Welcome to our IZEA interview series with influencers and marketers of all niches to highlight their journeys, share their insights, and inspire!
Meet Skylar Mclean, an accountant turned influencer living in Atlanta. Skylar is a newly engaged millennial and dog mom showcasing her life and interests on her blog, Serving Looks ATL, and social media. The former MBA moved to Atlanta from Baton Rouge in 2017 and started her website to share her creativity, favorite local restaurants, delicious dishes and fashionable outfits with her readers. Now her 22.8K Instagram followers tune in to see her serving looks while enjoying delicious meals at local businesses — and for upcoming wedding content. She’s also available for collabs on Shake!
Can you tell me a little about yourself and what you do?
“I am an Atlanta-based influencer and content creator. I basically promote different local businesses, especially restaurants in the area. I help provide them with traffic and just shine light on the businesses and let (people) know that they are there and open for business.”
Skylar’s content features a mix of local and national brands.
“It’s mostly Atlanta-based businesses and then I also have partnerships with national brands, like food companies and apparel, that goes along with visiting each restaurant. So I try to tie them in together, whether I’m wearing a certain jewelry or outfit at the restaurant.”
Why did you switch from accounting to being an influencer?
“During the pandemic my company basically downsized and I already have the Serving Looks ATL lifestyle blog so I was like, ‘I wonder what would happen if I focus on that?’ And it kind of blossomed from there.”
Nowadays, she sticks to accounting for her own business, but she is available for some freelance bookkeeping as well.
How do you create content?
“So half the day I’m usually on writing my captions and sifting through the content that I have from my different visits and then the later part of the evening I’m actually going to visit the restaurants and the businesses. So the first half is for batch-creating content, sifting through what I already have, reaching out, applying to more partnerships, and then later in the evening I’m actually meeting with the business owners.”
The businesses Skylar works with recommend her to other companies, too.
“As I’m creating the content and tagging these restaurants, I actually get referrals from my past clients.”
Do you have a favorite collaboration?
“My favorite partnership was with Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, and I did a fridge-hunting contest. I basically took random ingredients from my refrigerator and made a meal with Hellmann’s mayonnaise and that was pretty cool. I made leftover chicken tender wraps and it helped with reducing food waste.”
Repurposing food from restaurant leftovers helps her think of fun new recipes.
“With having a lot of leftovers from restaurants I repurpose them into a fresh new meal the next day.”
What tip would you give someone who wants to be a full-time content creator?
“I would say just start posting what you love and let it blossom from there. So just start with what you have and make sure to actually find those (Instagram accounts) and tag those brands and reach out to them. Say ‘Do you have any collaboration opportunities?’ And just go from there.”
What platforms are you focusing on?
“I’m most familiar with the Instagram platform; that’s what I started out with. But recently I got selected to do the Facebook Reels challenge, which you can actually monetize your content. I’m more focused on creating video content and posting it to Facebook Reels. I’ve been seeing a lot of traction from that so far. I definitely get more eyes on video content.”
Was it easy to start doing more video?
“It’s easier and actually flows more naturally for me, because whatever I’m looking at I just go ahead and take a quick video instead of having to deal with filters and composition; it just flows naturally.”
Skylar recommends repurposing content you already have and making it specific for various platforms, such as TikTok.
“It’s easy just to download that video and make it work for that particular platform.”
What are your goals?
“My goal is to work with as many national brands as possible and to even get featured on news outlets.”
What else would you like to share?
“Working with local businesses has been pretty helpful for me and the businesses. Just shining the light and letting people know that they exist has a huge impact on the community.”
Skylar is letting her followers and readers know who she is, including featuring her fiancé and dog in her content, to better connect with them.
“It’s helpful to have the whole picture of who you are. I find that I connect more with the audience.”
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