TikTok Creators | with Jessica Ireland

We welcome the delightful Jessica Ireland, who talks about her journey as a growing TikTok content creator. We're unpicking the threads of how this platform has become the tapestry of youth culture and the loom upon which today's trends are weaved.

Strap in for a candid ride along Jessica's TikTok ascent, from viral art series to an unexpected social media sensation. The conversation winds through the maze of personal branding and the pivot from content to creator focus, touching on the balancing act between social media stardom and precious personal moments. Jessica  also peels back the curtain on the creative process, lending insight into the collaborative ecosystem that TikTok fosters and how creators navigate the choppy waters of internet negativity, with a healthy dose of humor for good measure.

As we round out our chat, the spotlight shifts to the intricacies of establishing a TikTok brand that stands the test of time. We'll tackle the conundrum of ethical content creation, the shiny appeal of monetization, and the cornerstone of building an authentic community. Through the laughter and the learning, we'll leave you with the comforting reminder that even in the whirlwind world of internet fame, relatable parenting moments keep us grounded and connected.

Transcript

Sam: 0:10

Welcome to Babe. What Do you Know About the podcast with your favorite husband and wife, duo Sam

Tayla: 0:16

and Tayla. Each week we dive deep into a new subject, blending fun and seriousness to push boundaries and buttons. Get ready to expand your knowledge, challenge your perspectives and have a blast along the way about what it was like, because you've been to dancing with the stars live a couple times now, right? What's it like? Do you enjoy it? Right, what's?

Jessica Ireland: 0:46

it like do you enjoy it? Oh, I love it it's. It's honestly really different to what I think you would expect. I don't know what it's like in America, but it's very, very small, like the first time we walked like behind the stage. We're like what like it's? Like it's tiny, genuinely tiny. That's like the biggest thing, I would say. I think when you see it on the TV you think, yeah, like it's so big and in reality it's so small the studio or the stage or just everything.

Jessica Ireland: 1:16

Yeah, just everything Like it's just like a stage and then like a couple rows of chairs and there's like nothing else. Do you feel like that's?

Tayla: 1:23

awkward for the people dancing that, like the audience is not that big in person no, I did ask my brother that.

Jessica Ireland: 1:31

Well, he's right that doesn't really help. Anyway, we didn't know how many people were there, but he said, like they do so many rehearsals like in the on the stage, no, the seats are already set up, so they kind of know. I think it's like more intimate when there's so little people, like it is probably less daunting, I would think, because 60 70 of the people are family and friends of whoever's on the show, because they don't really give too many people that makes sense.

Tayla: 2:00

Did you watch the show before your brother was on it, or is this like a new thing you've enjoyed?

Jessica Ireland: 2:09

No, we've never heard of it. So the thing is we live in the north of Ireland and it's like an Irish TV program and it's on an Irish TV channel and in the north we mostly get like British TV channels. So the UK has an equivalent called strictly come dancing and I think most northern irish people would watch strictly come dancing and interesting.

Tayla: 2:31

It's kind of a new. A new thing, but I mean just your brother's on a winning streak kind of just wins, everything seems like how am I ever going to be the favorite child now?

Tayla: 2:42

it's just impossible oh, man, so our listeners. You've heard another voice and a little bit, so I'm going to introduce you guys to our guest and then our topic for the day. It's going to be a fun one. I'm very excited. So we are talking with Jessica Ireland. Remind me what your maiden name is, because that's what I remember when you and Trent got engaged. Just like how perfect could it be that your last name is Ireland. But what's remind me your maiden name?

Tayla: 3:14

Smith, but with a y, so smyth so Jessica Ireland now, who's a 28 year old wife and mom of two. They are a half northern Irish and half American family living in Northern Ireland, and Jessica has over 80,000 followers on TikTok and creates mainly lifestyle content that revolves around learning to be a mom and being a mom, and focuses on my favorite thing in the world, which is food as well. So we're going to talk a lot about that, as Sam and I were, like we. We had quite a few requests to talk about TikTok, and we don't have nearly as much experience as we should, so I'm stoked that you would come, so thank you. So let me introduce TikTok, the topic, and then we'll find out a lot more about Jessica's journey with it. So today we're going to talk about TikTok.

Tayla: 4:02

It's a platform that's taken the world by storm with short-form video content, has over a billion monthly active users worldwide and has firmly established itself as one of the most influential social media platforms globally. Tiktok's primary user base skews towards Gen Z, with approximately 60% of users falling between the ages of 16 and 24, making it a key platform for reaching younger demographics. In just a few short years since its launch, tiktok has experienced explosive growth, surpassing 2 billion downloads on the App Store and Google Play. Combined From lip syncing to dance challenges, to comedy sketches and educational content, tiktok offers a diverse range of content which caters to a wide array of interests and niches. Tiktok has become a breeding ground for viral trends and challenges, shaping mainstream culture and propelling songs, dances and memes to unprecedented levels of popularity. So today we're going to sit down with Jessica. I don't know if you would call yourself this, but I would A seasoned TikTok creator she's gonna help.

Jessica Ireland: 5:05

Well they might.

Tayla: 5:07

Devourers that I put it, that I watch probably makes me she's gonna talk to us a bit about kind of behind the scenes of crafting, engaging content, navigating the ever-changing landscape of the platform and kind of the impact of tiktok on digital culture in general. So this should be a good episode. So, babe, honorary babe and jessica, what do you know about tiktok? How was the intro?

