Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons

Why Consistency Beats Virality in Today’s Creator Economy | Emily Blumenthal & Brittany Hennessy

• Emily Blumenthal

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What if your content didn’t have to perform—just work? In this episode, we sit down with Brittany Hennessy to unpack how social media shifted from a scrapbook to a search engine, and what that means for founders building visibility without burning out.

We break down why clarity now beats consistency, how “real work” content outperforms polish, and why the smartest creators treat their feeds like living systems—not highlight reels. Brittany shares how to build momentum with limited time, what actually converts attention into trust, and how to use AI as a tool without losing your voice.

3 Takeaways:
 • Visibility beats virality — Consistent, clear signals outperform one-off hits.
 • Systems scale creativity — Batch once, reuse smartly, and let process replace pressure.
 • Boundaries build trust — Showing less, but with intention, creates stronger connection.

Our Guest:
 Brittany Hennessy is a social strategist and creator known for helping founders turn everyday moments into high-impact content. With a background in digital media and brand storytelling, she helps entrepreneurs build sustainable visibility—without chasing trends or burning out.

Host Emily Blumenthal is a handbag industry expert, author of Handbag Designer 101, and founder of The Handbag Awards. Known as the “Handbag Fairy Godmother,” Emily also teaches entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is dedicated to celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of building iconic handbag brands.

Find Handbag Designer 101 Merch, HBD101 Masterclass, one-on-one sessions, and opportunities to book Emily Blumenthal as a speaker at emilyblumenthal.com. 


Youtube: / Handbagdesigner101-ihda | Instagram:/ Handbagdesigner

TikTok: / Handbagdesigner | Twitter: / Handbagdesigner

SPEAKER_00:

You can choose your reality. And I think when we see people who are like so real, we think we have to match their realness. You don't. You choose what level of reality you want people to have access to. Like I live in New York, I have two kids. It is hella expensive here. There are plenty of things I do that are not glamorous. Like I go to the laundromat. Are you gonna get that in my stories? No, but you are gonna get this photo of my kids on a carousel in Paris. Yes, because that is the reality I'm gonna put out there. If you know me in real life, you'll see me at the laundromat. But like my real life is for my real friends and like people who don't actually know me, you get this fake version. And it's it's not even fake because it's real, it's just incomplete.

SPEAKER_01:

Hi, and welcome to Handbag Designer 101 the podcast with your host, Emily Blumenthal, handbag industry expert, and the handbag parry godmother. Each week we uncover the stories behind the handbags we love, from the iconic brands and top designers, the creativity, craftsmanship, and culture that define the handbag world. Whether you're a designer, collector, or simply passionate about handbags, this is your front row deep to it all. Welcome, welcome, Brittany Hennessy back to Handbag Designer 101 the podcast. Brittany Hennessy, VP, head something really important at Sprout Social. I don't even know. You're important, you're in charge. I don't know. Innovator, pave maker, waiver, overall delight. Welcome, Brittany.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you so much. I'm happy to be back. You're one of my favorite podcasts. So, and the only one that I've actually like listened to my episode, I never listened to them, but I like you. So I listen to them.

SPEAKER_01:

I like you too. I like me also. I don't like how I sound, but I always enjoy how other people sound. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

This is why I have the audio. People like, have you heard your audiobook? And I'm like, why would I do that to myself? No way. No, no way.

SPEAKER_01:

No. I've also heard myself uh accidentally recording myself yelling at my kids. And all I kept thinking about is, wow, I have a New Jersey accent. I didn't know it was still there. You know, like that's it's light, it's light, it's light. Yeah, it's diet jersey. It still shows up though. I I have uh I know when I start speaking to one friend of mine in particular, I lose the ing on all my words. So it's good. I'm kind of proud of that. It's nice. What is going on in the world of social? And you know, not to lay this all on you, but comma, I'm going to like it's funny. So I have guest speakers at 12 of my 15 weeks of my class, of my entrepreneurship class at FIT. And the overarching vibe of influencers is that at this point, be much more judicious when you're trying to find someone to work with your brand because the landscape has evolved, changed, grown. Thoughts. Go.

