How Sports Illustrated & TikTok Made Xandra A Viral Star

Forbes

Xandra went from DJing college tailgates to headlining parties for Sports Illustrated and touring the country as a creator and artist. In this episode of Forbes Top Creators Show, she shares how one spontaneous pool party video launched her social media career and how she’s grown her brand by staying completely authentic—on and off stage. Xandra dives into the hustle behind DJing, creating content daily, working with brands like Celsius and Pureology, and finding time to produce her own music.  00:00 – Intro: Meet Xandra 01:00 – First Viral Moment at a College Pool Party 03:00 – Posting 5 Times a Day to Keep Momentum 05:00 – Balancing College Life and Internet Fame 07:00 – Early Brand Deals and Signing With Management 09:00 – Building Her DJ Career From Frat Parties to Festivals 12:00 – Touring Life, Sleep Schedules, and Behind-the-Scenes 14:00 – Growing Up in Cincinnati and Going to UMiami 16:00 – Sports Illustrated Runway and Rookie Year 19:00 – Transparency, Trolls, and Sharing Online 21:00 – DJ Sets, Music Production, and Visual Branding 24:00 – Advice for Brands on Creator Collaborations 27:00 – What’s Next: Music, Travel, and Dream Goals Achieved  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00I was like that's the problem with that's the problem with troll like you

00:03were even commenting on how people walk that's kind of crazy I know they were

00:06like she walks weird I'm like okay and I'm walking

00:09hey everybody welcome to the Forbes top creator show I'm Forbes editor Stephen Bertone and today

00:19I'm here with creator DJ model Zandra hey thanks for joining us thank you for having me so last

00:28time the first time I met you you were playing an amazing opening DJ set for our under 30 list yes

00:34our under 30 party Cincinnati and then we were together at creator upfronts in LA yes and now

00:39we're here this is great I know we're going on a little journey together I love it let's start the

00:44beginning like how did you get into this creator world yeah so I started when I was in college I

00:51was a senior and I remember whereabouts University of Miami okay cool yes go Canes um and I always

01:00was DJing and I wanted to make more money DJing and actually make a career out of it so I went to the

01:06promoters and the club owners I was like what can I do and they said you need to market yourself you

01:10need more of a following on social media because if you can't sell more tickets at shows then it's just

01:15like we can't pay more money I was like okay let me figure something out so the first like I think

01:22it was like three days later I was going to a pool party at the University of Miami for like

01:26one of my favorite fraternities and I posted a video of me getting ready and I just posted it

01:32thinking nothing of it I was like oh this may get like 50 likes like I just didn't really care I was

01:37like whatever we can do I'm just gonna go for it and then I was at the pool party and I didn't have

01:42my phone on me and so whenever I'd like go to check my phone I like looked at it it was like

01:46a hundred thousand views and I was like what but I was like drunk and I was like wait and then I

01:52remember like an hour later I looked at it it's like 500,000 views I'm like wait this is crazy

01:57uh and so that was like the first time that ever like really clicked for me I was like this is

02:02wow this is my life that's that's wild because I've talked to so many creators and some people

02:07it's like I did this for three years yeah and I had to get something go viral but

02:11other people like off the bat it sounds like this is what like you kind of just did it and

02:16one of your first ones went went crazy yeah did you have a lot did you have a big following back

02:20then before that or not really I think I when I was in college I remember when TikTok came out I

02:26used to just do funny videos with my friends I would do like lip sync videos and some of them

02:30like randomly blew up so I think I had like I don't know maybe like 10,000 followers or something

02:36I don't even know where they came from like they must have been like random followers from

02:40some of the stupid videos that I posted just for fun cool so you had that it was like what it was

02:45like a get ready with me video sort of thing yeah so the first one that was like one of the first get

02:49that was I think the first get ready with me I ever posted was for a pool party okay and then so you

02:54had the one go viral what did you do after that what came next I was like whoa this is kind of cool I

03:00was just like something that I wasn't expecting and I kind of realized I was like okay I went to school

03:06at the University of Miami for marketing and music business okay so I kind of like knew the

03:10lay of the land and I was like if I this is something that I want to do this is what people

03:14like people like me talking on camera people like seeing me do my makeup seeing me do my hair

03:19honestly talking about my life as a college student and so I was like you know what I'm gonna run with

03:24this so and also they loved hearing traumatic stories about my ex-boyfriends too oh okay so

