UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Johnathon Sauer

Hi, I'm Jonathan Sower and you're listening to Outspoken. I'd go anywhere and it was always your so and those ex not you're Jonathan. So just being known for your own person, I guess was probably the most frustrating thing. I feel like most of my friends don't even know that, and most of my following especially don't know that.

Wow, we're just going to be dropping bombs in this interview today.

One day that it was like a weekend and Maddie was out drinking with a few friends and she just replied to one of my stories lit in the DMS.

She's in the DM.

Hello, and welcome to a very special episode of Outspoken. This is our first Under the Influence episode, and today we're joined by influencer Jonathan Souer. We were first introduced to Jonathan, of course, through his highly publicized relationship with YouTuber Shannie Grimmond. Now, the former accountant turned social media sensation is making a name for himself for all the

Yeah, that's correct, I haven't been on you, but it's super excited.

Well, thank you. Now, a lot of people will know you from Instagram and YouTube, but a lot of us don't know the real Jonathan. Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like growing up in Queensland.

So I originally grew up in Rockcanton, which is like a small town about seven hundred kilometers north of Brisbane, And so I grew up there.

Playing sport and then also I did a lot of study in and came in Accountain that way. So I was never obviously I never.

Started off during the social media side until I moved to Brisbane when I was about nineteen or twenty.

And what were you like at school? Were you a pretty good student? I suppose getting into accounting.

I was one of those kids that kind of just as soon as I was shown once with everything, I was just kind of clicked. I was really good with like mass wasn't really good. It wasn't the best with the English and stuff like that. But I was also wondering that just pick things up really quickly and just learned really quickly. So I was one of those probably kind of kids that kind of just distracted everyone because I'd picked things up really quickly.

When you were younger, was there something that you always wanted to be growing up?

Yeah, So basically I just wanted to I always wanted like an office job because I saw my dad work in an office at some stage, and it was just something to do with the whole business and running my own business, and it's just kind of one of the things that I kind of grew.

Up with my whole family just working with other people, and so I'm.

Not sure where I got it from, but I always just wanted to own my own business and work for myself, and that was always like a big goal for me, and so I guess that's a big reason why I kind of got out of the accounting as well and started working for myself.

And so, can you tell us what it was like before you became insta famous? So obviously you had this job in accounting, So were you not enjoying the job very much.

No, so I worked.

So when I came out of high school, I did full time unique straight away and I did it for about six months, and then I got referred onto from my one of my lecturers that an accounting firm was like taking in like basically like an internship, but I was getting paid. It was basically just working as an accountant and just studying full time.

So I did that for about seven years.

I worked for an accounting accounting firm between three different months, and I loved what I did. I loved my job, and then I moved to Brisbane. I was working for that accounting firm for about five and a half years and I loved it. I had no intentions of believing it,

I love working that. And then it just got to a stage where I was missing.

Out on a lot and I started and I started my own business from there.

Now a lot of people who listened to us would know you, of course from your ex and her YouTube channel. Of course, that's how I suppose everyone was introduced to you. Was that a very strange world to be introduced into, because I suppose you're going from you know, normal life, going to UNI working and then to suddenly be taken into this influence a world. What was it like?

Yeah, it was weird.

I guess at the start it was it wasn't too bad because obviously the following wasn't too big, and we kind of like grew as we grew together kind of thing.

And then from there, you.

Know, go into the shops and getting I guess, like people recognizing you everywhere, and you know, sometimes it'll get to the point where people would be just in like tears and shaking. And that was something that I still never you can never get used to, I guess, like having that much of an influence.

So do someone do you get that on a daily basis? Say you're work walking down the street with of course your lovely new girlfriend Madison Well and she's obviously got a following as well. Will you guys just get stopped on a daily basis, probably.

Not too much on a daily Like, it depends where you are. I guess, like it's a lot about followers. I guess, like the younger younger demographic as well, So it depends where you are.

If you go to like certain.

Shopping centers or those kind of areas where that they kind of like hang out, you do get stopped a lot more. I know, on like nights out, it's a lot. I guess it's a lot worse people like drinking and influence of like alcohol and stuff are just it's easier for them to come up to you and like speak to you because I've had like a few drinks and that kind of thing as well.

Yeah, what about your family? So, for example, if you're at Christmas Day and you're talking to your relatives about what you do, do they understand what it is to be an influencer? Are they sort of surprised by the whole thing?

They were super surprised and like kind of weird and about it for the first couple of years. But now I think my immediate family are kind of like used to it. But once my cousins and other people outside of that would see it for the first time. They just wouldn't believe it until they really skinned And so my family would tell my extended family, and I couldn't understand it really until they kind of like sawt it for themselves. But there's been weird things that have happened

Be weird as a parent, because I suppose it's still a very new job an influencer. And I mean even for you being an accountant, did you used to have influences come to you and you're kind of like, oh, what do I put this down.

