Transcript
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Kwame:
Welcome to Beyond Influence. We're excited to have Lexie Smith with us today. Someone who has an incredible following from her pet Dalmatian with a heart-shaped nose. So lovely. Lexie, how are you doing?
Lexi:
I'm good. Doing all right, and a good week. Lots of fun stuff.
Kwame:
Well, lots of fun stuff, Scott. How's your week going, man?
Scott:
It is great in the northwest. But I am trying to squeeze out the last ounce of summer before the Pacific Northwest sadness sets in.
Kwame:
Yeah, I'm a little disappointed because I waited all the rainy season for the sun to come out, and then the sun was out for two months.
Scott:
Welcome to Seattle and Portland. I think that's going to be your foreseeable future. But yeah, actually, I will say Portland summer was amazing this year. It was beautifully sunny outside. It brought life back. So we'll see. It's just enough to survive another gray, really rainy winter this winter?
Kwame:
Yeah. Lexi, you are in Denver, right?
Lexi:
I am in Denver. We had a hot summer. It's been very hot here, but it gave us a lot of opportunities to escape up to the mountains and cool off and hang out with the dogs up there, so I'll take it.
Scott:
I feel like Denver has got to be one of the best places in the summertime to be outside.
Lexi:
Denver summer is unmatched. I don't think I could ever leave them.
Scott:
Yeah, I gotta get back out there.
Kwame:
Is it kind of like a dry, coolish air, or is it…? Are we talking…? Because I don't like to go to the East Coast for summer, right? I'm not a fan. My wife is always like, “Hey, let's move back to DC.” And I'm like, “No.”
Lexi:
It's very, very dry here. Very dry climate. You have to carry chapstick everywhere you go. It's a dry heat. In the summer, we get all four seasons, which is awesome. Summer, it's like the high 80s to low hundreds, kind of ranging in there. And then when we get the snow, sports people go crazy for that.
Scott:
Yeah. We were just out in Utah and it's crazy that part of the country, like just how the weather swings you four feet of snow in winter and then it's like an arid desert. You are outside a lot based on your Instagram profile with Wiley. I'm curious about diving in now for our guests and hearing a bit about your journey.
And now we get the guest appearance in the back by the man himself. For our guests who don't know you, maybe talk a bit about your rise in social media and discovering your following and Wiley.
Lexi:
I've been doing it for around seven years now, which kind of makes me sad. That means Wiley is almost seven years old, which feels odd. I got him as a puppy. I got this Dalmatian with a perfect heart-shaped nose [and he] just kind of plopped into my life.
This is cool. What can I do with this? I created an Instagram just to start, basically to store photos because my phone had been stolen right before it, and I needed a place to keep photos in case I lost all my photos again and to not bombard my friends and family with dog pictures nonstop if they didn't want to follow that on my personal page.
I started this Instagram, and I don't know fully how people started getting word of this dog with the heart-shaped nose, but it seemed like one day I had 12 followers (and it was my dad, my aunt, and her coworkers at the post office) to I had like 1000 followers to 5000 followers to 10,000 followers.
I was getting DMs from People magazine, and I was on TV in Brazil on E! News and all this stuff. It just blew up really fast. The dog with the heart-shaped nose kind of took off from there. I think for me it was something like, “Yes, I have this dog with a heart-shaped nose. Yes, I could ride the heart-shaped nose as far as it goes, but also I wanted to do something more with that. I live in Colorado, and we just talked about how incredible it is. I kind of made this intersection of, “Yes, I have a cute dog and we get to live a really cool life together, and go hiking and take some incredible photos.”
And so I'm kind of landscapes, so I've been having fun with that ever since.
Scott:
That's awesome. So seven years. That would be 20..? I'm trying to think about the algorithm and kind of the phases of Instagram. It's like, “Okay, you took these still images with photo frames and some filters versus like when you start and versus today it's like all algorithms.” I think there was kind of this middle ground in 2017 where it was more individual pieces of content being shared that could take off in a different way.
You talked about all the virality that happened, but was there a first post or something that was just like, this is the one that caught, you know, ever caught the world by storm and took off?
