Turning Content Into a Business

Madi Beumee joins Shakin’ Hands for a conversation that feels just as much about identity and confidence as it does content and business. What makes this episode hit is the way she strips away the shiny side of social media and gets honest about what it really takes to build something with substance, staying power, and intention. There’s a real throughline around visibility — not just being seen online, but learning how to trust your voice enough to show up fully and turn that into real opportunity. Madi brings a perspective that is both strategic and deeply personal, which gives the conversation weight beyond marketing advice alone. The result is an episode that speaks to creators, founders, and anyone trying to build a brand without losing themselves in the process.

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Host: Jack Moran

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Transcript

Madi Beumee 0:00

I think it's wise for creators to sort of view their own business as a business and figure out are there digital products, are there speaking opportunities, are there communities they can build? Um, can they write a book? Sort of like what is the long-term play there? It's definitely specific based on the person. And I think that you also have to be in it for a little bit of a longer game. Um, but I think it's more lucrative and it's something where it's like, you know, you have recurring revenue coming in every single week or every single month. And then brand deals can sort of be in addition to that and not just the sole thing you rely on.

Jack Moran 0:41

Welcome to Shaking Hands, where we provide the platform for entrepreneurs and thought leaders to share their stories in order to hopefully influence others to get out of the rat race and chase their own dreams. If you have any recommendations for guests or questions that you want to be asked, please don't hesitate to reach out. Anyways, if you enjoy the podcast, please like, comment, subscribe, and share in order to keep the podcast growing. Otherwise, I'm your host, Jack Moran, and this is Shaking Hands.

Madi Beumee 1:18

Yeah, so I am a content creator and social media strategist. I work with a variety of different businesses, D2C, and then a lot of online business owners, specifically in the personal brand, kind of turning the personal brand into something that they can monetize through books, podcasts, all of that. Um, and within that, I really kind of have niche down into many chat. I don't know if you're familiar with many chat at all. Um on Instagram, if you see it says like comment word and I'll DM you whatever it is, and it automatically DMs people whatever resource they're talking about. Um, I build a lot of those funnels for a variety of different clients because I found there was like a niche for that. And then on the flip side, I work as a content creator, kind of building out my own personal brand. And I think it's a really interesting dance between the two because it's like what informs me as a creator, I can then bring to clients, or I have that expertise of like, I know I'm telling you to speak to a camera, but like I've done it myself, so I know how cringy it is. Um, and then from the strategy component, I can look at my own personal brand and think about ways to optimize or what's the long-term play? Because I think creators a lot of the times start creating and because they love it. And then it's like, how do you monetize that in a way that has longevity and can kind of sustain you over time?

Jack Moran 2:39

Okay, so I'm engaged. What is that answer? How do you How do you sustain it? How do you monetize like because there's a lot of people that have these awesome platforms and they can't figure out how to turn a profit on it or make revenue off of it?

Madi Beumee 2:50

Yeah, I there's kind of two camps that things fall under. On one extreme, you have the brand partnerships, and that is, you know, Adobe is gonna pay you a flat fee for a set amount of deliverables. And I think that that can be great because you can work with dream brands and opportunities, and you can find things that really are cohesive to what you're already talking about. The downside of that is you're sort of relying on someone else for that income, whether it's like opportunities, budgets for the brands you want to work with, the timeline of payouts can be incredibly long. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to finally receive your check. So on the flip side, I think it's wise for creators to sort of view their own business as a business and figure out are there digital products, are there speaking opportunities, are there communities they can build? Um, can they write a book? Sort of like what is the long-term play there? It's definitely specific based on the person. And I think that you also have to be in it for a little bit of a longer game. Um, but I think it's more lucrative and it's something where it's like, you know, you have recurring revenue coming in every single week or every single month. And then brand deals can sort of be in addition to that and not just the sole thing you rely on.

Jack Moran 4:15

Yeah, I've seen like with I've talked to like people about this. Like a lot of people don't realize how much leverage the social media companies have over your business and your income. Like, look what happened with YouTube. You know, people were making all this ad revenue and then they just decided they're gonna change their entire model, and now they're getting a tenth of the income. Um, so like finding a way to pull that audience into your own platform that you own is and they uh correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they kind of make it difficult to do that?

Own Your Audience

Madi Beumee 4:45

Um yes, and I think kind of similarly to the ad revenue thing, we have this conversation, what feels like every six months about like if TikTok is going away and you think about these creators where they're solely relying on their two million followers, and if that disappeared tomorrow, like how would people get in touch with you? So I'm really adamant about figuring out how do you bring that audience over to something you own. And that is when, like you were saying, it can be kind of difficult because you don't have clickable links in Instagram or like TikTok. I don't necessarily feel like people engage with it in the way that they would with YouTube, maybe looking at the description and finding the links there. So a tool like ManyChat can be really beneficial as a means to bringing people over to your email list. Um, when I've implemented it with people, it's like we can build their list by the thousands with just one singular reel or one Instagram story post.

Jack Moran 5:42

Yeah, so I kind of want to like go through the stages of the funnel. And it's interesting because I I just had a conversation recently with this guy, Mike Rosa. Um, he has a page called Anabolic Aliens. They're like, he's one of the like original YouTube fitness influencers, like two million followers or uh subscribers on YouTube, like one of the early, early guys. And he was explaining to me basically how the days of like just getting a bunch of followers and like you're gonna be successful are over. Like he was explaining how a lot of people are doing this content that like goes viral, and then it reaches this massive audience, and then they continue to repeat that content, um, and it continues to go viral because it's continuing to reach that audience. But when the issue is that now a platform like Instagram, just because you have a million people following you, doesn't necessarily mean that every single video you have is going to reach that entire audience. So as soon as that person stops doing that type of video that got them viral and they try to promote something, that no longer reaches the attributes of that audience. And so it's very difficult for them to convert that audience that's seeing these videos that got them viral and and bring them into content that produces them income. Um I don't know how like you navigate that and if like trying to go viral is not really a good strategy anymore. If it maybe it's better to have a smaller following um but more intentional and more of like a converting type content.