As a job or yeah, no, it was.

It was something I was super new, especially with my accounting firm and my boss, because I guess they're a bit like the older generation and they kind of don't understand it either, And they were very like at the start, they were very concerned that it wasn't going to be something else going to be around.

For a while. They didn't really take it seriously.

And it wasn't until they realized that people are taking it on as a full time job that they really take took it seriously as well.

Yeah, and what you touched on before, it is a business. These days, you run your own business. So to someone who might not understand, how do influencers make money.

I guess influencers these days there's all there's kind of all different ones. But really what happens is they have their own platform and I guess their own niche, and people follow them because they like them for a certain I guess style, for their own or for their own niche as well. So mine's kind of like fashion fitness kind of feels. So people would follow me for that.

Kind of stuff. A brand would come.

To me and say, we like your style, it fits in with our brand. Would you like to work with us? And if so, we'll do a deal together. And so from there, I will promote their clothing or something that I like. Obviously, then the brand would would want my followers to buy stuff, so they would.

Only kind of promote in a way.

That they know that they're going to make a return and it's going to be relevant from my kind of following. But then again, like I always think that obviously, doing the influencer kind of thing is a massive thing that that's going to start off the rest of your life. So you have to be smart enough to really create something else on top of that, and that's where like your real business really starts because you have that platform.

That's really cool. And obviously there's a lot of positives that come from being an influencer, but I would assume there's lots of negatives. And you know, you see people who are being trolled online and that kind of thing. What would be the most negative thing about being an influencer?

I guess there's a lot of There is a lot of that negative troll and you know, people just sitting behind their keyboards and stuff like that. But there's also like a massive stigma around influencers and them doing no work and everything taking it easily. And there's a lot of influencers out there that really take advantage of a lot of people and they get told they're stuck up and things like that. So people really as soon as you say you're in that kind of field, that will

What makes sense?

Yeah, and what ways do you go about trying to break that stigma with the brands and people that you work with.

I always just make sure that I try and just stay real and authentic. I never try and promote anything that I haven't used or anything like that.

And I guess just with the anything I post.

I just try to be real about it and not trying and put a fake For saner On, I think that's a big reason why I guess a lot of my followers have taken a good liking to me as well.

And do you think it's also about perhaps not aligning with yourself with those people who could be perceived in that negative light as well? I suppose there's an influencer you must go to these events where there's perhaps people that are putting a bad light on other influence. Is it important to you who you align yourself with as well?

Yeah, that is a big thing as well. Like I know people in the past have had that kind of issue.

And what is it actually like being at one of those influencer events, because we obviously see the videos and the Insta stories and it looks like most of the time people are just on their phones or I don't know, Can you sort of give us an insight into the reality of being at one of those events.

I think for myself, it's actually one of my favorite events to go to other ones that are influent events because you really are a lot of the time you don't get to catch up with a lot of the influencers. So I know myself, I catch myself all the time just having too much fun and catching up with a lot of people that I actually don't see for a long time instead of being on my phone.

But that's just me.

You do see a lot of the people that are just constantly taken a lot of photos and are they're just basically get some content.

And then leave. So I think you really kind of have a couple of different kind of people that are there.

But it is it's one of those things that where everything goes, everything's over the top.

The brands are really trying.

To get over the top design and styling and stuff like that.

Just so people do post a lot more as well.

Sof and I we run our own business. We run a public relations business, so we actually work from home and often sometimes we feel of a little bit of guilt. You know, you always have to feel like you're doing something constantly. Do you feel like that sometimes because you've gone from the nine to five job and obviously you can work from the comfort of your own house, do you often feel guilty.

Yeah, that's a massive thing.

I know, Money and myself were because we're at home most of the time together.

Doing our work.

And it's especially with our kind of personality, like we love to be busy and we hate when we're not busy.

So that's a massive thing. Like it's the guilt.

And then also just I get bored a lot and I get I guess like stressed as well. When I don't have a lot of work like that, I like to keep myself busy all the time. And then I guess the other side of that where people don't really notice as well, is especially when you're by yourself and you don't have like other influences around you, and does kind of get like lonely if that makes sense, at home because you go a whole day and you don't speak with another human.

Yeah, it's such a strange concept because your whole life is based around I suppose, filming yourself taking photos. But then do you find that you kind of just become in your own little world because you're just focusing on you, And I know I always find that would be this, I think the strangest part of it because you're on social media, so you're being social, but then, as you say, you're at home by yourself, So it's kind of quite contradictory the lifestyle, isn't it.

