Melanie Rego Does anyone else cringe at the expression “living the dream”?
This time of the year always has me reflecting on life. What I accomplished, what I want to change, my happiness check-in, where I want to be next year and beyond. I’ve been thinking alot about “living the life” and the positive influence I was exposed to in 2023.
A recent example came to mind. I dropped several hundred dollars at Silk & Snow (@silkandsnow). The day before I’d never heard of the company. I was influenced by an Influencer in a big way. And I’m not talking about the credit card damage!
It got me thinking about my 30 year PR career. And how my company’s responsibility is to help brands and businesses develop messaging that resonates with target customers and breaks through the noise and clutter of competition. As PR professionals our role is really to influence. Today we have access to a powerful tool to amplify our messaging if used correctly – the Influencer community.
It was Sydney Hoffman(@syd.hoff) who sold me on my new bed and bedding. I got the goods – absolutely no regrets. They were perfect, and fit beautifully into my world. But on a deeper level, I also fell in love with the lifestyle she created for herself and has chosen to share. I really wanted to connect with her to hear her story and learn more.
I can’t get enough of Syd’s content. I feel inspired to cook decent meals, get outside and move my body, drink good coffee, eat less meat,, have quiet time reflecting on whatever it is that’s on my mind… .take an icy cold plunge bath even!
Turns out that Sydney led a very different lifestyle a year ago –you know, party-party, creating trendy content that basically looks like any other Influencer content. She encouraged me to scroll back in time to see for myself. So what caused the dramatic shift?
Sydney realised that she wasn’t happy. She wanted to fix that, did some soul searching and made the change.
As a result, her work better represents who she is: what makes her happy, how she spends her time, tips and tricks that get her through life’s day-to-day challenges. Her followers feel it and have reached out commending her, thanking her for the reset as they visualise it happening to themselves.
These days, Sydney’s content is balanced and beautiful. It is a contrast to much of the superficial crap that’s out there.
I love her house. I love her relationship with her partner Shawn and her two dogs Gary and Dobby (she recently rescued Dobby – he was a malnutritioned stray), and with nature, but most importantly with herself.
As a young woman in her 30’s I’m so impressed that she’s been able to create a lifestyle that fulfils her. And she doesn’t care about what others think.
I’m grateful that she’s confident enough to share her stories with the world. It’s a daily reminder that we are in control of our happiness (for the most part), and this positive influence has given me lots to think about.
Since she was a teenager, her hobby was behind the camera capturing tons of cool fashion shots with her mom and finding digital platforms to publish it– long before social media was a thing.
Sydney Hoffman is a brilliant business woman. She has the skills and passion to connect with strangers and to create meaningful content that influences behaviour beyond a transaction. Yes, I bought something. But I’ve also been thinking a lot about the life that she’s living.
She told me she’ll only represent brands that she truly believes in, and is upfront with companies when she’s not sold on a product.
Silk & Snow made the best decision to partner with her. It certainly worked in their favour, and mine!
I’m really looking forward to working with Sydney, hopefully next year.
I’m also really excited to keep thinking about living life my way, just like her, to be as happy as I can.
Let’s stop dreaming it and start living it.
Live The Life.
Here’s to 2024.