Madi Beumee 7:14

Yeah, I think that that is a big switch we're seeing, both from how people are viewing their audiences, but I also think from a monetization when working with brands perspective is like the micro influencer or the someone who has like a really tapped-in audience where they trust recommendations, they know is likely going to result in more conversions than the person with seven million followers. And it's just like they had one funny video that went viral and got a bunch of random followers. It's sort of like who is actually following you and are they following you for something in particular? I always like to kind of ask the question, are you prepared to go viral? Like if you're getting a bunch of eyes on your page, what's your plan of action? If you're actually thinking about your content from like a business perspective. So what's the next step you want them to take? Or if you do end up having this viral moment surrounding a topic or a pain point or an issue, do you are you equipped and can you autonomously build out some sort of form or some some element that can kind of guide people into the next step of the process? Um, I think more than ever, a lot of people really, really focus on awareness content that's sort of like, how do I just get eyes, eyes, eyes? And I think that there's a lot of nuance and importance in the nurture content. And like, how do you keep people locked in? How do you keep people coming back? A few of my favorite little like nurturing tips are repeatable visual elements within your content.

Jack Moran 8:57

So Yeah, describe the difference between awareness and nurturing.

Awareness vs. Nuture

Madi Beumee 9:00

Yeah. So awareness I like to think is like top of funnel. So it's just like getting new eyes to your page, bringing new people kind of into your ecosystem. Nurturing is where you might go from like, oh, I saw her one video about X, Y, or Z to really learning like who I am and getting you to like buy in.

Jack Moran 9:19

Is that typically once they're on the page?

Madi Beumee 9:21

Or typically once they're on the page or once they've already been following, like once they're a follower, it's like, okay, how do I take them from stranger to someone who might be like, oh my gosh, you have to follow so and so? Like their content is great. Like that process is nurturing. And how do we do that? I think a lot of the times also we have this need to like grow, grow, grow the audience, and we forget to actually cater to and speak to who already exists in our world and in our community. It can kind of be like, oh, I want to get the next thing and the next thing, the next thing. But it's like, if you can get your current audience to go share your page, like that is gonna do so much more legwork for you than just your real appearing on, you know, the for you page or something like that. Um, so when it comes to nurturing, I like to think about ways that I can really like bring people along for the ride. So going back to the like visual kind of recognition, when someone's first getting used to you, I like to add in little visual callbacks that remind you who they're watching.

Jack Moran 10:24

Interesting.

Madi Beumee 10:24

So it's silly, but all winter long I wear, I brought it with me, a blue scarf and a blue hat. And it's like every winter video that I have created, there's like three, and it drives me nuts that I'm not wearing it, but I'm always wearing the blue scarf and blue hat because I was just like, it's so eye-catching. It's yeah, and immediately if they're scrolling really fast and they see like, oh, blue scarf, and they're in my world, like they're gonna be like, Oh, that's Maddie. And ironically, I had someone on LinkedIn, they were talking about kind of visual cues, and someone tagged me and was like, at Maddie Boomet with her blue scarf. And it's like, it's so silly, and it's not really like part of my brand, but it's like, whatever you can do to get someone to stop scrolling is a win. So that's one. Another kind of nurturing element that I think can be fun to introduce is what I call like inside jokes with your audience. So an example might be a year ago or so, I was going to something and I kind of made a joke, like, oh, and you're tall, it can, it feels like you're overdressed if you're wearing heels. Like, does anyone else feel the same way? And kind of like talking about that. My DMs were kind of flooded with some conversations. I talked to people about it. And then later on, circling back, like, who remembers like this the heels debacle or whatever it is? Because if people have been around for that, they feel included in the circle. They're like, oh my gosh, yes, I remember. Like it's so cool to see that you're doing that. But then if they're brand new to your page, they're like, wait, what's going on? Like, what was that? I want to know. Like they kind of almost feel a little bit of FOMO and might kind of lean in and be like, I want to know more. I want to be like involved in this discourse. And it doesn't have to be as simple as like a little story. It could be bringing people along for the process of whatever you're building or showcasing kind of like this happened and like stay tuned to see what's gonna happen next and kind of like clueing people into your world.

Jack Moran 12:16

So if your product is the building the funnels for people, the automated funnels, is your audience mostly other influencers? Um currently? Yeah, or creators.

Madi Beumee 12:28

Yeah, yeah. It's really interesting because I sort of have like two sides of the world that I operate in where I talk a lot about like just more so personal, personal development. Like my core mission in the in in life, I guess, is to encourage people to get out of their comfort zone, try new things, and really kind of like step into all that life has to offer. I feel like oftentimes we wait for a permission slip to do that, to like pivot, to go do things alone. So, like that's more so like the ethos of my human being mission. Um, and then on the flip side, I have more of like my creator business and brand, which exists more on LinkedIn where I am talking about like the process and that kind of thing. Um, because I do think there's a lot of merit in creators figuring out how to have more autonomy over their skill sets and learning how to do things so that way if they do have a viral moment, they can go and build whatever they need next, as opposed to either having to outsource or feeling like the momentum had to stop because they don't know where to take it.

Jack Moran 13:32

How did you even get to this like mindset uh that you have right now? Like how do you for which one? Well, you have this awesome mission, first of all, this like impact-driven mission, which I very much align with. But how did you even start doing what you're doing right now? Um, like get to this uh uh uh this part in life that that's current.