03:29you got you brought a little everything a little drama a little makeup a little everything I was

03:33like all over the place I was honestly just doing anything at that point that would stick

03:38gotcha and you did you start posting like daily after that and kind of trying to chase that like

03:42how did that change yeah tell me about that so as soon as I that first video kind of went up I was

03:48like wow this could be something I started being like okay like I should be posting at least like

03:52three to four times a day okay I was like I have this momentum I just gotta keep it going and let's

03:57see what happens so because the more videos you post the better chance that you're gonna get in

04:03the algorithm and I feel like when you kind of have you can have these like one viral moments but if

04:07you keep giving these people the same thing the retention of them watching your videos and possibly

04:12following you goes way way up okay cool so how are you coming up with your ideas just whatever came

04:17to my mind I'm like extremely ADD so like I I'm a very uh I like to think I'm not a very logical

04:25person I'm a very creative person okay so I feel like just anything that would come to my mind I

04:31would like see something funny or I'd be on campus and I'd be like oh this is relatable that was also

04:37a big thing that I did like any little stories that I had in my life I was like anyone that can relate

04:41to these okay I'm just gonna post it so you're going to school you're DJing and now you're posting

04:45five times a day yeah was that like a grueling crazy schedule it was crazy but I was having so

04:51much fun doing it where it didn't I feel like everything I was chasing my dream you know what

04:58I mean so it never felt like work I mean there was moments where I was like oh my gosh like I have

05:03to study but I'd be like oh let's make a TikTok doing my makeup uh I was in my senior year so at that

05:10point I like kind of finished all my school which made it I feel like it took a load off but I feel

05:15like once I started blowing up and like traveling became an aspect of it that's when things definitely

05:20got very hard and what year was this my senior year like sorry like two this is like 2022 23 23 23

05:29so you were in college during COVID yeah was that like your freshman I was a freshman okay and was

05:35that like fully remote yeah so it was I remember specifically I was in Bimini Bahamas on my freshman

05:42year spring break and I got a call from my parents being like the world is shutting down I was like

05:48I'm drunk in the Bahamas like I don't know how I was supposed to do this I remember we were supposed

05:53to like take a ferry back home and then we ended up like me and a bunch of my friends like ended up

05:59getting like one of those like literally bartering with this guy to get on this little plane to take

06:04us back to Miami okay it's a crazy time how what was it like being like a college student and then

06:10suddenly also becoming like slowly internet famous uh that's I feel like lots of people ask that

06:16question I mean the cool thing about it was where I feel like the timing I had such a normal amazing

06:23college experience where it didn't really hit until I you know obviously I was a senior but everybody

06:30like knew me at school and everything so nothing really changed gotcha uh I feel like at school life

06:37you know everyone was like girl I've been seeing this girl around for the past four years like

06:41nothing nothing has changed my obviously my personality didn't change nothing really changed

06:46except for the fact that I was missing a lot of class for traveling to go on brand trips that

06:50definitely probably that's great what was your first brand deal do you remember that my first brand

06:55deal I specifically remember I was going to do a brand deal it was the first one ever I had it

06:59confirmed ready to go and then I was so excited I like called my mom I was like listen like I can actually

07:05like this can be a career and then I got a call from my manager and she was like oh wait we can't

07:10do it anymore because like something with legal I was like oh I was like so upset about it but then

07:15I think the next one right after I think it was a brand deal was Celsius okay he was like still one of

07:20my main brand partners that I work with and then so you you graduated from Miami and what did you do next

07:26I graduated from Miami and I started I signed with management so I signed with palm tree management

07:34guys like Kygo Griffin Sophie Tucker um and so they started handling all my DJ I got to interview

07:42Kygo once that was he had he had the palm tree necklace and but he's a fascinating guy and like

07:46really building a great business and a brand like it's very fascinating yeah he really took

07:51you know his music career and like really turned it into something yeah I saw what his manager Miles

07:58who's my manager like did with his brand and I really entrusted him to kind of do that with my

08:03brand also and become a part of you know a little family that we have that's so cool so you signed

08:08with them and the idea was tell me about like the music because you're playing you're playing like

08:14fraternity parties at Miami and then suddenly you can't suddenly you're coming out into like the real

08:20world and larger and larger how did you grow your DJ career I started my first event was actually my

08:25senior year homecoming okay uh so that was the first event I ever did I was so nervous I remember that

