Content Creator Experts, My Nguyen, Alisha McDonal, Prayag Mishra, and Jana Bou Reslan talk with Forbes Executive Producer, Tim Pierson about engaging with followers to build community & insights to audience on social media at the 2025 World Governments Summit.
This Summit brought together governments, international organizations, thought leaders, and private sector leaders from around the globe to foster international cooperation and identify innovative solutions for future challenges, ultimately inspiring and empowering the next generation of governments.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00So this panel, we're talking about engagement to action,
00:02turning followers into a community.
00:04I feel a logical place to start is learning from you
00:08how you have or how one does turn an audience of followers
00:12into an engaged community.
00:14So why don't we start here?
00:16Yeah.
00:17I feel like, honestly, your audience will come to you
00:21if you allow them to.
00:23The audience that you want to curate,
00:25if you want to be in the fashion world,
00:27just start doing that content.
00:29If you want to be in the makeup world,
00:32start doing that content, and they will come to you.
00:35It's a lot easier, I think, than people think.
00:39Building a community, it just depends
00:42on what community you're searching for.
00:45Because I'm cooking and I'm a mom,
00:47I want to find people who are more relatable to me,
00:52because I think that's what we all are searching for when
00:56we follow someone is that human connection.
00:59I know there's a lot of talk about AI.
01:00I won't talk about AI.
01:01But we are all watching people for that human connection.
01:05So when I curate my content, I'm really
01:09aware of the person watching.
01:11And I want them walking away feeling good.
01:14And I think that a lot of us may be a little bit out of touch
01:17sometimes, because our life is so different and unique,
01:22and we have so much privilege that we're
01:25in Dubai flying on Emirates.
01:27And how do I show that to my audience who are mainly
01:32middle class and will probably never
01:34be able to fly on a business class flight ever
01:37without showing them watching and feeling not good
01:42about themselves and their lives?
01:43So my narrative about what I show a lot in my stories
01:48when storytelling is that I am a first generation immigrant.
01:51And all these experiences are very,
01:54I feel very blessed to have.
01:56So I definitely share more enthusiasm
01:59if I'm on a plane, like, oh my god, I have pajamas.
02:02Those things are the people who will watch will really relate
02:05to it instead of, hey, I'm going on Emirates to Dubai.
02:08It's like there's just the way you tell your story.
02:11So the person watching feels like they're with you
02:14instead of watching you.
02:15Find common ground.
02:17Find a common denominator.
02:19Brag, how about you?
02:20Yeah, I think the very first thing I started doing
02:23when I was building Pookie Nation is what I like to call
02:27is ritual, right?
02:28Like this reminder that every time you see me
02:29on the For You page, like, welcome back home.
02:31And I might do something a little similar,
02:33whether it's like put my little shoulder into my dances
02:35or when I offer you food, I might take the first bite
02:38and pretend I didn't.
02:39And I think that that's really beautiful
02:40to kind of create an intentional space
02:43where it's like, hey, welcome back home.
02:45This is where we connect and you're no longer
02:46in the real world.
02:47You're at the cinema now.
02:49You're at the movies.
02:50And I think that, ooh, my mic is falling down.
02:52I'm grabbing onto it.
02:53Maybe I was nervous.
02:55I think that the only way to really create community
02:58as creators, whether or not a lot of us know
03:00that we're doing it, is the pain process.
03:03There's no way to be relatable
03:04unless you feel the people's pain.
03:06There's no way to feel the pain of the millions
03:08and millions of people unless you do that healing work
03:10on your own, whether that is accepting that you're lonely,
03:14accepting that you're heartbroken,
03:16or accepting that you don't feel connected to community
03:20so you kind of compensate for that through your content.
03:23So I think it's really just trying to say,
03:26hey, what am I feeling right now
03:27and how can I find the millions of people around the world
03:29that might just feel the same way?
03:31And how can we spend a few seconds together
03:33on the For You page or on the timeline
03:34and feel a little less lonely?
03:36So I think ritual in that.
03:38Yeah.
03:40So for me, community came very organically.
03:44Originally, I come from academia.
03:47I'm celebrating 20 years in academia.
