Lilliana Dee, ASMR artist and digital savvy boss girl — Lilliana Dee, *ASMR artis*t and *digital savvy boss girl*

Female Hustlers 2020 Spotlight: The Real-time Power That Deserves Your Absolute Attention!

Meet Lilliana, a 25-year-old ASMR artist from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Besides working her boss girl job in digital marketing, she manages a YouTube channel with an audience of over 280,000 subscribers and also streams video games on her Twitch profile. In addition to this, she is a fully published writer with her latest title ‘Mettle’. However, Lilliana doesn’t just stop there, she advocates tech equity as a Chief Marketing Officer for Women at Tech PGH. Is there anything that Lilliana cannot do? She is inspiring women everywhere, from her inner circle clique to waves within social media-leaving myself and many others in awe of her female power!

1. What inspired you to initially start your hustle and what would you say was the breakthrough moment for yourself to date in your career?

With regards to my YouTube channel, I had stumbled across an ASMR video during my freshman year of college and found the type of content to be new, different and yet incredibly compelling. By June, I decided to just jump in and made my first video, which I filmed on my iPhone at the time. Thinking back, it was a near-disaster, but I suppose we are all our own worst critics. I rushed through the video (which is very anti-ASMR since ASMR is supposed to be sleep-inducing and calming) and spoke incredibly too quickly but, I am grateful that I kept with it. With regards to writing Mettle, I have always, always considered myself a bit of a "writer" so writing Mettle felt more like stitching pieces of what I had previously written, together. The writing experience felt fluid and natural (the parts that I added on) and I decided to publish it on a whim because I felt like my experiences were one’s others could relate to. A breakthrough moment in my career (my daytime career, that is) was when I had been struggling with whether or not I truly liked the work I was doing. I felt like I was pretty good at it, by no means an expert, because I was still only a year or two out of college, but I didn't fully feel confident in my work until I was hired by a company that saw the value in what I do and were/are wonderful employers. That changed the game for me because my previous employers had me doubting myself and my work because of their lack of understanding of the digital marketing atmosphere.

2. Was there ever a time you came close to giving into any doubts of yours and how did you manage to overcome it; to continue motivating yourself through it?

I talk about this experience a lot however, I received quite a bit of backlash at my university for creating ASMR content. I have moved on with my life since then and keeping my ASMR channel has been one of the best decisions I have ever made but at the time, getting bullied for something that brought me so much happiness felt like the end of the world. In fact, it felt like the end of my world because of how cruel people were at the time. It was by no means easy however, late night talks with friends, self-reflection and working on myself and my confidence were how I got through it. The surer of myself I became the more confident I felt about my work and what I was doing. I believed in it and the words of others no longer impacted me as much. I had a gym teacher back in elementary school who used to advise me to "be like a duck" which is advice I carry with me to this day. When some kids on the playground were being mean, she told me, "Lilli, be like a duck because what happens to water when it hits a duck's back? It rolls right off."

3. What is your biggest tip for other female hustlers out there who want to be making a living out of what they love?

Be passionate about your hustle and truly own it. Network and collaborate with others, don't be afraid to try new things and fail because failure is part of the process. I have uploaded some videos that I've been uncertain about (for instance, my ASMR True Crime videos) however, many times those types of videos have surprised me and exceeded my initial expectations. My ASMR True Crime videos are my some of my most highly requested videos to date.

4. How do you plan on making 2020 the best year yet for you and your hustle?

I've been really focused on self-growth this year and when I'm a happier, healthier human being, it translates in my work. I can look back on content when I wasn't feeling my best and notice problems with my lighting or the audio compared to times when I was in a good mood, feeling my best. Perhaps to my subscribers and viewers it is not as noticeable, but the videos in which I am feeling my best and confident tend to have more views.

5. Any other side projects that you have going on that you can give us a little cheeky insight to?

I've found myself really experiencing some transformative times lately. I constantly am giving myself pep talks or my friends pep talks or picking myself during troubling times. I'm not sure how these experiences will be brought to fruition, whether in another book or perhaps a podcast or art or something, but I have had a lot of fun brainstorming and plan on deciding/releasing something soon :)

6. What social media platforms can our readers find you on the internet?

For my ASMR content-Lily Whispers ASMR: https://www.youtube.com/c/lilywhispersasmr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lillianadee

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lillianadee

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lostwithlily

TikTok: @lillianadee