Penetrate different online communities. Get out of your comfort zone and explore different niches in the social media space to better develop your brand and broaden your access to certain content.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Moises Bournigal.
Twitch streamer TheRealMoisesB, Moises Bournigal, is an LA-based actor, social media influencer and free agent creator to keep eyes on in 2022. Moises films various content in Hollywood studio sets and often uses CGI and special audio equipment to enhance his channel for his following.
Thank you for making time to visit with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. How did you discover your career path and what got you to where you are today?
Thanks for having me. I was inspired to start my career path after watching a Youtube interview with Brad Pitt talking about what you need to have a small shot at making it in the entertainment industry. To sum it up, Brad said you need heart, a solid work ethic, to move smart, to build relationships with good people, to believe in yourself even when it’s hard, and yes — a little luck.
After one hard day at work, I recalled this interview after watching Brad in a movie with a good friend of mine, to whom I said “I’m going to take a shot at the entertainment industry.” Shortly after quitting my job, I left Rhode Island en route to Hollywood, California.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned along the way that influences how you operate now?
~One of the most important lessons I learned is to not quickly and intensely react to a situation if you’ve been duped, scammed, or burnt in some sort of way. After some unfortunate events, I learned to take a step back and think before doing something I might regret for sometime. I recommend two full days to let your mind clear a bit, then look at it again and make your decision. Life is too short to carry anything negative in your mind or body.
We’re all searching for some good news. How are you using your platform to make a positive social impact?
~I’m proud that my platform reflects the same core values I had when I launched it initially. I use Twitch to help bring joy to people as they move through their everyday lives. You can tune in to my channel for laughs, certain interests, whatever it is — people have told me that my streams have impacted their day for the better, that my humor made their week, etc. It’s really amazing. My heart always gets full when I read messages sent to me from people all over the world across different platforms.
Many of our readers are influencers as well. Others have tried and have yet to succeed. What words of advice would you offer to aspiring influencers, knowing what you know now?
~To your millions of readers and aspiring influencers all around the world, I would ask, “what does your gut tell you? Are you creative, have a strong work ethic, good at building relationships, bold and dedicated?”. Even if you can answer yes to all that, the chance of making it as a career is still low, but worth it. If you think you want to take a shot at it with those odds, go for it. I know I’m glad I did.
Success is often a matter of perspective. I’ve always resonated with Henry David Thoreau’s quote, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” How do you see success — or define success — for yourself now?
This is a great question because I know many define success only in terms of fame or money. Living in Hollywood, I know very famous people that are living outside of their means, and I also know successful people that aren’t genuinely happy. To define success, I would determine if one is enjoying what they do, if they’re earning enough to sustain this career path, and if they’re growing for the better along the way.
What are your strategies to make room for who and what matters most?
I’m open to new relationships and making room for the impactful ones, but I’m also quick to end the relationship if it isn’t serving me, as well. I like to surround myself with great energy, with those who add value to my life and trajectory. People who spark a new interest or something unknown to me are quite intriguing, too.
How do you reduce or mitigate stress?
What personally works for me may not work for everyone else, but I do appreciate going off the grid every now and then to recalibrate my mind and just be alone to process. This means taking a break from social media and maybe being slow to respond to people. Self care is important. When I’m reenergized with new ideas and feel ready, I get back online and resume my normal cadence of communication.
I’m going to try a few of your tips, and I’m hopeful our readers will, too. Now it’s time for the big reveal — the moment our readers have been anticipating. What are your “five strategies to cultivate a large & engaged social media community?’ Please share a story or example for each.
My strategies are a bit bold, because I’m going to suggest them for those starting from zero, which for an influencer means — no followers/viewers, no community, practically no social media presence and footprint:
- Decide what social media platform you’re going to focus on first, then ask for support from friends and family members to follow you and share your content. You will also need to be engaging with your followers and similar creators in the space. Follow them back, and share the support.
I recently live streamed a “Renaissance” event on Twitch and I re-enacted a dance, had people join in, and that resulted in a lot of new engagements.
- Cross promote! For my Renaissance fair, I shared on Twitter and uploaded an Instagram story with my Twitch link to promote my live event before, during and after I went live. For those that don’t have Twitch, they followed my Instagram or Twitter before they even clicked on my Twitch link, so they were still able to see the live video, but on the platforms of their preference.
- Be bold in action for virality. Some of my most viral moments were unexpected ones that happened out of nowhere. It can spread like wildfire. I once was live streaming on Twitch while parasailing, live in the air when I remembered my hotspot was still in my pocket. I was going down towards the water and shouted “Oh No, The Hotspot” and it ended up being a funny piece of content that got millions of views and was featured on Keemstar’s popular YouTube channel, Dexerto (a big live streaming news outlet), and across all social media platforms.
- Penetrate different online communities. Get out of your comfort zone and explore different niches in the social media space to better develop your brand and broaden your access to certain content.
- Do good business with other creators. Social media is a collaborative space and entails the same work ethic and respect when working with others in the field.
What do you do to create a greater sense of connection and community among your fans?
One of the things I do to strengthen the community is to use a group text platform and engage with them, whether with Discord, WhatsApp, Instagram; anywhere you can form a group and talk about life, your content, funny memes, and just have fun. That’s where loyal fandom is made.
As an influencer, you are, by definition, a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I would love for my work to inspire and spark something creative in somebody’s mind that would push their own innovation forward, whether it be with art, a good or service, or something that sparks a social movement. I always love to hear the impact my work has on my viewers and it’s always even better when they tell me it inspired them to pursue an idea or vision for themselves.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you’d like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He, she or they might just see this. 🙂
There’s so many wonderful people I would love to have lunch with and talk about the world. I would really like to meet with Elon Musk. I’d like to pick his brain about his big designs at the level of Tesla, PayPal, etc. Elon’s mind of design, for so many reasons, is very intriguing and inspiring to me.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
~ Your readers can watch me live stream on Twitch every other day on Twitch.tv/TheRealMoisesB and @TheRealMoisesB on every other social media platform.
I also want to say thank you for taking the time to sit down and talk with me and I hope your readers shoot for the stars and never land. To infinity and beyond!
Thank you for a meaningful conversation. We wish you continued success with your mission.