08:30and then I ended up coming to college it was like the first tailgate ever and I had my backpack on

08:36and I my brother like knew one of the social chairs and was like hey my sister's a DJ like please let her

08:41DJ and all the guys were like she can't DJ and I said literally give me five minutes dude okay like give

08:46me five minutes uh and if I can't DJ you can kick me off if I'm good let me stay ended up staying up

08:52there for like two hours um and then so I started doing all the fraternity stuff kind of got noticed by the

08:58promoters of the clubs I did my first club at 18 stuck myself in they're like how old are you I was

09:04like that doesn't matter um it's like a down Miami a Miami club yeah Miami club it was called wall it

09:10was at the W in South Beach gotcha okay which was like a really fun club I had the four to five a.m

09:14slot oh that's a sloppy sloppy time slot yeah nobody was there but I was like this is so cool I was so

09:21proud of myself and then um yeah I started doing like all the clubs in Miami up until then and then

09:26when I signed with my DJ management that's when I really started doing these like crazy tours and

09:33all those big shows when did you you started this in high school I started DJing in high school when

09:37I was 16 what got what got you into it what was the the drive well I just I mean I've always been

09:44obsessed with music like all through like ever since I was a little kid like no one in my family's

09:48musical at all my mom made me play the piano when I was younger and I was like kind of not into it I

09:53really I like always loved music festivals and I just wasn't I could never sing I could never dance

10:00and I remember going to Lollapalooza when I was in high school and I saw Alice in Wonderland

10:04performing and I was like whoa that is what I want to do okay cool came home bought myself a board

10:10like told my mom I wanted to become a DJ weirdly she was like you know what go for it I was be like

10:15I was crazy at that time so she was like anything that we can do that you know gets you into a hobby

10:21let's do it cool shout out to mom for the creativity no I know I'm like thanks mom I was

10:26not honestly I it was one of those things where I was like oh she might be like no but she went for

10:32it and then started teaching myself off YouTube I love it back learning off YouTube I know because

10:37I had nothing I was like in Cincinnati Ohio I was a kid yeah and so like nobody knew I had a DJ

10:44there so I was like YouTube it is and so now you're signed with with palm tree with miles who runs

10:48Kygo one of the biggest DJs how did you start kind of incorporating your social media with your

10:54with your DJing and everything how did how do the two of them kind of work together and build

10:59yeah so I feel like when I uh started posting on social media a lot when I was in college

11:04I would post like videos like get ready with me to go and DJ get dressed with me to go and DJ

11:09and then I feel like lots of people like would miss those videos and they didn't realize that this

11:14one entire time like I've been DJing since I was you know a little kid so I feel like it took a while

11:22and then when I really started touring and I like and that's my first tour people are like we like

11:26this is actually like what she's been doing for a long time so I feel like incorporating in ways of

11:31like I do a ton of vlogs I share you know I'm releasing music now like music videos behind the

11:37scenes working with other artists I I feel like that's kind of a perspective that lots of people

11:42don't see because it's more musicians but I feel like there's so much mystery behind you know what's

11:48really happening and I kind of you know there's no mystery with me yeah so and you mentioned to you

11:54like you when you kind of really after you caught the bug when you got you got viral and you wanted

11:59to do it five times a day do you still post that much like how has your social media strategy changed

12:05from when you were you know a senior getting that first taste of viral fame to now as you're touring the

12:11world dj model all that yeah I'd say I definitely you know five times today is like a lot um I

12:18definitely try to post like I definitely post every single day I try to post like at least three times a

12:23day mostly two is probably more where I'm at and I kind of just do the same thing I mean now that I

12:31have you know a full-time dj career with everything going on now I have to you know go to the studio and

12:36like working you know with other artists and so much traveling comes with that it definitely puts

12:41a different you know strain on it than when I was you know just sitting and like partying in college

12:47it's a it's a different vibe so every you know there's been a lot of transition there I also

12:52like I said I have amazing team that supports me through all of this so working with them and

12:57leaning on them when I need to I feel like it's very important yeah two a day still seems a lot to me

13:02like I'm trying to get my social media going yeah you know full time all right it's time to do my day

13:06job but that what happens when like you're like you know I want to post today and I have nothing

13:10like I have no ideas like where do you get inspiration from oh my gosh well most of the time I just go and