Sam: 5:30

uh, it was great, good job, all right. So, jess I, I I'm gonna start off with the questions that I've. The dumbest one yeah, what's it like to be tiktok famous? Do you do you like good you go when you go grocery shopping, know? Do you get stopped in the street? Do you have to sign autographs? I mean, give us the rundown of what your lifestyle is like.

Jessica Ireland: 5:52

You know I can't say anybody's asked for an autograph yet I do get recognized quite a bit and I think that's down to the fact that I live in a very, like, small area, so a lot of people from my area probably would watch me. I more so get people who say they've say they've saw me after the fact, rather than people approaching me, which I actually kind of prefer. I don't know. Like, when you're behind the screen, you're used to talking to a screen and I feel like I'm very good at talking to a screen. But then see, when people come up to you in public, it's like you know, it's like it's just it's so different than talking to the screen because you're literally just talking to yourself. But yeah, I definitely wouldn't say I'm famous, yeah.

Tayla: 6:35

I imagine it's a whole different ball, like I think I was just listening to another podcast where someone was talking about this like the levels of celebrities, like a list and b list and c list and just how I feel like most anyone who's recognizable is still kind of feeling like a bit weird or a bit shocked to even be in a position like that yeah, yeah it's.

Jessica Ireland: 6:59

It's definitely interesting, especially like the first time that somebody comes up to you in public. It's a bit, it's a bit jarring. The first time that somebody comes up to you in public, it's a bit, it's a bit jarring. The first time somebody did come up to me, I was with all of my family and they just made fun of me for weeks and weeks after. It's just hilarious.

Sam: 7:13

Yeah, so what made you want to start getting into TikTok and doing videos?

Jessica Ireland: 7:19

So obviously I had a child in March of 2020.

Tayla: 7:22

We were right before you in February, so yeah, it was total insane.

Jessica Ireland: 7:28

It was just a weird time and I think I was just bored, and so, at the start of no for Christmas in 2020, I had my husband get me an iPad this will all make sense in a sec and I wanted to start doing these TikTok videos I'd saw other people doing where, basically, on your iPad, you drew the country of America, you had all the different states and yeah, I remember you.

Tayla: 7:53

I remember you doing that, I do.

Jessica Ireland: 7:55

I used to do this series. I saw someone else do it and I honestly was like I think I could do that better. Not that I'm good at art, but I just felt like I had more of like a business mind, like I just felt like the person was taking days and days and days to upload part two, part three, part four and I was like I could do that better. So basically what I did was I started off with a series called like drawing the most famous tiktoker in each state and so I would say, say I did Utah, I would like rub out the picture versus like what I had drawn behind and I think just got a lot of engagement because people would be like arguing in the comments like that's not the most famous tiktoker from Utah, this is the most famous tiktoker from Utah. Or you get people commenting like do this person for North Carolina? And actually that account grew to like 120,000 followers in the space of like three months, which, yeah, it's it was.

Jessica Ireland: 8:53

It was a crazy time and a lot of people because of that kept being like who are you? Because all they ever saw was my hand, because it was just like me recording my hand, rubbing out the picture, if that makes sense. So I'm not an artistic person at all, which is funny that I started with an art account because, I am telling you, I cannot draw. My four year old son can honestly draw better than I can, and so when people were kind of interested in who I was, I was kind of like okay, like I think that's something I would be more interested in, and so I kind of pushed people to a new account, which is the account that I currently use, which was just me, and I kind of let that account get to like a few thousand followers, and then I did. It's really cringy to come back.

Tayla: 9:39

I did like a face reveal.

Jessica Ireland: 9:41

That was kind of, yeah, it was really embarrassing. I just yeah, when I look back, I I really cringe. But that was kind of. It was kind of a random, like I didn't really think anything would come from it. I never expected it to like turn into me, but that's ultimately where I would have wanted to be, would have been like it to be a revolver in me and rather than the art, because I don't think that's something that I was ultimately passionate about, which is why I did stop.

Sam: 10:09

But once I kind of got moving with the current account so tell me a bit more about your, your current account, because so this is kind of timely to this, this episode. I, like three or four months ago, quit social media. I, you know, I deactivated Instagram and everything.

Tayla: 10:27

So I've kind of been off of content for a little, for a little bit, yeah it's been very annoying because I keep wanting to send him videos and I keep wanting to send him memes and he's not on it. That's hard, that is so hard yeah, so how would you?

Sam: 10:42

best describe the type of content that you do now.

Jessica Ireland: 10:45

So right now I would say my content is mostly like chatty videos. It's very much just like me plating up my dinners, which I feel like it sounds so weird. If you're not like on my side of tech, talk like when my parents are like you plate up your dinner and somebody watches that. I'm like, yes, mom, they do, and I don't know why, but it's a very popular trendy thing at the minute is to like plate up your dinner I think you did a lot of some sort of chip plate or something like that no, but I have seen those too.

Tayla: 11:17

No, this was one like crisps, I should say. It's like some sort of you had done something with them, but it was really fun to watch. Actually, I really enjoyed it.

Jessica Ireland: 11:26

So those would be like my main types of videos, and then I would do like a lot of like vlog style content, so like a morning in my life or like an afternoon of my life, like the kind of the bedtime routine. I don't show the kids faces, though Maybe you'll want to talk about that later but yeah, it's kind of just like a vloggy style, like chat, I am curious about that because that's been a big thing.

