Erin McGoff was in the midst of getting her degree to American University when she started realizing her talent in professional advising. People seemed drawn to her for help with applying to jobs through resumes, interviews, and beyond, and McGoff enjoyed every minute of it.
However, this prospect was left unexamined as she graduated and became an editor and director of films, including award-winning Amazon film “This Little Land of Mines.” McGoff was supported through winning various awards, including AU SoC Woman of the Year Award and the International Reporting Fellowship award from the Pulitzer Center, and has worked with many mainstream companies, including National Geographic and Google.
However, McGoff saw an opportunity in the surge of popularity with TikTok during the pandemic to fill the gap in a lack of career advice being readily available to those who needed it. She started posting tips on navigating the professional world, including a humorous element to appeal to a young target audience she thought might benefit from such advice as her friends did and which she delighted in as a young adult. Her main channel is deemed AdviceWithErin and exists over several channels, boasting 845,000 followers YouTube and 2 million on Instagram.
Scrolling through McGoff’s YouTube account, users are met with videos detailing anything from “How To: Negotiate Your Salary in a Job Offer” to “How to Deal with a Rude Person (in work and life)” to “Cabin Tour: building a TINY HOUSE (325 sqft) | Update #3,” showing a diverse pool of content that appeals to many different demographics within her target audience of those seeking advice in entering the professional world and those just generally interested in her channel. McGoff is an exemplary example of someone who kept a skillset in her back pocket and acted on it from a mindset of openness and passion whenever she saw an opportunity to do so.
Her passion for professional advising is a great trait and definitely inspiring. Her model of using her platform to show her mindset and using her clout to showcase her service is great. She took advantage of the pandemic and that shows a good entrepreneur who takes advantage of opportunities’ feel like she has so many people and different types of business to try, and help is so diverse that it may be challenging to focus on her core mission while she has so many varied interests.
Really great work on this post! It was really interesting to read about Erin’s story. She realized her talent in professional advertising when she was in college but rather than pursuing it right away, she began working for a company after college and that led to success and a broad follower base. She then was able to use this during the pandemic when she started posting content on tips on managing the professional world. She was able to acquire a large follower base on Instagram and YouTube and can make a real difference in the lives of people viewing her content. Erin is a great example of an entrepreneur who used her skills and her network to grow and become successful! Great work!
– Kaitlyn Kuscevic