Lexi:
Yeah, there were two. The first one, actually, I didn't even post. Wiley's vet took a selfie with Wiley and posted it on Reddit, and it made the front page of Reddit. I was just going about my day and got this panicked call from my veterinarian because he's like, “I don't know if HIPAA applies in my practice. I posted this picture. The mask you face is going viral. You're going to find out about it. Is it okay?” So that kind of started it and he pointed them towards Instagram from there.
And then I was supposed to have baby Wiley sitting at this podcast where We Rate Dogs reshared and posted. They always get a ton of attention with any dog, especially if you get a 12 out of 10 on their rating scale.
Scott:
Is that an Instagram account or a site? What is it? Do we rate dogs?
Lexi:
Yeah, it's this big Instagram account where they take photos of dogs and give them these ratings and it's always like 14 out of 10 or 12 out of 10. It's a fun account. Just keep pictures. Only dogs that go viral. And then they do like a TikTok roundup of the best down to the week.
Kwame:
Wow, so the caveat is the dog. It sounds like the dog is usually above a ten out of ten.
Lexi:
Usually, yes. I don't know if I've seen one below ten. And it was.
Kwame:
Okay. All right. We need to create a We Rate Humans just so we can keep on that same scale. Make it 11 out of 10. You know what I mean? We need something to boost everybody's confidence.
Scott:
We did that. It was a terrible website called Hot or Not. And that was like that. Not one that was like 2003 and was a terrible idea because people suck towards other people. People are so nice to animals, but like all that stuff ends poorly because
Yeah, I mean, if everyone is rating everything 13 out of 10 for a human rating, I feel like we'd all be a lot nicer and happier with each other.
Kwame:
100%. It's funny because obviously we know the compassion people have toward their pets. We see Wiley on the internet and we're like, “Oh, that's a cute dog with the Dalmatians.” But it's obviously very, very personal. It's like your fur child, you for a baby. I know my wife literally does not do anything without Rocky.
Kwame:
So we know the ten years like how your relationship is in itself. Has that grown since you started? Have you? Are you more like a baby, the dog, or are you more like, “My dog's a tough, rambling dog”?
Lexi:
I'm kind of right in the middle there. He is a very needy dog, so he requires a lot of babying, but he also has stubborn independence. I mean, I do see him as basically my child. I think people who say, “It's just a dog,” don't fully understand how having a dog in your life works and how much they just come in and take over everything.
Whether it's my bed or just my overall heart. He's been the best companion. He came in. I lived alone with him for a while, and I look back so fondly. We lived in this, I shouldn't say that. I lived with a Dalmatian in a studio apartment, but I lived with the Dalmatian in a studio apartment. It was just him and I and this small space where we go on walks and hikes. We were forced to get out nonstop because you can't keep a dog in a city apartment.
It's one of my favorite periods of my life. It's just the two of us wandering around, and it's nice to have someone who is ready for whatever you say. It's like, “You wanna get in the car? Let's go. Let's go do this.” And he's just like, “I don't know why we're excited, but I'm definitely excited with you. Let's do this.” And it's pretty cool.
Scott:
I'm curious, as things took off and now you're transitioning into okay, I want to go create some content. You talked about this like a relationship you have where it's just I want to get out. I want to experience something like companionship. How has, you know, feeling the pressure to create impacted that ability to just have that time and live in the moment?
Do you feel like there are times when it adds to the experience or it takes away? I'm curious how you find that balance.
Lexi:
Yeah, it's definitely tough. And especially with a dog who can't tell you, “I'm sick of this. Please stop.” It's a balance. So you are. He is the star of the Instagram profile, but he is still just a dog. And I need to allow him to just be a dog, and he's very good at telling me when he's done posing for pictures. He just stops, like he will not stand.
He's trained well to hold a pose, but he's also learned the sound of a camera click. So he hears that and he stands up. It's like, “Okay, give me my treat. I'm over this.” The balance I've found myself a lot of times like, I'll go out on a hike and I'll just create a lot of content, take a ton of photos, get a bunch, and kind of stockpile it away.