03:49So my original community were my students.
03:54And they told me, Dr. Janna, you need to go on TikTok
03:58because we're very entertained.
03:59You need to meet us there.
04:01And I quit my job, my longtime career in education,
04:06higher ed, and I'm on TikTok.
04:09And that's how it started.
04:10So now my community is really organic.
04:14It's their parents and the general public in general
04:20so what I used to teach in terms of mental health,
04:23now I do in Arabic because this pin, by the way,
04:28is not haphazardly here.
04:30I wanted to bring research to content
04:34and how I would do strategy.
04:36And I would look at what UAE policies
04:39and authorities would want for us as creators.
04:43And then I would try to align my content
04:46with whatever authorities would like us to see.
04:51So I don't believe I'm just a creator or an influencer,
04:55not in the sense of diminishing the role,
04:58but I'm an agent of change.
05:01Very cool.
05:02Do you guys feel these are all strategies
05:05in building a relationship with that person in the audience?
05:09Is there anything you do intentionally,
05:10whether intentional or not, to take an audience
05:13and allow them to interact with one another,
05:14to build a sense of community among your followers
05:16versus just one follower to you, the creator?
05:19Is there anything you've done to be able to do that?
05:21Is that something you're even thinking about at all?
05:25Yeah, I definitely think so.
05:26I think it's like showing all of you.
05:30One thing that really allows you to open up
05:32to a large amount of people is kind of accepting
05:35maybe an insecurity about yourself publicly,
05:37kind of making fun of yourself or being lighthearted.
05:40I think it's something that we all feel
05:42every single day of our lives.
05:45Sometimes we're flying and sometimes we're floating.
05:46And for a lot of people who do feel insecure,
05:49seeing a creator that they love or may not even love,
05:51maybe somebody that you hate,
05:53admit something about themselves
05:54that is a little uncomfortable,
05:55you gain a little sense of respect for that individual.
05:58And that kind of builds community,
06:00like trauma bonding, but like insecurity.
06:03Trauma bonding.
06:04I think we all have a trauma bond right now.
06:07Yeah, yeah, being up here all nervous and stuff.
06:08Yeah, exactly.
06:10Definitely, yeah, that.
06:12Oh, sorry.
06:13I would say for me,
06:15whether I'm talking on my podcast or on my YouTube videos,
06:18what I love doing is honestly just asking my audience
06:22for advice sometimes too.
06:23I think when they realize you're also
06:26kind of just like on their level
06:28and they can relate to you in so many different ways.
06:30For instance, if I am curious about fashion trends
06:34or I'm very big on mental health
06:36and talk about my own mental health,
06:37asking them, hey guys, I'm really going through it
06:39and just being vulnerable with them,
06:41enough to even say, hey,
06:42not sure if you've been through this,
06:43but do you guys have any advice?
06:44And please make the comments like a whole,
06:50just place that's safe for everyone
06:52to even give each other advice.
06:53So I feel like I always open up that door for everyone
06:55just so they can talk to each other.
06:58My favorite thing ever though is meeting people
07:00who've watched me for years
07:01and they made best friends
07:03when they came to a meetup of mine or something like that.
07:05So I think it's really cool being able to witness that
07:08and just encouraging them to have a voice as well.
07:14Do you feel whether it's
07:16because you've intentionally built this community
07:18or by default, because you've amassed this audience
07:20that there's any pressure on you guys as the creators
07:23and the de facto leader of those communities?
07:25Do you put pressure on yourself to deliver the right message
07:28or to have the impact that you may or may not
07:32have intended to have in starting this journey as creators?
07:36I think we're all like naturally introverts
07:39and it's really hard to like run into our audience
07:44and followers in person
07:46cause they're expecting my page is called My Healthy Dish
07:49and that's my personal brand,
07:51but I'm my and my healthy dish is very personal of all.
07:55She's your best friend online.
07:57She's the one who cooks with you in the kitchen,
08:00but I have so much anxiety if I'm in line at Disneyland
08:04and one of my followers is right next to me for 30 minutes
08:07because I have to be my healthy dish for 30 minutes
08:11where I just want to be on my phone waiting in line
08:14and getting a churro.
