Today we’re talking to Stephon Felmine, a content creator from Trinidad. He’s an Economics teacher at Morvant Secondary School. His Facebook page describes him as the TikTok Trini Alphabet Guy. On the 11th of April 2020, he posted his first TikTok video. Since then he’s amassed almost 150,000 followers and 2.8 million likes, an extraordinary accomplishment.
On 11 April 2020, he posted his first TikTok video. One year later he turned his attention to Facebook and started uploading videos. Then on October 26th, 2021 he started uploading videos on YouTube. Then there’s Instagram. We talk about where he’s getting the best results. And how he selects the brands he works with. Is it just based on money?
There’s a video podcast, or if you prefer the audio version below there’s a link to the episode on Spotify.
Recognition is nice. Powerful. Recently, while chatting with Christophe Pierre from Design By Spirit, he recognized Rendelina Reviews, and the importance of their work as Caribbean food bloggers from Trinidad and Tobago.
Rendel and Melina Robinson from Rendelina Reviews
Rendelina Reviews is a husband and wife team from Trinidad and Tobago. Rendel is the husband, Melina is the wife. Since 2017 they’ve grown their Social media presence to over 200,000 followers and subscribers.
Rendel listened to that episode. Heard Christophe’s positive comment. Rendel and I connected, chatted on the telephone trying to put things in place. It took time but in December 2024 we sat down to chat. There’s a lot more but here are 3 takeaways for content creators
It takes time to make a breakthrough. Rendel and Melina have a production company called Render Vision. Before Rendelina Reviews they were filming events like weddings. Food vlogs were a passion project, something they did because they enjoyed doing it. After 5 years, the food vlogs published through Rendelina Reviews got bigger and attracted more attention and profit than Render Vision. Through their work with Rendelina Reviews, they’d eventually connect with Mobil, their first major sponsor.
Create content because you love it. It’s not about a payday or a side hustle. Focus on what you know. Rendel expressed that he creates videos for fun. He does it because he loves it. One of his driving goals is to make a Hollywood movie. Producing content allows him to create short documentaries and flex the muscles that could one day lead him to a Hollywood movie.
How to make better food videos. Focus on your niche. Focus on what you’re good at. Be consistent. Know your strong suit. For example in Rendelina’s their emphasis is on production quality and they’ve invested on equipment that allows them to walk the talk. Make sure your audio is crisp. Be relatable, consider where your target audience is and the equipment you use, in some cases it may mean choosing a phone versus cinema camera.
If you’re a content creator, there’s a lot in the episode. For your convenience, I’ve included the YouTube video.
On November 1st 2022, I launched a podcast for Caribbean Content Creators. I’m writing this article on April 25th 2023. It’s Anna’s birthday, and I just finished recording the 26th podcast episode where I reflect on my development, repurposing content, monetizing your podcast and planning interviews. In a future episode I’ll talk about a framework for interviews I’m working on; it’s called STEAM. (Anna is my daughter. She’s four). I want to share a couple lessons I’ve learned since launching a podcast. I’ll stop typing when I run out of steam. If I run out of steam you can listen to the episode by clicking play in the player below.
Let’s start with my own performance and development. Editing the first episodes I recognized annoying speaking habits I weren’t aware of; the usual stuff. Filler words. Unnecessarily long pauses in the middle of sentences. At the end of sentences. They’re still there. But I’m conscious of them. And working on them.
Podcasting is hard. For me. Especially solo episodes. There’s something about talking to myself in a room, facing an acoustic sound panel that drives me bonkers. But I’m learning that if I pretend I’m talking to a good friend who’s equally passionate about creators and content creation that it becomes easier.
I’m also learning new skills and technologies. How to edit a podcast using Audacity and Adobe Audition. Then there are video podcasts. They aren’t difficult to pull off even multicamera podcasts but! they make the process of recording a podcast tedious. I’m considering using OBS to record podcast episodes, especially since YouTube recently introduced the ability to turn a YouTube playlist into a podcast. The brilliant thing though is the ability to repurpose content into vertical videos for vertical videos: shorts, stories. From one 60-minute interview with one camera, I created over 30 vertical videos with multiple camera angles. Amazing!
I’ve learned that it’s a pain in the butt, to record one episode at a time. Batch record!