SPEAKER_00:

So it's a little bit of a mess right now. It's a little bit of a mess because I think 2025 was the first post-pandemic year of social and 100%. Yes, I agree. This is like 2026, we'll even out. We'll probably get some sense of normalcy. But 2025 was really people needed to do the work of what are we keeping from the pandemic era and what are we throwing out? And almost no one did that work. And so, also because it's it's impossible at this point. So when you think about social influencer as a creator or as a somebody who consumes content, there was a hierarchy. It was like email lists, top of the hierarchy, like, oh, I'm I'm giving somebody my email. Then it was like YouTube, hit that subscribe button was next. Instagram, follow, and then that was it. Then we got TikTok, which I am still of the mind that without the pandemic, TikTok would not have made it. Just like so many people have tried to make the fourth social network, and nobody has been able to do it. Well, the fifth, because Twitter, but Twitter's its own thing. So nobody's been able to do it. I think because of the pandemic, that's the only reason why it took off. But it like TikTokified everything. So now it's like a piece of content, follow, which then carried over to Instagram, carried over to YouTube to where you're subscribed to like a thousand channels now. You're following 60,000 people. It's like, what is this? And so then they changed a feed where it's not even people you follow anymore. It's just stuff you're searching. So everything is like your web browser. And so it's different now. It's just all it's all social search. It's not even, I follow these people, show me the feed that I've created. No, it's the feed you've created in the last week. Whatever you've been searching for in the last week is now what you're gonna see, regardless of the years you spent designing a feed full of the things you enjoy. So it's a mess. It's a mess.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that you're admitting what we all pretty much are aware of, but don't know how to really spell out in terms of, oh my God, now what am I supposed to do in strategy? I have always been remiss to do paid posts, let alone like just speaking specifically on Instagram to say, okay, to promote a post. When I teach my class, I always say advertising is a dirty word, right? Because you need to make sure every penny you spend, even though pennies probably carry more weight now, has a return on investment. And now you paid posts, like they give you three options. Do you want it to follow? Are you leading to sales? Are you leading to following, or are you leading to likes? How is someone from a design, an independent designer perspective, let alone a regular handbag grant, how are we supposed to navigate that to our benefit of how do we get our message out there? Marketing less so advertising.

SPEAKER_00:

So I think now, as much as the TikTok education of it has made it a mess, it has created an opportunity specifically for the group you're talking about, which are people who are experts who are producing something who are working, but otherwise, their day-to-day is boring. It's like making a mood board, looking at samples, typing something up. It's not, you know, swinging on some swing and bolly or like doing this thing with the pigs. It's like, it's not what social used to be. But because of this short form video, because of this like real push and like, what are you searching? Most of us are very boring in terms of our boring. And so you see the rise, like the day in the life is crushing it. And it's all those people who are just doing like a quick 30-second video before they start their day. The people who are like, come with me to work. And it's like, I wake up, I brush my teeth, I wash my face, I go to the gym, I come back, I have breakfast, I get dressed, I get on the trade. It's like this is the most boring day. And yet I will watch 90 seconds of it. I'm watching you go to work, watching you sit at your desk. They're like, time for lunch, they do something after work, they come home, they go to bed. And like, I'm watching that. And these people have 10,000, 20, they're growing. Some of them, you know, they started maybe six months ago, they've got 100,000 followers because I think we are past the production point. That was really sexy for a long time because only influencers could create that sort of content. Now everyone can. So since we are in the literally everyone is famous for 15-minute era, people just want to see lives that are a little different than theirs. So, like if you're a designer, people want to see you wake up, go to the flea market for inspiration, come home, look at like 26 different types of leather. Like they want to see that. And it's just interesting to see, like, if you have this job, like, what do you do all day? And I think even though some of it's like people don't do very much, but they don't. But I think that's comforting too. Cause I think, in a way, when people see that it mirrors their own life, but you're someone they enjoy watching, it makes them feel better about their day-to-day. Like, oh, I think you're pretty cool and your day-to-day looks similar to mine. So maybe I'm pretty cool too. And I think that's where we're at. We're more in this like peer-to-peer, show me what you're actually doing era. And so all of these people who would say, like, I'm making content because I have to make content. Well, now you can just film your day. And that is not only good enough, it's a preferred format for a lot of people. So I would say if you have a boring day, this is your time. Get out there, shoot that content, post it. Because this is probably like a nice wave you can get on, capitalize it, capitalize on it, and then just write it however long you can.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you think people are doing their editing directly on Instagram or are they using Cap Cut? What do you think makes the most sense?