08:16So there is like, there's a give and take to that
08:19because when we show ourselves and intentionally
08:23it's like 15 minutes of our lives a day
08:26where they think they know who we are
08:28and we show the best of the best or the worst of the worst,
08:32but they have this relationship with you
08:35that they've built in their mind.
08:36And we, when we see them in person,
08:40we have to be that person.
08:42And I would hate for someone to like see me in person
08:45and walk away like with a bad impression.
08:48So that's my actually insecurity
08:51is running into too many people for too long of time.
08:57I guess, is there a desire or maybe some of you have
09:02to kind of use your audience to create a real world impact
09:06that's can exist maybe outside of the social media space
09:09or outside of a platform creating space for dialogue
09:12right there in the comment section is fantastic.
09:14But does that bridge a gap into a real world?
09:16Have any of you taken that initiative
09:18and tried to put on an event
09:20or whether it is a meet and greet
09:23or motivated your community to go out and do something
09:25and have an impact on the world?
09:26Never a meet and greet, never.
09:29Mai wants her audience as far away from her as possible.
09:32Just kidding.
09:34I've done meet and greets.
09:35Meet and greets are like, it's interesting.
09:37I definitely feel like you have to wake up that day
09:39and your coffee has to be perfectly sweet.
09:41You better be ready for it.
09:42Because if you're not mentally prepared
09:44to see that many people,
09:46it can definitely throw you off a little bit.
09:47Like back to the pressure question,
09:49like you have to be so ready for it, right?
09:52I never put pressure on myself or on my followers
09:57or audience or you call it community.
10:01But sometimes it is what it is.
10:04So for example, I'm learning.
10:06I've been in academia.
10:07I've never done this in my life.
10:09I've never edited any video.
10:10I don't know how production runs.
10:14But I felt maybe I was vulnerable
10:17because my colleagues, ex-colleagues
10:20would judge me with the move.
10:22So that's a big change for me.
10:25How would I show up?
10:26What kind of videos would I be doing?
10:28I'm used to having lectures for three hours.
10:31How can I put that scientifically with good data?
10:34Like something credible enough.
10:37But then again, after just two months,
10:41TikTok called me and they said,
10:44I think we like your content.
10:46It's quality, it's scientific and it's good.
10:49And I'm like, okay, so now I can remove
10:51the little bit of my academic persona
10:54and move into another person.
10:57But it took two years to unfold.
10:59So now I don't like to apply any pressure
11:02onto my audience because learning by nature
11:05can be frustrating.
11:09Do you think, I mean, given what you do in your content,
11:12do you think having that persona,
11:14that academic background,
11:16lended you the credibility to gain that trust
11:18in the beginning?
11:19100%, 100%.
11:20A lot of people, a lot of creators
11:22are now selling masterclasses, courses, what have you.
11:26But maybe intentionally or unintentionally,
11:29they have no idea what's best
11:32for different types of learners
11:35or how they should show up in a course.
11:37What's it like to produce a 90-minute masterclass?
11:41How do you use your tools for assessment?
11:44I can talk for hours about this.
11:46But to sum it up in a few seconds,
11:48I think that's one main,
11:53as they say, content is king.
11:55So imagine coming from a background where it's solid.
11:59You're doing facts,
12:00but now you have some aspect of storytelling.
12:03So I was so happy to meet,
12:06I hope I can pronounce the names correctly,
12:08Laron and Brandon.
12:11I'm not sure if he's still here,
12:13but a lot of the creators are fascinating to me.
12:16I'm humbled to learn from them, yeah.
12:20That's fantastic.
12:21So in this era of purpose-driven content,
12:25you each have sort of a clearly defined lane.
12:29You say you haven't quite figured that out yet,
12:31but it seems to be going okay.
12:33Do you see, when you go out and make content,
12:36do you see a specific purpose?
12:37Do you have a mission or a goal that's motivating you?
12:41Or is it just what's gonna work now for my audience?
12:45What are they gonna engage with?
12:47For me, I really feel that my purpose for videos
12:53is to make people smile or even have an escape.
12:55Like I mentioned, I can struggle with mental health
12:57and the best feeling ever is when you are out of that
13:00for a second and you can escape.
