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Carson Moody
@carson.moody
Content Creator based in the Philippines
Introducing Carson Moody
Carson graduated in 2017 in Business and Management, having no idea what to do next. He ended up traveling and in the very last week, in the Philippines, a local brought up the concept of vlogging and that people actually made money with that. With that in his mind, Carson bought a camera back home and flew back to the Philippines just a few weeks after he had arrived. His “go with the flow” attitude and some encouraging words from others helped him to face his uncertainties, becoming a full-time Vlogger about to reach 1M subscribers on his YouTube Channel.
The Philippines wasn’t new for Carson as he did a two-year mission here with his church, from 2012 to 2014. As a 19-year-old, he learned the languages and fell in love with the country and its people. Having that foundation, Carson succeeded in connecting deeply with the country and the local people and has seen many treasures of this beautiful country together with Zowie (read the full interview for his top 5 photography spots!)
Providing added value is the one key aspect that Carson focuses on with his content creation: “To be a real “influencer” and to grow your community with a real, engaged audience, you need to bring value to their lives.” Rather than sharing simply practical information, he wants to achieve that his community actually experiences the Philippines through his videos. Combined with Zowie’s writing skills, it allows them to bring people comprehensive and vivid travel guides.
While focusing on community & quality, all the smaller jobs along the way helped Carson gain confidence. In the full interview, he shares four strategies that helped him in the process of growing as a content creator, one of them being to Just Start: “Stop waiting for the perfect moment to quit your day job or pursue your dream. There will never be a “perfect moment”, so just start!” Being aware of the challenge that lies in this very advice and with the mindset of “the success of others does not mean the absence of your own”, Carson wants to help other up-and-coming creators to succeed.
You can now read the complete interview below!
Interview
Welcome Carson!
You started solo traveling and making videos in 2017, which eventually led to your love for travel photography. When you were younger, did you imagine yourself working as a full time visual creator? How did you get into such a unique career?
When I was younger I never imagined myself working as a full time visual creator. It wasn’t until late 2017 that I even considered making videos as a career and 2020 that I realized I wanted to pursue photography further.
In 2017 I received my bachelor’s degree in Business Management, and I had ZERO clue what I was supposed to do after graduation. I literally didn’t even know where to look for a job. So instead, I took a friend with me to Maui and we worked out there for a summer at a retail store. After the 3 months in Hawaii, I took my first solo backpacking trip to Southeast Asia!
I spent my 3 months in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and finished in the Philippines. In my last week of the Philippines, a local Filipino and I were talking and he brought up the idea of me vlogging in the Philippines. This is the first time learning about vlogging and that people actually made money from it. When I flew home I thought back to that conversation, knowing that I didn’t have any job lined up for me when I got home. After a few weeks of being home, I bought my first camera (Sony a6300) and bought a ticket back to the Philippines with plans to become a full time vlogger!
Eventually you traveled to Asia where you backpacked for two years! Can you tell us a little bit about that experience and how you ended up in the Philippines?
Backpacking in the Philippines wasn’t an accident or a stroke of good luck. At the age of 19 I decided I wanted to serve a 2-year mission for my church (2012-14). After applying for a mission, the leaders of my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) assigned me to Bacolod, Philippines. This is where my love affair with the Philippines began. I had no knowledge about the Philippines beforehand, but I was so stoked to be assigned in a foreign country where I knew I would have to learn a new language!
Before arriving in the Philippines, I studied the local language (Hiligaynon) for two months. Once I arrived in the Philippines, I was assigned to an area that spoke a completely different language, which is called Cebuano or Bisaya. Over the course of two years, I was able to learn both Hiligaynon and Bisaya fluently.
"During my two years as a missionary, I taught a lot of families about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, did many service projects for the community, and fell deeply in love with the Philippines."
Leaving my family for two years at the age of 19 was super tough at the beginning. I got hit hard with culture shock when I first arrived. The first thing I was shocked by was the fact that toilet paper isn’t regularly used, instead you use a bucket of water and your own hand! That definitely took some getting used to. After about 3 or 4 months I got really adjusted and about 6 months in I felt pretty comfortable with the language.
The Filipino hospitality is probably the number one thing people love about the Philippines, and I would have to agree. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been offered food or accommodation from the locals. It seemed that the less a person had, the more they were willing to offer! Absolutely mind blowing to see how selfless these people are. Always smiling no matter what they were going through in life. Always dancing and laughing. The constant positivity is something that craved once I left the Philippines and eventually drew me back once I finished my mission.
The Philippines certainly had an influence on you! And now you are also having an influence on this beautiful country through the visual content you share. What captivated you the most about the Philippines and what led you to ultimately speak the language?