Madi Beumee 13:52

Um yeah, it's it's kind of interesting because they do uh coincide ever so slightly. I actually went to school for theater.

Jack Moran 13:57

Okay.

Madi Beumee 13:58

So I have a bachelor's degree in musical theater. I was like performing professionally post-college, and the pandemic happened, and I was kind of like, you know, obviously I need to fight figure out what to do in the interim because there's no world in which we were all gathering into large spaces at that time. So I started to kind of freelance as a means to keep myself sane and make a little bit of money. Also, during that time, I did about every odd job under the sun. I was teaching like English to children in China. I was like a voiceover artist. Like I truly I don't like free time. That's how I kind of sum it, sum it up. Um, but I started freelancing. And then I think I also the pandemic was an interesting time because I think for a lot of us, it was sort of a forced pause of like when a lot of things pause, activities, motion, like what do you to your core want? Like, what do you actually want to do with this life that you have that we I think all kind of saw firsthand can be so short. Um, and so I think it was an interesting moment for me because my whole life I was like, oh, well, I'm good at theater. Like, everyone's telling me I'm doing a good job. And if you have that personality type too, you're like, well, I want to do the thing that people are telling me I'm good at. Like, I should just keep doing that. Um, so with the pandemic, I started freelancing and what kind of freelancing? Just the oh my god, similarly to doing every odd job. I feel like I freelanced and did, I was like, I can do logos, I did websites. I the first gig I ever did was a someone's LinkedIn banner. Like I designed that in Canva is the first thing I ever made in Canva. I think I was paid five dollars. Um, but it's just that like spark of like, oh, there could be something here. Like, I know what I'm doing. Um, and I think because I've always been that like hungry, eager person, I just wanted to learn as much as possible. So that way I could A figure out what I was good at. Like there are things that it's like just because you can do it, maybe you shouldn't necessarily do it. Like, sure, you could design something, but that's not like your area of expertise. And then I think on the flip side, it was also like, what do I actually enjoy doing? So I was freelancing a bunch. I had a bunch of different clients. It was really eye-opening and interesting. Um, and then one of my clients was a sex and relationships therapist.

Jack Moran 16:19

Nice.

Madi Beumee 16:20

Yes, very, very niche. Like I was just like, asking. You've had one of those on the show, actually. Oh, really?

Jack Moran 16:24

That was an interesting episode.

Paid Business School

Madi Beumee 16:25

I mean, talk about working for them three to four years, like you learn so much. Um, but they were one of the clients, and they were at an interesting point in their business because they had about 12,000 followers venturing kind of from one-on-one services to the online digital product, online courses space. Um, and I was an eager from being a rookie here.

Jack Moran 16:52

Keep going.

Madi Beumee 16:53

And I was an eager, you know, trying to learn everything. Um, so I started as a consultant or contractor, just doing their social. And then slowly but surely I was like, I think I could build a website. Like, I think I could design whatever. I think I could build the whole project management system in Notion. And so I started to take more and more hours, went in-house with them for about like just over a year. And by the time I decided to leave, I had worked up to head of growth. So overseeing like all social lead acquisition, the podcast. Um, and I kind of view it as paid business school. Like it was a really cool opportunity where someone paid me to essentially just get to like try and experiment and see like how could we grow things? And I think because we were doing well, I mean, by the time I left, the Instagram was like half a million. We had over 200,000 TikTok followers. Like, I feel like everything was in my favor for them to be like, have at it, like try what you want. Um, but it was a really cool opportunity to see like how do you essentially build an online business in the kind of new creator first world because a lot of their marketing was through them being creators.

Jack Moran 18:05

What did you learn from them at that experience?

Content Needs Systems

Madi Beumee 18:08

Oh gosh. Um, so much. Like basically, um, I think I learned a lot about how important it is if you want to work and kind of have a really robust content system that like the plan matters more than anything else. Oftentimes I feel like when I meet with business owners or creators who are like, I want to do content, I want to do content, I want to do content. And I'm like, okay, like what are you doing so far? It's just like throwing things up on the wall. And I think that sounds like me. I'm like, we can chat, I'll send you my content calendar. But I think like that's the main thing I learned is like there has to be systems in place for things to function and to move because content at in the grand scheme of things is such a small percentage of your business as a whole, too. But because of what's involved and because of the moving pieces, and it can feel overwhelming because there's constantly changes with the algorithm. Like you have to have a plan to just be able, in my opinion, just like sleep at night and to stay sane in that world. So I think that was one of the biggest elements that I learned is like really figuring out like what is the structure to get this done. Um, so it looks effortless and it looks like things are just being thrown up and you're just hopping on stories casually and talking about things, but like behind the scenes, like it is all orchestrated.

Jack Moran 19:39

So, what is that? Because my expertise is like back end sales processes, but that top of funnel in the digital world is very new to me. Um, all my mentors are kind of old school, older guys that taught me an old school way of doing business, and I always neglected social media. Now, like in the last 24 months, I've started paying more attention to it. Um, I'm a complete newbie, not an expert at all. Um, but I've had difficulty with getting that like top of funnel engagement and understanding it. So I'm curious what is that like strategy for and what is that plan or that framework uh for that top of funnel engagement? Yeah, I think or is it engagement?

Madi Beumee 20:17

Right. I think it's a lot more experimentation than people want to admit. I think we have more than ever this concept of like, oh, you go viral and like you're an overnight success. And if you look at people, TikTok sort of in early ages of TikTok, I think that that could be an exception to this rule. But even if you look at the recent music industry, like Sabrina Carpenter was not an overnight success by any means. Like she's had so many albums, she's had so many iterations of her career.

Jack Moran 20:46

I didn't know that.