Yeah, definitely I noticed that a lot when I was in Brisbane, like probably the last year, and I kind of got myself away from that. I'm having Most of my best friends were all like Trady's and people that really didn't use social media, and I kind of like, I like that because then I could separate myself from what I was doing as well, because you're always, I guess, like expected to post most days, post a lot of stories and that kind of thing.

So I kind of us that that was my way of escaping it.

But now being down in I guess in Sydney and being around a lot more people that did a similar thing, and I guess when you're just really happy with how your life is, it's a lot easier for you just to get a lot of content as well. And it's it just comes like second nature to us now, so we just do our own thing at home, but then when we go out and actually do things, it's easy just to just I guess, like natural now for us to get that kind of content.

And you've obviously been into quite high profile relationships which have both played out online. What is it like having a relationship so public.

I don't think it's it's had any issues.

Maddie and I are just basically just too normal people that we just live our own lives every now and then we have to like answer a few questions about certain things.

But both of us haven't been in the same industry.

I think it's been like the best thing that's happened to us, I know myself anyway, just having someone there that you can just like speak to about anything, like ask for their opinion, and we just motivate each other all the time with everything that we do. So for me, it's like, I don't have any issues with it because we are just two normal people that we go and just do our whole lives together, just completely normal.

It's just that I guess people think of you a little.

Bit differently, and every now and then you have to answer a few questions about that.

And people will talk about it.

But yeah, it's really just motivating. We just motivate each other and it's actually really helpful.

And I'm so sorry because I know x's are a bit of a touchy topic. But was it quite difficult having your breakup played out online? Because I know it was one of Shiny Kruman's most viewed videos, and I know, like it would be quite difficult having that information out there also on the other person, you know, the other person bringing out those breakups hard enough without it being over social Mediaah, No.

It was.

I guess it was difficult in certain certain ways. More just the fact of trying to be myself and trying to be myself in public. So a lot of people would just constantly just they know me through her, and it was just I'd go anywhere and it was always your so and so those ex not You're.

Jonathan, Yeah, if that makes sense.

So just being known for your own person, I guess was probably the most frustrating thing, and that was the hard part about it, But the rest of it was it was quite easy.

Like you do have people that talk about it.

But I feel like in any kind of thing these days in the world, you always kind of you're going to have people that talk about you in different ways, and it's just how you deal with it, I guess.

And obviously you're with an extremely You're in a fantastic relationship now with Madison, And we've had a little bit about how the two of you met, but you you've sort of spoken a bit about on YouTube, But are you able to explain to our listeners how you guys.

Met MADDI lived in Brisbane for a while and we knew each other's like basically I knew every single one of her friends before I met her. She was the last one of the whole friendship group, and we have a lot of mutual friends and we've been at events and just lots of different things together, but we didn't even know.

And I guess it's been in like the influencer world. Do you speak to a lot of other.

Influences just through social media a lot easier than you do with everyone else.

And one day that it.

Was like a weekend and Maddie was out drinking with a few friends and she just replied to one of my stories.

And she split in the DMS.

She the DM.

Is that one of those things I'll always have over now exactly.

Oh, that's a cool story. Do you kind of you've got those first little first little message as well?

Yeah, from from there, she because she was living in Sydney at the time and I was living in Brisbane, and then from then on she was basically coming back to Brisbane like uh.

Five days later.

And then we end up meeting out our friendship groups met out at a bar and we kind of had drinks together from then and then caught up again a couple of weeks later, a couple of days later.

And then we just yeah, I was down in Sydney a.

Lot for work, and I had shoots and stuff down here, so we just kept kept catching up after that and it kind of went from there.

That's cool. I mean, I've my boyfriend used to live in Sydney and we did long distance three years, so I know how difficult it is. But was it made a little bit easier for you having that flexible lifestyle, being able to go back, you know, to and from Brisbane and Sydney.

No, it was, it was, It was actually really easy. We basically only spent before I moved down here. I think we spent two weeks away from each other in one block, which when Matt was when Maddie went overseas.

Other than that, I think we spent maybe.

I think it was under a week where we hadn't spent like a week together, and that was that was the moment we hadn't spent together. So obviously with our job, we can work anywhere from what with Wi Fi and our laptops. And it was actually good because I was getting a lot more work done when I was around her because she was kind of motivating me in that sense, which was also another really good thing.

So it worked out really well.

That's heaps good and from what we've seen of the videos that you guys have done together, you seem to be I'm going to put it out there the best boyfriend of Instagram, and I'm pretty sure that he's a pretty good girlfriend of Instagram too. What would be your tips? Because my boyfriend hates taking photographs, we went on a European holiday and it was not good. What would be your advice to boyfriends out there on how to be a good boyfriend of Instagram.

Oh, that's a hard one.

