Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Forman
Hi Jade, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was adopted by two incredible human beings when I was 14 months old and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. I then moved to upstate New York where I found my love for engineering! I had my first engineering job at the age of 16 with a family friend working as a lab technician at his company. I soldered circuit boards, read schematics, tested/calibrating the equipment and even did some office work. I loved it there and decided to continue my education and get my bachelors degree in electrical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I graduated in 2019 and have been working in the defense industry ever since! It is such a rewarding job and I love seeing people faces when I tell them my job! I recently moved to Los Angeles and started also doing content creation full time! My main platforms are Instagram and TikTok and I do a lot of tattoo content, food/beverage, and skincare/makeup. Content creation started out as a fun little thing I’d do on the side and it’s made me life long friends! But now I have made it an entire side career and have been able to monetize on my content which is awesome. I have worked with hundreds of different brands and have met some incredible creators throughout my journey!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing is ever a smooth road, especially in the fields that I am in. But without the bumps I wouldn’t be who I am today! College was really difficult and I almost didn’t finish, but I somehow found the will to finish and I’m so glad I did! Even finding a job wasn’t the easiest right out of college. I ended up taking a contracting position just so I could pay rent and have a steady income and I was lucky enough to like the company and they liked me and hired me on full time and I’ve been with them now for 5 years!
Content creation ALWAYS has its ups and downs and it can really take a toll on your mental health. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the wrong crowd or get down on yourself because your following is growing or your views are down. People think “omg all you have to do is post on Instagram it’s not even hard!” But it is. There’s a lot that goes into it, a lot of creativity, trying to be unique but also staying genuine and true to yourself. It’s so easy to get lost in “what’s trending now” and lose yourself! I think because content creation isn’t my main source of income it makes it easier for me to worry so much about what I’m making and if it’s doing well or not. But being a content creator can be very inconsistent. Some days you’ll get 1M views and others you’ll only get 3,000. Just need to stay consistent and take the good with the bad. Be confident in yourself and in what your making/selling and the views will follow!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work from home which is so nice! It helps me be able to juggle both my engineering job and content creation! I try to set a routine for myself every day and give myself short breaks throughout the day so I’m not totally overworking myself! I will usually log onto my laptop around 8am and work till noon, then when the lighting in my apartment is perfect I’ll take an hour break to make content and shoot any brand deals I have coming up. Then I’ll head back to my laptop and work till about 6pm! For my engineering job I am a senior electrical components engineer! I help process part requests and help projects choose parts for their designs! I used to be a hardware electrical engineer working in the lab a lot and troubleshooting/testing field equipment! I loved being hands on and sometimes really miss being back in the office. I am really proud of both jobs that I have and I am very lucky to have both. I think it really helps me mentally because at my engineering job I can stimulate my knowledge in science and math and problem solving and with content creation I can still get creative and artistic with the things I make! It’s the best of both worlds!
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Hmmm… I have a mini Australian shepherd named Ozzie! He is the sweetest pup ever and he moved from NY to LA with me! We drove for 42 hours straight, we were on a mission to get to our destination! His best pal is a mini Schnoodle named Bowie who belongs to my handsome boyfriend, Ryan!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jadeemariel
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@jadeemariel