Tayla: 11:49

I've been hearing a lot of creators talk about this, like question of sharing kids. Did you show your kids ever and and make a change, or was it something you decide? Yeah, I would love to know kind of your thinking behind that and what adjustments you made.

Jessica Ireland: 12:06

I obviously consume a lot of TikTok and I consume a lot of like YouTube and I had saw other people do it and I first kind of thought it was a bit. I was like just think it was a bit doomsday and everybody was a bit overly dramatic. And then I kind of think the more people I saw doing it and the more people giving their reasonings, I was like actually that is some food for thought and I probably should think about it. While I'm at this smaller stage, I can't remember the exact reason, but something that I always think about when people ask me my exact reason is I remember once someone commented on one of my videos saying I saw your son with your mum at the pet shop.

Jessica Ireland: 12:46

Now they wouldn't know who my mum was, so the only person they would have recognized was my son, and I don't know something about. That made me feel a bit icky that they would recognize him without me present. You know what I'm saying and because I live in a smaller town, I thought is that going to cause maybe issues like when he's older, like I don't really want him going to a birthday party and me not there and somebody recognizing him recognizing him and just I don't know the safety involved in that like regardless of the internet safety, it was like the actual safety of like where we live, and that kind of thing was the thing that always sticks out in my mind to me as to why I kind of pulled them.

Sam: 13:26

So that actually brings up something very interesting that I don't think about too much, which is the lifestyle of a content creator. You, you know, most of the time you hear about all the positives, you know like, hey, I get to work from home, I get to work when I want and, you know, get to be creative. But on the negative sides, what are some of the the cons that that you've experienced?

Jessica Ireland: 13:47

I think one big con that I do think about a lot at the minute is you can never switch it off. So it's like, yeah, it's great, you can work from anywhere, but the problem is you're working from everywhere. It's like you're working at your bed at 10 pm at night. You're on holidays and you're thinking, oh, this is, this is perfect content creation time. So you know, most people are going on holidays to relax. Like I'm going on holidays with my family here next week and I've sat here and planned out like the videos that I'm going to do while I'm gone. So I think that is a big con that you can work it around yourself, but it's like always on your brain. It's not like a nine to five, you can kind of shut off. It's like you're constantly thinking about it and you're constantly like in a bad way. Sometimes you're like every, every experience you're thinking about how can I make this into content which I?

Sam: 14:36

I really really, how do you find the balance? What are some of your, your tricks or some of your ideas that you're doing to to find that balance? If you have, yeah, oh yeah, and if you haven't, what would you wish you could do?

Jessica Ireland: 14:48

I'm definitely on the journey to find the balance. The last like six months or so I've really pulled back from even like how much I post on the app, which in and of itself helps with that. I do a lot of like pre-planning. So typically now I'll plan like maybe like a week in advance Now. Pre-planning, so typically now I'll plan like maybe like a week in advance now. Obviously things can change and I can change what videos are being posted or whatever. But I think when I plan things well in advance it just means that like I've got things planned so I can enjoy the other moments. You know, I know maybe, okay, on Tuesday I'm going to record this and this and then I'm not sitting thinking about it for the rest of the day, like today I had stuff already pre-filmed so I only put like I only filmed one thing today. So I kind of just enjoyed, you know, the rest of the day and posted stuff that I had already sitting ready to go. So it's a lot of pre-planning.

Tayla: 15:37

You have to be way more organized than I've assumed that a creator has to be. Yes, because that's, I mean that's the point, that's the art behind it, right is how do you make something that takes a lot of work and a lot of effort look effortless and not not very hard?

Jessica Ireland: 15:54

yeah, to the outsider and and to me as someone who was a consumer of YouTube before tech talk, I used to always laugh when people would be like it's such a hard job and it's not like it's not a hard job in reality, but there are aspects of it that that are hard that you just don't see as a viewer. You know, you just think, oh well, she just sat and made a 20 minute video and posted it on YouTube, like that's not hard at all. But yeah, there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

Sam: 16:20

uh, I think I'm one of those people for sure yeah, I'd love to know a little bit more behind behind the scenes. So, like, like, what are you doing to stay up to date in terms of what you want to post? Because, like you're saying right now, like one of the things that is trendy is plating your food or showing the food stuff? Are you, are you, always having to constantly adjust to trends, or is it something that you are trying to trend set yourself, or you know? What does it look like behind the scenes?

Jessica Ireland: 16:47

at the minute I feel like I'm doing a lot of the same content that maybe I have done for a while. Um, I don't know if trends maybe are as quick and as fast as maybe they once were at the beginning of TikTok. Like, the plate up thing has maybe been around for six months a year at this point Now. It is ever changing in the way that people do it, but I do consume a lot of TikTok so it does kind of help me in that aspect of kind of keeping up with things. Obviously, the TikTok algorithm is so good in that it shows you what you want to watch, so it usually shows me the kind of things that I myself you know my for you page has a lot of mums, like a lot of people doing the things that I'm doing, so I'm kind of getting new ideas in that sense.