13:02So I've always, even in 2020,
13:04I felt so passionate that my job right now
13:07is to give people an escape.
13:09And I would always do a little blurb in the beginning,
13:12kind of explaining that,
13:13that I'm like, as much as I,
13:16we're slammed with news 24 seven of different things
13:18and I really feel so protective over my audience
13:21where I just want them to feel like this is a safe space.
13:24And if they can even just get out of their life,
13:29if they have a really bad relationship with their parents
13:31or something, they can use my videos to escape.
13:33And that's always been something
13:34that I've been very passionate about.
13:36So I try to keep things not too political in that sense,
13:39but also inspiring them to also use their voice.
13:43It's taken me years to learn to use mine.
13:45I'm also an introvert.
13:46I think most creators are introverts, which is so crazy
13:49because we suddenly are fine to talk to a camera.
13:51But yeah, I think kind of just being that example
13:54of I never saw myself doing public speaking,
13:57but here I am at an amazing opportunity
14:00and you guys can do this too.
14:01And if you don't feel like you have a voice,
14:04like you still do and trying to encourage them
14:06to also use it.
14:07Yeah.
14:08My, I mean, my healthy dish.
14:09Is there something mission-driven in the food
14:13or is it beyond that for you?
14:15Well, I've evolved a lot.
14:1713 years ago, it was just photos on Instagram.
14:20It was so easy.
14:22And as evolved to videos, to 15 second videos,
14:26to a minute videos, to now all multiple platforms,
14:29I knew that I couldn't be too much of introvert
14:32and hide behind the camera.
14:34So I actually enrolled in acting classes
14:37and speaking, public speaking more.
14:41And I have a theater background,
14:43but it was just more like fine tuning.
14:45So it was like Wednesday nights at Berkeley,
14:47I would do improv classes
14:49because I knew that the camera and video
14:52was where we were leading to.
14:55But yeah, I just feel like right now,
14:59the content is constantly evolving.
15:02And I can't say like tomorrow it'll be the same
15:05or next week, but I can watch it from year to year
15:07and know that I've become a better creator each year.
15:10And the content is becoming more and more
15:13what I'm more proud of.
15:15So yeah, ask me again next year,
15:17I might not even be cooking.
15:18Here you go.
15:22Opening this up to the group,
15:24Steve, I feel I got a money question in on every panel,
15:26so I don't wanna be left out.
15:29Let's accept the premise that we've gone
15:32from audience into community.
15:34Are there new and maybe better ways
15:36to monetize that community?
15:38And are those two things at odds?
15:41From building a community and that sort of deep engagement
15:44and also using that to drive revenues
15:47and increase how much money you guys are making as creators.
15:49I just wanna just talk about my cookbook real quick.
15:52Healthy My Way is available on Amazon, 30% off right now.
15:59So cookbooks are really hard to sell.
16:02It's like, because you could go on TikTok
16:04and watch a 60 second video and get that recipe for free
16:07or go on the blog to get the recipe for free.
16:09So I knew coming into writing that cookbook three years ago
16:13that I had to really have my audience
16:16really engaged in supporting me as an author
16:19and not buying the book for recipes
16:22because they could make my recipes online whenever.
16:25So it was me for three years thinking,
16:28how can I have my audience really root for me
16:31and really want that cookbook in their kitchen
16:34on display and be really proud?
16:36So for three years, I started really engaging in my audience
16:41and talking about my story as an entrepreneur
16:43and where I came from and how I grew
16:45and that I'm working on this cookbook.
16:47So when I announced it, just the pre-sales alone,
16:50it was just, my publisher was so happy.
16:53It's a bestseller because my audience
16:55is not even really cooking the recipes in the cookbook.
16:57They're just so proud of me
16:59and now they have this cookbook on display in their kitchen.
17:02I was like, we're friends and I'm just supporting my friend.
17:05The reception wasn't, why is Mai trying to sell me something?
17:08The reception was, oh, I have an opportunity
17:10to support my friend online.
17:11Yeah, fantastic.
17:12Anybody else have any thoughts on whether those things,
17:14community and money are at odds?