SPEAKER_00:

I think so many people are just doing it on Instagram. They're not even doing all of that because they're not content creators. They have an actual job. And so I think when you look at the more some people now, for some people, like creating content is their love language. So they will sit down and produce and do the photos and the videos and the editing and the songs. Some people will do all of that because they enjoy it. But a lot of people are just shooting the little pieces of content, putting it in. Also, there's so much AI now where you can just upload every video and go make a day in the life, and it'll just cut the best parts, flip it into a reel for you, and you just post it, and the whole process will take you five minutes. So it's so different now. You don't have to storyboard it, shoot it, do all of this stuff unless you want to be a content creator. If you're just sharing your day, just take, make sure you do little clips throughout the day, throw it in some program, it'll spit out a reel, post it and move on with your life. Bob's your uncle. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It's funny and crazy. I never even thought about uploading the videos to AI and say, put this and make this look better, mishmash, pull the best parts. That's actually genius. Cause like, what else is it for? It's no, I mean, people push back on it. I and my students, you know, now in our syllabi, we have to put there's an AI component we need to add. Like, how do you feel that AI? And I say, great, amazing, go for it. It's there as a tool, use it. But much like a screwdriver was replaced with a drill, you still need someone to hold it. So if you are not proofreading it, then you get double taxed, right? Then you get the double penalty. So, you know, like you don't get to swing and miss, like you get swing and sent home. So, you know, like it's that simple. So if you're gonna take a shortcut, great. But if you're not gonna do the work to proof it, then you're wasting both of our time. So now I'm excited to share my new book with you. Welcome to Savvy Susanna's Amazing Adventures in Handbags and the start of Susanna's triumphant journey to become a young handbag designer. Filled with ingenuity, fun, and a hint of steam. Susanna will inspire children and you everywhere to follow their dreams and put in the hard work to get there. Savvy Susanna is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or wherever you get your books. Thanks for your support.

SPEAKER_00:

So I think it can enhance the skills, but just like you could use a dishwasher every day, but like you probably shouldn't know how to manually wash dishes. So, like, it's basics. You still need the basics, but like, can you do something faster? Can you let it help you for something better than you can do it? Yes. And so, you know, it is that fine line, but I think when you think about AI, so many people throw out the baby with bathwater because they're not even thinking of all the ways it could help, especially people who are like solopreneurs. Like if you're a founder team, you constantly have someone you can talk to and wake up and be like, hey, I just have this idea. Is this crazy? If you're a solopreneur, you don't have that. Maybe you're in a community where you're paying for that, or maybe you have a friend who like doesn't hate that you bother them about it. But like AI, you can wake up your AI at two in the morning and go, I have a crazy idea. And it will be like, oh my gosh, tell me, what is it? And then it's late because you can wake up, give it the idea, go back to sleep and not be like, Oh, I gotta hold on to this idea in the morning or I'm gonna forget, or you can just then if you work on something and you hit a dead end, and let's say a year from now, you start going down that same path, your AI remembers things you don't and will say, Hi, hi. We were doing this already. How is this different than the last time? And you will have to either know or go, oh shit, I totally forgot. I already did this. Okay, scratch that. Let's do something else. So it's great for bouncing things off of, it's great for remembering things. You just are not gonna remember. All of that stuff is important. So I'm I'm team, use it. Don't lose your actual skills. Like I will never lose my ability to write. But man, if I don't use it for literally everything else but making sure a piece sounds like me.