Jessica Ireland: 17:30

Like maybe I used to do all of my plate ups like raw audio me right here, right now, and then maybe I saw people doing a voiceover plate up so I'm like that's a good idea. You know I'd maybe jump on that, but I do now have a lot of friends in the industry. You know, similar following to me, maybe slightly smaller, slightly bigger in the same niche. So even consuming their content can help me in a way, like if I see one of my friends posting, you know, like a current up-and and coming sound that has like a trend behind it, I can kind of jump on and that and you know, make it to fit just fit what I want to do rather than what she's saying. But yeah, I consume it. I do consume a lot of TikTok.

Tayla: 18:11

One thing that I feel like has been adjusting over the last few years is, I feel like people used to be quite possessive off of like ideas or videos, and I feel like that's maybe not as much the case. Like, I think it was pretty rare, like I followed a lot of parenting pages like around 2020, 2021. And if someone back then were to post something even similar to a different one, people would just be in the comments being like this person just posted this, like you're stealing this idea or whatever. But I don't really see that anymore. And you said that you you're friends with quite a few creators who have similar content to you and it I mean friends doesn't sound like like a negative thing. Well, of course not. So I'm I'm curious in your experience if, like, you've noticed a shift as well as a creator that, like people really don't mind. In fact, maybe it's a good thing for someone to like do a trend that you've set or like kind of emulate something you've done yeah, I think.

Jessica Ireland: 19:14

I think I always take it as a compliment if someone is like directly, I can see that they're doing something that I maybe have done. I feel like a lot of people, at least at my size of following, are actually pretty helpful and like want to give advice. You know, we're not we're not like fighting each other to get to the top. It's very much like we're kind of taking you, taking each other, like taking us all up there together. I think the only time people would be annoyed is if it was like you had posted something that had done well, that wasn't someone's style of video and they directly copied it Like. Sometimes that can be frustrating and I've had that happen, but at the end of the day it is what it is Like you post on social media and somebody can take it and do it better and that's just. That's just the reality.

Sam: 20:02

So interesting so I love to turn everything political. So I'm sure, like I, I barely keep up with what's the the news on tiktok, but I know that there is a tiktok ban. You know that's a bill in the United States that's looking to be passed. What do you know about it and how do you feel about it? How do you think it's going to affect everything?

Jessica Ireland: 20:26

All I know from it is from what I see on TikTok. That's my form of news is TikTok, and so what I had currently gathered was that I know the bill was passed, but there was still a chance that TikTok could be sold to someone else is what I'd gathered. So we're not like. We're not like too stressed at the minute. I do have quite a large US following, so if it did all go through, I don't know, it would be interesting. I would be genuinely shocked if something didn't get sorted between now and then. I just feel like America as a country to like not have tech talk would literally shock.

Tayla: 21:02

It would be pretty surprising, but I I think this is the second time in a row. Maybe I've mentioned Trevor Noah's podcast. Trevor Noah's a podcast called what now? And he and some people were just talking about this ban and it was so interesting to hear them talk about it because one of them was like oh you know, kids are getting so involved in politics because they want to protect their social media platform, like they're. They're like calling their representatives and all the rep, the representatives, are like wait, what the heck? We've done so many things to try and get these kids involved.

Tayla: 21:36

And trevor noah was saying like I feel like that's a great thing, like maybe we should utilize the platform to try and get kids more involved. And Trevor Noah was saying like I feel like that's a great thing, like maybe we should utilize the platform to try and get kids more involved. And then his friend kind of was like well, actually, don't you think the lawmakers would use this as proof that it's dangerous, that the kids will just do whatever TikTok tells them to do, and I feel like it's unclear, like to me, clearly there's dangers and I think Sam and I've talked a lot about how, if you're an extreme person, then the algorithm is pretty dangerous, but I don't think that's the case for most people who are really normal, moderate people. So I also am like oh, this is, I think, the question most people have, which is how do we use this tool for good?

Jessica Ireland: 22:19

or how do we?

Tayla: 22:20

how do we make it so that we're like being effective and and kind of jumping on board something that's inevitable, like it will continue in in some form, but not just let it take over. I suppose that's just so hard. I just I don't have any, because when each of them was speaking I was like yeah, and then the other one said something. I was like yeah, but yeah, do you find that you can see a lot of statistics on your followers? Is that right, like you can kind of see demographics, okay? Is?

Tayla: 22:50

that something that you use for anything outside of interest.

Jessica Ireland: 22:54

It would be more so brands, if they wanted to work with me, would probably use, like they would want to know your follower country. I'm quite interested just because a lot of my following is irish and I can't earn any money off anybody who's irish, so I do interesting way yeah why can't you make any money off the people?

Jessica Ireland: 23:15

so tiktok has what they call now a creator program. They just changed the name, so I don't even know. It's a creator rewards program, which means you earn a certain amount money per 1000 views, and so that can. Basically, your video has to be over one minute and then it's affected by the country that somebody watches from how long they want, like maybe how many comments your video gets, or whatever. But ireland is one of the countries that is not part of the creator rewards program. So typically for me, I have friends who have similar following, similar content, similar views, and I would make a decent bit less than they do just because of the amount of Irish people.

Sam: 23:56

That is fascinating so back in the day on youtube, and maybe because I don't know what it is now, but it was somewhere between like sam was an og youtube person back in the day right. So you would pay like between two dollars to like ten dollars for every thousand views and then on like streams for like spotify and stuff. It's a similar ratio. Is tiktok in the same sort of ballpark as that?