As I hit those lulls where it's like, “I just want to be outside of my dog. I want to be responsible for nothing here. I want to share nothing about this with anyone. I just want to be.” I don't have to worry about it. I have 500 photos from the hike I did yesterday.
Kwame:
I love that. I think that's really important, knowing when they just put the phone away. I think as creators, and as I've become more of a creator, and also being married to a creator, it's really funny because we'll have a really funny, genuine moment and then one of us will be like, oh my gosh, I wish we got that on tape.
Right? But sometimes you just gotta let it be and just enjoy that because that's what the experience is about. And then you can share part of that experience with your audience. When you think about the journey that you have gone through, when did you hit a point where you were like, “Wow, we're making some good money here?”
Lexi:
There was a moment where it shifted from brands saying, “Can I send you a free bandana?” to “Can we pay you to post about this gift box?” And it was like, “Oh!” I remember I looked back on a text that I sent my parents like, “Oh my gosh, this company just reached out and they want to send you a sticker!”
It’s going from that to I recently threw the first pitch, Saint Louis Cardinals game, to work with the brand. This whole thing has been a wild journey to go from. I was so excited about it. Oh my gosh! This company saw me and it was like a company no one knows. I don't think I even knew about them.
And they sent me a sticker and it was amazing. The opportunities it's provided now, it's crazy to look back on. I don't think I ever could have predicted anything that's happened when this tiny little spotted thing was plopped into my life on the corner of a downtown Denver street.
Scott:
It's funny. So tell us, tell us the cardinal story. I feel like I have to get the details on this. You said it was with the brand. So I'm assuming there's some kind of brand deal. How did that come? Did they reach out? Did you go outbound? I'm curious how you guys got connected.
Lexi:
They reached out to me. I was with Purina. They reached out to me. They're based in Saint Louis, and they have this really cool program out there where they’re at the soccer stadium. They've built this dog-friendly space so you can book a seat for you and your dog to go to the soccer game.
So it was originally like, “Here are the dates of the games that are home. Could you come out here for any of these? Are you willing to travel?” And I was like, “Heck yes!” And then it was actually, “We're hosting this Park at the Park event where we allow dogs and the Saint Louis Stadium. Would you be open to doing that instead?
And the dates they told us were available happened to line up with that. So I was like, “Sure, whatever. I'm happy to go to any sporting event. All sounds fun.” So we're getting closer or we're going through the brief and stuff, and I get this email one day and they want to know it was to their agency.
They want to know if you'd be comfortable throwing out a first pitch. They call it the first sketch instead of the first pitch. And I was like, I mean, my throwing arm was not very strong, but I could work on that in the next couple of weeks. Let's do it. It seems crazy to say now to something like that, so, it's pretty cool.
I got to bring my dad out with me. He was down there. I got to throw the first pitch to him. And they did this whole thing. It was funny. On the big scoreboard, it said, “Hi, Wiley!” And then in parentheses below is said, “And Lexi.”
Scott:
Oh, that's funny.
Kwame:
That's so funny. I guess to highlight that moment, you know, I feel like you're one of those people who wouldn't. There are people in this world who I feel could get slightly jealous of the shine. You know, I feel like you're definitely one of the more humble people in this world, so it's great that you're having all these experiences.
I'm sure you're enjoying it and you're just you're living it to the fullest. And just letting Wiley shine, which is amazing. You start getting some dollars here and there. I'd love to know what the biggest amount of dollars you've gotten from a partnership is.
Lexi:
Yeah. I had an ongoing partnership with a dog food brand. This one is probably my biggest over time. And they paid me $2,000 a month to post once a quarter for two years. So that was a pretty sweet deal.
Kwame:
Not bad at all for this thing once a quarter.
Lexi:
So I posted once every three months but got paid monthly so that I could. That's why we got the brand.
Scott:
Time to go buy a dog.
Lexi:
You put them out there.
Scott:
It's so funny you talking about the park. I think about my dogs and about the mess that it would be like trying to take my dogs to any sporting event with all these other dogs. There would be no watching the game. I'd just be in absolute chaos.
