Today’s episode is gonna be a refreshing, inspiring girl chat and you’re gonna wanna grab the drink or snack of your choice and buckle up for the goodness. We have the incredible honor of chatting with the beautiful Jaci Marie Smith.

As a talented photographer from an early age, Jaci Marie Smith always had an entrepreneurial spirit and an eye for capturing the beauty around her. Today, her creative eye propels her work as a multi-platform social media content creator. Jaci co-hosts her podcast What We Said, is the co-owner of two vacation rental cabins, in addition to creating and running her well-known brand on YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok. In May, Jaci just launched her newest venture: a self-help course titled Balanced Boss, where she coaches men + women across the world to realize their full potential in both health and business.

This girl is a boss and today’s conversation shows that so clearly. We sat down and talked to Jaci about everything from how to create consistent, quality content across multiple platforms to her tips on creating cohesive, on-brand photos, picking shoot locations, how to get into becoming a social media influencer, and her thoughts on Insta Reels vs TikTok. THEN (yeah, there’s more!!) we took a deep dive into her thoughts on confidence, comparison, productivity, discipline, and so much more.

This episode is a breath of fresh air full of encouragement, relatability, and tangible tools you can use today to slay on Insta.  

 

Jaci’s Story 

Starting her career as a photographer, since she can remember she has been obsessed and in middle school she saved her babysitting money for her first camera. In high school, she was the photographer girl, the girl who was always taking photos and then ended up turning that into her career. Being the only job she has ever had she started taking senior photos, engagement photos, and shooting weddings in high school. It’s now been over ten years of photography. 

Continuing to do photography after she got married five years ago to her husband, Leif. He had no background in photography or the creative industry but was working construction at the time. One thing Jaci is passionate about is helping others find their dream job and not what that they dread. With that, she helped her husband find his true passion and talent in videography. After filming her best friend’s wedding, Chesley (podcast co-host as well), and moving to Long Beach, California they both fully pursued videography and photography. 

Now living in Los Angelos and have transitioned to lifestyle brand content and work with a lot of different companies. Working together on Jaci’s YouTube channel and shooting content photos for her, all alongside their sweet red toy poodle! 

 

High-Quality Content and How to Do It 

Having a mini team, made up of her full-time assistant, Beth, who helps with so much. The reason Jaci can produce so much content is because of her team. 

With the podcast, Chelsey and her split responsibilities. They have also signed with a podcast network so they have a producer that helps with many different aspects. 

The reason she hired an assistant in the first place was because she started to feel overwhelmed. Having all these different ideas and things she wanted to, where she is good at being creative and going out and executing them. Getting bogged down by answering emails, negotiating, and getting supplies for photo ideas, she starting to get overwhelmed with all those details. Now that she has Beth who handles all those details and Jaci can focus on being creative. It frees up so much of her mental space. 

Always being someone that wants to be proud of their content and won’t put anything out there she is not proud of. Maintaining the quality and branding that she built is a big priority. 

How to manage all the platforms? At different times things will take a priority for you over another. It’s about finding the specific vibe and purpose for each one. For Jaci, Tik Tok is her fun platform, and will go with the trends and not worry about it. Youtube she does weekly blogs. When things have specific roles and purposes it is easier to stay consistent. Stick to one or two platforms that are your priority. If she did not have her team she would only focus on Instagram and YouTube. To do all of them, it is a lot. It is hard to balance all of them if you aren’t delegating.  

 

Instagram Reels 

When they first came out, she didn’t love them and was worried it would ruin a good thing that Tik Tok had started. The Tik Tok algorithm has worked great as Jaci now has more Tik Tok followers than Instagram, which she never thought she would see the day. Instagram has been her number one platform since day one but has been loving Tik Tok more right now because it is more fun for her. Reels are growing on her but are not a huge priority, but she does recognize that it is a good thing to utilize if you are trying to grow your Instagram. 

 

Three tips for creating cohesive, on-brand photos for Instagram 

First, you have to find your vibe and ascetic. A lot of people make the mistake of looking at other people’s feeds and being like “Oh I like that and want to do that”. A better approach is to go on to Pinterest and make a private mood board of a bunch of photos that are inspiring you. A mixture of a ton of different things that you are inspired by and drawn to. When you go back and look at it you can find your vibe. 

Not that you are going to recreate all those photos but it gives you a starting point. You have to stick to what you like. The things you are drawn to and like are what you will shoot, so your feed will have that vibe. Focus on what you like. 

The second thing is sticking to somewhat of a color palette. It doesn’t mean you can only use two colors, but if you stick to an overall vibe and color palette it can make things look cohesive. 

Lastly, editing is key. You want to use the same preset or similar preset every time you post a photo. Jaci shoots a lot of film, some iPhone and digital, and uses different presets that she created but it all flows. Utilize the preview app to see if everything flows together and preview what your feed will look like. There will be times where a photo is too contrasted and sticks out so then edit to reduce that contrast so it will better flow with everything else in your feed. 

 

When you’re doing content photoshoots, what do you specifically look for in a location?