Jessica Ireland: 24:24

no, well, I can't speak for americans a lot of it's changing at the minute. A lot of the friends I have were making around the pot like a pound, which would be what? Like a dollar 20 but, and I was making like 20p, so like that shows how different it was. And now it seems that they're all going down and like a couple of my friends were kind of going back up. So it seems at the minute from in my audience, like as in like kind of mom lifestyle creators, everyone's making around 50p for every 1000 views, which to me makes sense. We would make more than youtube because it's it is a ton easier to post on tiktok.

Sam: 25:04

That makes a lot of sense. Do you see this like as a long-term thing, that you see as not just like a passion and thing that you enjoy, but also as something that is like, hey, this is my career, now you know moving forward, kind of a thing?

Jessica Ireland: 25:18

yeah, I think. So I always say that like I kind of see other people around me doing some things that will make them like a lot of money right here, right now, and then I see kind of their views and stuff going down and I kind of feel like I'm in it for the long haul, like I'm kind of trying to do things, maybe that like TikTok shop I think a lot of people are doing right now which.

Jessica Ireland: 25:38

I don't know if you know what that is, but basically okay. So basically you can in your videos like, say, like a microphone, and I bought the microphone from TikTok, I can link it in my video and anybody who buys it, I'm making like a certain amount of commission from it. And the problem, well, the problem I've noticed with that is a lot of people who do that. They start to only do TikTok shop videos, which means every video is commission paid, and they start to make a lot of money, like I know people who have way less followers than me, who make way more money. But then I look at their views, I look at their growth and it's just there's no, in my opinion, no longevity, because nobody, nobody wants to watch that long term. What happens is the people that are buying it off. You are people from the For you page. There's no, you've got no fan base, but you've got no community, nobody who's behind you.

Jessica Ireland: 26:28

I maybe do the odd TikTok shop video I haven't probably done one in a month Like I'm kind of maybe making less money than I could because I'm trying to make it.

Sam: 26:36

So, for you, the most important thing is building your brand, building your community, because you're seeing it as like hey, this is a long-term thing that you want to do and that you're investing in building your community rather than hey, here's a quick way to get some cash.

Jessica Ireland: 26:52

Yeah, yeah. And that's not to say that I have not fallen in that trap, because I most definitely did fall in that trap, but I feel like the last six months or so I've kind of made friends and I feel like that's kind of got me out of that. Um, would that be?

Sam: 27:09

your advice to people that are getting into tiktok and being content creators?

Jessica Ireland: 27:14

yes, yep, that is like one big thing, because I fell into that trap. I used to do what's called a paid, paid sounds. So basically you work with like there's, there's different apps and they'll basically send you a sound and they'll pay you a certain amount to do it. And I used to do like multiple a day to the point where, like, my content was just absolute rubbish, like it just was not good, because in my head I was seeing, I was seeing the dollar, I was seeing the dollar bills and I was like, oh, just get this content up and I'll get enough views to get paid. And and yeah, I think it's so easy at the start to kind of think like that because it's such easy money it really is. There's certain ways and it's just it's so easy, whereas now, like, I'm really picky and choosy, like I'm not going to just post something for the sake of making 40, 50 dollars, because it's just I love that.

Sam: 28:07

What would be some of your other like really deep tips and tricks, that you're not just going to find someone else, you know just broadcasting? Do you have any like little secret things?

Tayla: 28:16

for like an aspiring tiktok yeah for me. To that, I'm gonna start tiktok tonight you gotta get back on social media for that. What would be the top here? What would be?

Jessica Ireland: 28:25

the top three things you would, you would tell me to, to send me in the right direction uh, I think consistency I'm sure a lot of people would say that is consistency um, whether that's just like how many times a day you're posting, or like what kind of content, um, I think another big one would be to really take like a deep dive into your videos. Like that's hard when you're just starting out. So when you're just starting out, post whatever the heck you want, but eventually you need to start seeing like, okay, I've posted 50 videos and every single time I post, um, a dinner video, it does rubbish. Like no one's enjoying these. So then, but then you look and you start doing vlogs and you see that, like your vlogs are doing so much better, it's like okay, what you? If you want to still do the plateups, because that's fine.

Jessica Ireland: 29:13

Like, for me, my plateups do really really good and my vlogs are maybe my more average style of video and I still want to do the vlogs.

Jessica Ireland: 29:19

So I'm maybe going to do 50% plateups because, because they are what people enjoy, and then I'm going to like sprinkle in the videos that I enjoy doing as well to like, because you want the page obviously to still be you, but if no one is enjoying the vlogs, you can't make your videos 100% the vlogs. At least I don't think you can. I think another one is not being scared to switch up your content, like if the style of vlog that you're doing just isn't working and you're seeing other people do it a different way, like not to be scared to try something different. It is really scary, even I'm still. I think of good ideas, but I just don't know, like, how to execute them, because you're just gonna get stuck in the same, doing the same sort of videos, the same style. It can be really daunting to try something new, but I think being willing to try, yeah, like a different way of doing things, this is great.