Lexi:
I mean, there was a bit of it. I was honestly shocked. It was very well organized and, I don't know how they got the dogs to come because it seems like anyone in Saint Louis can come but the dogs are great. It was a really hot day, so all the dogs just kind of laid down and shelled because they were tired but it went well.
Scott:
That's crazy. On the deal you mentioned how there are all kinds of people out there who are like, ”Okay, how do you even approach a deal like that?” Was that something that came out to us? And then how did you navigate? Because I think for a lot of people that recurring kind of ambassador program or recurring contract is ideal. Like you find a brand that you really enjoy and you want to support them and then they can support you long term. How did you go about crafting that deal? And it sounds like you guys have gone their separate ways. How did that kind of run its course?
Lexi:
Yeah. I worked with an agency back during that time, so they kind of brought it to me. It started out as a shorter-term deal or just kind of like, I think we are both kinds of testing the water and seeing how well they're after food. If they liked brand content, I think the brand really resonated with how outdoor-focused my content was because their whole concept is like feeling adventurous and making the dogs live their best life & for helping the dogs live the best life.
I think because I was able to support and kind of show off that lifestyle that they encourage for dogs, it turned into this longer partnership when they renewed it for one year and then two years, which was really cool. Ultimately they got bought out by a large conglomerate-holding company that I didn't necessarily trust to make as quality food as I was getting before that happened.
At the end of the contract, it kind of came to this natural breaking point where I think it's important to me to stay honest about what I'm promoting and actually truly be behind what I put out there. So I stepped away from that one at that time.
Scott:
I think about a lot of people in that situation. You're torn in two directions, and it's hard to walk away from a stable 2K a month and come on top of what you've got going on for principle-based reasons. I think that is tough. I think that's a challenge that a lot of creators face.
And, you know, if the check's big enough, how far do you end up compromising on your values or integrity? It's difficult. I think that's also what gets people into trouble because they get caught up in these scandals where the products are not everything it is cracked up to be. And then it's like, “How dare you betray my trust?”
And you didn't. I clearly didn't actually use the issues or whatever it was, but right? So when you talked a little bit about the food deal getting started. What was the biggest mistake you think you made along that journey or something? If you go back, you're like, “Hey, I wouldn't have done that again.”
Lexi:
Yeah. I went back to the time when I was excited over being sent a sticker and the littlest things. The agency reached out to me and I signed on with this agency to represent Wylie which, at first, they were great. And it was a great opportunity. I did not thoroughly read the contract and kind of got sucked into this agency's world.
And it was a hard-hearted thing to get out of terms. That was harder and I kind of lost respect for the agency in a lot of ways throughout that whole process and experience. I've parted ways since but just diving into that without this, like getting caught up in the excitement of, “Oh my gosh, these people want to represent my dog! My dog is going to have an agent.” Diving into that without reading anything. At least not reading it thoroughly was a big mistake. As part of that, I took Wylie to an event that he was very uncomfortable at. And it was a brutal day, and it was, again, that line of allowing him to be a dog and giving him space for that or forcing him into this influencer world.
I think in that instance, I overstepped and forced him into a world that he probably shouldn't have been in at that moment. So looking back, I probably would not force him to go to this day-long conference where people are just petting him and patting him and introducing other dogs to him the entire time.
Kwame:
Yeah, I think for anyone out there and, you know, use creators as a wide net nowadays because I know people out there who have 5,000 followers who will get offers to create content, whether it's user-generated content or it's just a partnership. Whatever the case may be, no matter how many followers you have or have based on what you are putting out there, if it's speaking to someone, you could get a brand to approach you.
You could get an agency to approach you. I think it's really important to be thorough about reading the contracts that you get and it’s really, really important to vet the agencies that are reaching out to you as well. Like the few things that I would ask every agency is, “Are you exclusive?”
It's really important because I want to know if I'm stuck with you for a while or not. And then beyond that, if you give me an offer, do I have to take it or do I have my options to not take it? And then do I have a limit on the amount of money that I have to make you and how much you're making me, right? There are so many layers to it that help you understand if this is a mutually reciprocal, beneficial relationship, or if it's somebody who wants you there because they can, you know, make money off of your capital.