Jaci ventures to say that outfit matters more. That is the conclusion she has come to lately, where if she is obsessed with her outfit and feels good. She could be in an alleyway next to a dumpster and LOVE the photo. If your outfit is fire, the background doesn’t matter that much. Having been in really pretty places and didn’t love her outfit as much and she ended up not liking the photo most of the time. For her, it is more about the outfit. If you do have an amazing background as well, your photo is going to be top-notch, but you can always shoot next to a plain wall and with an outfit you love and it’s still a cute photo. 

 

Pivoting into social media influencing

Transitioning into influencing happened very naturally for Jaci. The reason she did switch was she saw after sharing more lifestyle content she was receiving more engagement. Photos of her and Leif were blowing up and saw she was growing quickly and realized that is what people wanted to see. It felt natural and when stories came out on Instagram that changed the game even more as you could share your personality and people got to know YOU better. 

My advice to anyone now, as social media is different and algorithms can be tricky, but if you are a photographer and want to transition into influencing, it is all about showing your personality. Whether that is behind the scenes on stories of going on a shoot or your everyday life. People will start following for YOU. If we love the personality behind the photos then we are more obsessed and will watch their stories and engage more. 

It is so important to showcase your personality and do it more and more. It opens you up to a world of possibilities when people start knowing you and trusting you as a person. 

 

Struggling with Confidence 

More people do care and struggle with confidence than you think. The book The Confidence Code talks specifically about women, the difference between us and men, and common things women do. As women, we devalue ourselves. We don’t want to be too much or talk too much, so we will lay low. Spoiler alert men don’t think like that often. 

It’s almost fake it till you make it. 

Act like people care and start talking about stuff you care about. You will be surprised at how many people are interested in what you have to say. 

 Be personable. It is important and you will connect much more than a perfect photo ever will.  

 

The comparison trap

This is by far Jaci’s biggest struggle, having these thoughts all the time. Everyone is different but her advice is to stay in your own lane. 

When she is feeling the comparison come on, she will remove herself from social media. Get off of it at that moment! If you start to feel negative thoughts, be strong, and get off. Go read a book, take a walk, or do something you love. 

Focus on the good and the good will get better. Gratitude heals everything. We have so many blessings in our lives, no matter who you are we all have something to be grateful for.  

“Make yourself proud.” 

Every single day if we do that, that is how we build confidence. It can be as simple as getting out of bed some days or starting to work on your dream business. If you can go to bed every day and say you are proud of today and proud of the person you are and the stuff you got done then you will be much more confident and happy. 

Comparison is unhappiness. When you are comparing yourself you are going to be unhappy. 

 

Productivity!

It goes back to “Make yourself proud”. Jaci has always been a driven person, loved to make lists, goals, and then reach them. But a few years ago something in her clicked and it was the phrase, “Make yourself proud”. She truly started to live by it. 

Do something today that your future self will thank you for. Do something today that will lead you in a great direction in life. No one is perfect, but try to remember those things in hard moments. You will never regret getting that workout in or executing a shoot you’ve envisioned. Remember those moments in the hard times. Think of the big picture and your long term goals.

Reminding yourself of your goals and how you want to be, it’s not always easy, but if you can do that in those hard moments it will be powerful. 

Motivation versus discipline are two different things. You have to push yourself to do it. No one else is going to do the things you want to do for you. You have to be that rock for yourself as hard as it can be. 

 

Balancing DSLR, iPhone, and film photos on your grid

After getting bored and burnt out with DSLR, Jaci bought her first film camera and her feed has solely been photos from her film camera and iPhone. 

Over the perfectionism of what Instagram had become, she wanted to create new and mix it up. Her vibe has changed and is now getting excited to work shooting in digital again. 

Stay true to the things you are interested in. You don’t always have to follow what trend that is currently going on.  

 

Speed Round

Fave color? 

Pink 

Fave app for creating? 

Tik Tok 

Fave vlog topic? 

Productivity/health and wellness motivation 

Favorite YouTuber to follow? 

Maggie MacDonald 

Fave camera to shoot on? 

Film- Contax T2

Digital- 5D Mark II 

Fave celebrity? 

Kim Kardashian 

Fave restaurant in LA? 

By Chloe 

Red hair or blonde hair? 

Red 

Short hair or long hair? 

Mid-length 

Fave quote? 

You’ve become a master of your life when you control where your attention goes. Value your energy and time too. 

 

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in business?

The importance of creating your own opportunities. A lot of people wait for things to happen to them. You are going to fail and there will be times when people say no. And rejection is good for us. Failure is so necessary to build our confidence and learn lessons. You have to fail. 

Don’t get upset if it doesn’t go exactly how you want. You don’t want to have very specific expectations but put yourself out there. Send people your photography or reach out to brands. Put yourself out there and you will get so many opportunities that you never thought you could get. 

 

 

 

Episode Links

Better Help: www.betterhelp.com/heartandhustle

 Save 10% off your first month with Better Help! 

 

The Heart Contracts: www.theheartuniversity.com/shop

 

If you want to connect with us and other listeners in the Heart and Hustle community join our Facebook group here.

 

What We Said Podcast 

Jaci Marie on Youtube 

 

Follow along:

www.instagram.com/balancedbossco

www.instagram.com/jacimariesmith

www.instagram.com/mrslindseyroman

www.instagram.com/evierupp

www.instagram.com/theheartuniversity  

 

 

What We Said Podcast 

@balancedbossco 

Jaci Marie on Youtube