Tayla: 30:13

I've been taking notes furiously here, so got his pencil and it's literally he wasn't taking notes with it. I'll write him out that he was holding the pencil. No, this is really helpful because I feel like one thing I like and that I've enjoyed about the videos that I've seen of you is I do feel like you are. You have the right balance of authenticity. I think it helps that I know you right, but like I just I feel like there isn't really a show that's being put on Now. I'm not going to say that there isn't like a level of staging that I think you have to do for videos. Otherwise I think that would just be maybe too much Like for me. I can't imagine showing people like everything in my home, like exactly. But I feel like you're kind of. The main principle behind your advice is to balance authenticity with kind of creativity and going. I mean literally the inception of your page is a testament to what you just said, which is to not be afraid to switch things up. You literally did like a 180 from what started and it's, I bet it's easy to say like after the fact like no, it's totally worth it and you know you're not gonna ruin everything that you've worked to get. But but it's true like that. Yeah, this might be cheesy, but I really love Pink the singer. She's been relevant for almost three decades that is so difficult to do in the music industry like literally from the 2000s, like she's so relevant and but she's still very much herself, like her sound has changed, her music has changed her, but not like it's still very much pink, and I think she's just such an example of that balance that I really love. So that's really interesting.

Tayla: 31:58

I am curious. Oh, I actually have two things that just popped into my mind. Okay, I'll go with. Oh, I actually have two things that just popped into my mind. Okay, I'll go with the, the, the, probably the less fun one, and then we'll go with the fun one. So my first question is just like, I know that there's negativity on the internet. I've seen it so much, tried not to be a participant in that, but how do you handle that? I mean, is that something that you encounter very much? It's like negative comments or negativity. Is that something that you encounter very much like?

Jessica Ireland: 32:24

negative comments or negativity, and if so, yeah, how do you handle it? Yeah, I do some. I go through waves. I feel like of getting more hate than maybe like other periods of time. The funny thing is, the hate that annoys me the most is like the more stupid comments. I think if someone honestly called me ugly, it would not bother me in the slightest. But when someone says something like so nitpicky, that's the thing that just it drives me insane.

Jessica Ireland: 32:50

I think that's another thing where, like, having friends in the industry really helps, because I just feel like nobody can relate. Like if I tell my husband, he's just like who cares? And I'm like no, but it's so hard to constantly hear people saying similar things that you know not to be true. Like people take these one minute videos so so literally, and it's like there's no point trying to explain to them because they just don't care. You know you could write a whole response.

Jessica Ireland: 33:21

I've made video responses before, which I try not to do now because I just don't want to be that kind of page. But it's like there's no point because these people just have their opinions and the opinions aren't real. So you know what? What they're basing opinion off is a literal one minute video. So, yeah, I don't always deal with it the best. I'm very I don't know if it's just like an Irish thing we're just, we just like to bite back and we're very defensive. I am so defensive so I do struggle when people are rude to me to not bite back, as in not to defend myself, but at the minute I just block and delete because that's pretty much all you can do.

Tayla: 33:57

I haven't blocked very many people, I'm not at all relevant or big enough for that, but it has been very satisfying.

Tayla: 34:04

But, like one time I've ever done, I've been like yeah don't need that, but I feel like that's going to be empowering, though, to just be like Sam tells me about this all the time, like he just will say things. You're very good at this, sam. I don't know what you're about to say, but yes, no, go on, he's very good at just like kind of putting things into perspective. Like when we had ella, I had some pretty bad postpartum anxiety and I would just be so worried about so many things and he and he would just kind of say something like, hey, a huge amount of people like literally don't care about their kids and don't take care of them and those kids survive, so probably our kid's not gonna die because you forgot, you know, because I genuinely would think like, oh, I've forgotten this thing.

Tayla: 34:47

Like babies, they're so fragile when they're newborn, like she's just gonna die and he'll do stuff like that. Sometimes we will just be like well, the average IQ of the of the person is this, so just remember that and let that affect how you feel about it, or how much talk you put into it yeah, well, my other question was I am curious from you I almost said virility like virility, but virility is very different thing.

Tayla: 35:15

So I'm sure that you've had like a couple of videos here and there go, quote-unquote, viral. I think depending on who the person is like, they have different considerations for what they would consider that to be. I would love to hear about one or two of your favorite videos that like kind of took off, or maybe one that was kind of unexpected. I would love to hear about that and what the experience is like kind of on your side yeah.

Jessica Ireland: 35:39

So I kind of related to to like the last question and this. I had one go viral maybe two months ago, right at the start of the year. It was just a video that, honestly, one night in bed I was like that is a funny video. So I obviously do these dinner plate-ups and there's not really any rhyme or reason and I was like you know what I'm gonna do this plate-up and it's gonna be called plating up a dinner my husband hates because he pissed me off and I thought this was such a I don't know why. I just thought this was such a funny idea and it was like the next day and, truth be told, he did absolutely nothing to piss me off, but I made the video anyway.

Jessica Ireland: 36:15

So this is kind of one of those things where it's the dinner that part is true it is a dinner he doesn't like. I don't even remember what the dinner. Oh, it was a beef chili. He just he hates chili and so I plated up chili. I plated up a sweet potato because he likes he dislikes sweet potato more than he likes, dislikes baked potato and the video went nuts like nuts, nuts it was. I expected it to do good. Like you know, maybe my normal plead ups get 30k. I was like, oh, it'd probably get like 50 60k, and then I think I posted the video right before I went to a Pilates class and then mid Pilates class I just like checked my phone and I was like, oh crap, like I could just read some of the comments and I was like oh my god, this is not.

Tayla: 36:58

This is not people just taking it a little too literally.

