‘My Life Offline’ creator discusses formula for a successful season
There are many adjectives that can describe the work and essence of Maureen Aladin, creator of the new hit docuseries, My Life Offline.
Writer. Producer. Creative. Visionary. Resilient.
In particular, one adjective sticks out further than the “magical” pun often associated with her name – confident.
Maureen is no stranger to the production industry and the twists and turns required to create content that people love. As the Creative Director and Executive Producer of Twelve18 Media, Inc., Maureen uses her background in broadcast, digital, and branded content to invite natural hair enthusiasts into the lives of three of YouTube’s biggest vloggers, Vaughn Monroe, MsVaughnTV, Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey, (BeautifulBrwnBabyDol) and Chime Edwards (HairCrush) when they are offline.
My Life Offline debuted on February 2 and recently celebrated eight episodes that promoted the personal, professional, mental and spiritual growth of three unique black women with the mission to live their purpose, expand their brands, and deliver quality content to their audiences.
We recently caught up with Maureen to discuss the (bright) future of My Life Offline. The first season grossed nearly 80,000 views and caught the attention of major media and blogs including Essence, Blavity, and Naturally Curly. In light of her newfound success, Maureen reveals three factors that helped make the execution and delivery of the show look flawless with a small squad and while ballin’ on a thin budget:
Vision
“You get confidence from believing in yourself and
your vision.”
The idea for My Life Offline was born after Maureen filmed a live broadcast of natural hair vloggers. The group had recently created a parody about the lack of patience black women and men had for growing their natural hair and discussed the negative comments from the viewers. Maureen quickly saw that the audience liked the raw dialogue from their favorite YouTubers and My Life Offline emerged three years later.
For a while, Maureen has admired the work of YouTube vloggers and their ability to create contagious brands online. When asked about her early vision of the show, she says, “I wanted to show people the work put into creating a brand and how they [YouTubers] have to learn how to make that brand ‘stick’ outside of YouTube.”
Maureen selected the current cast based on several factors. The vloggers had to have a large and engaged following and have personalities and energies that could light up a room. Most importantly, she looked for positivity.
“I looked for women who are motivated, educated, and have a positive image. I want people to see what their NOT seeing on reality TV,” says Maureen.
When talking about having a vision, Maureen offers the five tips above to achieve success.
Faith
“I trust God in everything that I do. He doesn’t give us ideas in vain.”
During the filming of My Life Offline, Maureen recalls a test of faith when her funds to travel from Chicago to Mississippi became scarce. She was determined to get to Mississippi, and contemplated sleeping in a rental car. To prevent herself from becoming anxious, Maureen opened up her Bible app and said that God showed her that everything would be “all right” and not to “worry” through scripture. After closing the app, she immediately received a text from a mentor and secured the remaining production funds for her last stop in Mississippi.
“I believe in God so much that my confidence comes from him,” she says with assurance. “There are going to be highs and lows in life. You have to always find your way back to believing that things will work out through Him.”
Collaboration
“My team is smart and always puts 100% in what they do.”
Based on her experiences in film and production, Maureen knew that taking on My Life Offline would be an impossible task without a dream squad. Although her team is small, she is content with finding other like-minded individuals who share her passion and vision to make the show a success.
“I love my team because everyone is focused and does their part in confidence,” says Maureen. “I think it is so important to find people that you actually like to work with. The process [production] is already hard enough.”
What’s Next?
My Life Offline has already attracted new opportunities for Maureen and her team. In the future, she hopes that a bigger digital platform or a television network will pick up the show to reach a larger audience. As for now, she is working on the next season of another project; Casa de Vara (Learn more about the show here) and looking for new cast members of My Life Offline. Is it you?
Watch Season One of My Life Offline here. If you are a natural hair vlogger or would like to nominate a natural hair vlogger for Season Two, watch Maureen’s thank you video and find out the requirements in the description.
