Episode 180: Three Ways to Use Social Media to Advance Your Career with Andrea Lopez
Ever thought about using social media to advance your career and then thought...nah.
In Erin’s second episode with Andrea Lopez—comedian, impressionist, and all around excellent human—you'll learn what it means to use social media as a playground for trying different things; how to create content around what’s funny, what’s relevant, and what’s relatable for your industry; and the fact that you don’t always have to put something out there.
Listen to make Instagram casual (and boost your career) again.
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Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
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Episode 180 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Welcome to the Improve It Podcast, improve It peeps. We are back with Andrea Lopez. Oh my God. If you missed episode 179 of this series, please go hit record. Do your or hit record. Go. Hit play. I hit record. You press play and listen to this amazing episode. It's hilarious. She's hilarious. And she is helping us really develop and showcase our inner child. In this three part series, today we're talking about how you can use social media to advance your own career. Let's get to improving it with Ms. Andrea Lopez. You, from a social media perspective, you've crushed it on TikTok and Instagram. What do you love the most about these platforms?
Andrea (01:09):
Each one is different, although now we're kind of seeing some like cross paths between TikTok and Instagram, and each app is turning into each other. And so it, it's definitely an always changing landscape. But I, I will say that TikTok and Instagram helped me get discovered for different jobs. I've used it as a, as a way to find different outlets for, you know, for different jobs. I think that's a great way to do it and also treat it as like a, as a stage. You, you can do whatever you want on those platforms. It's, it's crazy. Sometimes that's too to a fault. Like you, you can put stuff out there that will come back to bite you in the, but a lot of the times you use it just as a, as a off, you know, jumping off point to go into different things.
Andrea (01:48):
And, and explore. You can try different bits and see if they, if they hit, if they don't, they might do very well online and not well on stage. It's a great, just like a, just like a playground for trying out different things. That's kind of like what I think of it as. And it is, it can be overwhelming. So I, I do tell I'm not the type of content creator who's on a very rigid schedule. I'm very much more like, what am I inspired by? What is really funny right now? Am I, do I find the Gwyneth Paltro trial funny? Yes. I need to do some type of sketch off of Gwyneth Paltro cuz it's relatable, it's funny, and it's in the now. So it's, it's a, and I also use social media to stay relevant, just like what's going on right now with people's lives. And I watch celebrity stories all the time, so I'm always getting their like day-to-day, you know. What is Kristen Cavallari doing right now? She's cooking in the kitchen.
Erin (02:38):
Yeah. Amanda, I should have asked you that one. That's another one of my favorites. You do? I love that one so much. <Laugh>, you're so good at it. Let me ask you this. What, okay, so we were talking about social media. What would you say is the least, your least favorite thing about the platform?
Andrea (02:54):
The competition and, and I really just competition with myself. I feel like I always have to put something out and you don't, I, if you force it, it's just not gonna be as great. But there, everybody has different ways of handling this. I hear people say, oh, quality over quantity. And other people have the mindset of quantity over quality. Just keep on posting things. And I think both work, if you really are consistent with one or the other, I think both can benefit you truly. Putting more stuff out means you're constantly on there. You're constantly gaining attention and quantity. I know a lot of, some comedians that post like the best of the best sketches and they do so well that they're able to go back recharge and write another funny sketch, you know? So it really does do whatever works for you. But I am really hard on myself with, oh my God, I haven't updated them.
Andrea (03:42):
I did this, I promised them this and I fell through. Right now I'm working on Vanderpump Rules impressions, and I ordered everything, but I'm working on other things, so I can't get to the, the Vanderpump rules impressions, but they're so relevant now that I gotta do it. So it's a lot of pressure to do the impressions when they're relevant. I think that's a really hard part. And also knowing when you've had enough and it's time to put the phone down and just do something for, for you or your family or reconnect with your friends, you know, just know the limits.
Erin (04:09):
Yes. Okay. Because I will say that is, is truly I think a lot, even for non-content creators, there's just, it's really easy to get sucked into these rabbit holes. I mean, I stared at TikTok one day and I watched, oh my God, watch a horse being de hoofed for two hours, like an hour and a half. And I was like, what is, what is wrong with me?
Andrea (04:29):
Oh my God, girl. The, the, the D the d what is it called?
Erin (04:33):
The well, the, the de hoofing. I don't know, but
Andrea (04:36):
The de hoofing, that sounds right, but let me tell you. Yeah, the most relaxing process with the brush and getting the dirt out.
Erin (04:43):
Yeah,
Andrea (04:43):
No shame in that game. It, it is really, really relaxing to watch <laugh>. It
Erin (04:47):
Was like, it was like a spa. I was like, I can't step, but, but then you're like, I just stayed on my phone for two hours, like, and did nothing. You know? I literally sat here and just literally disconnected from life with horse ups and I'm okay with it. I'm okay with it. <Laugh>. Oh my God. Okay. Well, let me ask you this, this is a curious question and I'm sure a lot of people listening. So, you know, we have a lot of leaders listening to this show and a lot of people are trying to get creative just with their own personal brand. So how do you come up with, and you kind of talked about this earlier, but how do you come up with ideas for your sketches or just reels? And then you said you don't have a pattern, you're just inspired, but how do you come up? What's your process like for coming up with these ideas?
Andrea (05:36):
I definitely have baskets for each thing I do. So I've got my celebrity impressions, I've got real life kind of situations that turn into sketches. And then I have a, a basket for up and coming that just helps my brain kind of organize. So if I know something's coming out, I'll do something for that specifically related to my impressions, whether it's like the new season of this, I'll know I'll do like a little spoof on that. But to relate to, to more brands trying to find like their voice. I would say everyday life. There's comedy in everyday life. One thing I keep handy, I use my notepad in my phone as if it were just like a train of thoughts. Like if there's something I have, I literally go and I write it down. I, I don't really have a notebook on my bed.