Jessica Ireland: 37:02

Yeah yeah, I think people just were like this is the worst type of communication you are a bad one like could you? Yeah, they're like, could you not speak to him and tell him why you were annoyed? And I was like no, honestly, like this is kind of a funny video. Like there has been times he's annoyed me and I probably do make a dinner he dislikes.

Tayla: 37:23

Yeah, I think the funny thing is when people will say things like and I've seen this where they've been like that's so abusive, like how's your husband gonna eat? And in my brain I'm just like what do you mean? How is this grown person gonna eat if I make them something they don't like?

Jessica Ireland: 37:39

yeah, I think I did yeah, I was like he literally can open the fridge and make.

Sam: 37:43

Yeah, you're welcome for me making anything like put a yes, sorry, go ahead, no, no um, I also oh, go ahead, no, go ahead.

Jessica Ireland: 37:54

I was gonna say I also did another similar video, actually that one that one might have been before this one where I just kind of worded things wrong and it went viral very quickly. I basically did a another plate up where. So in our house I only make one meal for the kids and that to me. I don't care if other people make 16 meals for their kids, like that's fine, but for me I'm making one meal for the kids and that's all that's on offer, and I kind of talk about that in a lot of my videos.

Jessica Ireland: 38:25

I think a lot of people actually like to see that. And I talk about just like I never would serve the kids. If the kids absolutely hate pasta and they hate chicken and they hate cheese, I'm not going to serve them a cheesy chicken pasta, like I'm just not going to do it. But I, if they hate pasta and they love ground beef, I am going to make something with pasta and ground beef. Um, and I made a video saying how I'm not raising picky eaters and and yeah that that kind of stirred people. You just never know what we'll just like tickle someone's brain and they're like it's an attack on me

Jessica Ireland: 38:59

yeah, they're like what if they have an eating disorder? It's like, well, that's very, very different to like what I'm talking. Like I'm talking about like my kids, who are perfectly like, they don't have anything like that, they have no sensory issues. I was like, yeah, people, just that's kind of one of the things where people take what you say so so literally, because I gave an example in the video. I said I would hate someone to like invite the Ireland's around and be like, oh, what can we make the theorem for dinner? Like what were their kids like? Like I kind of like that when people invite us over, they know that they can make what they're normally making and we'll eat it. And they're like you're such a bad mum because, like you're worried about what other people think. And I was like this is hypothetical because nobody invites me over for dinner. So I'm like this is this situation doesn't even exist. It was just like it's just like kind of a scenario. I was kind of like, yeah, no, I've heard that referred to as like, what about ism?

Tayla: 39:53

like someone will talk about something and be, but what about this? I'm like, but I wasn't talking about that. So, yeah, like we don't have to like come up with every scenario that possibly could make this problematic, like you could just take it for the intention that it was fascinating.

Sam: 40:08

So, jess, where would you like to take this? Where, like where do you? Where would you like your community to keep evolving to? Are you looking to grow beyond TikTok? Is it TikTok solely like? Where's? Where's your vision for being a content creator?

Jessica Ireland: 40:24

I think probably like longevity wise, like YouTube seems to be kind of, in my opinion, where it's at like in terms of like bigger brand deals, like a lot of people, like a lot of brands aren't really on TikTok, you know they're more so on like the YouTube Instagram space. I think like long-term, youtube potentially is where I'd want to go. Youtube feels a lot more, it's harder. I do post on YouTube every so often. It's it's a lot more work, but it's a lot from well, from my perspective, it's a lot like less TikTok's every single day, multiple times a day. Youtube's like twice a week, which to me feels like less invasive, like I think long term I could find more of a balance with YouTube, but I do think I'll always be on TikTok in some form and I would like to be on Instagram too, but Instagram's a lot harder of a social media platform Interesting to be on Instagram too, but Instagram's a lot harder of a social media platform, so would you also do YouTube shorts or just use YouTube for the longer?

Jessica Ireland: 41:28

form content. Every so often I post on YouTube shorts, but I get very in my head about that one because I just think people wanting to see me repost the same content to TikTok, youtube and Instagram. It gets very boring for the people that are quite dedicated to you, because that's probably who follows you on the multiple platforms, so I have dabbled in YouTube Shorts.

Sam: 41:52

Okay, so main thing, keep going with TikTok, looking at YouTube for long-form content and, if you can expand to have reasons for Instagram and and YouTube shorts. That seems kind of like your trajectory.

Tayla: 42:08

I'm, yeah, I'm curious if you could like wave a magic wand and make an adjustment to TikTok or change it in a specific way. What? What it is that you would change about it? Oh, I don't think I'm sorry to put you on the spot. What it is that you would change about it? Oh, I don't think I'm sorry to put you on the spot.

Jessica Ireland: 42:23

I know.

Jessica Ireland: 42:25

No, I think something at the minute is just like TikTok changes things so quickly and you have no understanding or like reasoning why I keep saying I have two really close friends and and so we're.

Jessica Ireland: 42:40

We're constantly talking like all day, every day, and, like just a few weeks ago, like our videos were all doing so, like I would have a certain amount of thousand views I would expect to get in an hour and then kind of like an average of what like my views typically, what my videos are typically get, and then obviously some videos do better, some videos do worse, but a few weeks ago that's all kind of shifted. So now, maybe, maybe before, I got 15 000 views an hour and maybe now I'm getting like 3 000 views in an hour. And it's things like that where there's like it's the same content I was posting two weeks ago, there's like no rhyme or reason and it just feels like it's happening to multiple people. So I know it's not like my content, it's like a total shift in whatever the heck is going on with the algorithm. And so I think if, like tiktok would be more transparent with like what is going on or like what, what changes they're making and why, like why that's happening yeah, that sounds like a man.

