Over the past few years of my life, I have become accustomed to encompassing social media into my life.
In one way or another, it finds some way to fiddle with my life. Even though technology isn’t some sort of human with feelings, it somehow still remains to be the “main character in my life.” But I can’t say I’m surprised—I’m literally a part of the generation when technology started to become a normality for everyone.
Although the privilege of having social media has its advantages and drawbacks, the one component that I think makes it the most advantageous to utilize is the fact that influencers are becoming more “authentic.”
What I mean by this is that it’s now normal for people to show the sides of their lives that maybe aren’t as bright or appealing simply because that’s what is genuine. That is what makes their content so authentic—rather than artificial.
However, this idea of not always being a quote “highlight reel”—someone who only shows when life is going well—was not always a direction influencers turned to. It was a pattern I started to notice de-escalate after the infamous “global pandemic” that killed millions of lives.
But even so, it goes without saying that there is not just one influencer who has joined in this trail of “authenticity”; multiple have. The people I feel are the best role models for this style of influencing are content creators Jess and Gabriel Conte.
For those who are unaware, Jess and Gabriel Conte are a married couple most well-known on YouTube. Jess is from Australia, and Gabriel is from the US. On one magical day in 2019, their paths crossed, and now almost five years later, they are happily married with their dog Mylo and their daughter Makaiah.
Aside from their YouTube channel, Jess and Gabriel engage in a lot of side hustles and secret projects such as singing at live shows throughout the country, creating their own coffee brand, making their own merch company, and now creating their own podcast: So Far So Good. And I must say—just from listening to the first few episodes—this podcast is far more than just good.
And I must say, just from listening to the first few episodes, this podcast is far more than just good.
I thought I attained the “Superfan” status after following their “Conteam” (what they call their viewers online) for years now, and I thought I could ace a fan quiz about them online. But, after I listened to the podcast, I realized that there were so many aspects of their life that they had to share with both me and the rest of the world.
The podcast itself almost felt like a ‘coffee chat,’ which, by the way, is my absolute favorite type of podcast. You know you’ve found a great podcast when you feel like you are in the room listening in on the conversation or listening to it as you’re drinking coffee.
Especially being an avid fan of Jess and Gabriel myself, it was really pleasurable to be able to experience Jess and Gabriel in another light and talk about topics that they normally wouldn’t discuss on Instagram or YouTube.
For example, anyone who’s watched their YouTube channel would pretty much know their backstory about how Jess used to be a fangirl of Harry Styles before meeting Gabriel. The first episode of the podcast leads in with this and the upbringing of Jess and Gabriel’s backstory and how Jess “DM’d her celebrity crush, then married him.”
This, to me, is an incredible way to start any podcast because they not only assume that not all of their viewers know who they are, but they treat everyone the same and start from the beginning, no matter how familiar you are with them and their story.
In the second episode, Jess and Gabriel go on to talk about why they don’t show their baby on the internet; which frankly left me speechless. In my eyes, they seem like the couple who’d adore sharing all aspects of their life on the internet and making mini video diaries about their life.
But when I started to hear out the reasons as to why they, as a family, made that decision, it started to make sense in my mind. What makes hearing about this topic even more interesting is that Jess and Gabriel are considerate about their opinions and go out of their way to provide a disclaimer about how this episode is a reflection of their own opinions and not what other people choose to do with their children on the internet.
But, If I had to pick one aspect of this podcast that sets it apart from the numerous amounts of other podcasts I’ve listened to; it would be the display. The display could truly not have been laid out any better than it was. Not only is the cover perfect, but so is the little blurb about the podcast, the review section, and my favorite part, seeing Jess and Gabriel while actually listening to the podcast on Spotify.
Not only did this make the sound quality better, but yet again, added to the authenticity of it. Jess and Gabriel are some of the most genuinely entertaining couples on the internet, and this podcast only showed even more how legitimate they are as people on their own.
ZSB • Jan 13, 2024 at 7:22 am
just came across this news as i googled them after their latest announcement video about them being done with youtube and the SFSG podcast. the end of an era…….