Meet Creator, Now Producer, Tina Mondelia
Many influential creators reach a point where their profiles have gained enough momentum for a hobby to become a business. What’s the next for them?
Tina Mondelia (@mondelia) is a creator and, most recently, inzpire.me’s Community Intern. She’s experienced with media production, as well as creating engaging content on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. We asked Tina to share a review of her career as a content creator with us and explain how these experiences have opened new opportunities for her.
What inspired you to start creating content?
I have always loved creating content. When I was 10 years old, I got my first video camera for Christmas. That’s basically when it all started: I filmed my everyday life and started doing news shows, short films, and music videos with my friends throughout the years. I started blogging at 11, so film, photography, and text – basically creating content – started from early on. I started publishing regularly on YouTube at age 15 because I was influenced by other YouTubers. At that same time, I got my first internship in the media industry. Those two things combined really kicked things off.
Did you start with the intention of becoming an influential creator?
Originally, I wanted to become a film/music video director. I’ve always wanted to create something that would entertain or influence people. Of course, I thought it would be fun to get more readers on my blog when I first started out, but I never really had a goal of making it big in that “influencer” type of way before YouTube.
Any memorable moments from the early days?
I remember that one of my first meetings with brands was with an app called SoBazaar, an app owned by Telenor. They wanted me to become an ambassador, and invited me to one of my first events. I saw one of my idols who is a director there, and I almost peed my pants (lol).
How did it feel when your profiles started gaining momentum? What do you think your followers expected of you?
To be honest? I loved it. I have always been a fangirl and inspired by so many creative people. When I started gaining a following I had an adrenaline rush every day until I was 18.
I think my followers expected a positive atmosphere when entering my social media channels. I remember a lot of the comments about me being so positive. The lifestyle content I created, such as interviews or challenges, was a mix of things people were interested in. I believe they wanted to a normal (but weird) girl who just loves creating content and tries to live life to the fullest.
As a content creator, how was it to work as an intern at inzpire.me? Did your perception of influencer marketing change?
It was super interesting! I do now have a better understanding of how important it is to be in a niche. A lot of influencers, like me, are a bit “all over the place.” Differentiating yourself by having a niche is a smart marketing move instead of just comparing how many followers you’ve got.
What’re your future goals?
I just really want to work with something I enjoy. I love doing many different things so it’s hard to choose “one vision.” I do want to create a community of people who loves going to work and want to build something together. A place or a company where I get to create stuff and work with people I enjoy. I also love storytelling, so maybe I will go back to directing one day.
Tell us more about your company, Mondelia Media. What’s your vision for this venture?
I’m so excited about this! One of my favorite things when creating content is seeing a concept come to life. I have so many ideas all the time that I realized there’s not enough time for me to fulfill all of them. Creating a company seemed like a good idea. The main motivation for me to start Mondelia Media was to help digitalize magazines.
Video making is becoming more and more important every day. Paper magazines are shutting down, people are losing their jobs, and many say that the media industry in Norway is a sinking ship – BUT – I don’t think it has to be! I think there is so much potential out there. We just haven’t built a solid bridge between the digital, video, and YouTube world and magazines.
How did your experience as a content creator prepare you to start a company?
It has been a very important fundament. Everything from creating the content, marketing, to studying business, has prepared me for starting this company. I’m sure I would not have gotten projects if it weren’t for me being a content creator first. I have somewhat a sense of what content works on YouTube, what an audience expects, and how YouTube works.
If you were to give one piece of advice to a creator just starting out, what would that be?
It’s so easy to get caught up in likes and followers – try not to! My following started growing when I was having fun with what I created – not when I was trying to make “tactical” moves and overthinking what to post to get more popular. I understand why you would post more of what gets more likes, but it’s not the best long-term strategy. Consistency is also important, which I think will not be that hard if you enjoy what you do.
If you want to grow a brand in a very professional way, try to think of a niche you enjoy and post content related to that. People say it’s a lot of competition out there, but I don’t think they realize how much potential there still is. Either you have to do things differently, or find a whole new niche in the market that someone hasn’t captured yet.