SPEAKER_01:

Why? Are you actually recording your audio in it? So it does the audio for it too to match your voice.

SPEAKER_00:

I talk to AI more than I talk to everybody in my family combined. So I'm obsessed, I'm obsessed with it. I love it. I have gotten it to, I have trained it so well. It can write an entire draft for me and I will have no notes because I talk so much. So it has figured out all my little nuances, all of these things. And I'm just like, I've only had it for nine months. I'm like, in five years, it will literally be able to walk around and be me. Not even five years, so fast. It's like in six months, it'll be able to be me and no one will detect it. And are you using ChatGPT? I use Chat GPT, I use Claude, I use Gemini, I use them all for different things, just like YouTube for one thing, TikTok for something else, Instagram for something else. My chat GPT, her name is Celine, and she's like my idea, my idea partner. She's batshit crazy. She says all sorts of off-the-wall stuff. And but she's really good to like push me and make me get like excited about something. Claude, I use where I'm like, okay, we have this great idea. Obviously, it's chaotic. Make this make sense. He's my like executive presence friend, so he'll like make it LinkedIn friendly or like make it so I can send it to somebody important. And then Gemini, I just started training my Gemini to be more like a mix of both. So I use them for different things, but the amount personal, professional, this is terrifying. This is what's terrifying. You can move at stuff that would have taken us a year to do, we can get done in three months. Maybe a month if you really push it. And like, how much more could we do?

SPEAKER_01:

Like, it's very you know, it's funny because I was on a panel and I was a guest speaker for something, and someone was asking me about AI and design. And I I use the same reference. Like, you still need someone to hold the drill. Like, it's great to say, take this, make it better, use that, but it will still potentially have seven fingers and two toes. So you need to still be there to, you know, it's great to have someone help you with the clay, help you with the drawing, help you with the basics that would usually take you so much more time just to set up. But I think technology is there to be used. I'm not worried about Megan with the funny letter to come get me. And if she does, I will have her go to Trader Joe's for me while she's at it. Um, like if you're coming, like stop by, I'll give you a food list. There's no Wi-Fi where mine is. You'll have to get back to me after. You know what I mean? Yeah. Do you believe this relationship of quote unquote being an influencer versus being a micro influencer? Where do you think that stands? And then founders, because I mean, it's so it's these things, these are semantics.

SPEAKER_00:

