Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Greyson
Hi Alex, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have always had a passion for creating no matter what it was about. I found my first creative outlet when I was 5 years old. My mom bought our family a Canon video camera, I have memories of recording discussion videos about different topics, from music I loved to TV shows I would watch until the SD card would run out of memory. My mom always ensured I had creative freedom to express myself since birth.
When I was 11, I meshed my passion for video games with my creative outlets and began posting walkthrough reviews on my Mom’s Youtube channel. I had no idea what I was doing, with no video editing experience and no direction of where I wanted to go with this. All I knew, was something felt right when I was talking to the camera.
When I was old enough, I created my own Youtube and then transitioned the gaming content to my personal account. When I was 15, I started losing interest in the video games I once made content for.
At 16, I had in my mind that I wanted to be a graphic designer. My Mom is an artist, so I always believed I would follow in her footsteps. She taught me how to use Photoshop when I was 10. At my High School, I found a “Digital Arts and Design” class, which I thought would push me further into my future as a graphic designer, but little did I know it would send me in a completely different direction.
We had various photo and video editing assignments in this class, which pushed me farther than I had ever taken my creativity before. It felt like magic combining my personal hobbies and passion into something I could make a grade on. My teacher, Jennie Patton, saw something in me that I couldn’t find in myself. I remember not enjoying video editing at first because of the patience it required, but it became something more fulfilling.
I have always had a passion for teaching myself software ever since my Mom taught me the basics of Photoshop and I continued to teach myself through various Youtube tutorials. When I was in my digital arts class, I taught myself Sony Vegas and began video editing the group projects we had in class. I learned various techniques from Chroma Keying a green screen background to Color Correcting. Ms. Patton saw how I would light up every time I learned something new about video editing. She was amazing, not only for advising on a project, but encouraging trying to find the answers we needed independently to achieve our own level of creative fulfillment.
Around my senior year, I began picking back up my Youtube channel, but this time to highlight my love for filmmaking
I entered some of my work in various competitions and got some awards for my films, but this was only a temporary endeavor lasting through my sophomore year of college. I began to outgrow yet another passion.
The pandemic hit right around this time, and I found myself bored in my house feeling creatively unmotivated. Until one of my advisors, who knew my developing love for video editing, recommended I get a social media job at my university. I was the perfect fit and this allowed me to form the platform that I use today.
I was off and on posting casual videos on my personal Youtube, but seeing how my University molded a brand into making content made me realize I couldn’t be consistent with my content if I didn’t have a structured brand, so then I started brainstorming ideas.
I had done a couple of skincare videos previously in the miscellaneous content I would put out that performed well, and it sparked one of my more sustainable passions. During the pandemic I was purchasing and reviewing skincare products just for myself and for my family/friends, and then I thought why not do this for a wider audience?
It felt too perfect, I finally was confident in what I was doing online and the presence that I wanted to carry. I remember purchasing my first product to review in June of 2021 and still get the same excitement everytime I post a video today. My first video performed well and solidified that I was on the right path.
Since then, I have grown my Youtube channel to over 6,000 subscribers and continue to grow with an amazing community. It has provided me the opportunity to work with amazing brands that got me into loving skincare, and I cannot thank my friends, family, mentors, and community enough.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There were definitely ups and downs when it came to building the platform I have today. I feel like a lot of it was trusting the process and understanding that I am not going to be perfect at what I do. Also, I had to learn that if something is not a fit for me/isn’t fulfilling as it needs to be, it is better to let it go than to keep trying to make it work.
With each passion, I found myself needing to change when it started to feel stale. Skincare content has been the perfect solution where I can talk about something I am extremely passionate about, but yet it is just a small part of my life. Additionally, with my skincare content, I also balance 2 jobs where I also video edit other social media content, which has been extremely fulfilling, but difficult dividing the line on my own limitations.
Since I make content in my free time while working freelance jobs as well, I have to find my own boundaries and learn that it is okay if I don’t meet the deadlines and expectations that I set on myself all the time. It was definitely difficult for me to learn a balance between work and rest, which is still something I work on today.
Another thing about what I do is that you never know what will perform well, and it is a lot of keeping up with trends and making sure you are making unique and interesting content that people want to watch, along with your creative spin on whatever the topic is. I have always wanted to make more timeless and classic/minimalistic style videos and content just because it is what I prefer to watch myself, but finding that style and making it my own was a learning curve.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Professionally, I am a Social Media Marketer and Video Editor who specializes in making attention-grabbing and timeless content for myself and other clients. I have worked in many different environments and love making creatively fulfilling projects for the individuals I work for.
I have my portfolio here with all of my work: https://alexrinks5.journoportfolio.com/
Personally, I am a skincare content creator with a minimalistic yet effective approach to reviewing products and giving my own recommendations based off products that work for me.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The biggest thing I learned during the pandemic was that even in the worst times, it can bring out the best fulfillment in life. If it weren’t for the pandemic, I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to apply for the social media job that gave me inspiration to begin my social media platforms. I taught myself so much about video editing and social media while in lockdown which gave me confidence to go for this job.
Though I hope nothing like that ever happens again, it was a great time for the world to pause and find a new passion, which for me was honing in on something I was already passionate about.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexgreysonskin/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCanwF_Eifej-7wzqUJ3PdIg/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@alexgreysonskin
