Thursday, February 13, 2025

Local influencer sells out midlands’ first social media networking event

By Thomas Lawrence

Alex Slevin, a digital marketing student from Castletown Geoghegan and social media influencer with over 10,000 followers, “essentially sold out in under three hours” the midlands’ first event geared towards social media content creators.

An afternoon of ‘content and coffee’ at the Annebrook House Hotel on Sunday, 9 March aims to foster “a supportive community where content creators, aspiring creators and small business owners can connect, collaborate and share ideas in a judgement free space.”

Alex said she was “really humbled” when the event sold out and spoke about the anxiety she faced before the tickets went on sale: “I remember saying to Mammy the night before, ‘What if nobody comes or nobody wants to buy a ticket?’ So it just showed that the demand really is there for a creative space in the midlands.”

She believes that the interest in social media is as strong in the midlands as it is around the globe but that people are put off by what others may think of them trying to make a career out of it, or even pursuing it as a hobby.

“When I was starting off and all this, I didn’t have anyone like me. I felt like I didn’t really fit in, in a sense, because nobody around me was doing the same thing. But I know the interest is there because so many people have said to me, ‘I’d love to do what you’re doing’ – in terms of social media – but I do understand that we live in a small town and there is a fear of judgment,” she said.

“It’s not necessarily your regular job or hobby,” she admits, adding that it’s important to have events which can act as non judgemental spaces for networking and learning.

Her “appetite for success grew” during Leaving Cert business classes while listening to her teacher, Mr O’Meara, discussing how to develop entrepreneurship skills – but that is not where her passion began.

“I always admired my cousins’ makeup, they were always the most glam people I’d come across and I would stay up late every school night practicing. 

“I remember my mother coming in a few times when she’d think I was asleep but I was just up practicing and eventually I gained enough confidence to start posting the results on Instagram.”

The key to her success thus far, she says, has been “a lot of late nights and consistency” of practicing makeup and beauty, and studying digital marketing.

Guest speakers for the event include Jane Swarbrigg, Jim Flanagan, and Sarah Jane Foster, with one speaker yet to be announced and future events still in the works.

“I have huge plans for Studio Slev in the future… I can’t promise that there’ll be another content and coffee, but I want to keep providing a platform for creators to connect and collaborate, but most importantly to support one another,” she said.

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