Sam: 43:35

It sounds like a very difficult place to be in. I've still got a couple friends that do youtube and from when I do have conversations with them, it sounds like literally the number one thing that they feel like they're on top of, and why they're still successful, is they. They are on top of the algorithm, so whenever there's a shift in the algorithm, they are they somehow, and I don't know all the details how they figure out, because that's communication it's their secret sauce.

Sam: 44:00

They are on top of the algorithm and they adjust to it, and then they stay on top because it's it's almost more important than just the community aspect, because it's obviously longevity. You want your community always coming back and whoever is subscribed to you or following you etc will get your content. But it's those new eyes that you're always trying to make sure that you're getting in front of, and if you don't have the algorithm like down or what to do to match the algorithm changes. It almost feels like it picks and chooses winners and losers.

Tayla: 44:32

I don't like that because I like to control everything that would make me feel very out of control.

Jessica Ireland: 44:39

Yeah, it's one of those things that I think even when the algorithm shifts, I still feel like I stay quite consistent. It's like just finding that balance. I've noticed a lot of people who focus on the algorithm so much that every single video is like for the algorithm, for the for you page, and like their videos are like annoying to me now because I can see that your video is not for me as like their once viewer. It is now like strictly for the algorithm, like it's strictly to get their eyes on the for you page and their growth is so, so good. But I just think I'd be interested in the, in the fallout of that, because if I was an avid watcher and now I don't watch, you are these other thousands and thousands of people.

Tayla: 45:23

No, I think people are so sensitive to that these days.

Sam: 45:27

Yeah, and I think there's also like another whole side to that coin, which is, I've seen I've had some friends that have that basically they lose their soul to it where they're able to keep up with it and, like you said, yeah, the growth is phenomenal but they're creating content that they don't even enjoy and relate to, and it feels, like they honestly that you hate a job that they hate, but they got to keep doing it because they're expecting a certain amount of revenue and so they're like I, I'm just gonna keep doing it.

Jessica Ireland: 45:55

If I don't keep doing it, I don't get the revenue, and so they end up hating it ends up might as well just go get a job that you enjoy versus chasing an algorithm they're pigeonholed into like a category they don't want to be in, which is why I kind of say like maybe my vlogs don't do good, but I will still sprinkle them in there in the hopes that someday they maybe become my. They're not bad performing videos. They're just not my best, and so that's why I always try to sprinkle in the things that I enjoy in like interwoven between the things that I know are my best performing videos. So it kind of hits those two spots, you know like it fulfills me and then it also like satisfies everybody else this has been so interesting.

Tayla: 46:37

Thank you so much. Also, it's late at night for you, which I guess is, you know, prime time for a parent of young kids, but still and I'm thinking your husband probably sacrificed his live March Madness observation to fit his answer thank you so much. It's been so fun. I'm gonna keep watching your videos, especially your parenting ones. I just love them so much. I was telling Sam one of my favorite ones it was a recent one, I think it was just a couple of weeks ago. It was like you driving and I don't remember the details, I just remember laughing so hard. We were like what to do when your kids are like crying in the car. You just turned up the music and it was just so relatable, because I was just like absolutely.

Tayla: 47:21

You just want to. When your kids are screaming in the car and there's nothing you can do, you just want to die. It was just so relatable.

Tayla: 47:27

I imagine that something like some dumb people would be like that's so abusive and so bad for your kids. But I, I I loved it Cause I just saw it for what it was. It's just pretty much letting out what what every mom at some point feels on the inside. So I'm going to keep being a consumer and I love what you do. I'm so happy that it's been something that you feel like you've been successful at, because I feel like I read I think it was in the article that came out about you recently that you were kind of afraid, like you've always wanted to do it but were kind of afraid to start for a while.

Jessica Ireland: 48:00

Yeah, yeah, to do it, but we're kind of afraid to start for a while.

Jessica Ireland: 48:02

Yeah, yeah, I think I started like a blog this makes me cringe, actually in the second year of university and I just like because I really wanted to do YouTube. I just could not sit and do it and I feel grateful for TikTok in that way, because TikTok feels like kind of like a secret platform for me in my head, like nobody I knew ever was going to see it or ever saw it. So like even now, to this day, even though I have like such a following on TikTok, I still get like the scaries about posting on Instagram because I'm like this person that I went to school with might see it and this person in my extended family might see this video. And it's not that the video is bad, it's just like a normal video. But yeah, tiktok I think is a nice app that it can kind of give a lot of people who maybe didn't have confidence a bit more confidence to like post, just because it does feel so separate from why I love everything you do.

Tayla: 48:56

I'm glad you're doing it and I'm glad you're posting on Instagram too, because that's where I spend most of my time, and when you started posting and kind of saying I was like, why no, definitely post it, all I want to see. So you're doing a great job and I appreciate your time very much.

Sam: 49:11

No, thank you so much.

Jessica Ireland: 49:12

Yeah, it's been a blast. I love any excuse to talk about TikTok.

Tayla: 49:20

Thanks for listening to the Babe.

Sam: 49:26

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