There's a lot of things that go into it. I advise anyone who gets any contracts, even if it seems like a really great opportunity to read it out. And if you have an opportunity to share it with somebody to read it for you, please do. It's critical.
Lexi:
Yeah. For sure. Yeah. And, part of the downfall of my relationship. That agency was just discovering how they were representing me and how they were speaking on my behalf. It was very blunt and rude and, I don't know if they realized they had access to the platform that they were running…this campaign to see the messages going back and forth. And when I did see it and I was flagged to my colleagues, I was pretty turned off by that whole thing. So.
Kwame:
Wow. Yeah. Look at that. Yeah. It's so important. Representation is huge. Your brand is everything. If an agency ruins your brand or your name, they can move on to another person. It almost feels like [that]. I wouldn't say they go without being phased, but there's definitely an element of it's your face that's being represented so they can hide behind the shadows a little bit.
So yeah, due diligence. That's the long story. You know, as we move on to the next kind of things that we want to touch on, you've been creating a lot and you've gotten a feel for your content, and your content meshes in with your life a lot. Have you ever gotten some opportunities that, as you said later on in your journey, you turned down because you were like, “Hey, these don't really fit into what's going on for me?”
But early on in your, you know, journey, did you pick up anything that didn't really conform to what you were doing? And you're like, all right, I gotta do it anyway. I'm going to do it because I need money or whatever the case.
Lexi:
Yes and no. I got lucky that a lot that came to me fit naturally. I think I'm in a pretty specific genre of content with dog stuff and if the quality of ingredients and stuff, in terms of treats and food are great, that's fine. Otherwise, it's like promoting this dog toy. And my dogs are not picky when they play with a dog toy.
Like that's fine, so it hasn't been a lot that's come to me. There's been some that it's been like, “Oh, this is going to take some creativity to post about this with a dog, like a grocery service that doesn't sell dog food.” And I have to post about something that they sent me like, “Okay, cleaning products are a thing.”
They've got a tough one. And I definitely walked away from a few. I've had a few that I've actually been in a contract with and there was a good chunk of change behind that. Some things caused skin irritation on my dog that I just said, “I can't post about this collar.” Or a dog treat that kept me up all night because my dog's stomach was upset. So I was like, “I can't post that.”
That's funny too. I think it's important to be honest. I choose to believe that saying no to those things will pay dividends in the long run, and I'll, they'll come back, tenfold if I just stay true to who I am and what I believe. So, I try to follow that line as much as I can.
Scott:
That's great. I was going to say, if you need any ideas for cleaning products and dogs, I've got an entire winter window cleaning, which is for the massive, but still.
Kwame:
So Scott, what kind of dogs do you have, by the way?
Scott:
We have a German shepherd, and we have a Rhodesian Ridgeback kind of mix. She's got like the Rhodesian stripe across the back where the hair goes backward. Yeah, my dog is like two knee replacements and they're amazing. I love them, but it has been quite the journey. And then we had the coolest dog other than Wiley, but we had this monster Brindle. Great Dane that was up to my ribcage. A huge dog. That's it. Three years old. He had bone cancer but was like the coolest. I mean, stereotypical Great Dane. Just like a big doofy, you know, human-sized dog. But no, I think that is one reason why when I look at Wiley and some of the other dog influencers, I think it's people who find a connection and it makes them remember or think about their animals or you think about that relationship they had. There are so many things like growing up with a dog. Memory is like... I can think about the dogs that I had as a kid. And Lexie and I talked about knowledge and science. And I think we had a golden retriever named Casey.
And I see Casey whenever I see nonsense. And it's like those memories, the hiking, the camping, the having fun, the like a different time in your life when you weren't saddled up with work and kids and life and all this stuff. You were just free to be like a 13-year-old, camping in the woods, doing whatever… breaking sticks, and trying to catch fish and stuff.
I think there is something [there]. I think there's something about social media that just connects on a level and almost transports people into different realities or different memories of their own childhood or past or times. So I think it's cool to think about Wiley doing that for others or social media content, you know, living vicariously through these other people are animals or relationships.