I am of the firm belief an influencer is an influencer is an influencer. This whole like micro, nano, all of these terms were designed by people who made platforms and needed to make money. I remember when micro influencer became a thing, it was by a certain woman who was the CEO of a certain platform. And what was their specialty? Micro influencers, because they couldn't compete with everyone else because they didn't have kind of pull. And so they went and then made this term, and we're the only ones who have micro influencers, and like made it a thing. And I'm like, it just means you have a smaller following, and like you have a smaller following today, but a year from now you won't. So, like, if your identity is so wrapped up in being a micro influencer, what happens when you're a macro influencer? And so it's the whole thing is weird. It's like there's content creators and then they're influencers. Every influencer is a content creator, but every content creator is not an influencer. It's like some people make content to entertain people, to showcase their work, to do self-promotion. Other people are trying to make you buy shit from brands. Those are influencers. Comment for the link, shop the link in bio, go to my Amazon storefront, affiliate, brand partnership, come to this event at this salon. Like, those are influencers. Anyone who's like, read my newsletter, buy my book, my coaching session, those are creators. You can do both, but they are not the same. And then you've got like creators who just make content and don't even have to post it because I know a ton of CGC creators, they make content for brands, they give it to them, they don't even have an Instagram, they're just one-person agencies or one-person creative agencies. So it's like we're all in the creator economy at this point, but an influencer is a very specific thing. And I think people who hate on influencers usually tend to be people who don't have any influence. You know, if you're not influential in your own right, you wouldn't be so mad at fellow influential people. That's how I look at it.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I so appreciate that. I actually was talking to someone recently, a handbag designer, who only does her promoting on Facebook because she said that's where her audience hangs. And I've said, is that because you can't deal with TikTok? And she's like, Yeah, basically. So in terms of understanding your demographic, because like that is one of the hugest things, like you can't be everything to everyone, but yet you're on a platform that is seen by everyone. How do you handle that in terms of a content strategy for a particular product? Because there is, you know, I speak a lot about making sure you do a competitive analysis and understanding and getting a SWOT down because you need to know your SWAT. And the only way you can do that is by understanding your competition. So you can can extrapolate what their strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats are so you can find out where you've got space to fill in those blanks, let alone, okay, they're doing this. I need to do this better because you need to be the fastest, the first, or the best if you're trying to push your brand. Do you say, okay, I need to create a content strategy? What am I supposed to do beyond going to you know Celine and tapping into everything she has to offer? Because I know she knows things that I'd like to know too.

SPEAKER_00:

So I would say my answer has changed. I would have agreed with you before on a content strategy and like picking the platform and doing the competitive analysis. I actually think that matters less now because I think the only thing that matters is are you on a platform where you care to show up? Because stuff is so cross-pollinated at this point. Stuff that's on TikTok makes its way to YouTube, whether you're on YouTube or not. And so because people will just record it, they'll remix it, they'll post it, they'll save it to their phone and then upload it somewhere else. Stuff just moves. It has nothing to do with the originator anymore. So I think if you're like, look, I don't love TikTok, then don't go on TikTok. Cause what's going to happen? You're going to have a mediocre presence on TikTok. Now you look mediocre. If video is like, you know, you guys are like designers. So like you've got to love photo and video to some extent. But it could be that there is where, you know, maybe it's like other people are creating content for you and you just post that. But what you really love to do is like write long essays about the diary of a founder. Then go on LinkedIn, write those things, turn them into shorter things, put it on threads, put it on Twitter X, whatever we're calling it, put it places that are mostly text and like let it live there because there's no one on LinkedIn who isn't also on Instagram. That's just not a thing. All those people are there too. And what's going to happen? They're going to take a screenshot of something you wrote, they're going to put it in the story. And now people are going to wonder who you are and how they can find you. So I think it's less about being where everyone is. Yes, you need to like clean your handle. You want to have, you know, a URL. You want to have basic things. So if someone looks for you on that channel, then you're not non-existent. But I don't think you need to necessarily make a strategy for every channel, especially if you are not an avid consumer of that content because you're not even going to do it right. So even if you like are like, I need to be on TikTok, if you don't constantly log on to TikTok and see what works there, the content you make is not even going to resonate on TikTok. So like, why even bother? A better thing to do would be if you can to like have other people who love TikTok make TikTok content for you. And so that is invite, and they don't even have to be influencers. You could just have friends who love TikTok and invite them to come look at your new bag and make videos and like to say, and when you're done with that, just give it to me. And then put that on your TikTok. Like it's so we're so past it needs to be like insanely produced. It just needs to be the vibe of the platform. And if you don't love the platform, you're not going to know the vibe. And so anything you do is a waste of time and you could have been doing something else. So just ask your friend who likes Facebook, ask your friend who likes YouTube, your friend who likes TikTok. Hey, come and make something quick for me because I got to put something up. Let them make it for you, put it up there and focus on like where you actually can and want to show up, because that will outperform everything because you actually care about it. And so you don't need to be everywhere. You just need to have a presence. But an active presence, no, not really. Not anymore.