Andrea (06:25):
I, I'm not that, but I definitely use my notepad in my phone. And situations that happened recently was a friend is moving cross country to la right? And he's, he was describing, we were in a group of people and he was describing the distance of driving from here to LA and how it's gonna be long, but that he, you know, it's like, oh, it's, you know, it'll take me a couple days, but it's not that bad. And another guy in the group was like, yeah, dude. Like I, you know, like 18 hours, what is that dude? Like? I can listen to three Joe Rogan episodes. And it's like, fine. And then another guy jumped in and was like, psh. Yeah. Like the amount of times my family did family road trips, like my dad could take easy like 24 hours, no problem. That whole situation just goes to show you like, men's conception of driving times is like totally insane.
Andrea (07:09):
And I was laughing in my head and I was like, this is so funny. I need to do a spoof as a guy guys talking about long distance car rides and like belittling how easy, like, oh, we did it all the time. I can, I could drive eight hours and my and my eyes closed. Like it's ridiculous. That came from straight up a conversation. I've, I wrote it out my phone and then later on I'll go in back and I'll write on it, I'll develop it, I'll, and then you just obviously make it more extreme. So the more extreme the better in my mind. But my biggest thing is anytime something happens in your everyday life, that could be something, write it down. It's like the Jerry the Jerry Seinfeld book, is this anything every day? You know, it, you don't have to always have your brain on, but if you're sitting at lunch, if you're back home with your parents, oh my gosh, like the family relationships, the conversations my parents have, I'm like, this is gold. This is comedy.
Erin (07:54):
Gold
Andrea (07:54):
Comedy, gold comedy, gold comedy. Everyone can relate to this. So I write it down in my notebook and I come back to it. If it doesn't spark anything, eh, let it go. But if it does and you know, you can make something from it. I that, that's really where a lot of my inspiration comes from.
Erin (08:08):
I love it. I love it. And that's, I mean, that's what we say, an improv. There's truth and comedy and that's where the comedy comes from. It's not the one liner, it's the reaction to everyday situations. It's reaction to the last thing somebody said, I'm superhero for that and I love it. And it's almost like I love looking at life through a comedian's lens because you're an observer and then you take that observation and you create magic, which, and it's really just refiling out what the world gives us in a more comedic way.
Andrea (08:41):
Exactly. I I think first and foremost, you do have to be an observer. I'm always watching people, especially when we're, I'm, I'm first meeting somebody, they're, you know, somebody asks me like, oh my God. So like, what do you do with impressions? It's like, well girl, I've been watching you for the past two hours. I know every single one of your movements. I know like how you drink your water. And not in a creepy way. I just genuinely like, take interest in how humans do things. I I think it's a very interesting thing, and that's how you build a, a character is start watching those idiosyncrasies and like how they do things and are they looking around? How do they, how do they get the waiter's attention? Those are all characteristics you can add into an impression
Erin (09:19):
That can you, I need you to do that because I need that sketch happening i's probably already been done. But I've been recently watching how people like call waiters over in this <laugh>.
Andrea (09:30):
The, the, the thing of the getting the check, like everyone has their own like, yes, check signature. Yep. That's, that's a thing. That's, that's it. So
Erin (09:36):
It's ridiculous to watch. And it's, and that's the comedy gold right there. The truth and comedy. Okay, so I wanna ask this, this question because I know a lot of people listening we'll will really benefit from this, especially coming from you. So a lot of leaders, like I said, trying to build these personal brands. If you aren't a comedian, if you aren't, if you don't come with the comedic chops, which is okay, like we need all types of people in this world, how can people use social media to benefit them in their professional or their personal lives? How can you use these platforms that are free to create a personal brand?
Andrea (10:18):
And, and you're asking more in terms of how to build their own profile to gain attention. Or is it to learn from social media
Erin (10:25):
To build their own, build their own, yep.
Andrea (10:27):
To build their own, I would say hire a social media. No, I'm just kidding.
Erin (10:33):
<Laugh>
Andrea (10:35):
Pay somebody else. Yeah, somebody
Erin (10:37):
To do it.
Andrea (10:38):
Get someone to monitor it because you will need somebody to kind of be on there and just knowing the ins and outs, what dms you're getting, because that is a full-time job in itself. We, we all can attest to that, but I do think posting certain things that you're working on, it really depends what company it is because you could turn certain things, like I've seen a lot of social media managers getting jobs by doing funny things about being a social media manager, or on a more serious level, like a chemical engineering Instagram. I don't think you'll find a lot of comedy on there. But if you are, use it as kind of like a newsletter for millennials. So not a lot of text, but like pictures showing what you do. Examples of big achievements that you've had. It's an elevator.
Andrea (11:24):
It's, it's a, it's a digital elevator pitch. So if somebody goes to your page, if it looks like che well, and no one's gonna think that you're anything, they're, you know, think of it like as an aesthetic way to dedicate or to demonstrate what you do. S i I mean, it goes differently like when I was trying to help a a, a radio show get more numbers, increase their listening. It was a streaming radio show, so we would do, you know, you cut the clips, you post those, those are great. And a lot of people like face-to-face. So I've seen a lot of successful businesses actually do like front facing videos and teaching facts about their business. I think seeing a face makes it more personable and people will be more willing to trust your brand. So that's a very valuable part that social media can bring.
Erin (12:11):
Hey friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.