know Melanie
- Melanie created her health and lifestyle blog,
Headstands and Heels, in 2015 while she was working as a PR firm
digital strategist.
- The blog has evolved from showcasing the
duality of her life as a corporate career woman with a passion for
yoga to becoming an overarching healthy lifestyle
brand.
- She got her yoga teacher certification in 2017
and took blogging full-time in 2018.
- She’s also been able to branch out to product
development with her Mindful Morning Planner.
[06:43]
Melanie: “I guess
that's the beauty of being an entrepreneur, you wear a lot of
different hats.”
[08:00] Melanie’s Childhood and Multi-Ethnic
Background
- Melanie was born in Utah. With her dad being in
the Air Force, she grew up all over from South Korea to Germany to
Oklahoma until settling down in Florida.
- Her mother is Korean while her dad is part
Swedish and part Ecuadorian. They met in South Korea and eventually
moved back together to the US.
- In childhood, she shied away from her
multi-ethnic background. But as an adult, she has come to embrace
it as a beautiful aspect of her life.
- Having to move often as a child forced her to
learn valuable life skills, such as becoming a chameleon in
whatever culture she was in.
- She has always been creative and artistic,
which has translated well into the work she does now.
[10:52]
Melanie: “I feel
so fulfilled in a creative atmosphere and working for myself
because I'm able to constantly innovate and change and be inspired
and then re-inspired to try new things every day.”
[12:16] Embracing Different Cultural
Backgrounds
- More than showing outwardly, embracing her
different cultural backgrounds has been more of an internal
shift.
- Melanie has been able to embrace exactly who
she is in her heritage and wants to pass that mentality
down.
- She tries to share more brands owned by women
of color in her blog.
- Unlike before, she doesn’t shy away anymore
when people ask about her ethnicity.
[14:22] The Bullet Points of Melanie’s
Life
- Melanie went to college originally to be a
veterinarian. After two years of doing science-based prerequisites,
she realized that veterinary school wasn't for her.
- She was working retail jobs at the time when
her manager said something about marketing. She dug into it and
eventually graduated with a degree in marketing.
- At 24, she had her whole life planned out. But
another major life change hit her when she had to break off her
engagement after finding out her fiance cheated on her.
- She went to New York City the weekend she was
supposed to get married, where she met her now husband of over a
decade.
- After a year, she moved up to New York City,
where she started her corporate career and blog.
[16:48] Starting Headstands and Heels
- Six months before moving to NYC, she created an
Instagram for her yoga journey.
- She knew little about bloggers and the
influencer world at that point.
- One of her colleagues in the PR firm who was a
blogger found out about her Instagram account. She gave her the
idea to turn it into an actual blog.
- She thought it was a great way to connect with
the community and document the duality of her life.
- Her husband was the one who came up with the
blog’s name. She started it in 2016 and hasn’t looked back
since.
[19:50] Deciding to Blog Full-Time
- At first, the only idea she had about
monetization was through putting advertisements on the
website.
- The turning point where she realized blogging
could be lucrative was her first paid opportunity with Athleta. It
was followed by a big paid partnership with Propel
Water.
- Initially, she only thought of it as a great
side hustle. But after weighing the potential of dedicating all her
time and energy to it, she decided to make the big
leap.
[22:59]
Melanie: “You
never want to look back on life and wonder, ‘What if?’ and I kept
thinking that. I was like, I don't want to be in my 30s and look
back and be like, ‘What would have happened if I had just taken
this opportunity?’.”
- Three things aligned for her in deciding to
blog full time: influencer marketing taking off, having a good nest
egg saved up, being at a crossroads with her career.
- One of the biggest hurdles she had to get over
was what her family and friends would think. Thankfully, her
parents were very supportive of her decision.
[28:39] The Misunderstood World of Influencer
Marketing
- Influencer marketing is one of the most
misunderstood fields, especially in the creative field.
- It is a predominantly female-run industry. If
it was a male-dominated industry, people would be taking it a lot
more seriously.
- At the core, an influencer is someone who
inspires and influences you to do something. Being an influencer
comes down to your brand message.
- Some people have shied away from the term
because of the negative connotation that came from people taking
advantage of it.
- We have always been influenced by someone.
Before, it was celebrities, but now, the everyday human being can
have influence.
[33:14] Moving from the Big City to
Denver
- The fitness and wellness influencer marketing
scene was thriving from 2017 to 2019.
- It was a scary experience for Melanie to leave
that scene in New York City to move to Denver. But it was a
personal decision for both her and her husband.
- Upon moving, she started a women’s fitness
meetup group called Denver Fit Friends. It was her way of
connecting with people in her community.
- Earlier this year, her and her husband bought a
house. It’s her first time owning a house after living in
apartments her whole life.
[39:06] What’s Next for Headstands and
Heels
- Her next goal is to build out the Mindful
Morning segment of her business. She already released the planner,
but she wants to take it even further and explore different
things.
- With the help of her management, Melanie has
partnered with nearly 40 well-known wellness and fitness brand
leaders this year.
- It’s the first year she has made multiple six
figures. She never dreamed it would be possible in her career,
especially as a micro-influencer.
- She wouldn't change anything in her journey if
she could. But she would tell her younger self that it’s okay to
feel unsure and to lean on people for help and support.
- Hear more about what to expect from the
upgraded Mindful Morning Planner in the full episode!
[46:36] ⚡️ Rapid-Fire Questions with
Melanie
- Melanie’s sun sign is Cancer, while her moon
sign is Gemini.
- For Melanie, creativity is the power of
expression — the ability to think outside the box and uniquely tell
a story.
- Her entrepreneur crush is Taylor Swift for many
reasons. She finds her ability to constantly innovate and stay
relevant for over a decade empowering.
- Rolanda’s current read is
Verity and Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. Colleen Hoover’s rise in
popularity is thanks to influencers.
- If Melanie didn’t have to think about money,
time, and resources, she would create her own yoga studio or
wellness facility for women in need as one of her passion
projects.
About Melanie
Melanie Phillips is a certified yoga instructor and the founder
of the healthy lifestyle blog, Headstands and Heels. She is also
the creator of the Denver-based women's meetup group, Denver Fit
Friends. Melanie shares a joyful approach to wellness and
encourages women to put priority on their health. She is an
advocate of cultivating attainable habits, a mindful morning
routine, and practicing a balanced approach to diet and
exercise.
Learn more about Melanie through
her blog, Headstands and Heels. You can also follow her on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest.
Enjoyed this Podcast on Becoming a Full-Time
Influencer?
Do you have a passion project
that you’ve been keeping on the side? Imagine how life would be if
you started to dedicate your time and energy to only your passions.
Sometimes, you have to make the big leap and start choosing what
you want.
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