Kwame:
Yeah, yeah, so I grew up with a dog story. We didn't have dogs, and I was super young. When I went to college, one of my friends needed a dog sitter for, I don't know, like a week or so. She, you know, brought her dog over. It was a blue nose pit and her name was Cleo.
She hung out with me for about a week, and then I found out, or we found out that, she said, “You can keep the dog.” Anyway, it was kind of misleading. “Hey, watch my dog until, like, hey, can you keep my dog forever?”
But I was like, “You know what? Hey, I'll take the dog. I had Chloe for about a month, but unfortunately, I was living in Delaware at the time. I was living in an apartment complex, and since Chloe was a pit bull and there were strict laws with owning a pet, I had to actually return Chloe.
And then she ended up finding a new home for her. But it's really funny because every time I go to my Instagram, if I ever see Bruno's pet, I always think to myself, “I wonder if I saw Chloe right now would Chloe remember me, you know?” So I do think it's really fun for people to kind of live vicariously through the experiences that people are having, and pet Instagram is definitely a warm place.
We thank you for being part of that. But with that being said, you've probably had a lot of cool experiences through your social media, right? Sure. Is there anything that you would say that you dislike about the social media world?
Lexi:
Yeah. It has its ups and downs and two sides of every coin. I had a lot of really amazing experiences. There's a lot of really cool people that I've been able to connect with and talk to and chat with. As a result, there's some people that are just like Wiley, diehard fans who I post, and repost, and they are commenting on it in the first two seconds.
And it's like that first comment and it's like, “Oh, I'm reaching for a comment. Fighting status in the world.” But you do get a lot of negative attention. Even a dog. And it's wild to me the things that people will get guys. I guess it's wild to me how little hobbies some people have because it's like you're getting on an account to message me in messages to a Dalmatian.
Right now, it's saying more about you than the foundation. But, you get a lot of those and a lot of pressure behind it. I think people like me, I only show bits and pieces of my life with what I like. I said, there are times I just want to put the phone away, and if I go a week without posting a hike on Wiley with Wiley, it doesn't mean I didn't hike with my of that week.
It means I didn't post about it. And people are like, has he been cooped up in your house? Like, there's a lot of pressure to take care of this dog in the correct way, or I posted a joke reel recently that gained a lot of traction. It was like, I work hard so my dog can poop in these places.
I have a montage of photos of improving and beautiful places and just take those photos. I'm building a calendar and people latch on to it, and most people love it. But I get the people who are like, how dare you invade your dog's privacy like that? That is so rude. What would you do if he did that to you?
One person is like, do it with your own ass. If you're going to expose someone like that, I'm like, oh my gosh, like, calm down people. It's fun. I mean, I kind of gamify it or it's like, what can I say back to them? But yeah, people get very concerned about that. And like, hey, maybe you shouldn't do it in the middle of the road.
Kwame:
I feel like that's good. That's good of you. The title of this episode, Do It with your own ass. It's like people.
Lexi:
Like I'm trying to plan a calendar and, like, if you can exploit your dog like that, you know, that's like, maybe I'll be in December. You don't know. But yeah, it's crazy. So dealing with that is hard. And then again, just kind of balancing that, what am I willing to post about? Clearly dog poop qualifies. But what I like to post about and push back and having those hard conversations with people who come to me to promote a product that I don't necessarily support, can get tough to do.
Scott:
I think it's a great example of just. I mean, one would think that a cute dog on the internet is not controversial, but I think it goes to show that, you know, there's no there's nothing above approach when it comes to, you know, internet comments and, and, and I, you know, one of the beauties of social and the world is you are free to have your own diverse beliefs and your own particular stances on what is right and what is wrong.
And I think as someone living in that world, you know, in the world, you have to make your own decisions on how you want to, you know, be represented. And then I'm a big fan of just believing and maximizing that positivity. And I think at the end of the day, you, you know, how can you do the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people and just realize that no matter what happens, not everyone will be happy and not everyone.
It will align with their belief system or their structure. And that's going to be okay. You're not breaking laws. You're not doing anything at all out of bounds. And I just think I think it's easy to be centered in your decisions when you're maximizing that positivity.
