The blazer. We think it’s black, but it might be dark blue. Either way, watch out for that blazer because it’s the signal that Erin O’Dell is about to drop some knowledge. Engagement numbers? Reach? Impressions? The blazer has the answers.
Well, Erin has the answers, but you get it.
We’ve now taken this too far. Let’s get into it.
Erin joined Team Farinella in May of 2024 after getting an email with the semi-frightening message, “Wanna jump in the deep end?” She’s a kick-ass addition, taking on the multitude of challenges we throw her way and delivering with smarts.
Check out this slightly off-kilter Q&A (David’s fault) with Farinella’s social media smarty-pants —
David: Okay, listen, I’m gonna let AI transcribe this and not clean it up much. How does that make you feel?
Erin: Terrified. Absolutely terrified. Everything I say is going to be on the record, so I now have to choose my words very carefully.
David: Will there be long pauses between questions and answers?
Erin: Yes. 100 percent.
David: I’m always fascinated by this question: What the hell are you doing here?
Erin: Why am I working at Farinella? I remember being in the interview process with you and Maggie. My immediate thought was, ‘Oh, I click with these people. I get these people, and they get me.’ That’s been something that’s always been very important at the places I work.
David: You’ve ping-ponged through so many cities… Run me through that.
Erin: I was born in Sacramento. Then, I moved to New York, where I attended two-month summer programs every year until I was 16. When I was 16, I moved to the city full-time.
BIG EDITOR’S NOTE: Erin worked as a professional ballerina from 2014 to 2018, working with companies in New York, Miami, and Washington, D.C. Okay, back to the answer.
Then, for two or three months, I lived in Miami because I was doing some dancing there. Then I moved to Washington, D.C. That was my first ever contract. That ended after two years, and I moved back to Sacramento. Then, I got another contract and moved back to New York, and I was there until 2019.
David: I just don’t associate Miami with ballet.
Erin: They have a great company there with a lot of great people and a great school. I went out there for a summer program. I got injured midway through dancing there, so I was hobbling around, not doing anything. I lived in Coral Gables, which is more of a residential area, with more older folks there.
David: So, not even fun Miami living.
Erin: Not until the last week I was there. (laughs) I stayed in a hotel right on the beach. My Mom came to visit, and we had a beach week. It was not one of the most fun places I’ve ever lived.
David: I’m sure you are tired of talking about this, but what wonky questions do you get about being a professional ballerina? Like, are your toes really strong?
Erin: Right. Are your toes really messed up? The most common one I know other people get is, ‘Do you dance on your tippy toes?’ Or, ‘It seems so easy.’ I don’t think people know how hard it is because you spend your entire life and career making it look easy. So, people don’t really know how difficult it is. I’ve broken a rib. I’ve sprained my back four times. I’ve broken both feet. I’ve had two concussions. I have nerve damage in my feet, so I don’t feel my toes so well. I still have a knee injury … It’s really hard on a body. It’s a dangerous profession!
David: What are some joyful memories you have from that time?
Erin: Even though it was rough on my body and mentally, I have so many good memories. Walking in on my first day at the Washington Ballet, the director at the time was Septime Webre. I first met him when I was very, very young and saw one of his new works. I fell in love with his choreography and everything about him. Getting to work with him every day was so difficult sometimes but so rewarding. Being able to be in one of his last full-length creations was amazing. Getting to work with so many great people and meeting my childhood idols … growing up, one of the first ballets I ever saw was Swan Lake, and that’s the thing that got me into ballet and made me say, ‘That’s the thing I want to do for the rest of my life.’ So, being in Swan Lake in my professional career and being one of the swans was one of the coolest moments of my life. It was amazing. It’s going to sound so cliché, but I’m so blessed to have had that opportunity and given those experiences to live this whole other life. It’s so special that I was able to do all of that and have those memories.
David: I love talking to arty people, and you’re one of them, about the appreciation they hold for random arts. What type of art, beyond ballet, do you appreciate?
Erin: I love street art. I can stare at it all day in New York City, and there is some in Sacramento. When I went to Dublin for two weeks, I spent as much time as possible finding all the street art I could find.
David: We’re talking Dublin, Ireland, yeah? Not Dublin, California.
Erin: (laughs) Yes! There are amazing things there. I love film. I like films, but since being with my husband, he’s helped me appreciate them in a different way. I love photography and doing photography, especially anything related to New York.
David: Do you consider yourself a big city person?
Erin: Yes. I am very much a city person. I lived in New York long enough that I consider myself a New Yorker. I don’t consider myself a Californian. My husband is a suburbs person, so that’s interesting because I miss living in New York City so much.
David: I guess we should talk about your day job. What is interesting or challenging about this job?
Erin: I love a challenge. I love a strategy. I’ve always loved the strategy of social media, coming up with captions and pairing them with images to get people interested. I’ve been interested in marketing for a long time and figuring out how to get people emotionally invested in something to make decisions. I love getting to work on a range of different industries because they present their own challenges, and we get to pinpoint what works for different people. I like the aspect of figuring out how to make things interesting to other people.
David: Do you think that’s true for B2B, too?
Erin: Yes! I didn’t think it would be at first, but one of my first experiences was with a company in the renewable energy space. The sales team was going to a conference, and we wanted to make it so that when you met them at the booth, you felt like you already knew them and the company. That work translated very well. I think with businesses, it’s important to have an emotional connection because people don’t want to buy from or get involved with companies they aren’t emotionally invested in.
David: Social media has changed so much over the past two years. I’m not just talking about algorithms …
Erin: We are so reliant on social media now. I think the pandemic had a lot to do with it. Everyone was stuck inside and not able to talk to each other in person, go into stores, or talk to salespeople about products. Everybody was online, talking to each other online and buying things online. But, because the use of social media has skyrocketed and people are bombarded by ads, the amount of time and effort we have to put into managing accounts is higher. You have to do extra legwork to cut through and say, ‘Hey, look at this — this is what you need, not that.’
David: What do you wish people knew about your job?
Erin: I’m not a monkey that just pushes buttons. I think that’s the biggest misconception of social media management. That’s only a fraction of it. We get a topic, research it, look at what makes it interesting, write everything up, come up with hashtags that will lead back to the topic, and then analyze what’s working and what’s not. Then, we schedule everything, making sure it’s on the right day and time. After all that, we add community management — engaging with the people your pages should follow and building followers and fans. There’s a lot to this job!
