I asked social media personality Madeline Argy for advice on growth and creativity- This is what she said.

Los Angeles Times

2 days ago

It was one of many mid-summer evenings the day I had scheduled for a Zoom interview with trending influencer Madeline Argy. A consistent asset of the online community, Madeline has dabbled in short-form content on Instagram and TikTok along with more intimate 'vlogger' media. She had, just that morning, settled back down in LA after a visit to her native home in the UK.
Skipping the formalities and holiday recaps, I decided to dive into learning as much as possible about Madeline's creative process and how content culminates on the screen from her brain.
'There's honestly not much of a process. I think most of the time, I'm filming what I'm really doing, so it's kind of just picking up the camera, which I've actually found to be the easiest way to do it instead of overthinking, and then you really want it to meet whatever vision you have.' She explained that, 'I never really tend to sit down and fully flesh out like exactly how I want it to look. I think it's just kind of been trial and error- if there are certain videos I like more than others that I've posted then maybe I'll try and replicate that cadence.'
Regarding fan engagement, Madeline has mastered the modern audience desire of feeling closeness with the creator. She has quietly made her mark as quite an honest presence online, and fans often comment on the one-on-one FaceTime feel of her videos.
'I've never been particularly uncomfortable on camera because I didn't really have a perception of how many people were watching when I started, and that kind of helped me to not get overwhelmed by it, but it still kind of ebbs and flows.' Speaking on public pressure and influence, Madeline described it as 'more of a pressure to show up than to show up as something, and I think I'm very blessed in the type of content that I create which has always been very real and natural to me,' she said. 'It's kind of a fun, organic process.'
Having to be driven by both her own voice and that of her viewers, Madeline is one of many creators who appears to cut through the perspectives with ease, but reveals that that's not always the case.
'One thing I had to like remind myself of recently is like I'm no the only one growing up, and growing up isn't like bad and people are growing up at the same timeline so it's okay to mature and kind of change your energy. Whatever it might be that happens naturally, it's not just me doing that, so there's no pressure to not, if that makes sense. I think I'm a pretty consistent person anyway, so it doesn't feel too crazy.'
The next question was one I typically find a fun one to ask to those who have grown into their online presence but didn't expect to begin a certain way. Madeline's case was one in which she was unaware that she would proceed as a content creator, so I inquired about what advice she would give herself at the time of her first upload.
'I don't know- I sometimes feel like I would scare her if I did that,' she laughed. 'I'm like, you know what, she figured it out, so just let her go without my advice. But, no, in all seriousness, I would try to not second guess everything I was doing because I didn't get why people were watching me. I was like, 'This isn't interesting, this isn't entertaining, this isn't funny.' And that kind of led to me just not being inspired to ever post anything. Watching those videos back now, it's fun to see what I was like at that point in my life, and I just didn't think it was interesting at the time, but now I'm interested in that version of me. I'm like, I wanted to see more.'
When asked about whether or not her idea of success has changed, Madeline said, 'I don't think I really ever had an idea of success, which is something I've been struggling with a bit recently because being now in LA, everybody is so ambitious and has a very clear-cut idea of what it means to be successful.' She elaborated, 'I think I've kind of had to redefine what that means for me in terms of like, not only stability for the rest of my life, but fulfillment as well. But I also don't want to discredit everything that I've built- it's an ever-evolving idea in my head.'
In all selfishness of my own curiosity, I then proceeded to ask Madeline about what she hopes her content leaves people with.
'With the longer form content, I would like people to feel like they've watched a real human at the end of the day because I feel very overwhelmed personally by the amount of technological changes that are coming in right now. I feel like it's such a crazy time to be alive, and to witness the uprising of AI in the mainstream, it's just a bit crazy, so I want people to feel comfortable in themselves after they watch it because I love when I'm around someone who gives me space to be myself.'
Madeline also developed the idea of content that she felt she had grown from the most. She voiced, 'Coming into LA and meeting people in the creative industry as a whole just opened up an entire new world for me, and there are so many things I look back on that I'm like, 'Oh my god, I can't believe that went over my head,' or this person, you know, managed to get this out of me.'
Speaking on creative burnout, the Youtube star described the process that often helps her give herself a bit of grace. 'You think about, you know, why do you do this, and what are you excited to create on a broader scale. What's the dream, and how do you want to make people feel? I do morning pages, which is something that I got from this book called The Artist's Way. You basically write three pages of A4 paper in the morning first thing, and it's like a stream of consciousness. It gets everything out of your head, and that helps when I've burnt out because you really learn what is bothering you. If it's on your mind first thing in the morning that's probably the biggest problem that you're facing.'
As Madeline and I dove in and out of creative wisdoms and discussions of mental growth spurts, I was able to close out our conversation for the day with a feeling that it would be refreshing if, just maybe, our online community could be blessed with more visionaries such as her. Related