I was very excited to hear from the Phelong sisters on the panel. The talk showed that content creation has completely shifted toward connecting with the audience, rather than solely focusing on growing an audience. These creators emphasized that one of the biggest challenges on social media is finding the motivation to put in the work, but if you do, you can easily make a career out of it. I did not necessarily realize this concept of strategy and time until I heard it. I also forgot how female-dominated social media and content creation are in our country, but this talk showed me how women are using these platforms to share their messages, grow their businesses, secure sponsorships, and create space for themselves. I found the part of the talk that compared the start of the era to now very interesting, especially the differences between what audiences and creators see. Moving forward, they mentioned the risks of social media (putting yourself out in public and making yourself vulnerable to criticism), and I learned that there is no reward without risk, as with success. Another point that resonated with me is that if, in the middle of a career, you are not going viral on the videos you anticipated, that might be the best time to post, because you don’t have much to lose and you can capture the most value. When an ego dies, everything else makes you feel better, and there are higher stakes when an audience is watching. The main takeaway I valued most from this talk was the importance of letting go of ego and not being afraid to post. I obviously can not heavily connect to these creators, as I am not a creator myself, but I did enjoy hearing their perspectives on something I engage with daily and believe that many of their tips resonate beyond social media careers. I would honestly recommend this talk to anyone who wants to post on social media or build an audience on or off these platforms.