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Because when you see her face everywhere, you can say you knew her first.

This up-and-coming star is a breakout comedian, social media influencer with over 3 million followers on Instagram and more than 14 million views on YouTube, and a budding entrepreneur with her new fitness platform, FitGirlBod, as well as her podcast, The Salon. In this sit-down with Carlos Watson, the Miami native shares how she went from local girl and internet sensation to celebrity status. You can find excerpts below or listen to the full interview on theshows podcast feed.

Carlos Watson: Now, how did you get started in entertainment? Because somebody told me that you were in insurance.

Lala Milan: Do you believe in magic? Yes. I was absolutely in insurance; Allstate to be exact. Ive always been me. So, with that being said, Ive always just been apparently naturally funny. So, being on a job, having extra time when a boss is out playing golf or networking, I was like, You know what? I am going to go ahead and create some fun for myself in the office.

At that time, social media was fairly new, so I would prop up my phone and just create content from there. Next thing you know, people started requesting to book me and stuff. And I was like, Im making more money on these bookings than I am biweekly at this job. I was just like, I got to go ahead and chase my dream real quick to be an entertainer, and thats what I did.

Watson: Did it take off right away?

Milan: I was doing that for probably two years on social media and quickly rising. It was impeccable. You dont see that kind of growth today because now everybodys doing it. But after being there and doing the social stuff for a while, one of my friends was like, Im going to move to LA and if you dont come, youre going to miss out.

Dont ever tell me that Im going to miss out on something because now Im seeing it as competition. That was the best thing my friend could have ever said because I found myself packing my stuff up and getting the hell on. So then we made it to LA with a dollar and a dream and next thing you know, just started going insane.

Watson: And did you have dreams of entertainment?

Milan: Always. I knew that working a traditional job was not the thing for me. I very much so knew that I wanted to have a nontraditional job. And of course, our parents are very much theyre like, No, you need to get a 401k. You need to have a savings.

I commend the people who have regular jobs and who are great at it. It just wasnt my thing. So yes, I had dreams of being an entertainer. I didnt know how I was going to attain it, but who would have known that social media was going to be the way that I reached my dreams?

Watson: How did you get on social media?

Milan: Everybody was on social media. I was like, I want to be on here and I want people to see me, but not for being in my business. I want to entertain.

So, I started creating content and it was engaging. A lot of people unfollow me. My friends had unfollowed me when I started doing it at first, because I guess it was annoying and they werent used to seeing something like that, but them people hitting me up today. You know what Im saying?

Watson: Now, what were your mom and dad like and what are they like now?

Milan: Typical Black parents: You going to go to school. You going to go make me some money the traditional way I raised you.

But when she saw how lucrative it was and how successful I was actually getting to be, she was like, I was wrong. She had no problem admitting that she was wrong. As far as my dad, hes always been very much, So do what you want to, baby. Ill always be proud of you.

Watson: Now talk about trying to gain some weight because so many people are trying to go the other way.

Milan: Obviously I am a slim-framed woman. FitGirlBod is very, its a passion project for me because gaining weight is a niche that is very untapped and its taboo.

Most people want to lose weight but theres so many people out there who want to gain weight. So being able to create a platform, in a safe space, for people who want to gain weight without being judged and people telling them different things like, I wish I was your size. Its a fire thing for me. So I love it. I think that it should be normalized just as much as losing weight and people should understand more that just because youre slim. You are not in shape.

Im naturally slim. And so putting on weight is just as much of a battle as it is to lose weight. But when you have discipline and enough power to be able to control it and maintain both journeys, its a powerful thing. And I feel like being able to both gain and lose weight, it really, really, really makes you hone in on just being a better person overall. When youre disciplined enough to eat more or eat less, it makes you be disciplined to do more work that day. It makes you be disciplined to go to the gym. Its so many things that where you get those things in control, you are just becoming greater in life, period.

See original here:
Lala Milan Reveals the Secret to Her Social Media Success - OZY