Lexi:
So for sure, I always remind myself that if you go to Google, you'll see that the Pacific Ocean has four out of five stars and the reviews from Five Waters are enough. And there's always gonna be enough people to rate the ocean four out of five stars because it's not wide enough. And you can't help those people.
You can just. We'll keep doing that.
Scott:
Well, there's a world where we can rate the ocean on a five-star system and Google says this is what we needed.
Kwame:
That's amazing.
Lexi:
So tell me, Adam.
Kwame:
So, Lex, you were at a part, a little segment, in this conversation where we're going to ask you a couple of quick questions. Just the speed round, right? This or that, and they give us a, you know, a sentence or two about why. So you think you're ready for that?
Lexi:
Well, see, I think all right.
Kwame:
So a quick social media this or that TikTok or Instagram.
Lexi: Instagram. I'm a photographer. My background is in photography and I think Instagram supports that more than TikTok does. I know TikTok has those carousels you can do, but it's not the same.
Kwame:
Okay, well it sounds like you might have answered this one already, but then video or static photo.
Lexi:
Photo content I'm playing with video more and using my camera and kind of trying to find joy and diving into tools like Premiere Pro, but photography will always have my heart and always wins for me.
Kwame:
All right. So, a long-term or short-term partnership?
Lexi:
I prefer the long-term ones. I think my content can be more genuine the longer I work with the brand. I think it looks better when it's like, “Yes, I still promote this product. Yes, I'm still feeding my dog this dog food. It wasn't just to get that one-time paycheck. And I just enjoy it.” I think I feel the relationship and I can show my creativity more in a long-term partnership than just.
Here's a product, figure out how to post that in a week.
Kwame:
I can dig it. And then story or grid.
Lexi:
I like both, it depends on what I'm posting. I mean, if it's just like I keep my grid pretty much all of this like straight out of camera photography. Like that is my professional photography portfolio. And my story is like, this is real life day to day. Here's my dog hanging upside down on the bed, being weird in a grainy iPhone photo.
So, I have fun with that. I make a movie right in Titusville or hike for a story. I guess I prefer video if it's doing a story and photo on the grid.
Scott:
I feel like we should have a whole episode dedicated to the story versus the grid I had. I have such deep feelings about stories. It just kills me. I'll be like, oh yeah, I saw this thing and I can never find it again. I explained it and it's one of those things that leads to a lot of terrible stories where I'm trying to describe a piece of content.
Have you ever had those moments when you're like, oh, is the funniest video this happened? And that and like your depiction of whatever happened in that story was frickin terrible. But I'm sure the content was funny, but it's gone forever.
Lexi:
Just like parents still understand story content. My brother would text our family group chats talking about something I posted, and three days later my dad responded by saying, “I didn't see it. Where is it?”
Scott:
It's like gone forever. Yeah, never see it like that.
Kwame:
Yeah, I know, I remember when I lived in my old apartment, I had this insanely cool capture of a super stormy night, and so everything was gray, but the sun was just setting in the back. I recorded it, and I put Skyfall, the Adele song over it, and it was probably the coolest story I've ever taken. And till today, I am so upset I didn't save that story.
Lexi:
Dear archive, you can go.
Scott:
Back to your archive. Have you tried?
Kwame:
Sorry. So the unfortunate, unfortunate thing about the archive is even if you were able to get it and put it into a highlight, you can't save it the same way. You have to screen record so you don't get it at the same quality. So it's unfortunate. I wish you could go back, put it in a highlight, and then save it. I think you might be able to save the whole highlight and then just clip it. Look at that. This is ideation.
Scott:
Is the same reason I record like this. This is a good question. Do you record in App Stories or do you record and then publish this story?
Lexi:
I record on my camera and then publish this story.
Scott:
So I just can't record in an app. I'm like, I'm too committed. I'm like, if I lose this, I'm going to be so mad. So I'm like, record everything and then trim it, put it in.
Lexi:
And the quality. Yeah, I think the quality is better. Just a straight iPhone camera and you can edit it. You can cut more.
Scott:
Yeah. We got to drop our top tips for saving archive content by shooting cameras versus an app. All this stuff. I'm curious if we should do a little survey of our creator community later and see some of these. I am curious to see what people are doing. People.