17:16I definitely think inherently they're at odds.
17:18It's like when you have a friend that becomes really close
17:20and it becomes really close and it's like,
17:22wait a minute, you're kind of like family
17:23and then it's like, can I hold $5?
17:25I think that there's a way to do it
17:28that shouldn't feel transactional
17:30and I think that there's a way to marry that
17:32that's almost beautiful.
17:34You want to almost feel like,
17:35some creators I follow when I buy their products
17:38and I'm like, take my money and take it now.
17:40I'm proud to pay that and I'm proud to contribute to them.
17:43So it really depends on how you do what you do
17:45and if you do have a podcast, for example,
17:47or you are selling merchandise,
17:49my first merchandise rollout was now looking back
17:52a little bit more on the expensive side,
17:53would I do it again?
17:55Maybe not the exact same way,
17:57but I did it because I wanted to make sure
17:59that the thread count was a specific way
18:01or that it was puff print
18:03or that when you do throw it into the wash,
18:05the colors don't fade and it doesn't disappear
18:07and you don't hate me the next day.
18:09So I think that there's a way to do it
18:10where it almost builds community,
18:13where that transaction of money
18:15can actually make you closer to that creator
18:16and when you see them in real life,
18:17it's like, hey, I'm subscribed to you
18:18or I do this for you or I buy your products,
18:21but if you do a half measure,
18:23you're just trying to make a quick buck
18:25or a quick million bucks,
18:28it's gonna be a bad day, bad week, bad year
18:31and definitely a bad career.
18:33So it's definitely something to be very, very careful
18:35and understand the value that you're trying to provide.
18:38And the audience is really smart.
18:41They see right through you
18:42when you're trying to sell them something.
18:45Yeah, I mean, some people have the leading assumption
18:47that content is easy and the people are dumb
18:50and people will just eat everything up.
18:51I'm like, you keep trying that
18:52and you see one day you wake up in December
18:54and the world hates you and see what that feels like.
18:56So I totally agree what Mai just said.
18:58The audience is incredibly smart.
19:00There's really intelligent people.
19:02Some people with PhDs watch my content,
19:05but there's some really intelligent people
19:09around the other side of the screen.
19:11It's not just people that just wanna scroll past.
19:15Yeah, I have to echo that.
19:17The amount of brands who have come
19:19who kind of just they expect,
19:21oh, you get this many views,
19:22we're gonna get this many sales
19:23and that's not what it's like at all.
19:25Even earlier when they were saying,
19:26what could a government learn from us creators?
19:29I think that's the main thing I would say
19:31is that our audiences are so smart
19:33and they're not gonna put up with a lot of stuff
19:36if it feels like we're just a walking billboard to them.
19:39And we're also very protective over them
19:42because it's taken us years and years
19:44to build these communities that feel like a family.
19:46So just keeping them protected
19:48and it's worth passing on deals.
19:50It's worth not making extra money in certain situations
19:53because they've changed our lives and we're so grateful
19:56and we owe that to them to be discerning on deals.
20:00Monetization for me and community, maybe baby steps.
20:05I'm still learning, really.
20:07I haven't made more than masterclasses
20:12and one on parenting,
20:14one on teaching Arabic for non-native speakers in 90 minutes
20:19because last year and the year before
20:21we witnessed a lot of turmoil,
20:24especially here in the heated area.
20:27So I said, okay, maybe my purpose now,
20:31because we're talking about purpose-driven communities,
20:34is to make sure that everybody understands
20:38that when we say, for example,
20:40as-salamu alaykum, we're just wishing you peace, as-salam.
20:43That's the first word, right?
20:46And therefore, I felt it was my duty, my responsibility.
20:50I'm held accountable as an educator,
20:52as an informed decision maker to say, you know what?
20:55Maybe I can develop a course, but I'm not still thinking.
20:59I'm still trying to grab how to maximize monetization
21:03and all of that.
21:04So it is a learning curve.
21:05It's a learning journey.
21:06Fantastic.
21:07Well, we're out of time.
21:08Thank you all.
21:09Audiences are smart and only getting smarter,
21:11so continue doing what you do.
21:14Thanks.