Madi Beumee 20:47

Yeah, like Disney Channel, way back when um Chapel Rone is the same thing. I mean, Olivia Dean, love her so much, just won her Grammy, first Grammy. She's been doing this for 10 years. So I think content is no different in that way, where it's like you have to really be okay creating just to create, to learn, not necessarily to succeed right off the bat. Like when I meet people and they're like, oh my gosh, you blew up overnight. I'm like, do you want to see the deep dark archives of like how many years I've been talking to a camera and like it's it's my dad like hyping me up, or like love my brothers, like liking the post, you know, like it takes time, I think, for you to get comfortable and exercise the muscle. It's I always say it's no different than going to the gym. Like, you've got to put in reps to be able to do exercises. You've got to put in reps in front of the camera to get more and more confident. Um, and then I think it's also learning and seeing what's sticking and then iterating on what you are noticing is doing well. So it's like if something starts to take off, I think a lot of the times people like to try a bunch of different things, but they don't go back to actual metrics. And feelings are great. And like, I obviously think it's important to factor in like what do you enjoy creating? But for me, sometimes, like my top of funnel, I'm not like this is the best thing I've ever created. I know it works. It's like I know that this structure and this format, like it's repeatable and it can bring in X number of followers within a time frame.

Jack Moran 22:24

Um what is that that's working right now?

Madi Beumee 22:27

So for me, specifically in like the Boston scene, I created this series called The Roundup. And it's basically like, here are things. It started because I moved here and didn't know anyone, and I was like, I need to leave the house. So these are the things that I'm gonna go check out this week. And then I realized slowly that people loved the concept of someone kind of giving them a curated agenda of what to check out over the course of that week. Um interesting. So it's it's been refined. Like if you go back and you look through like how it's evolved, at first it was very much kind of like sporadic and the hook was different. And now like every single week it's almost annoying.

Jack Moran 23:04

Are you selling an itinerary?

Madi Beumee 23:06

So it does. So it started as a video series, and then this is where I kind of came into like, how do I monetize this? Um, so now you can receive it with links and the full curated list. So the the video might be five, six of the events happening. The full list is closer to like 15, maybe 20, with all of the links to grab tickets. Um, and that gets delivered to you via text or email if you're a paid subscriber. So that's kind of the upsell there. It definitely needs finessing because it comes back to like the sales page and like that. That's a whole nother conversation. Um, but you'll notice from when it started, where it was just like me randomly on a Tuesday and then it getting a bunch of views. So I was like, you all enjoyed this. Like, here it is again. To now it's very much like I film it in the exact same setup, even if I'm traveling, like I film the hook and the ending before I leave so that it visually looks the same every single time. Um I do a specific if if then, what I call like the if-then. So it's like if you like this, or if you are looking for X, Y, or Z, then make sure you're following me or make sure you're following for next week's or that kind of thing, because we oftentimes assume that people are gonna jump to the conclusion we want them to make. And that's not the case. And I've noticed that if I literally say, like, if you are looking to get out, meet new people, try new things in and around Boston, make sure you're following, the follower conversion is huge. As opposed to me just being like, okay, let's get into it. Like, I don't know why it's like we need to like actually walk people through the actions we want them to take. Wow. Um, and so I think that's like a perfect case study in exactly what you're saying, where it's like when I first started creating that content, I wasn't like, this is my awareness. Like this is this is gonna like bring new people to my page. But over time, I've taken a look at like the metrics, the hooks that work, like what are the most important metrics? Um, I think people look a lot at views. They're like, oh, a video did so well. I wanna see how people are engaging with it. Because if I'm seeing that a lot of people are saving it, that tells me that people found it valuable and they're gonna refer back to it later on. So it's like there's a clear takeaway in that piece of content. If people are sharing, and this is a big um mindset shift that I feel like worked for me when I was creating a lot of content. At first, when I would see a lot of shares, my brain went to like, oh, those are people like sending it to other people I know, like making fun of me. And it's like it is that instinctual, like, oh, you're being seen. Like you're being seen doing something, you're being seen trying, and there's like a discomfort there. But now I've really kind of tried to adapt the mentality of like if people are sharing it, that means that they thought someone else would benefit from seeing that content. So I think that that's another good thing to kind of check in on is like if you create this post and you're like, my goal is that like this is the framework that everyone should steal, you're gonna want to see a lot of shares. Like the goal is a lot of shares there. So kind of checking in on that metric. Um, but I would I would get over the like emphasis on views. Everybody wants to like have a lot of views. And I think a lot of views are great. I think at the end of the day, I'm more interested in creating a community and an audience that is tapped in and knows what my core mission is about and knows like what my brand stands for.

Jack Moran 26:37

Yeah, that same guy that I was talking about before, he basically said to me, like, people have an issue, they're like, I'm only getting 2,000 views on my videos. But he was saying, like, if you were sitting in a boardroom and you had an audience of 2,000 people like listening to you tell talk about your product, you'd be so stoked. So, like, it's about like really how do you convert and get that intention and like utilize that audience, not like you don't have to be at 10 million people to convert, you know, uh to, you know, or or to monetize that audience.