During my mission trip I learned to speak 2 of the local languages fluently, Bisaya and Ilonggo. It was through this interaction that I learned just how incredible Filipino people are. Their culture is so hospitable and kind, they’re generous even if they have very little to give. I’ll never forget speaking to a man on a ferry from Surigao to Cebu and at the end as we were getting off the ferry he asked me where I was staying. I hadn’t booked anywhere yet, so he invited me into his home, with his family, where they housed me and fed me.
Language is HUGE when it comes to connecting with the locals. Because I speak two Filipino languages, I connect and bond with the locals so much deeper than the foreigners who don’t. The locals instantly trust you and you become part of their inner circle. When I visited South America and other Southeast Asian countries, I tried my best to learn as much as I could during my visit. I obviously didn’t become fluent in the few weeks I spent there, but I noticed a different attitude with the locals when they saw me put effort into speaking their language, even if it was just a few sloppy sentences.
"I always make an effort to write down new words every day and slowly learn sentences during my stay in a new country. It’s the number one way to open the hearts of the local people in my opinion."
Besides the great content you are sharing on Instagram, you are also posting consistently on Youtube and soon enough you will reach 1 million followers. Amazing journey! I wonder, what inspired you to document your life in the Philippines in the first place and where would you like to see your channel 3 years from now?
Being able to speak two languages was a major kickstart to my vlogging career, as there aren’t too many American guys who can interact with the locals in their own language, and even fewer who vlog. But if it wasn’t for that local I was speaking to at the end of my first backpacking trip who told me to vlog, I probably would’ve ended up in some 9-5 desk job. So I guess I owe a lot to him for planting the seed! As far as my channel in the next 3 years, obviously I’d love to see it continue to grow, but I’d also love to use it as a basis to help other hopeful creators take the big step towards becoming full-time vloggers, particularly here in the Philippines.
Looking back on my own path, I’m pretty dang surprised I decided to leave Utah and move to the Philippines to vlog. I had no experience vlogging beforehand and honestly have always felt pretty uncomfortable in front of the camera. I’ve always been a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, so that’s exactly what I did. All I knew is that I had no idea what job I should pursue, and I refused to settle for a boring desk job. It all just kind of happened and next thing you know I landed in the Philippines with my camera with no clear direction. My first week vlogging I started having doubts and almost convinced myself to go home. My older sister encouraged me to give it a shot because I would regret moving back home and not knowing where I could have ended up if I would have continued. So, after receiving that message, I never looked back and have now been vlogging fulltime in the Philippines for 3 years now!
You and your partner Zowie have now traveled extensively through the Philippines. Can you please share with us 5 top photography spots that surprised you?
We’ve definitely seen a lot of the Philippines together! We’re up to like 35/81 provinces, I think. There’s beauty in every corner of this country, but my top 5 photography spots would have to be:
1) Siargao – it’s one of the most photogenic places in the world. Rows upon rows of endless coconut trees, windy rivers through dense jungle, and the deep blue of the Pacific.
2) El Nido – The landscape here is so unique with towering limestone cliffs and islands dotting the sea. We’re here right now on a photography trip so keep an eye out for those photos dropping soon on my Instagram!
3) South Cebu – Just about everyone has heard or at least seen photos of Kawasan Falls, and for good reason. She’s a beauty. But there are hundreds of waterfalls with that same crazy blue all over South Cebu that make for some epic shots.
4) Camiguin – This is actually where Zowie was born so she’s shown me every hidden spot there is on the island. Just picture Jurassic Park, and you’ll have a pretty accurate image of Camiguin, minus the dinosaurs, plus a volcano.
5) Negros Oriental – We were actually locked down for 10 months in Negros which is the longest we’ve ever stayed in one place. This gave us plenty of time to take photos of just about everywhere in the province. From waterfalls, to diving, to hidden lagoons, we got to know Negros Oriental real well.
What led you to decide to travel and create content together? How is it to be creating content in these idyllic locations together with someone else close to you?
I slid into her DMs back before DMs were even a thing, back in 2016. We had a mutual love for the Philippines which is how we got to know each other in the first place. Fast forward two years to the end of 2018, she was in Cebu with her parents, I was in Cebu with a friend from the States and we decided to finally meet up in person. We spent a few days all together – her parents, my friend – in South Cebu, which is when she decided to quit her job in Australia and come backpack with me for three months.
Three months turned into two years pretty quickly, and we’ve been creating content together the whole time. The vlog grew rapidly when she joined, as people loved seeing the dynamic of a foreign guy speaking the local language, and his Filipina girlfriend not being able to. It’s also made photography a lot more inspiring, as I always have a model who’s down to stand in front of a freezing waterfall for as long as it takes to get the shot.
