【Dear Utol (2025): WEEK 5 HIGHLIGHTS Episode 29】

You might know Macy Blackwell from her Christmas and Dear Utol (2025): WEEK 5 HIGHLIGHTS Episode 29Halloween DIYs on social media.

"I love the type of content I post," Blackwell, the Texas creator who has over 4 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, told Mashable. "Before it was even its own niche, I was doing these things just for my own family. I've always been into decorating for the holidays. I've always loved to cook cute meals and seasonally themed items."

She started creating videos about five years ago, first on TikTok and later on Instagram Reels, which is when she "was ready to make a go for it." She had been posting photos on her Instagram for a while, but it wasn't until she decided to start posting holiday DIYs that she decided to really jump into content creation.

"It's my true passion," she told Mashable. "I've almost never missed a day in the last five years for a video."

Mashable chatted with Blackwell about her daily posting, how she works with her husband to create grand patio displays, and why she loves the affiliate link influencer marketing platform LTK so much.

How far ahead do you have to plan for holidays versus just regular content?

Very far ahead, especially when it's Halloween and Christmas. I already have my Halloween village up in my living room. I just did it a few days ago. Since those are my two main holidays where I really go all out, I want to give my community the absolute most I can. So I start really early, that way I know they're gonna get two to three months of a ton of content, a ton of ideas, and a ton of value. 

Do you remember when you had your first viral video or post?

I did this pumpkin arch on my front porch in 2021. I thought it'd be really cute if I tossed this [pumpkin] up and then, when I caught it, there'd be a pumpkin arch behind me. And my husband and I — he helps me with the bigger projects — bought all these pumpkins, we carved them, and built the arch. We not only did the video I always try to do of a fun, theatrical version with music and the vibes, but we also did a version that's a tutorial. Both of them just exploded. 

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I had 30,000 followers at the time, and then it went to 130,000 within a couple of weeks. And then it just kept going, and I realized, "Wow, people love this. What else can I do?"

I did a big Christmas arch full of ornaments. I dove deeper into the seasonal and the holiday content because I truly love that. That's my passion. And I was like, "OK, other people love this too." I pay attention to what went viral or what people were loving and try to give them more of that.

At what point did you realize that you could turn this into a full-time career?

It was probably in 2022, about a year after I had my first viral video. It's really easy to go viral and then not make a career out of it. It took so much consistency over that year, and at that time, I had no manager or anything yet, so I was directly emailing with brands back and forth, trying to even figure out, like, how do I price myself? Because it's a very gatekeeper-y industry, especially five years ago. There wasn't as much education about what to do as a creator or how to go about this, and how not to get taken advantage of. Then I got my manager, and then my husband left his job at the fire station. 

How did you figure out how to price yourself before you got management?

Trial and error. I would just throw out a number, and then I realized, "OK, all the brands are taking it easily, so maybe it was too low." I had no pushback in the beginning. I used an affiliate link program, so I knew it was something that they wanted me to sell. I could see how much I was selling those items, and I understand that a brand's going to want positive ROI, [so] I know they'regoing to pay me less than what I can sell. I always knew I had to sell more than what I was asking for. 

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So I started at that point and then would start pricing myself a little higher, and the whole time, my account continued to grow. I feel like Reels were taking off, everything I posted would get tons of views [and] bring more people in. It skyrocketed so fast. It was hard for my brain to keep up with the growth.

How much did you make from your first brand deal?

My first time, I got paid about $75. I was so excited. This is going to be my job. I would've never imagined how big this could get. I didn't realize people were making this kind of money. I'm so grateful that I get to do this as a job because I truly love it, and it's amazing.

Can you tell me a bit about how you got into affiliate linking?

I started sharing my outfits, and this was before I started making video content. I made sure my page looked like a blogger — at that time, that's what we called it. 

Gotta miss the blogger days.

I know, I loved following bloggers. I applied for LTK because other influencers I liked were using that program, and they appeared to be successful from that. So I signed up for it too. 

The thing I love about LTK and affiliate links is that you get to pick the products you want to share. That's the difference for me. With brand deals, you choose if you want to align with and work with that brand, but with affiliate links, you could just do that all day with all different products. You don't have to be one brand specific. There really are no rules with affiliate links.

You don't have to say certain key messaging or any of that. And that's what made LTK so easy to integrate into my everyday life. I could wake up in the morning, show the pajama set I wore the night before, go down to the kitchen, cook breakfast, and show my little Tupperware set. So that's a good way to get started when you're not at the point where you're getting paid brand deals yet. Affiliate linking is an awesome way to start earning creator income. My husband had quit his job based solely on my affiliate link income.