Madi Beumee 27:10

Totally. And I think two things that are I find helpful is like when I first got really serious about creating content, I listed out like the vision values and and boundaries um for myself because I thought it was an interesting exercise of like what is the vision? So there well, like what is the through line? Um, and I come back to this a lot when I work with founders or people who want to create because I always try to be like, what's the why? Because at the end of the day, like I know you and it's like you have this amazing successful career. Like you're not on a mission to become an influencer. So, like, what is the mission? Why do you want to do this? So, what is like the value or the vision you have? Um, and then it's nice to be able to circle back and see like, do people actually reflect your mission back to you in the way that they talk to you? Or if someone tags you in something and they're like, oh my gosh, like this made me think of you, like when that reflects what I'm trying to like put out in the world, I'm like, that's a win. Like that's you, my vision is coming through. Um, and then the other thing, kind of getting out of the mindset of followers. I always joke with my friends, but I make everyone I know create like a feel-good folder. You can name it whatever you want. Um, but I think as you are growing, um, it can be really easy to have days where it's like no one's seeing anything, or like I am going through a period where the follower count is like just stagnant. Um, and so screenshotting comments or DMs or just like ways that people did resonate with your content as a way to come back to, I think that that's like helpful as well because it is more of a mind game than we necessarily think about. Like at first, it's like, oh, you're just like create to create, but it's like when you have a billion things going on and this isn't necessarily doing well right now, what do you need to do so that you stay kind of tapped in and stay consistent and following the plan and not necessarily how you're feeling?

Jack Moran 29:12

So, what does the day-to-day look like behind the scenes, like behind what everyone's seeing on the page? Um, what is the work input to like get it to where it is right now?

Madi Beumee 29:20

For me, for my personal brand?

Jack Moran 29:22

Yeah.

Madi Beumee 29:23

Um I I love how I'm like, you need a plan, you need a plan. And like I think I have a plan in comparison to probably a lot of other people, but like in my deepest desires of my plan, like we're still flying by the seat of our pants. Um, but everything is like I have a very extensive extensive notion content calendar. That's like my ecosystem just for everything, not just content, but branding as uh the business as well. Um and I I'm a big forward planner. So I'm thinking about like what are overarching themes for the month? What are upcoming things I want to touch on, and making sure that I am working really far ahead in regards to big picture things.

Jack Moran 30:08

Where are you deriving that inspiration from?

Madi Beumee 30:11

Um, I always say like inspiration hits. I don't know if this is it's like this for you, but like anytime I'm not stimulated with like activities or work. So it's like going to bed or if you're driving. Um, for me, that's like when ideas come to be because I'm just like forced to kind of be one with myself. I always joke like Shivasana too. It's like at the end of a yoga class, your like brain is always like, okay, then I'll do this. Um, it's a mixture of things coming to me. And also, I just did an audience survey. I did like a three-question survey, like, hey, I right now I'm working with kind of a business coach on a few things and trying to refine elements. And I thought it'd be really helpful to get insights. So I was like, I'll buy coffee for three people randomly, like if you fill out the survey. And it was sort of like, what's one thing you've gained from my account? What's one thing you want to see more of? And like if I created something for you, whether it's like a product, digital, whatever it is, like you would think to yourself, like, this is exactly what I need. Um, and that was really helpful because then I could pull that information, put it into AI and be like, what are recurring themes here? And it like further solidified three or four pillars that are like consistent. And then I obviously pulse checked with like, are those the pillars I want to be using or not? Um, so that's another kind of guiding element is like, if these are the four categories, how do I come up with ideas underneath them?

Jack Moran 31:42

Yeah, you're really going through that like deep visualization, which a lot of people don't have. Um, and it's so important because you're really intentional about your plan and like you're super conscious of it's almost like, you know, I talk about visualization, it's almost like seeing into the future because you're like starting to go through these decision trees and like all the possible outcomes, and like if if I do that, like your if-then statement, if I do this, then this will happen, and then different inspirations come out of that. Um, so it's interesting to hear like you're really doing this like forward-thinking uh visualization um um practice. Where did you get like these habits that you have?

Madi Beumee 32:20

Were they instilled through your parents, through school, or um, I always joke that I've like always been a tryhard my whole life. Like, I'm like, that's that's just how I've been built. Um, I think my parents definitely like instilled a level of rising to the occasion and and it must have been very encouraging because you have a lot of confidence. 100%. Like, I think the combination of parents who like without a doubt, my dad will tell me he's proud of me like once a week. It's the cutest thing ever. Like, I always joke, he has literally set the bar so high because he reposts every one of my LinkedIn. He'll be like, look at her go. Um that's awesome. So he's great. I also think um for a while I viewed like this life so separately from my world of being in theater. And there's like actually a lot more um overlap. And I think like, I mean, the theater world is its own beast and brutal in its own way. Um, and so I think there's a level of like when you've gone in and you get eight bars, which is essentially like five seconds to sing and someone make a snap judgment about you and if they want to work with you or if you they want you to move on to the next level. There's a level of just like, I can, I can only do what I can do, and like everyone else's opinion or like how they want to move forward is like their own thing. And I can't control that. And there's no, there's no use in me constantly like overthinking that and worrying about that. Um, I think my time in the theater world like for sure impacted the way I show up now. It's like I can't get anywhere on time or late because that's like so drilled in you. Like, I'm always early to places, but there's a level of like hunger that you have to have in that industry of showing up at 5 a.m. to audition, like working multiple jobs to make it work that I think very easily carries over into the work I do now.

Jack Moran 34:21

So when you say you have to convey this message over eight bars, like how do you have that kind of influence in such a short amount of time? And how is that translated to the content that you're doing? Because that's a it's almost like an elevator pitch.

Madi Beumee 34:32

Yeah, I think I think it's like an it's really trying to highlight like the essence of who you are as a person.

Jack Moran 34:38

And is that an energy or is that something like uh in the language?

Madi Beumee 34:43

I think it's a little bit more energy-esque. Um, I think you can feel even through a camera, like when you energetically like want to gravitate towards someone.

Jack Moran 34:54

Like, I don't know if you feel that way, but like Well, I definitely can notice that about you. Like, I was sitting here caught off guard when I was doing the outline beforehand, and your energy fills up the room immediately. Oh, thank you. So you have high influence through your energy. It's very like it invokes an emotion in people.

