in with different types of
people and we have an open
outlook on life” and you can
unite people that way. But
sometimes, there are the
negative aspects of the TCK
experience, where it’s like,
‘yeah, I don’t fit in everywhere’
or ‘I want to be seen as a local
in this place because it’s my
birth country, but I don’t look
or sound like everybody else’.
Then people will put labels
on you and that can be quite
alienating in some ways.
We all want to get to a stage
where we’re comfortable
in our own skin or in the
community we’re in and
want to feel accepted. Now,
I’m much more conscious of
putting out stories, and when
I ask people for submissions
or people approach me, I’m
always conscious to say just be
open and unfiltered. Be honest
and we can work with that.
Maybe there’s a kid out there
reading this and thinking, oh,
that’s me, I identify with this
and maybe they can learn from
your story as well.MPC: What are you hoping
to achieve with this? Is it a
long-term business idea or is it
just more altruistic or a hobby?
What’s the long-term aim?Kelly: It started off as a
passion project because
I wanted a space where I
could build that community
and people would gravitate
towards it and feel
comfortable enough to share
their own experiences. But
it’s also a great kind of... it’s
almost therapeutic for me too,
because I have gone through
those similar journeys.
And to understand myself
and my own identity, it’s always
great to be challenged and
be changed by the process
of running this page and
interacting with so many
people all over the world. I
would say that it’d be great
to move it into some more
tangible space. I’d love to do a
coffee book or something. Or
compile all the stories together
and put them out there in some
form or another.A lot of people actually
find it quite soothing and
comforting to send in things.
I’ve had so many random
stories. There was this mixed-
race girl and she was trying to
adjust to life with her husband
in Germany, but never quite
fitting in, and people will send
stories in like that and I would
give them advice.
I don’t know how that would
translate into a more tangible
project, but I’d love to see
how else I could support the
community in mental health
awareness, for example,
because a few people have
reached out to me.
But, in terms of, like,
putting it out there in more of
a business, yeah, it could be a
coffee book. Some people have
talked about dating platforms.
I feel like that’s quite an
interesting one, although
obviously that would require
a lot more work and a bigger
team to really bring it to life.
Maybe, we could arrange
some more events because
I hosted one in London fairly
recently. That was really
exciting to actually bring
people together and make
it more of a real-world
experience. Doing more stuff
like that would be cool.MPC: What do you think it is
that makes a successful social
media presence? Are there any
secrets you can share given
your work background, or is
just as simple as committing to
producing daily content?Kelly: It’s a good question.
People always say that
consistency is key, and I would
say that it is most definitely.
I’m going to go off on a massive
tangent here, but I think
platforms such as YouTube
now have begun to recognize
and understand that you can’t
be creating 24 /7 because that
just leads to creative burnout.
People are wary of this when
they first start out, because
they’re like, ‘oh yeah, I don’t
want to experience that’, but
it’s far better to pace yourself
and make sure that you have
content stored up. It’s betterto release one type of content
a week than feel the need
to release something every
single day. You might want
to create a backlog for every
single day and then schedule
it in advance. But I think it’s
just about pacing yourself and
understanding your strengths
and limitations in terms of
what you can and can’t do.
Some people fall into this
trap of needing to please the
audience all the time and put
out stuff that people are just
going to click on really fast. But
I think people can tell whether
you’re being authentic or not,
and I would recommend that
they don’t just make a video
just for the sake of making one.
I would always create
a video if I see a trend that
really fits the audience. Or
even product-wise, if I see
something that I think is a
good fit with my audience and
people will engage with it then
fine. But if not, then I’m going
to stay away from it. I think
it’s important to remember
that people will recognize
authenticity in your content.
I would say definitely be
consistent, and when you’re
creative—sometimes there
will be times when you’re
really motivated to create
something and you’ve got a
million and one ideas—then I
would say just put it all down
on paper, brainstorm and
think about what you want to
do. Then if in the next couple
of days or the week after
you’re like, ‘oh, I can’t think
of anything new’, just try and
experiment, try new things.
It doesn’t matter what
platform you’re on because
every platform has a certain
algorithm that you want to
appease, but at the same
time there’s always scope for,
well, as they say, ‘going viral’.
It’s more about just trying
something different and if it
takes off and people really
resonate with it, then you’ve
done your job, right?
But you shouldn’t rely
on those things to get you
through, you can still put out
regular content that you want
to put out kind of thing.MPC: For a lot of people
having a full-time job and then
coming home and spending
time setting something up like
this, it’s a challenge. There are
all those extra responsibilities,
your partner, kids, family,
friends, so is it hard to balance
that against your career and
against everything else?Kelly: It can be, but the
lines of work I’m in, they feed
into each other quite nicely.
Where I’m looking at trends
or competitors or algorithm
changes in my current
nine-to-five role, when I’m
working on the project, on my
third culture page, it doesn’t
feel too strenuous or anything.
I’ll be looking for those
things at the same time,
so I do feel like they tie
in quite well.
But then having said
that, sometimes I do take
breaks where I won’t post
for a week or two, or have
any fresh ideas. If I am having
one of those weeks, I won’t
be too hard on myself, though.
I’m just thinking, ‘do it when
you feel like it’, and I think
that’s fine.
Social media platforms
are now a lot more aware
that there has been that
endless loop of creating and
then curating and then
having to do it all over again.
So now their algorithms are
shifting in terms of like: ‘OK,
maybe we shouldn’t be putting
so much pressure on our
creators’ and I think that can
only be a really good thing.
Because it’s to our advantage
that you know you can take
those breaks and not worry
too much about losing that
momentum, because when
you do start to post, your
content will always start to
pick back up again.MPC: Well, thank you for your
time, Kelly! Is there anything
else you’d like to add?Kelly: Thank you! Of course,
if anyone’s interested, you
can find our TCK community
at https://www.instagram.
com/_thirdculture/14 MAXIMUMPC HOL 2021
quickstart