If you’ve ever felt the overwhelm and anxiety of social media, you are going to want to keep reading. Dawn is sitting down with a special guest, Morgan Thomas, to talk all things social media. 

Keep reading and you’ll walk away knowing how to:

• Be authentic on social media

• Stop comparing yourself to others

• Use social media the way YOU want to

You’ll be excited to post and use social media in a way that works for you.

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How to Be Authentic Online & On Social Media

Ooh, you are in for a treat because I am very excited to introduce my special guest, Morgan Thomas.

She’s been in the industry for 17 years. Not only is she an insanely talented hairstylist and makeup artist who’s done some HUGE things, she’s also a super goofy, anxious creative who’s known for her hilarious Instagram reels. 

Outside of the beauty industry and the goofiness, she’s a wife and a mom. She tells me that this is her favorite job. She’s just as goofy with her family in real life as she is on the internet.

If she’s not behind the chair doing hair, you’ll find her making reels in her closet, or doing some needlepoint on her couch. Morgan always needs to be doing something creative. 

Something that she wishes more people knew about her is that she’s very sensitive. Regardless of whether she’s happy or sad, she’s always crying. And not many people see that side of her, which she says is okay. 

Authenticity on Social Media 

For Morgan, the biggest thing that helped her business and social media take off is when she decided that she was going to be 100% authentic online. 

When she decided to stop caring about her double chin or if she made herself look like an idiot, that’s when people started watching her. 

The biggest piece of advice Morgan can give someone who’s wanting to find success on social media is to tap into what is you and what works for you. 

Both Morgan and I started off in Aveda salons. If you don’t know, Aveda salons are extremely professional and put together and for myself, I didn’t know how to be authentic because I thought it was robotic. 

I asked Morgan how to find what is authentically you in a professional setting and she admits that it’s always challenging. Morgan found that she can’t be any other way besides being a total goofball. 

Despite embracing who she is, she still has difficult moments where she’ll get comments on her reels of people telling her she’s “not very professional”. 

At the end of the day, being the best version of yourself is the most important thing. And if that’s goofy, then that’s what works. 

It can be hard to find your place, but social media can be wonderful to help find your people. 

Social Media Anxiety

Anxiety has been a part of Morgan’s life for as long as she can remember. She’s never not been an anxious person, however, she admits that it’s gotten easier the older she gets because she cares less. 

There are still days when she gets anxious from comments and she’ll start second-guessing herself and everything she puts out. Sometimes she can be consumed wondering what people’s perception of her is. 

At the end of the day, she tries to be who she is and she’s accepting of that. Her clients and the people whose opinions actually matter in her life are accepting of that. 

She admits if she didn’t have the amazing support system that she has she would be anxious all the time. 

Not For Everyone

That’s not to say it’s not all sunshine and rainbows and comments can still get under Morgan’s skin. Even the morning that we recorded this podcast, Morgan got a comment that bothered her. 

She’s very transparent that she doesn’t make content for everyone, she makes content for other hairstylists.  

Sometimes comments come from outside of her ideal audience that makes her feel like she’s a “mean girl” and it really upsets her because she doesn’t want people to think of her that way. 

If you haven’t heard my bourbon analogy yet, you’ll wanna check out the blog post to see why you actually want people not to like you.

Morgan makes her reels for other hairstylists. She got a giant smile on her face when she started talking about hearing from people who’ve told her she’s made their day and that they look forward to her posts. 

Knowing that she can bring a smile to others makes it worth it. 

Worried About Themselves

One thing I wondered if Morgan related to was that when I first started getting louder on social media, I feared what people from my past would think. Morgan admits she’s had those feelings too; sometimes thinking about the people from her high school sharing her reels and snickering. 

I think it’s natural to worry about what people from your real life, especially your past life, might think. Morgan likes to remind herself that those people aren’t paying her bills. 

It was a huge aha moment for me when I realized I worried about what people were saying behind my back because I was a judgemental person in my own rights. 

Once I started coming from a place of compassion and ditched the judgment, I stopped worrying so much about what people were saying. 

Morgan says that we’re naturally born selfish people, but realizing that no one is really thinking about you helps her not worry about it. In most cases, no one really cares. They’re all too worried about themselves. 

Bringing Light

Morgan wants to keep making people laugh. She feels her purpose is to bring lightness to this heavy world. 

She hopes to keep bringing original ideas, expanding her salon business, and working on a lot of different projects. She’s very excited about some of the brand partnerships she’s started because these companies didn’t even know she existed before this year. 

There’s something to be said about the new generation of beauty professionals who feel the obligation to do social media. Back when Morgan and I started out, we just had to do hair. 

Nowadays, you have to be a top-notch photographer, a copywriter with captions, and market yourself in an oversaturated market. 

Morgan started out in a salon with close to 30 stylists and that was enough competition for her, she can’t imagine feeling competitive with stylists from all around the globe, always comparing your work. 

Especially because when you’re just starting out, you’re not supposed to be the greatest. Now there’s almost an expectation to be amazing right away. 

Even though it can be a tough place to be, there are a lot of advantages as well. Education is available right at your fingertips along with so many resources. 

The biggest downfall is that social media can be a huge distraction when you’re young and starting out. I want you to know that social media is not a necessity. You can still have it and not post on it, and there are still TONS of ways to grow your clientele behind the chair. 

The most important thing is finding what’s going to set you apart because everyone’s good. You have to discover what makes you different. 

Oh my gosh, I swear I could just keep talking with Morgan for hours. I had such a blast with her and I cannot wait for the day that we get to meet in real life and have nachos together.

If you enjoyed this post and you wanna check out those goofy reels of Morgan, go give her a follow on Instagram @jadebeautyco or check out her website here. 

Until next time, friend.

Let’s be besties?