Madi Beumee 35:08

Um Yeah, and I think it's something that can be exercised and brought out. I don't think I was always this way. I think I've worked really hard to put myself in situations where like I don't know anyone, and it's like you just have to step in, like be confident. I think that over time, like confidence compounds, and the more you go and do things, the more confident you get. Um, but I do think that is an element with content where like people can tell if it feels off. And TikTok and as YouTube will tell you. I feel like Instagram is like still a little bit nicer, but like TikTok and YouTube, like they'll say it how it is. They'll tell you if if they don't feel a certain way. And I think you also have to decide for yourself. Like, I have always felt like I want someone if they meet me online or see me online and then meet me in person to be like, oh my god, you were like practically the same. Obviously, like there's elements that I'm not going to broadcast about my life online, but I don't ever want someone to meet me and be like, whoa, that's like a different human being. Like they're two personalities, or that's almost like a character. I know people who do that and like that's their brand. Um, but I've always viewed it as like, I want you to feel like you're on FaceTime with me, or we're just like chatting in the way that I chat with all of my other friends.

Jack Moran 36:28

My issue is that I in real life, I go on, like I do the weave when I'm talking. So I'll talk about a broad concept and take it down these rabbit holes of all this detail, and then somehow circle back at this, like, you know, overarching concept, but you can't do that on social media. That's what I've really had to struggle with, is like consolidating down these concepts into like small direct um um clips. But I think a lot of people mistake speed for mastery, and it's like, how can you articulate like concepts that require a lot of detail um in a 30-second clip?

Madi Beumee 37:07

Yeah, I think it's it's twofold. One, in the beginning, like everything I have ever done was scripted, like because it is one of those where like if the hook is not good, if the first five, I mean five is generous, three seconds are not engaging, like it doesn't matter how thoughtful and profound anything you say after that is, because no one's getting to that point. So in the beginning of any time I was doing face-to-camera content, it was like hook bullets, and you kind of add whatever you need, and then CTA, or you know, you I oftentimes try to move the CTA to like the 10 second point because a lot of the times if you're looking at like retention, so few people are making it to the actual end of the video.

Jack Moran 37:52

Interesting.

Madi Beumee 37:53

Um, but I think that that's another thing. Like people just assume, like expect, like, oh, I just put my camera up and I nail my 45-second video. Like, by all means, scripting is an incredible resource and tool because it also gets you thinking about like what does make a good hook? Or you could even record four hooks, post the video with hook one today in February, and then post the same video with hook two six months later, um, and see like, does that actually does the hook really affect performance? Um, so in the beginning, like I scripted everything. And slowly I feel like I got to the point of needing to script less. I do think that I if I'm looking at the whole part of the process, like I focus on the hook the most.

Jack Moran 38:43

What's the hook psychology?

Madi Beumee 38:45

I'm just always like, what are people gonna, what's gonna like make someone feel something? Whether it's inspired, intrigued, pissed off. Um give an example. Yeah. So this is actually a really, really interesting one. Um, this girl shared that she wrote this book and it was about like female friendship. One of the characters is based in Boston, and I was like, I'll read it, like whatever. I end up winning. She sends me like an advanced reader edition, and I'm reading the prologue or like the first section of it, and I'm like, there's a good video in here because there's a line that's like, Can I curse on this point? I love how I'm like, can I curse? Um, but there's a line that's like, I just think it's fucked up that we act like a woman, a woman's greatest accomplishment is getting married, or something like that. And I was like, ooh, I like this line, like there's something here. And so I made a video that's literally just like, I'm holding the book, I'm looking down and I'm reading that line. And that's the hook. Is like, I just think it's so fucked up, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It has like 600,000 views. She's like, my publisher is so happy. She's like, thank you. It's not released yet. She's like, it's like, you know, that has everyone's been like, it's on my TBR. And that's a prime example of had I taken that, had I started the video with like, I just got the advanced reader edition of this book, like it's so great, like blah, blah, blah. I would almost bet money it would not have nearly the same amount of views. And so sometimes it's just figuring out like what is that first impression that's gonna hook someone in. And eventually I think I literally just in the video, it's like 20 seconds, which I'm a little bummed about from the creator rewards uh point of view, because if a minute uh if a video is over a minute, you can start making like money on it. Um so I was like, damn, not making any money, but it it's a well-executed video, which is why it's not that long. But I think I literally just read the line and then I close it and I'm like, I knew I was gonna love this book. I don't even say the title, I don't say anything else. And that's another element of like not feeling like you need to overexplain because I have to say that.

Jack Moran 40:57

And then they're gonna want to watch longer.

Madi Beumee 40:58

Right. Or you can you can stit um do like a comment reply and make it a part two. Like, I think I am someone who loves to make sure that I've like covered all of my bases and that I've spoken about every angle and like I've made sure everyone is appeased. And something I'm actually working on is like if you don't have a strong enough point of view and you're not willing to like upset one person or one person disagree, like you don't actually have a like a strong enough point of view then. Like if you're kind of diluting your message, then that's also something to be afraid of as well.

Jack Moran 41:33

So what's your strongest point of view that people dissent from?

Madi Beumee 41:37

Um, not dissent from, but I feel like I'm very vocal about um not needing like a partner to go do the things you want to do. Like I went to Paris last year for a month by myself. I'm going to Amsterdam tomorrow by myself. So I'm very like vocal about that. And it's not, it doesn't come from a place of like, I don't ever want a partner, but it's just like we've been kind of sold this message, or a lot of us can live with like, oh, when I get this, then I'll do all of these things. And it's like, or you can live your life, and like when that comes to be, it'll come to be. Um, and I think for a while I felt like it was like giving off the wrong message, or even my dad was like, Are you afraid that like men aren't gonna want to date you? And I was like, no, if anything, like I need to be with someone who's like, go take your solo trip, like I know you need it. Um, but there can be that fear of like if you are a people pleaser or you don't want to like, I mean, it's not even like I don't find it offensive at all, but like the need to make sure everyone at the table is happy.