13:15I you know scroll on my for you page and I just see kind of like what other people doing if I'm like

13:22really like in the dump and I'm just like I don't know what to do you know just like transition videos

13:28and I've kind of built my brand and my social media in a way of like I just post everything

13:34like I have a thought in my head like I'm gonna post it I'm doing my makeup I'll post it I'm vlogging

13:39I'll post it so I feel like doing my social media in a way of where like people know like when they

13:47see like oh Xander posted like it could be anything and I feel like that's helped a lot because I know

13:52it's hard like if your niche is very niche it's tough especially if you're traveling or you can't

13:59be in that certain space so I'm very grateful that I set it up the way that I did is it hard to be like

14:05you know very transparent like you you kind of broadcast everything that you're doing in life

14:09yeah like hard living your life so transparently online yeah I'd say one of the biggest things that I

14:15learned is that if you are going to be on the internet you have to be 150 percent authentic to

14:21yourself and very confident you know you can't people are always going to have opinions people

14:27may love you people may hate you and that's just the way that life is but I you know it has been a

14:35lot I mean especially when you have extremely personal things going on that you may not want

14:40to share immediately you know when you share your whole entire life with your audience people want

14:44answers and you have to understand that but I feel like the biggest advice that I could give to

14:49anyone that's going to social media and they are sharing all their life is like make sure to

14:53understand and really you know go through your emotions before you post things online because

15:00you know the internet never forgets yes so you can't act rash as much as you want to you cannot

15:06because one day you will regret it did you learn that the hard way is there one thing that you

15:10revealed or went through that you're like you know what I'm learning from this I'm not doing this

15:13again thankfully I I never went through that I kind of come I saw other people do it gotcha

15:22you know and that's kind of how I learned and I thank you know God every day that I was aware

15:30because I would see people and they would like post things and I'm like oh they're gonna regret that

15:35you know in about like two hours I'm like and it was like one of those things you can't delete you

15:40got to be confident and authentic and everything that you do because people will attack you and you

15:46need to be able to like stand on business so I you know I went through something very personal and I

15:53waited like a whole month to you know share it to social media and that took a lot in my soul

15:59because everybody's like she's so happy like what's going on and people were asking questions and I was

16:04like going through it but I had to act like I was okay because I wasn't I needed to deal with the

16:09emotions myself before I put that out to the world to have everyone's opinions on my emotions

16:14you mentioned before like your crazy travel schedule and like if you follow Zandra on social

16:19media like you get FOMO you might need to take a nap it makes you want to have a Red Bull like

16:24you're always on the move and like you're on planes and then the next thing you know you're at this crazy

16:29you're DJing a huge festival and then you're like on a beach on some fashion shoot like what is like

16:35like the last year since we first met for under 30 I feel like you've been all over the place like

16:39yeah what is like a normal week for you oh there's no normal week everything I do I feel like is like

16:45extremely unnormal but I'd say definitely traveling from like Thursday to Sunday I'll get back home like

16:54Sunday I'll take like Monday to Thursday to like kind of reset I like try to have a very chill week and

17:01then you know I'm on a plane Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday and you're playing shows playing

17:06shows like every day like all over the country like even to get here I tracked in the past six

17:11days I've been on a plane I went from Miami to Kentucky Kentucky to Knoxville Knoxville to Miami

17:19Miami to Austin Austin LA LA to Colorado tomorrow that's right Kentucky you went to the derby right yeah

17:25how was I feel like it was just every creator in the world was at the derby yeah what was that

17:30experience like it was so fun I mean I grew up going to the derby because I'm from Cincinnati Ohio

17:34oh yeah yeah and my grandparents and my uncle they all live in Louisville Kentucky so I haven't been

17:41able to go the past couple years because it falls on the same weekend of Miami Formula One the Grand Prix

17:45and so I normally am not able to make it because I'm DJing so I was really happy this year Sports

17:51Illustrated asked me to DJ their party with Diplo and I was like uh yeah I want to go to the derby so

17:56I mean that that's so much fun I definitely think I'm going to be going to the derby next year

18:01are you good better can you handicap with your with your background in Kentucky Cincinnati is so

18:05close to Kentucky you know it's horse country I know I I mean I kind of go by the names I know I

18:11shouldn't but like they're so fun I mean like just being able to see I kind of like walked away from

18:16the derby and I was like wow like I would love to get into this I was like I need a horse I want to be

