From Sub-350 Followers to 1M+ Organic Views In 30 Days
Everything is reps at the gym. Consistency for months yields results.
Here’s a real sentence I wrote in a sponsor pitch for the show the other day: On Instagram and TikTok alone, we’ve reached more than 1 million viewers in the last 30 days across my personal and the We Are Spiraling accounts. All organic.
When I first dropped the trailer for We Are Spiraling and announced the MAYURA waitlist, I had less than 350 Instagram followers. The WAS IG was brand new, along with its TikTok. My TikTok existed but didn’t have a rhythm or much going on.
I didn’t know we’d get here. While I often tell my consulting clients is that it takes time and consistency for people to know you for anything, it still feels futile sometimes when you’re in the waiting period — testing and trying different messaging before you can tell what is clicking.
But because I’ve sat in all three seats — founder, reporter and communications strategy adviser — I try to push myself to keep blinders on, treat myself like a client and take my own advice.
I spent more than a decade telling stories — and paying attention to how I framed and reported them to make sure they hit. That exercise is similar to trying to parse through which hooks might land on social media, week after week.
I finally crossed 1,000 followers on my own Instagram account in April. I know Rachel Karten regularly writes about how follower metrics don’t mean much anymore, but it still felt like a milestone.
My biggest takeaway is that you really should just be yourself. In a sea of AI slop, the only way to stand out is by being something nobody else is doing. And that is whatever makes you uniquely you. For me, that thing is telling stories.
These are early signs of resonance. I don’t know what’s yet to come. All I know is that I’m producing work I love and it seems like other people enjoy it too.
I cannot tell you how many flop videos I’ve posted. Sometimes it seems like people want to know more about what it’s like to quit your job in a newsroom to start a haircare line, and then I’ll post a video about the process, and it’ll tank. But you have to increase shots on goal to make any.
It’s also a reminder that you need things to have enough time and space to start to compound.
I’ll write soon about why every founder needs tactile hobbies. One of my dance teachers told me a few months back, when I started learning bachata, that while I can keep training as hard as I want, I can’t shortcut the fact that the body needs time to absorb new techniques. Training y tiempo.
I think about this a lot. You can only meet the moment if you’ve prepared to do so up until that point. And you need enough time to become ready.
Almost ready to hit go on MAYURA’s first production batch. Get on the waitlist to save your spot!