Jack Moran 42:36

Yeah.

Madi Beumee 42:36

And it's like you you can't.

Jack Moran 42:38

I can definitely deal with that, trying like being a little bit of a people pleaser and not trying to trigger people. And I don't know where it comes from, if it's like some trauma response or something.

Madi Beumee 42:47

I think it's also conditioning, you know. It's like the gold star, you're good kid element, you know, like you never ruffled anyone's feathers, you were never like a hassle. Oh, it's it's definitely a hassle. Yeah. Oh, really? And you still feel that way? Wow.

Jack Moran 43:02

Yeah, I've definitely had a big transition in life. Like went from being not a good student, like probably not the best kid, and then like had a good transition into, I think it really came from, like you said, finding that why and that purpose, um, which has like propelled me down a different path.

Madi Beumee 43:18

Um do you feel as though you spent a lot of time longing for your purpose? Because I think for the long for years of my life, I always always felt like I was in pursuit of like my purpose, like being like, what is my purpose? What is my purpose? And I almost was like when I let go of feeling like I needed to define it, then I actually it kind of like happened. But I'm curious if you was there like a moment or it came to be over time.

Jack Moran 43:47

No, so I think that um similar to you, I I feel like I've been kind of confident, if not like irrationally or delusionally confident in myself, um, which you know helps a lot. Um, but I knew that I wanted to have an impact. Um, and so that broad concept kind of like created my true north. Like, I want to have a positive impact. So wherever I can focus my energy, that I'm going to have the most positive impact is like what I'm going to do. But I think that turning point was realizing like internal versus external controls, like figuring out that really you can control your external environment by controlling your internal. Um, so that was like a big transition for me that kind of pushed me down this course. That okay, because the it's not the teacher's fault, although the teacher might be an asshole, um because they're like affecting my life and I'm getting the wrong outcome, truly it's my fault. And the second that I started to realize that and realize that I could have influence and could communicate and could um interface with this person that everyone else thinks is an asshole, um, it allowed me to have control over my outcomes. And like then just getting little wins from that change in mindset catalyzes itself and starts to build momentum and then completely led to a like totally different reality for my life.

Madi Beumee 45:19

Yeah. That's interesting.

Jack Moran 45:21

Yeah, so that was kind of the turning point. Like no um longing for a purpose, but like creating that reality that allowed me to fulfill my purpose was uh the transition, I guess.

Madi Beumee 45:35

Yeah. I feel like um along the lines of like creating your reality, something that still kind of coincides with social is like visibility opens doors and like social media is such a can be such a door opener. Or the concept of like you have to be putting yourself out there if you want to see, like no one's gonna come to you and like present you with opportunities. Like you have to be doing that internal work and external work to like make those things happen, even if it's not directly, like I'm not like cold emailing X, Y, or Z, but even thinking about like how we landed in this room, like it's really interesting. It's like through opportunities and through like putting yourself out there on the internet or through networking, like that's how things come to be.

Jack Moran 46:25

They just start to find you.

Madi Beumee 46:26

Yes, 100%.

Jack Moran 46:27

And it's the same thing, like if on the opposite side of the coin, like if your internal, you know, makeup is negative, for instance, like you will start to see that negative environment. Like, for instance, I talk to people about when you're profiling for a partner in business or someone that you're going to, you know, enter a business uh deal with, like, how can you decide whether or not that it's worth investing time in them? And oftentimes you can analyze their external environment, like something as simple as if they have a messy car or a messy room, um, it's usually a telltale sign that something internally is messy. Um, so that could be a red flag. So a lot of times, like that external environment that you have is a good telltale sign of like if it's broken and the people around you you don't like and you see all these negative things around you and your world sucks, you should probably turn inward and fix that first, and then watch that change internally manifest in the physical world.

Madi Beumee 47:32

Like, and it sounds woo, but I always love a little like woo grounded in work. I was literally just talking about this with a friend yesterday where I'm like, I'm all about manifestation. And like, do not get me wrong, I write down like big ass goals I have every single year. And a prime example is like I've really wanted to speak in like a collegiate classroom. And so it's like it's one thing to put that on your vision board and like dream about it, but I'm always like, well, then what actions are you gonna take towards it? Yeah. So it's like the combination of two. I think it's great to say, like, what is a goal or what is like me speaking this out into the world that feels like uncomfortable and almost feels like who am I to be like dreaming about doing X, Y, or Z. But like, I think there's validity in doing that. But then what steps are you taking to like put yourself in those rooms or like get those experiences or get the ball rolling towards those things?

Jack Moran 48:25

Yeah, people think of manifestation as like, do you know the sh-remember the show Chalk Zone? No, it used to be like a show on Nickelodeon when I was a kid where they would in the classroom they draw on the chalkboard and then whatever Was it a circle? Yes. Okay, yes, whatever they draw on the chalkboard would like appear in this imaginary world. And I think people think that is how manifestation works, is like if they think about it, then like it's gonna appear at the end of the tunnel. And that's not how it works. It's like that visualization and thinking about it consciously is part of the process because you start recognizing like these opportunities that are abundant or these possibilities that are abundant, and you start like that visualization, like puts them into your your conscious mind. But then, like you said, it's that execution of that plan that you um pulled from the you know cosmos that is going to materialize it in reality.