18:22Hannah Montana I was like I want to be DJing in Ibiza and then come back to my horse and be like

18:26riding it in the country so you can if you keep on growing this way you can have that no that's

18:31what I'm saying I'm like I like catch me DJing literally everywhere so I can have a horse and a

18:35ranch what and what's your like when you DJ I imagine the gigs are late and I'm sure when you're

18:42done you're all jazzed up like are you nocturnal at this point on the weekends like what what is

18:45your schedule like very close to I mean I most of my shows I mean it depends where you are but

18:51like headlining most places is like 1 to 2 a.m. if you're in Miami it's like 2 to 4 if you're in

18:57Vegas 3 to 5 like it's kind of I mean it really depends um but yeah it's definitely been such an

19:04adjustment I feel like I have zero sleep schedule whatsoever so I'm really able to like sleep on

19:10planes whenever I have a second to rest I will take a second to rest that's good I can't sleep on

19:14planes I'm just oh my god oh that is I can't imagine I would not be alive if I could not sleep on

19:19planes I'm before I'm like one of the first people to like board a plane and before boarding's

19:25done I am out cold I put on my eye mask I would say what's your trick you have like a certain like

19:29ritual eye mask is huge oh my gosh yeah eye mask game changer I literally get on the plane I do my

19:34hand sanitizer I'm always wearing a sweatsuit I have my hood up I put on my eye mask and I'm out cold

19:40all right you got a system you mentioned before you're in Kentucky you played the Sports Illustrated

19:44party obviously you you've been a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model yes how has tell me about that how

19:49that come to be what was that like and how has that affected your brand yeah so I love my Sports

19:56Illustrated team so much I mean like they're the most amazing people ever when I was just after

20:01graduating college I got a call from Sports Illustrated and they were like we would love for

20:06you to DJ our runway show and I was like like I was one of those girls where I just oh my gosh like I

20:12was obsessed with Kate Upton I was obsessed with Camille Costec like I just I wanted to be them it was like

20:18the only magazine where I could look at the girls I'm like they look like me like and I was like

20:23they're beautiful they're like hot they're having fun like that is the life that I want to live and

20:28when they called me I like freaked out and so I ended up DJing the show and I remember the day before

20:34I was DJing we went in to do fittings because they wanted to put me in a cute little cover-up

20:38and they were like hey like it would be crazy if you like ripped off your cover-up and like

20:44walked down the runway and I was like what so I ended up that's quite a request oh yeah I was like

20:51wait what are you gonna teach me like how to walk I was like I thought I was wearing cover-up this

20:55whole entire time and they were like no no no like you really should do it and they just had 100% like

21:01faith in me to do this I mean and when we were practicing for the runway show I remember it was

21:06pouring down rain thundering so everyone else got to rock walk up and down a runway I never walked

21:11a runway before I'm like so far from a model and I just remember everyone was walking and I was like

21:17DJing like making sure all the equipment was good and it was pouring down rain and they just got a call

21:21before I got to rock walk down the runway they were like we have to go inside like the thunder and

21:25I was like I never got I never got to walk and I was like now I have to rip off this cover-up that's

21:31so tight on stage and I'm just supposed to walk down this runway and look good

21:35so that was very scary ended up doing it and like some people like flamed me for my walk but I was

21:40like you know what let a girl live I was like I had no idea what I was doing I was like that's the

21:45problem with that's the problem with troll like you were even commenting on how people walk that's

21:50kind of crazy I know they were like she walks weird I'm like okay and I'm walking so that's a lot

21:55of pressure they're asking you to not only perform and be a DJ and bring the party but then they want

21:59like be like a model at the end that's a lot yeah it was so much fun I was like I'm so grateful like

22:06every single day that I did that because I feel like one of the most important things in life is

22:10to constantly be pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and that was something extremely

22:14outside and you know they trusted me and they ended up bringing me back to be a rookie and then

22:20again back this year wow my second year yeah did that move the needle on your followers did you or the

22:26other way around did you feel like being you know named a rookie being named in that like that iconic

22:31shoot that that boost your popularity I don't think it did anything like crazy but I feel like it's a

22:37really cool thing for you know my followers to see if like you know if I can do it you can do it and

22:45like we can all do it together like I was just a girl from Cincinnati Ohio that like went to college

22:50and then like became a DJ and now is doing sports illustrated I feel like the especially with like

