For this week’s Spotlight On feature, we spoke to social media star Robyn Trout.
Robyn is best known for sharing beauty and fashion content on Instagram and TikTok, and she also co-hosts The Rent Free Podcast with popular makeup artist Ciara Ryan.
In her exclusive interview with Goss.ie, Robyn spoke about balancing content creating with college, her ADHD diagnosis, and the pros and cons of having a large online following.
Read our full chat with Robyn below:
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Your social media platform has grown massively over the past few months. What has that been like?
It’s been great. I’ve always loved taking pictures daily since a young age and felt like I had a really creative head on my shoulders so Instagram is a great outlet for me.
I can’t really remember the first time I started noticing my following going up, I try not to obsess over numbers, but I think posting what I like and what I’m interested in has certainly been noticed and I think people can relate hopefully in some shape or form.
I’ve been big into makeup and beauty since a young age, and the fashion content just followed naturally. The podcast has also been a huge help in getting my name out there. I didn’t expect it to get so big or to receive the numbers it has received so quickly, but I’m delighted!
How would you describe your style?
I think my style is very classic. My mam told me that from a young age I’d always pair colours together for my outfits, and whinge if she put something on me that wasn’t “fashionable” at the time, which sounds funny coming from a 5 year old.
I remember flicking through magazines from a young age and loving the neutral and bronzy looks, and I haven’t steered to far from them styles since then. I’ve always loved taking inspiration from the environment around me – greens, stones, beiges, whites and creams.
I don’t usually stray too far from the minimalistic colour palette, but you can’t go wrong with a bold statement either! I do believe fashion and style is subjective though, and people who are confident in their own style always shine out most to me!
Would you like content creating/social media to be your full-time job or have you any other dream jobs?
If I could post my outfits and beauty products that I love daily and call it my full-time job I’d be laughing! I would love to be a presenter on TV or a host though, I love having the chats and voicing my opinion. I’m such an expressive person, and I also think sometimes the stereotype stigma around the “influencer” as a profession is so outdated now, why look at someone differently for doing something they love every day?
While I do think social media is great, sometimes it can get overwhelming and some days or times in your life need to be private in my opinion, so having a fall back is a must. I’ve always loved acting and still do jobs, and I’m hugely interested in Interior Design and Architecture, the space you live in is so important to your mental wellbeing. I love all the construction side of housing, weirdly enough and I’d love to dive more into doing takes on interiors and spaces. A host on an interior design show, that’d be great fun.
How do you manage your college studies while finding the time to create content for your social media?
I won’t lie, it’s tough! At the moment it’s probably one of my biggest struggles as my course is so full on this year. I’m currently doing an internship as a director/editor of a documentary series in Temple Bar, which is amazing and I’m loving it, but finding time (and daylight) for social media content can prove to be difficult some weeks, but it’s all about balance.
I don’t look at social media as a hassle, just something I enjoy doing, so I try not put too much pressure on myself! I do have big plans though for my platforms when this course if finished and can’t wait to dive into them.
You recently launched a podcast with fellow social media star Ciara Ryan ‘The Rent Free Podcast’. Tell us about the podcast and how it came about.
It’s actually a funny story. Myself and Ciara had only ever met once or twice in person before deciding to do a podcast together. We just clicked.
We had known each other through mutual friends going years back and started chatting more through lockdown and Ciara just voice messaged me one day being like “am I being crazy or is a podcast a really good idea?” As soon as she said it, I hopped on the idea, we both love talking non-stop about anything and everything for hours, so why not record it?
Ciara’s great and such a fresh breath of air to be around, so it’s been so much fun doing it with her. We both have been working like crazy at getting it to where it needs to be and we hopefully have a recording studio on the cards, manifesting!
One stand-out episode from the podcast is the ‘My Mind Doesn’t Feel Great Today’ episode, where you opened up about your ADHD diagnosis for the first time. What inspired you to speak so openly about your mental health and what was the reaction to that episode like?
I think it was really important to me to voice my experience with ADHD so other young women didn’t have to feel the way I felt for so long. A diagnosis like ADHD still has so much stigma around it especially in the workplace and online, so publishing that episode was certainly nerve wrecking, but the feedback made it so worth it.
I was reached out to by hundreds of girls who felt the exact same as me and didn’t realise they too might not have been diagnosed yet, or even worse some of them were wrongly diagnosed with depression, just because they didn’t know what was going on in their head.
Some girls even messaged me to say they are young teachers and will keep an eye on the girls in their class incase they show early signs of ADHD/ADD, this was really emotional for me to hear because I wish I had a teacher who might have picked it up at my early stages, but I can’t look back in life and wish anything was different, it has all made me who I am today!
I still struggle with the ADHD, it’s not something that just goes away after diagnosis but I have my good and bad days (or weeks) and really wanted to spread some light on the topic for other girls, and would love to do more talks on it if I had the chance!
Social media comes with a lot of pros and cons. Have you had any experiences with online trolling? If so, how do you deal with that?
I haven’t had much trolling thank god. I get the odd message here and there but I like to just turn a blind eye to it. I actually find them a bit funny, nothing in life is too serious if you don’t give it the mental attention it craves. I’m more focused on myself and my career at the moment. I’m big into manifesting and love working daily on getting myself to where I dreamed of being since a young age.
I’ve recently been in touch with some modelling agencies which is a little childhood dream of mine, and also have some exciting auditions for shows coming up. My biggest plans are to progress my social media and get cracking into the presenting/TV world, I think I’d really shine there. So because of this, I have no time for haters, as nobody should!
It is more a reflection of them and not the person they’re trolling, so I just try to remember that when it happens.