Madi Beumee 49:20

Yeah. And and being okay with like not everything makes sense on paper. I think that's one thing as someone who's like pivoted and gotten into spaces where it's like people will be like, oh my gosh, do you have like a business degree? I'm like, no, I have a degree in tap dancing. Like, no, I don't really belong in this space when you look at things on paper. But I've really worked hard to like learn, put myself into spaces to discover and be able to teach myself skill sets, and then also working on relationships and one of those where it's like maybe you get a coffee with someone and it's like not the right fit now. But if you make a good enough impression, they have a project a year down the line and like you're the person they call. And I think that that is also part of it is being able to say, like, even if you are putting feelers out there or sending cold pitches and it's not going anywhere, kind of trusting in that like enough no's or enough like unanswered emails is eventually going to lead to things headed your way if you continue to like do the work and put yourself out there.

Jack Moran 50:32

Absolutely. As kind of a closing thought, and then I have one fun question if somebody wants to start dipping their toes in this world and get a presence on social media or you know become a creator or an influencer, where is the start? Where th where should they start?

Getting Over The Cringe

Madi Beumee 50:52

My potentially hot take is either make a new account or like make a new account and then block everyone you know if you feel like that's going to be a barrier. Because oftentimes people are like, Oh, I'm just like so worried about like so and so from high school. And I come back to like it's always cringy until it leads to something cool. Like I'm sure for for months, if not years, people were like, What is Maddie doing? Like, that's so awkward. But then it's like, well, once it leads to cool opportunities, then like everyone's okay with it. It's almost like I have you heard of that, like cringe mountain, where it's like you have to climb cringe mountain to like get to it all paying off. Um, so a lot of the times, like with clients, I'll say, like, anyone who is making you second guess, like your ability to fully dive into this, like block them or make a new account because it is like a psychological, like it gets in your own way. So I feel like step one is you've got to like say, like, if you're gonna go for it, you're gonna go for it. Um, and then the other, I mean, this is like a whole conversation in itself. But I think the other thing that I guide a lot of people and friends towards is you've got to give it like a good old-fashioned try. You can't like post for a week and then be like, ah, I saw no success. Like you need to really say, I'm gonna commit to 60 days, 90 days, and exercise the muscle and like create and create because it's so much learning. Like you're learning along the way about yourself, about the content you're creating. And I feel like those are kind of two of the maybe less traditional ideas as opposed to like create an account and then like make X number of reasons, like those are like hard facts that I could share, but I think those are the two more mindset things that people a lot of the times have have trouble with.

Jack Moran 52:46

Yeah, my buddy uh Connor Hallway, he's from Boston, originally lives out in LA now, but he's been post, he set up a lot of our podcasts this week, but um, he's been posting for like six years now. He did like four or five hundred podcast episodes, like really had very little viewership for like, yeah, close to 10 years. Um, and now suddenly he's popped off with this single like video structure um and he's getting like 40, 50 million views consistently per month. So I'm looking at that, I'm like, all right, we got like quite the ride. Yes, five or six more years.

Madi Beumee 53:15

But I also I kind of would take that over like the overnight success path because I mean, he is like locked in, like he knows what works, he's like he's in the zone. I think like that's that has more longevity than the person where it's like, you know, video number three skyrocketed them to X number of followers and they don't have any systems or processes. Like he's got like a foundation built. Um, so I think that's the other thing is almost viewing it as like I'm getting to a place where like I can really have ownership of this as well.

Jack Moran 53:50

Yeah, it's a good point. You look at this girl like the Hoktua girl or whatever that went so viral, and then like within a couple months, she's in like a Bitcoin scam. And it's like probably not her fault, but she has zero experience. She's thrown in this business world and like taken advantage of. Like totally, you know. So I have one last fun question. Okay. What is the most unhinged DM you've ever gotten?

Madi Beumee 54:13

Oh. Um, I wish I had like a cool eye. I feel like I feel like I've probably gotten like asked out via DM, which is like an interesting experience. I think at first I felt like I had to like potentially go on dates with everyone who had Instagram DM'd asked me out. Um, I feel like my DMs are like pretty tame. I don't think I give like, I don't think I give like you're one of the lucky ones. No, I feel like if it's not a DM, but like the coolest, um one of the cooler social moments was when Olivia Dean first released her album, her new album, The Art of Loving, there's a song Baby Steps, which is like amazing if you haven't listened. I feel like my goal is to like influence everyone to listen to the Olivia Dean album, like specifically on a flight, like you know, locked in.

Jack Moran 55:03

But um to check that out.

Madi Beumee 55:04

Yes, you'll have to check it out and report back. But the song Baby Steps, I loved it. And like I was flying home from Nashville, and I just spontaneously was like, let me make a video. Like with the I never make like a lyric video with like clips of my life and then like the lyrics over it. Um, but I spontaneously made one within like hours of the album being released, and I think it has like well over a million views now on TikTok, and Olivia Olivia Dean reposted it. Oh, that's and so I was like, okay, I'm like, I'm like, I don't need to do anything else in my life. Now I'm like, okay, well, how do I get to meet her when she comes to Boston in August? Because I have tickets, but that's probably like the cooler, like, oh my God, this is so fun.

Jack Moran 55:46

Um element, yeah. Well, if people want to engage with you more or interested in, you know, your pages and learning more about you, where can they find you?

Madi Beumee 55:55

Yeah. So I'm on Instagram and TikTok at Maddie Boume. And then if you're more of like a business world um person and you want more like marketing and that kind of uh side of things, uh, LinkedIn is definitely best, which is my name, Maddie Boume.

Jack Moran 56:09

All right, fantastic. Well, I appreciate you coming on.

Madi Beumee 56:11

Thank you for having me.

Jack Moran 56:12

That was awesome. You did a great job.