22:56all body types hopefully there's like little girls out there that like look at me and they're like wow

23:01like she's like healthy and like beautiful and like having fun and living her life and living to the

23:06fullest and like you know I just want to be able to put that sort of confidence that I've instilled in

23:12myself like out to other little girls in the world so yeah I'm a 90s kid so like when the sports

23:17illustrated swimsuit model came out that was like that drove like the zeitgeist it was like the

23:20super bowl that drove the news cycle they were like it would be like live on like you know national

23:24news like this is the cover it's a it's a it's a huge it was a huge brand it's fascinating yeah it's

23:30still I mean it's crazy they're really kind of like working with the times now now they're doing

23:35these digital covers and I mean like everyone that does sports illustrated the way they like vet these

23:39people and it's like it's not just about you know the way you look it's about like who you are and

23:46what you do for your community and how do you uplift other people they really look into all of that when

23:52you know bringing these girls together and I've honestly created you know it's such a little

23:57family lots of my best friends are in sports illustrated so that's so cool and then now back

24:02to the dj I mean you have the model side you have the creator side and dj side you know you've been

24:07making music like tell me about like your creative process your inspiration like how do you make

24:11your music these days oh my gosh well I find a bunch of like my creative pull just from like

24:17what I'm doing in my life and you know and I'm so grateful I get to work with so many other creatives

24:24in the industry and we really kind of like band together and you know write some good songs and

24:29then work on the production and you know create concepts for music videos and then like what branding

24:35can we do about this and I feel like some artists kind of like push it to the side they're like

24:39I just want to create the music and then like somebody else handles the creative direction

24:44but like for me I'm like I want to make the music and I want to be involved in like every single

24:48nitpicky little thing what is the Zandra brand it's evolving every single day I feel like it started

24:54off like college party girl like it was like very much like everyone was like this girl is crazy like

25:00she's going out every night and now I feel like I kind of you know took that and then brought it into

25:05my career of DJing where I'm like traveling like crazy going out every night still but just just in

25:13a different way you know what I mean now you're getting paid now you're bringing the party yes now

25:16I'm bringing the party I'm not just at the party I'm bringing the party so I don't know I'd like to

25:20think it's very you know just a girl from Ohio that's you know living her dream and not gonna stop

25:29doing it you know I'm just gonna keep working and grinding until I'm fulfilled with life I don't

25:36know man hey Forbes we're doing our third year in Ohio we for under 30 yeah I know I like Ohio Ohio's

25:41got a lot of good stuff going well it's kind of random like every I tell people I'm like oh I'm

25:45from Cincinnati Ohio and they're like oh I've never been there I'm like it's not like it's not

25:49like Ibiza San Tropez like Cincinnati Ohio like I'm like if you love football going to Columbus for

25:56Ohio State like that is a life-changing experience for sure but the bangles you got good beer in

26:00Cincinnati yeah we have good beer Oktoberfest yeah if you love German food it's a great place to go

26:06are you a Ohio State fan oh yeah big Ohio State fan you think about going there yeah I wasn't allowed

26:12to because yeah I had like a crazy like I don't know my parents were like they wanted me to be

26:19close my dad went there for med school okay and so my parents like wanted me to be close but at the

26:24same time they were like this girl like they they believed in me and my career and they're like if

26:29you really want to run with this music stuff Miami's the spot for you it's kind of hard to launch a DJ

26:35career in Columbus Ohio wow your parents are cool they're like don't go in-state tuition state school

26:40like go to go to University of Miami of all places oh it was a great balance where they told me from a

26:46very young age they were like you know work hard play hard they're like if you want to go to

26:51University of Miami they told me before they said like you need to get a scholarship and if at any

26:56point you lose your scholarship you're coming home and you're going to Cincy State and like that's

27:00there's no conversation no ifs ands or buts so I had that pressure on me but it was like good pressure

27:07because I knew that there was no like I knew that they weren't playing around when they said that you

27:12got a scholarship yeah and I got a scholarship very cool yeah so when I went there and like my older

27:17brother went there too and my parents really invested in me and my siblings education and I

27:25feel like it ended up paying off in a way of like my dad is probably like oh my gosh I spent all this

27:31money sending them to school and you know she's a content creator and a DJ but at the same time I

27:37feel like everything happens for a reason like if I didn't go there there's no way I'd be sitting here