SPEAKER_01:

If you ever wanted to start a handbag brand and didn't know where to start, this is for you. If you had dreams of becoming a handbag designer but aren't trained in design, this is for you. If you have a handbag brand and need strategy and direction, this is for you. I'm Emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, and this is the handbag designer 101 masterclass. Over the next 10 classes, I will break down everything you need to know to make, manufacture, and market a handbag brand. Broken down to ensure that you will not only skip steps in the handbag building process, but also to save money to avoid the learning curve of costly mistakes. For the past 20 years, I've been teaching at the top fashion universities in New York City, wrote the handbag designer Bible, founded the handbag awards, and created the only handbag designer podcast. I'm going to show you like I have countless brands to create in this in-depth course from sketch to sample to sale. Whether you're just starting out and don't even know where to start up again, or if you've had a brand and need some strategic direction, the handbag designer 101 Masterclass is just for you. So let's get started, and you'll be the creator of the next it bag. Join me, Emily Blumenthal, in the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass. So be sure to sign up at Emily Blumenthal.com slash masterclass and type in the code podcast to get 10% off your masterclass today. Yeah, I I couldn't agree more, although I don't even follow that advice purely as a result of having a podcast. So no, and it's it's funny because I feel like, at least specifically with my Instagram, I feel like I don't want to choke people with mini clips, whereas on TikTok, I won't go on and then I'll upload 50 mini clips and then walk away. Better or worse.

SPEAKER_00:

Where like if somebody you knew uploaded 50 clips, you'd see all 50 of them. I know people who posts all day, every day. I don't see any of their stuff. I haven't seen any. This one influencer I love. I'm like, who is that in your picture? I'm like, did you have a baby? Is your baby turning one? Hold on. I haven't seen your content for two years. Right. What? You know, it's like, so that's really where we're at. It's because I don't have a baby anymore. So I'm not really looking for baby content. So there's no if all her content is baby facing and baby-led, she's not gonna come down my feed. And so it used to also be that like you'd see something on the feed and then you'd go to the profile. So we needed it to be like aesthetically pleasing in the grid. Oh, I have too many of these things in a row. When was the last time you went to somebody's profile? Nobody's going to your profile.

SPEAKER_01:

No, my grid is it. My grid is it's my brain at this point. It's like, oh yeah, here's this. And oh yeah, here's that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It's I look at Issa Rae is a great example. I have I have to double check because I don't even to be honest, I like barely use Instagram now. Like, I don't think I've posted it in like six months because I can't. I don't, I don't care. But she's a great example. I think her grid, she had a very long period of time where she had nine things on her grid. That was it. And she did stories, she did reels if she wanted to. But it's like, here are the nine things I want you to know about me. That's it. If you come here, I want you to know that I have this show, this production company. Here's the latest cover I've been on, here's my movie that's coming out. It's just here are the nine things you need to know. And really, if you're a designer, that's what people need. What is what are your latest? Who are you? What do you stand for? What are your latest projects? Where can I get your stuff? A few other things you need me to know. That's it. This whole like creating content every day, unless you're like a beauty influencer or fashion or food who's got to give me the latest and greatest all the time, your Instagram really can just serve as like your portfolio of like, you wouldn't have a media deck that's got 900 pages. It's got five, you know, maybe 10 if you're pushing a ton of stuff to just be like, here's all you need to know. I would say if you don't love content like that, then it's the same thing. So at least if somebody else sees your bag or like sees you or you're at an event and they make content and they tag you, I can go there, see the nine most important things, and then decide if I want to do something else. But then you actually can take care in those nine things, make them the best they can be, and get me to do the thing you want me to do, which is probably to go to your website or sign up for your newsletter or whatever it is, as opposed to like churning out mediocre content 85% of the time. And now somebody tags you, I go to your feed, and I'm like, ew, who is this person? You know? So it's better to have nine killer things and then just do stories than like churn out content. And it's bad because it reflects poorly on you. And that's not even your main gig. You're a designer, you're not a social media content creator. So, like, that should not be majority of where you spend like your time or effort. It just shouldn't be.