Lexi:
Yeah. I think the biggest struggle with stories and video content is I want to post a song that spans from my first story to the last story without having the map. Okay, this song was 15 seconds and it started at nine seconds into the song. That's a feature I need from Instagram and say.
Kwame:
It's louder for the people in the back. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that's the most annoying thing, man. I would have to spend an hour putting up a story just because I want the song to align across it, for it to sound cooler. And it's like y'all couldn't just create a feature. I could just put a bunch of 15-second clips in and just link the oh yeah. Anyhow, any.
Lexi:
Like so much focus because it's like, okay, nine seconds, five seconds, the next 1445 dude.
Scott:
Comedies like, okay, I'm going to go into cap cut, I'm going to stitch it all together, make a reel of it, overlay the soundtrack, export it, recut it in 15-minute segments and post them all the stories.
Lexi:
Way too much effort at Instagram.
Kwame:
Exactly. And unfortunately, Cap Cut doesn't license songs, so you can't do it. And it's oh my god, it is a mess. I know the whole social game is messed up. We are looking, this is our joint application for you, meta. You know, it's a great art. Like, all the social media networks we are here to consult to make you a little better. Okay?
Lexi:
I'm here to help you. Help me?
Scott:
Okay. I'm gonna call our devs and see if we can make this. We'll turn to an app. It'll be good for a multi-story single song. So what are two of the better? A better app name.
Kwame:
Yeah.
Scott:
So Lexi, one question we asked everyone and I'm curious if you had one aspirational brand, one partner that if they reached out you would be running around with Wylie jumping in your living room. Who would that partner be with to work with?
Lexi:
I have a few, I think. Canon cameras for sure. As a photographer. Toyota, which I have worked with in the past, but would like to do it again. And that was a really cool experience. And Taco Bell, if Taco Bell wants to hang out, eat, and chat with friends on every road trip.
Scott:
I think I think someone I was trying to think maybe it was Marcel. Glad to work with talking about Taco Bell, but I think there's no.
Kwame:
It was Kay. K was a master chef? Yeah. K did a partnership with Taco Bell where they brought all these creators that you said. Yes, which is super cool. So Taco Bell, you hear that? Lexi wants to work with you as well. Hopefully, you can invite her to the next house, and get together.
Lexi:
That's not the only thing for us to eat. The owner has all these adventures too.
Kwame:
Exactly. So look what we're running up on. You know the end of this. I'd love to know what you. And while you're working on it right now, do you have any cool partnerships up ahead that you're allowed to talk about already or like, who are you pitching to? All that good stuff.
Lexi:
Right. We haven't worked with the brands for a little while now. I've kind of been taking a break and stepping back from that world and just taking photos because I like taking photos and kind of resetting that life. But we do have, next month we're going on a massive road trip out to the West Coast. The Pacific Northwest will be in your area.
And because of the viral two-thing video, we are working with a hotel chain that will be structuring this entire road trip to help assist Wylie poop and new beautiful places. So that should be fun.
Kwame:
Isn't that amazing how it all comes together? Just a poop video. Look, if you have an idea, don't hold yourself back. Put it on the internet. Something good can happen.
Lexi:
Anything at all these days.
Kwame:
Scott seems like he has second thoughts about it. What's this? What's your reservation here?
Scott:
All right. Everything needs. Are you amazing? Like I said, it's great to have you, if people want to find you in Wylie, where should they go? Where can I find you and all your awesome content?
Lexi:
I handle it @Hi.Wylie. I got Wylie. People think of the other hikes, mountains, and stuff, but I thought of Wylie, across TikTok and Instagram.
Scott:
Awesome. Well, thanks for joining us today. It has been a pleasure. We love your content. Love, Wylie. Awesome. And, yeah, we'll get that. We'll catch you guys on the next one.
Kwame:
Yeah, it's 100% exciting. Thank you for the conversation. Just wanted to mention our 19th episode. So I decided to throw on a polo today. Very demure. That's the look I'm going for. So I'm mindful. Yes. Thank you. All right, y'all have a great day. We will see you next week. Bye bye. See you later, y'all.