27:41today plus you majored in marketing and music and that's what you're doing you're actually yeah you're

27:45one of the few people actually doing what their major was that's pretty cool I know it because

27:49it was crazy if the whole my whole entire plan was if you know when I was a senior right when I

27:54started posting on social media I was applying for jobs and I really wanted to do all the marketing

27:57and um brand activations for music festivals so that's what I was gonna do so I was kind of like

28:04very similar to what I'm doing now you are doing but you're on stage yeah that's good which I like

28:08always wanted to do but I was like oh backup plan and speaking of money how do you make money like

28:13what is what brands have you worked with what is like the the business of Zandra yeah I mean I

28:19am so grateful that I've worked with so many amazing brands I mean some of my big brands I've worked with

28:25are you know Celsius we have big like I have a lot of hair so I do a bunch of like hair between

28:31I'm doing a big one for like purology uh I've done a couple of things with alcohol I did stuff with

28:38long drink I'm currently in a year-long contract with mango shot which is a new and upcoming

28:44tequila uh lots of skincare totally Ola Henderson but I'd say like definitely brand partnerships are

28:52main source of income and also doing shows is very big source of income how do you like to work

28:57with brands I love when they give me creative freedom I feel like that is so cool you know when

29:02you're a content creator these you know content creators have followers because of who they are

29:09as a person and their personality and the way they make content and I feel like it's so cool when

29:13brands understand that you know the content creator knows their audience best so when like a brand comes

29:19to me and they're they give me a bunch of creative freedom I feel like I'm like I know like give me the

29:25product let's brainstorm and I will you know work with you and let's come up with a really cool way to

29:31you know sell this product but I feel like it's also really important to share those products

29:35organically before and you have to love what you do and what products you are trying to sell I feel

29:41like that's the main thing like you cannot fake it it comes off very inauthentic so yeah like based on

29:47that kind of following that question you studied marketing if you were the CMO of a major brand how do

29:52what would be your your creator strategy oh I feel like it would be to work with creators

30:00creators that really have like a true brand core and like have you know high engagement and

30:07also like I want to know that they love my brand if they don't love my brand and it's kind of like

30:13a willy-nilly thing like I'd be like okay because you know the these companies invest a lot of money

30:19obviously the creator industry is like booming right now and so I feel like it's important to have

30:25that like mutual respect and just awareness of what something could do and just also understanding

30:34that sometimes you know brand deals like the way the algorithm works like it could be highly

30:38successful and it could like absolutely flop like you don't know these days because of the way the

30:43I don't even know how to explain it the third I think they said they were saying they don't like

30:50prioritize branded content or out of content which is very interesting so the key is to make it organic

30:56almost like yeah fool the algorithm this is actually yeah yeah obviously the paid post but

31:00yeah you know make people feel like they're not getting advertised to they just just this is content

31:04around just what happens to be yeah part of the story and if you like truly love the brand I feel

31:09like especially like let's just say it's skincare and I remember like there was a skincare brand that I

31:14worked with and that I genuinely loved the product and used it every single day and the ad video that

31:20I did for them like it just it got like lost and so it was not getting that many views and I remember

31:27like you want to find content creators that like truly care and like I when that happened I was like

31:31oh like I feel awful and I used it and like three other my videos and one of those videos went viral and I

31:38got like five million views and everyone's like oh my gosh like I need this so I feel like that's kind of

31:43the way to do it yeah you do like a makeup post about makeup yeah and you just you know if you

31:48love the product then you know people are gonna see that so what are you looking forward to like

31:53what is kind of your goals here like if we were sitting down a year or two from now like what is

31:57Zandra doing I you know I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing now I want to keep making music I

32:02want to keep traveling I want to keep posting sharing my life I mean like I'm very content right now with

32:08everything that I've done I feel like I had a couple goals and it's crazy the my two goals like

32:15two of my main goals like right when I started when I had a call with my manager when I first signed

32:20with her she was like what are your goals and I said like I'd love to be on Forbes and I'd love to

32:24be the Sports Illustrated model and a touring DJ and now I've done all three and I'm like shoot I'm like

32:30now we gotta come up with new goals but you know I'm just so grateful to be where I am I could have

32:34never imagined that I got to this point so I'm just gonna keep moving and you know hopefully create

32:40some banging songs and become a bigger DJ in this world I love it Zandra thank you so much for joining

32:46the Forbes Top Creators Show

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