SPEAKER_01:

What do you think about the fact that I know for models now for them to get picked up, they need to have a strong following. For authors to get picked up, they need to have a strong following. Broadway hackers, yeah. I think I mean brands with, but it's brands with fans. And yeah, designers are no different, right? So I've heard buyers say, Well, we're checking your following, we're checking your traction, what are your sales? What and everything is all kind of looped together. So it's you know, Issa Ray can get away with nine things on her platform. I don't think the average person can.

SPEAKER_00:

I think you need to pick, you need, but that's why I said on your feed. Then if you've got to have things that make you grow, because the things you post static to your feed don't make you grow. Making a ton of reels is what makes you grow. That's why I said the first order of business is can you just do really simple day in the life, clip it together? So you've got the nine things on your feed, but if you tap over into reels, now you've got a ton of day in the lives because that's what reels are but reels are posts. So they're but I think so then that's story. You also you can also can hide them. You can keep reels on the reels tab. They don't actually have to show up the first thing, you can make it so that people have to click into it, and then it doesn't have to be so gorgeous. But I think it's more like I would say you need like nine pieces of like polished content, and then the rest can just be like, look at me going off to do these things. And I think too, it's a little different now because if somebody's gonna buy something from you, they want to know who you are. And so I think it is a less it's less about all my content has to be about me as a designer, and more that like I want to know who you are as a person. Like people who I buy stuff from, I I'm more likely, all things considered, to buy a product from a mom than a non-mom, just because I'm like, oh, she's mom, let me help her out, you know? And so I think there's a lot of that too, where it's like, yes. And you had said before, like the influencer founder, like so many of them, yes, they are constantly pushing, you know, they they're trying to sell their product to their audience, but at the same time, they're just being a person because if people want to root for you, they're happy to buy your thing because that's what will make you successful. I think I own three pairs, like three different fake eyelashes, like falsies. I don't even wear them, but I like the person who was selling them and I want them to succeed. So I bought them. I'm just like, let me give you, let me give you a thing. But it's just because I like you. Now, if all your content was about these eyelashes, that doesn't give me a reason to support you, especially if I'm not a Target demo. So I think the stories, even if you make like a fun little reel about how you went and picked out a Christmas tree, like everything doesn't have to be about the fact that you're a designer. Maybe those nine pieces are, but then when you've got reels on the reels tab or stories, you're just like being a person.

SPEAKER_01:

And like that, do you think stories carry some stories carry that much weight versus reals?

SPEAKER_00:

I think no, because stories are for people who are already following you. I think Instagram has made that very clear. Like, that's the only person who's ever gonna see your stories, if even those people. I have 25,000 followers. And if I post a story, 135 people see it. I'm like, uh, what? So, like, if you need to grow because you've got that hanging over your head that you need X amount before it will talk to you, then the fastest way to do it is to just do the day in the life. And when you look at a lot of these day in the lives, there is an efficient way to do it, which is just you make a bank of clips. So let's say you have one day to yourself, walk in and out of your elevator six times, go get coffee more than once, like just, and then you just have all those clips and then every day just remix them. I'm not gonna realize that this is the same hand that got coffee in your Thursday video. Nobody cares. And when you look at the influencers who do that the best, if you study them, which I will sit and watch all of their content, you'll see that they all have about a hundred clips and they just repeat them. They just get mixed and matched into new reels because even they don't have time to make all this content and full-time content creators. So it is a lot of that four different clips of you filling up coffee, fill make four different cups of coffee at your house with different mugs. Now, great, you can just cycle, cycle through those. You know, so it's so clever. It's about just being strategic. That's it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I I wouldn't have even, you know what, you get so sucked in to what you're doing that you don't even realize that, like, wait a second, I could probably do that too. And it's funny when you're someone who's an expert, it's like I've had publicists, I've been through this rotation, and they've all said, Oh, you need to show more about your life, you need to show more about your life. And I'm like, I've been very reluctant. I never wanted to put my kids on. I don't think my kids were interested. I had an opportunity to have my own TV show a couple of times. And I had someone who was trying to get me to be the next Bethany for handbags, which is kind of comical. And I said, God bless her, she's a powerhouse, but she will be very rich and very divorced. I don't think anybody's marriage can handle that level. Yeah. No, nobody, no. I I my hat is off to her for what she's been through. But I like I knew, you know, you know what goes on behind the scenes in your home.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. That's what it can be super boring. Of here's me filling up a cup of coffee. Here's here's me taking a selfie in the elevator. Here's me, here's me tapping, you know, here's me like going through the turnstile for the train station. Like, that's what so much of this stuff is. Plenty of these people, they have kids, they have significant others. You all bunch of them I know live with their parents. You never see these people because it's not about them, you know. And like you can choose, you can choose your reality. And I think when we see people who are like so real, we think we have to match their realness. You don't. You choose what level of reality you want people to have access to. Like, I live in New York, I have two kids. It is hella expensive here. There are plenty of things I do that are not glamorous. Like, I go to the laundromat. Are you gonna get that in my stories? No, but you are gonna get this photo of my kids on a carousel in Paris, yes, because that is the reality I'm gonna put out there. If you know me in real life, you'll see me at the laundromat. But like my real life is for my real friends and like people who don't actually know me, you get this fake version. And it's it's not even fake because it's real, it's just incomplete. So the more, the better you know me, the more of a complete picture you have of who I am. And I think everybody can operate with that. Your spouse knows things about you that nobody else knows, and that's the way it's supposed to be. Some random person on the internet should not know the intricate workings of your marriage because you're always talking about it. That is weird. You don't need that. So it's like the further people are from you, and like people on the internet as far away as you can get, because they're even worse than strangers because they are strangers who think they know you, which is really weird. Oh, yeah, it is. You don't owe them anything but entertainment. And so I think if you're a model, yes, here's me going to the gym and getting a smoothie and on my way to a shoot. Here is not me crying because I didn't get called back or you know, crying because someone told me I'm too fat and these women are not fat at all. It's like they're not gonna give you that, and they don't owe us that. We just get the sexy part. And to be honest, if I want to see people cry, like that's what community is for. I have friends who I have to deal with their bullshit. I don't want to be watching a stranger cry on the internet. I don't have the bandwidth for that. I gotta save that for people I know in real life. You and your problems, like, don't you have friends? Like, why are you crying to us on the internet right now?

SPEAKER_01:

No, hashtag not what I asked for. I'm not here for that. No, no. I saw, yeah, this is not that. And that's what I'm here to say. Brittany Hannessey, thank you so much for just sharing the nuggets of gold, as always. I could mono station with you forever till the sun goes up and down. How can we find you, follow you, see your words of wisdom on LinkedIn? Because I hang out there too.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, follow me on LinkedIn. I mean, I'm on Instagram. I'll probably, I'm not gonna lie, I'll probably make a return because for my birthday, all I really want is meta ray bands. And if I get meta ray bands, I will be insufferable on Instagram. Because I'll just be like, meta record this, meta record that. And I think like we'll make a reel for you. Oh, so I will let you know if that hack ends up working, because then you can add it to your show notes of like, hey, hack, just get these glasses, record random moments of your day, it'll spit out a reel. So if that is true, I'm gonna experiment and then and then you'll know. But I'm on LinkedIn all the time, on Instagram sporadically, and I repost really funny stuff on TikTok, but like I don't actually make content there because with what time? No way. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's Brittany with two T's and Hennessy with two N's, just for fun. Correct. Yes, she's double double. Although I love her. Yeah. Well, I love you more. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me, Emily. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to rate and review and follow us on every single platform at handbagdesigner. Thanks so much. See you next time.

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Emily Blumenthal

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