Really?

This was before I had any brand deals, which came a little bit later. You blow up, and then it takes a while to get brands to trust you. I did the best I could with what resources I had at the time. And at the time, we were on a tight budget. I stayed at home, and my husband was a firefighter.

What percentage do you get off an LTK?

The percentages can be very small. The major retailers like Target, Walmart, [and] Amazon can be as small as 1 percent or 2 percent. They convert more easily because everyone's used to shopping at Amazon. But many times, some brands will offer 10 to 12 percent on a commission. Those brands are normally smaller brands.

What platforms have been most crucial to growing your audience?

Definitely TikTok. It all started on TikTok. Secondly, it was Instagram Reels. Instagram took a little longer for the video content to catch on. Those two platforms are really where I focus the most since I do mostly short-form content right now. I'm not opposed to dabbling in YouTube, but I know it is longer-form.

As a mom, how do you decide what to share versus what to keep private?

That can be tricky, and I know it varies from person to person, but once the kids were starting school, I realized, "OK, I don't want my brand to be dependent on my kids or on me being a mom because the kids are at school all day. They're not here. They can't really make content for me." 

And then I was thinking of the long game, too. Like, they're going to grow up, they're going to go off to college or start careers or whatever they want to do, and it's just gonna be me, and I can't have all my content being kid-focused. So it's been easy to keep some of their lives private because they're not constantly in [my] content.

My older daughter doesn't love to be in it as much as my younger daughter. So if you see her less, it's just because she said, "I don't feel like doing it." I'm like, "No big deal." I let them decide what they wanna do. So that's why 99 percent of any of my sponsored content is just going to be me. Because if they feel like jumping in for a video, that's great, but it's never gonna be a forced thing. And as I've grown, I'm more mindful of how much content I put out there, and they're getting older, and they should have a little bit of privacy.

How many videos do you end up posting a week? 

At least seven a week. I always shoot for every single day to have a Reel and a TikTok going up, and sometimes, there'll be two going up in one day. 

Can you walk me through your creation process?

At the beginning of the week, I will write out all the ideas for videos I wanna post. From there, I will order all the items I need for that or make my grocery list. If I'm filming three days a week, I'm doing videos on Tuesday, three videos on Wednesday, and two more on Friday, or something. I divide it up. If I'm filming on Tuesday, I will film that video and edit it right that afternoon. And that will usually be posted on Wednesday. 

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It's just me. That makes it really easy, because I don't have a team of people. I do have my management, but they're out in LA, and they're all virtual, and they help with the brand deals. But I do all of my own content. I film myself, I edit myself, I post myself. It's just me. I like it like that because I feel like I can be really light on my feet and quick, and I'm not relying on anybody else for help. Now, if I get real wild and I'm just like, "Oh my gosh, I have to do this idea right now," I will tell my husband, "We have to go to the store. We have to go to Home Depot. We have to grab this." And then we're doing it that night, and we're posting it that night. It depends on how excited I am about something.

What do you use to film? 

I just use my phone. It's an old iPhone 13. I film everything on that. It's just this and a tripod. And I have a janky ring light from Amazon. It's worked for me up until this point. 

What do you use to edit?

I use InShot.

On your phone? 

It's an app on my phone. I use the paid version, so there are no ads, and it's not annoying. I realized I couldn't do it in the Reels app or the TikTok app. Once I started working with brands, they wanted to see previews, a copy of it without any text overlay. I wanted to make a clean video and then be able to transfer it to each platform individually and still have that raw copy. 

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Do you back it up on a hard drive?

I save and just hope for the best.

What advice would you give someone who's starting out in content creation and wants to build a career similar to yours?

Try to lead with value for your community. That's when things shifted for me. I always think about saves and shares. Create content that people will get excited about and want to save or feel so strongly about that they're going to share it on their Stories or send it to their friends. Before I post anything or create anything, I think, "Is this saveable? Is this shareable?" And create value with that. I also think it's important to be as original as possible. 

Pick a niche that you absolutely love and are truly passionate [about]. It's important not to jump onto whatever's trending that month. If you have to, think of how you want others to remember you on the app and something that you can see yourself doing five years from now, 10 years from now. Always begin with the end in mind and think about how your brand will be able to grow over time, and make sure that it works for you.

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