You mentioned, “If there’s a waterfall to jump off somewhere in nature away from the other tourists, that’s where you’ll find me!” We are curious to know, to this day, what has been your most remarkable moment outdoors?
I’ve had so many moments where I’ve been absolutely blown away by the outdoors, but there is one specific hike that I can never forget. While living in Maui, my friends and I tried our hardest to find places away from other tourists, which is really difficult in a place like Maui. One night we heard some locals talking about ‘Commando Hike’. So my friend and I did all the research we could online and went looking for it one morning.
To this day, this hike ended up being my all-time favorite! It was such a raw experience climbing through vines, up a waterfall located inside a cave, which eventually ended up at two perfect waterfalls made for cliff jumping. Obviously there was not another soul in sight and it was honestly such a mind blowing experience.
There really is nothing that gets me more excited than finding a hidden waterfall, especially going into it with no expectations only to be blown away!
What opportunities that have come along on your professional path helped you to gain confidence in your work and in approaching potential clients? What did you learn and how did these projects contribute to your success, you think?
In the beginning I was stoked to be contacted by any brand, big or small. It took a while to land a job with a big brand, but all the smaller jobs along the way helped me gain confidence in my own work and see my progression over time. I learned that you don’t need to have the biggest name in the industry, you just need to provide value to the client.
When it comes to social media management, you have been able to grow an impressive online community yourself. What have you learned are the most important strategies or tactics to take into account when trying to build your brand on social media?
I think one of the most important things to center your online presence on is adding value. The internet is saturated with people not really doing a whole lot and being called “influencers”. To be a real “influencer” and to grow your community with a real, engaged audience, you need to bring value to their lives. In the vlog, I provide relief from their daily grind, showing them a mix of entertainment and travel. I’ve never been much into informative vlogs, like this is where you buy a ticket, this is exactly how much I spent the entire time, etc. That’s not my style, I leave that to others. I just want to show people that the Philippines is a beautiful place, and you can have a heck of a lot of fun exploring it with locals. And in that, I’ve created a community of real-life people who experience fun through my videos.
Zowie is the informative type though, so we’ve combined our skills – her writing, my photography – to also bring people comprehensive travel guides on our website nopostcode.com. So, if people just want to have fun, they can watch the vlog, but if people want to know every little detail about a place, they can go to our website where Zowie’s put all that together using my photos.
Among all the photos you have shared on social media, could you share with us three photos you are really proud of? What are the reasons these photos are so special to you?
The first photo is probably my favorite drone shot to date. This bent coconut tree is located in Siargao Island and has become super popular in the last few years. My first time visiting Siargao was in October 2017, I remember passing by this tree thinking how cool it was. Fast forward a year later, Jacob Riglin (@Jacob) takes a photo on top of this tree and slowly this tree becomes one of the major tourists destinations on the island! This photo has become one of my favorites because it is different than all the hundred other drone shots at this location. It is taken on the opposite side that most people shoot from, which has created a perfect reflection of the clouds in the sky. Also timed perfectly with two locals climbing the tree before the tourists come flocking in early in the morning.
The second photo I’m really proud of also happens to be located at the same Maasin River, just a kilometer or so downstream. I love this photo so much because it is a perfect representation of the raw Filipino life I love so much. Just a young girl crossing the river on a canoe by herself in the middle of the jungle.
The third photo is one I took recently in Oslob, Cebu. I had recently bought a cheap dome for my GoPro and the Whale Shark experience is one of my first attempts at shooting with it. Editing underwater photos is something I’ve been working on within the past few months. It takes A LOT of time to get a GoPro shot looking good, so I’m not only proud of the shot, but how the photo turned out after editing. The Whale Shark experience is definitely a controversial topic, which my girlfriend did a good job addressing on our website nopostcode.com.
What strategies do you think have allowed you to succeed in the industry? What four pieces of advice would you give to anyone pursuing a career as a content creator?
1) Only pursue it if it’s something you’re really passionate about, otherwise you’ll burn out and most likely not make it in the long run. It’s not for everyone, but it’s incredibly rewarding if you do love it.
2) Don’t worry about only posting perfect content. The more you practice, the better you become, and you’ll eventually develop your own style.
3) Just start. Stop waiting for the perfect moment to quit your day job or pursue your dream. There will never be a “perfect moment” so just start.
Can you give us an insight in your dreams as a visual creator? What are projects you would love to work on and why?
I’ve learned that the success of others does not mean the absence of your own, so instead of viewing other creators as competition, I want to empower and encourage up and coming creators to succeed. I’d love to share what I’ve learned with other young people who, like myself, may have no idea what to do with their lives and they can’t see themselves in a 9-5. We’re so lucky to live in a world where we have more options than a desk job or a trade, and I’d love to help other people pursue their visual creator dreams.
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