Lance and Louise from TrinidadIshmael Baigpointboy12Trinbago Vibes
25 episodes in and over 15 interviews later, I have even greater respect for content creators who put in the hours and freely share their knowledge. Trinbago Vibes, pointboy12, Fix or Fling; and Robert Gibson, a writer from Barbados come to mind. As much as I love interviews (I much rather interviews than solo episodes), as a one-man show, preparing for interviews is hard. Hours of background research gow into the content creator’s social media platforms, and I quickly need a framework for faster better interviews: I’m working on something; more later. During the interview process, I find myself talking too much and struggling to frame questions. I’m learning to listen more, pause a second before responding, and, always, consider the listener.
I wish I had positive news about monetizing my podcast as a Caribbean Content Creator. Not yet. When I do I’ll let you know. God willing. Long story short, I use Anchor.fm. Because it’s free. I’ve heard both mixed and negative reviews about Anchor.fm but I’m using it. Because it’s free. And on a shoestring budget, it’s working fine for me. Something worth noting is the video podcast (Caribbean Content Creators) doesn’t perform as well as my other videos on YouTube. They enjoy low views and limited revenue. I’m sticking with podcasting though. In the podcast, I also talk about networking, Instagram and how I use ChatGPT to plan my interviews.
To listen to the episode click play in the player below. If you have a moment to spare I’d really appreciate you leaving an honest review.
In May 2023 I had the good fortune of connecting with Simmy De Trini, a stand-up comedienne and content creator I’ve followed since 2017. In this episode, we chat about dating, breaking into global markets and her upcoming comedy special Stand Up Down South. Connect with Simmy on her Facebook page. Below is an excerpt from our chat which details with dating in 2023.
Simmy De Trini: A woman had shared something [on social media] where she was criticizing men for even considering two hundred dollars as sufficient for a first date or for date at all, and I personally feel like it depends on who you’re dating and what your objectives are because for $200 you can do something very eco-friendly that’s cheaper if you just want to get to know someone.
I’ve had first dates that have been a cup of coffee kind of dates it’s not expensive I remember for First Data especially it’s an introduction it’s not something serious but if as time progresses you build into something where you want to spend a bit more money you want to splooge I can understand that as well however there are some people who out the gate that’s their standard that’s what they’re accustomed to so there are some women who they deal with a higher caliber of man and Pockets so they are accustomed to well first that is going to be on the yacht darling come on over and then they’re accustomed to that so it’s very difficult for them to see well hey I’m accustomed to high-end restaurants where I’m having the gourmet dishes and the steak and the sushi and they’re accustomed to that and then some fellas say:
“Yeah, we could go and get doubles.”
don’t compute so you just have to know at least me what you want out of a date and if you have a higher value standard that’s not the man’s issue that’s your issue to deal with deal with the higher caliper men and on the same in the same breath for those men who may not have the pocket to take their first date out to a luxury restaurant I don’t like seeing when they punch down on women for having that standard just because a woman’s standard is not what you can provide does not mean that you should bash and tell a come down from day that’s where she is at why are you telling somebody to come down from where they at strive to reach there if you want to reach that kind of woman if you know all your pocket can really afford is a woman who’s comfortable with Genna Baga paloriana double Palms cool good for you go for that that’s all but people like to make too much noise on social media for these kind of things particularly relationship type topics I always find that they’re interesting to see especially in the rise of the Kevin Samuels and the I’m trying to remember this guy’s name but there are quite a few misogynistic type podcasts and um clips that you see shared widely on social media as the norm and I fall in that bracket Lyndon where I am exactly what these misogynistic men do seem to like because I am plus sized oh my gosh she’s obese and she has children she’s a single parent and she has standards you’re not supposed to have standards like you’re supposed to and I’m in my 30s I’m 38. so it’s like hold up you’re not supposed to have any standards at this point you should just be glad any man is interested at all take what you get and humble yourself and I feel like no I’m quite comfortable by myself having my standards by myself and if it happens then great if it doesn’t happen well all right that’s fine too you know life goes on there’s no need for me to feel pressured to drop my standard just to fill a gap to fill a hole. Wait… is this a PG podcast?
In this episode of Caribbean Content Creators, we’re chatting with Christophe Pierre about branding for content creators. Branding includes elements of character, content, and consistency. We also dive into different types of content creators can post for a holistic strategy: behind-the-scenes; educational; personal; promotional; and inspirational. Designbyspirit.com is a creatively passionate team that uses visual tools to solve problems, build brands and on good days, save the world.
DesignbySPIRIT is a husband and wife duo that uses design, project management and branding to deliver work that slaps you in your brain, awakening your “Daaayum!” senses. If you want “ok”, we might know some people, but if you want work that gets talked about (in a good way), give them a holla!
