Meet Camille Washington, a content creator and social media consultant at Venus in Gemini. Camille has held many unique titles throughout her career, lending to a diverse background of experience and interests. Join us in getting to know a little more about her….
ISM: Your background spans the globe and stretches across industries like zookeeping, standup comedy, and now social media consulting and content creation with Venus in Gemini. What inspired such a unique professional journey, and what are Venus in Gemini’s plans for the future?
Camille: I grew up being encouraged by my parents to follow every passion/interest I thought of - I also have always had a wide array of hobbies and activities I want to pursue, and once I got casually into astrology I've started to blame that sort of ADHD hobbyist in me on my Venus placement being in Gemini.
It's hard to tie a string across all these different professions and industries, but one thing zookeeping, stand up comedy, and social media marketing have in common is being a creative outlet in one way or another. How I chose and landed on those professions is just something we'll have to chalk up to the universe I think.
With my business, Venus in Gemini, I'm really hoping to provide resources to entrepreneurs and small businesses out there that KNOW they ~need~ active socials but don't have the capacity or interest to keep up with it. Running a business has so many other moving parts as it is, and I hope to relieve some of that pressure and burnout while continuing to build a supportive online community.
ISM: What have been the highest and lowest points in your career so far, and how did those moments impact who you are today?
Camille: A high point in my career is somewhat not really about my career at all, but transitioning into this new space of content creation has provided me the time and freedom I was missing as a zookeeper. A lot of people don't realize or think about the fact that zookeeping is really a caretaker role, so it's difficult to make time for anything else/participate in things like holidays and family vacations. Plus the pay is... Let's say zookeeping is an industry that relies heavily on your passion. Now that I'm a content creator/strategist running my own business, I have a lot more freedom in my schedule - it certainly comes with trade offs, but overall I'm in a much better place mentally and emotionally and that's really important.
Lowest point in my career was when I sustained an injury that took me out for about a month. First of all it was embarrassing - have you ever seriously pulled a hami picking up bison poop? Second of all - I found myself with all this time and energy I didn't have before, I got back into sewing, got to spend the weekends with my husband, was able to face time/talk to family members back east at reasonable hours, didn't have to suffer through work on a rainy day... It was a time that really sort of smacked me in the face with all the "small" sacrifices I didn't even realize I was making over this decade spent as a zookeeper. Really changed my perspective.
ISM: What advice would you offer a young person who’s interested in pursuing a career in social media consulting or content creation?
Camille: CREATE. With the resources we have now (phones, capcut, lightroom etc.) you really don't need to do much to get started. I was bogged down by the idea of needing to *be an influencer* in order to be a content creator, but that's not even a little bit true. There's a rise in demand for UGC (user-generated content) and sometimes brands aren't necessarily looking for the larger scale influencer marketing that we automatically think of in content creation.
EXPLORE VENUS IN GEMINI
Camille wears Clementine from our recently launched Broadway Collection. Fun fact: the Mxriel frame was named after her!