A Conversation with Lindsey Rowley: Sephora Squad 2023 - Ep. 69

In our most recent episode of Negronis with Nord, James sat down with 2023 Sephora Squad member, Lindsey Rowley (@linsmakeuplooks), who shared how she gained over 1.5 million followers since February.

Below is a portion of the episode transcript for your reading pleasure. Make sure to subscribe to the Fohr YouTube channel to get notified of new episodes, and watch the full episode below.

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A snippet of our conversation with Lindsey Rowley:

What's your origin story?

Lindsey: I started loving makeup videos when I was like too young to even be makeup. Like literally when I was like 10 years old, I was watching YouTubers do makeup and stuff. And then one day, I swear this is like such a cliche story, but I love it. I was standing in my bedroom with my now fiance, it was the beginning of 2019 and I was like, Louis, I want you to remember this moment because I'm gonna get really good at my makeup and I'm gonna start posting on Instagram. Like, this is my day one <laugh>. And now all the time I'm like, remember that day? Because I love that I did that. Now I know what my day one was and that day I did my makeup, took a picture of my eye and I posted it on Instagram and that was the beginning.

You had a TikTok video go viral, with 26M views. What did that teach you?

Lindsey: That taught me a huge lesson that there may be cute trendy videos that are just music with you putting your makeup on and those individual videos can do well, but that's not gonna really build you a community. It can, but not on like a really deep level like what I'm so grateful to have now.

People can appreciate your art, but they don't know you and I feel like you can't make, you can make a different career out of that, if that makes sense.That's not what I was looking for. So that video definitely told me, if anything, start talking in your videos. I was really scared to talk in my videos, but it changed my life.

... After that video went viral, I felt pressured to talk specifically about my insecurity, which I did. And I made a few videos about it and they did well. But like, there's only so much you can say about it before it's like, we've heard everything and there's nothing else to say, you know, I was like, is this all I'm good for? Like, I wanna be known for my makeup. So I was happy that the video went viral, but I also felt like it might've went viral for the wrong reason. And I think that's why I kind of, I milked it a little bit and then I kind of went on that hiatus because I just felt like I didn't know what direction to go in after that.

... I was dealing really bad with postpartum anxiety and just constantly feeling like a cloud was over my head in a way that I can't even explain. Just horrible. I love my son and he's my world and I have nothing wrong with him being my world, but like, I need to do something for me.

And I remember the joy that I felt doing TikTok, even whether or not my videos did well. I just enjoyed doing it. And I was like, I need to come back to this. When I first came back, I did not do all the sound effects and stuff. I had like a handful of videos when I first came back where I was really trying to be myself and then one day I did the sound effects and it just took off and started a whole other thing.

You've built this community who left you 100K+ Testimonials on the Fohr platform. Is there anything specific you've done to create this community?

Lindsey: One thing that I think has really kept people coming back to my profile is starting a series. Like people ask me how to kickstart or, you know, give their profile a boost, start a series, 'cause It keeps people wanting more. They know what they're coming back to, but it's still gonna be something different.

You know, do I want my makeup to match my earrings? You know, that's what you're getting, but it's a different thing every time. Series are so great for bringing people back. Something that I plan to do and actually just film a video saying how I need to get better at this.

[How to maintain my community?] Responding to more comments and DMs, because to me, I'm just a regular person, like who would give a crap if I talk to them. But like, when I respond to people's DMs, they're always so like, excited and happy and like, I mean, I can't believe it, but like you making people individually feel special is something that I know has value and that I need to work on because when I do nourish my audience that way it pays off. I mean, and also on a personal level, because I would much rather feel like I have friends than fans.

Fohr’s Sephora Squad

What is the Sephora Squad? The Sephora Squad is a highly coveted year-long paid partnership designed to amplify and mentor content creators of all races, ethnicities, religions, ages, body types, languages, sexual orientations, following sizes, and experience levels. All Sephora Squad members enter a partnership with Sephora. They’ll have the opportunity to work with Sephora’s brands, star on their social channels, attend exclusive events, and meet industry experts and new beauty mavens.

Launched in 2019, Sephora Squad set out to recruit unique and inspiring storytellers with a diverse range of followers, points of view, and interests. Learn more about Sephora Squad and meet the 2023 Sephora Squad here.

Contact us at Fohr with any questions regarding Sephora Squad or our influencer marketing services.

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