In this round of “Grill the Arsonist,” we’re putting Social Arsonist Rachel Bearinger in the hot seat. Rachel’s days are filled with managing online communities using our clients’ unique voices. Outside of work, Rachel is passionate about music – playing several different instruments and even releasing an album of original music. Let’s see if she can handle the heat.
Social media is exciting to me because it’s such a new field. It’s constantly changing, and anyone can benefit from understanding how it works and how to use it to their advantage. I’m fascinated by how quickly information can spread online.
Busy! Each day, I have multiple things to post for our clients on the different social platforms. Then, I check back in on past posts to monitor comments, answer messages and get customers in touch with the right people. I also get to write editorial calendars, aggregate and synthesize social analytics data, and drink coffee…lots of coffee. 😉
I’ve seen some seriously boring posts by brands that don’t take the time to consider how a post will hit a consumer when it comes up on their feed. Just like a good meal, a social media post needs multiple components to come together just right for the product to be appealing. Color! Spice! Interest! Those are the things that make people stop scrolling and notice your message.
I’m always inspired by what I see as a social media consumer. While there are a lot of negative things people like to say about social media, you can’t deny the beautiful, funny and creative ways that folks are able to express themselves. It can be really effective to notice what you like about others’ creations and rework it to fit your own style.
I’ve tried just about all of them, but the ones I regularly play are guitar, trumpet, piano and ukulele. Guitar is my favorite out of those, but I’ve been playing a lot more piano lately because I just got a great deal on an awesome Yamaha keyboard. It’s the same one Regina Spektor plays, and she’s one of my favorite artists!
My album is called Spirals. It’s mostly folk music, but there are some pretty rockin’ songs and some jazzier ones too. It took about a year to write, record, produce and release. So much more goes into the creation of an album than most people realize. I’m proud of the songs, but my favorite thing about the album is all of the gorgeous contributions the other musicians made. It certainly helps to have a network of friends who studied jazz and classical music. You can find Spirals on your favorite streaming service by searching my name!
This is SUCH a hard choice because I’ve been to some epic concerts. For example, I’ve seen Brandi Carlile in concert four times, and each of those times was uniquely wonderful. Right now, I’m going to go with the time I saw Hozier at the Hinterland Music Festival in St. Charles, IA. Not only is Andrew Hozier an incredible musician, but his band is flawless. They have the voices of angels.
A lot of people try playing an instrument at some point in their lives and end up quitting because they think they aren’t cut out for it. The reality is that everyone has music inside of them that can be expressed in some way, whether it be through singing, playing a physical instrument or tinkering around with electronics. You just have to have the patience with yourself to make a lot of mistakes. Learn to say, “Hmm, that’s interesting” instead of “I suck” when those mistakes happen.
