Conquered my fear of vlogging! (yay content!)

For months now I've been procrastinating on what I know my company most needs: using content to make me, the solo founder, a visible domain expert. I have lists and lists of the blogs I should write, the panels I want to lead, the podcast episodes that need recording, and the vlogs that need filming.

Then I realized that a considerable amount of this procrastination was simply paralysis of choice: it's not that I'm afraid of creating content, I just don't know which platform is best, or which type of content could best contribute to solid growth of my brand and audience. But then I got bored of hearing myself make excuses.

So I made some coffee, put my iPhone on a pile of books, and in one solid take filmed myself trying out a face wash. Then I posted the video. That's it. No overthinking, no over-production, just me doing what I (and my company!) do best: reading ingredient lists of personal care products, and talking about them.

It also helped that I came up with a rationalization: I'm not a video producer, so how could I create high quality videos? I'm not a beauty trend blogger, so how could I put this product in the context of the Kardashians? I just can't. Once I realized what I'm not, I got over the fear of showing the world what I am: a spunky chemist who likes to talk about chemicals. Turns out, being a YouTube vlogger is nbd.

Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoAQk_AKi9k

Will report back how the second video goes.

(Fun fact: I filmed the whole thing, then realized I hadn't filmed horizontal. Oops. But turns out to have been a happy mistake: YouTube recently started a push for vertical, and now I can reuse clips on insta stories and in tiktok!)