I've been editing on CapCut Desktop for HOW LONG and I'm just now finding out you can have different timelines inside the same project??? 😭 This whole time, anytime I wanted to make another version of a video, I was duplicating the ENTIRE project. Apparently I could've just made another timeline, copied everything over, and made my changes there??? Bro... WHAT ELSE DON'T I KNOW!!

I genuinely don't know how people edit videos on their phone. Maybe it's because I've always edited on a computer, but I'm so much faster with a keyboard, a mouse, and a bigger screen. Every time I try editing on my phone, I feel like I'm searching for buttons instead of actually editing. Y'all are crazy. Mad respect though😂

8 weeks later... I officially finished my AHA mentorship with @mehrrajputUGC @ByKrystalLauren @creatively_rad 🥹 And dude... what an 8 freaking weeks. I came into this thinking of myself as a UGC creator who makes ads for clients. I didn't really have a direction for my personal brand or a clear roadmap for where I wanted to take my business. Now I don't even see myself as JUST a UGC creator anymore. I'm a content creator building a business, and I finally have a framework for how I want to move forward. But DAMN did they put us through it 😭 I knew it was gonna be hard but I did NOT know it was gonna be THAT hard LMAOOO. I kept showing up, and I'm really freaking proud of myself for that. I'm leaving with better habits, more confidence in myself, and an AMAZING community of people. I'm beyond grateful for everyone I met.

One thing I'm really trying to work on is showing more of my personality on camera. The more I create, the more I realize people aren't connecting with perfect scripts. They're connecting with the person behind the camera. I'm learning to stop trying to sound perfect and start sounding more like myself.

Seeing my peers win honestly fires me up. Whether it's landing a brand deal, improving their content, or hitting a new milestone, it reminds me what's possible. I like being around people who are always trying to get better because it pushes me to keep going.

Filming outside in the middle of summer is not for the weak... It's hot. It's humid. The air quality is terrible because of the wildfire smoke... and for some reason I thought today was the perfect day to film outside. Honestly... idk what I was thinking🙃

One thing my mentorship really showed me is how important it is to have people around you who are going through the SAME thing. Building a creator business can get freaking hard, and sometimes you're gonna question what you're even doing 😂 But when you have people around you dealing with the same struggles, putting in the work, celebrating wins, and occasionally crashing out right there with you... it makes you wanna keep going too. You motivate each other without even realizing it. And even now that my mentorship is over, I still feel that. Find people who are on a similar path as you. This journey feels a lot different when you're not doing the whole thing alone.

I'm slowly figuring out what creator work makes the most sense around my 9-5. If I get some free time during the day, I'll usually script or knock out admin work. Then I'll save other tasks for when I'm actually off and have more time to focus on them. I'm realizing I can't always work on my business exactly when I WANT to, so I'm getting better at figuring out what I can realistically get done with the time I have.

It's funny how I live right by Washington, DC and barely do any of the touristy stuff until someone comes to visit. Two days ago I was walking around looking at all the monuments, filming EVERYTHING like I had never seen DC before in my life. And of course my creator brain immediately kicked in. “Wait, I could make something out of this” “This shot would actually be great” “Hold on, let me get this angle too” Apparently all it takes is someone visiting for me to become a tourist AND content creator in my own city!

Why is it that every time I decide to film content, I wake up with a pimple? It'll be the most noticeable one too. This time it's straight in the middle between my eyebrows.... Oh well... I have way too much to film, and these videos aren't going to film themselves. 😂

She really be putting in WORK for us!!! 😭 I've never had a mentor go this far out of their way to create actual opportunities for us. It honestly makes me want to work even harder seeing how much work she puts in behind the scenes to make things like this happen.

I've realized I can't rely on my memory anymore 😂 If it's not on my to do list, it probably isn't getting done. I even have "morning skincare" and "night skincare" on there because I've forgotten both more than once. Writing everything down has become my system.

I was talking to my friend last week about who I was a couple years ago and dude... I'm a completely different person 😂 I used to be REALLY quiet, kept to myself, and wasn't very social. I'm definitely still an introvert, but now I'm way more comfortable putting myself out there, reaching out to people, and actually going after things. It's weird because you don't always notice yourself changing while it's happening. Then you look back and you're like... oh WOW, I've changed a lot.

The more I use AI while creating, the less I want it to “think for me.” I'd rather use it to help me think FURTHER. Like okay, here's my idea. What am I missing? What's another angle? Why would somebody actually care about this? What's the why behind the why? I still want the final idea, script, and creative decisions to feel like ME. I just don't mind having something there to challenge my first thought and make me dig a little deeper 😂

Happy Monday! New week let's get after it. Today's to-do: 🎯Gym 🎯Get through 9-5 🎯Script/film personal branding content 🎯Attend AHA creative strategist call Hope you have the best day!