Growing your social media influence with purpose and bringing "Eco" mainstream

May 18

Today's guest is Los-Angeles based vegan ballerina, actress, photographer, and celebrity blogger focused on promoting plant-based and eco living, Agnes Muljadi of @ArtsyAgnes.

You're going to learn what it took for her to build an audience from zero to over 500k on Instagram alone, allowing her to now have a platform to talk about things that she wants to share, her humble approach to inspiring positive change, what her so-called "Influence" has made possible for her in terms of helping to bring sustainability to the mainstream, and more. Let's dive in.

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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer Podcast with Kaméa Chayne, a show exploring environmental and intersectional sustainability from ideas to life. Subscribe to Green Dreamer on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app and let’s learn what it takes to thrive in every sense of the word!

Highlights

[02:15] How Agnes went from being a professional ballerina to becoming a full time social media influencer.

[05:15] Agnes: "I never planned on being an influencer - that sort of just happened to me."

[06:30] Agnes: "I don't even like the word influencer. Because it's like - who are you trying to influence? … It's kind of an arrogant title in my opinion. I would just like to share what I love."

[07:05] How Agnes first came to be health- and eco-conscious.

[11:10] Agnes: "I remember being on the computer for hours, researching what a leather handbag was made of. I didn't even know."

[12:30] Agnes' greatest challenge in building her platform from the ground up to 500k+.

[12:40] Agnes: "Once you get to a certain number of followers, pretty much everyone wants to work with you. It's hard to turn down a campaign that you know can sustain you for two, three months… so you have to know who you are and why you're even on the platform."

[13:15] Agnes: "Your platform needs to say something about who you are and what you believe in."

[14:30] Agnes: "I would take that slow rate of growth, because if you don't take that time, once you get to 500k, you're going to be so confused and be pulled in all sorts of different directions. And you'd just be saying yes to everything, and I think your brand would completely crash."

[14:55] Kaméa: "What's one thing you learned from professional ballet that supports your work as a social media influencer today to stay resilient?"

[15:10] Agnes: "Everything is unlimited… whether it's a physical limitation, emotional limitation, spiritual limitation... that's just all in your head."

[17:10] The 3 keys to Agnes's exponential growth as a purpose-driven social media influencer.

[19:55] Agnes: "What you see from the outside might not be what's exactly going on behind the scenes."

[20:00] What Agnes would do differently if she had to start all over again today from zero.

[21:10] Agnes: "You never know how your story's going to turn out. Comparison's not good for you, not good for the other person."

[23:50] Agnes: "If you really want to see yourself as an influencer, [follower count and engagement] are not the right measurements to measure your 'influence' with."

[24:25] Agnes initiating collaborations with mainstream retailers to help take "eco" mainstream.