I feel like you just got to be very very patient and supportives, and basically you just got to ask a lot of questions. You just gotta if you do round one when you're taking photos, you do round one and basically just asking what's wrong with it?

What is you?

James?

And then just go from there.

That's some very good advice. And what about and what about for men wanting to take their own photos as well? Your Instagram feed obviously is very impressive. Do you have any tips about for men about how to take good photos of themselves as well and getting a bit more creative in their content.

Yeah, that's a good one as well. I just kind of like being different.

I try and I follow a few people from overseas like that. I like them for inspiration, but I'm one of those people that have always kind of just like, if Maddie says that she likes it photo, I would have been like, Okay, I might not like it that much, but she's gonna be honest with me, and if she likes it.

I feel like everyone else is gonna like it.

So I always ask for advice and if someone if she says she does like it, I just it.

And we've seen in the past, you've been creating a lot of videos about you know, fashion, which are great for men because there's really not that much stuff out there for them. Is that something you're looking at creating more of.

Yeah, definitely.

I think it's a bit harder for like maybe the last month I haven't been able to do it, but I am looking to do it as soon as possible again, especially with like the festival season coming up.

But I just felt like the exact same.

I saw a guy do it overseas about six months ago, and I've been looking at it for a long time and I was like, this is really cool. I would love to do it, and it's something that I feel like styling. There's something I've always loved to try and

That's really cool. You mentioned obviously you get a lot of messages from girls on there, and we always hear these horror stories about female influencers getting sent I suppose, like you know, unsolicited photos. As a male influencer, do you ever get sent anything you feel a bit uncomfortable about?

Oh, yeah, there's definitely. So.

I feel like there's a big stigma around guys, mean, like really really bad and girls doing nothing. Yeah.

I feel like when you really see it, it's i'd say, it's just as bad really.

Ah. Yeah, you get some and it's always at the worst time as well, when you're not expecting something like.

That we were talking to you.

You look at it and you're like, oh.

Well, that's yeah, we were talking to an influencer we know. And she was saying that it's hard because the photos will show up as little tiles and you have to sort of click on it to see what it is.

You're like, oh, my god, exactly.

And I try, and over the last couple of months, I've really tried to get back to everyone on my social media and like try and reply as much as I can. And it's hard because, like you, you really aren't expecting it, and you'll get someone with like you'll get like a young person send your message and they'll be just like being really nice and being so innocent, and then you really don't expect it.

And the next one it is do something just super graphic, and.

We're talking about obviously, well, I suppose these an't really nice messages, but these are from people who admire you. But just back to the issue of trolling, what would you say to people out there who do troll influencers.

I actually reply to some people sometimes when they do send those kind of messages to me, and I just replied to them and say, like they really need to just think before they send those messages.

I'm lucky where I can just let it go.

But I said, there's so many people out there that, you know, have mental issues, and it's because of people like them that they and they need to really like think twice before they send something. I always grew up with my parents always saying, you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.

But you know, there's so many people, like, the.

Suicide thing is just such a big, such a big problem at the moment, and and there's so many, so many boyses out there that are trying to help it and trying to improve everything. And then there's there's still these guys that are still sending those trolling messages.

And what do you think the worst thing you've had someone say to you?

Ah, there's been some really bad but you know, just telling yourself that you need to kill yourself and all those kind of things, they're just, yeah, there's some really bad things.

I don't think it gets any worse than that.

It's disgusting. It's so shocking that people have this need to go and tell people that, Like, I'm sure if they saw you face to face, they wouldn't have the guts to say any of it.

Yeah, exactly right.

And I think there's a lot of people that just you know, they create these fake accounts and then just send out these messages. I'm guessing they send the same message out to a lot of people. But if they don't have an issue with me, why watch my videos? Why watch my follow me for a start, which I guess is helping me. Yeah, in a way, I'm fine. You keep following me if you want, but your messages aren't going to affect me.

And it must be tough as well in that situation as a boyfriend of an influencer as well, because I mean, you know, if I was copying abuse, my boyfriend want to step in and say something, but then you know, it's a difficult territory.

Yeah, exactly, it's just super protective. But I'm burried exactly the same. Like if I got a message about Mattie, I would say something like I find it hard to say not say something back to it to that person as well.

What I find so surprising though, is someone like you, you only put out sort of really positive content, both yourself and madisone, and for somebody to say that to you, you know, go kill yourself. You just think what is going on in that person's life for them to be so hateful, And it's I'm assuming it's coming from a place of of jealousy, but still it's awful that you have to put up with that kind of stuff.

Yeah, exactly right.

And to be honest, I think there's a lot of people that are jealous that even don't say anything, and they they want to. They want to try and hold you back as much as possible, so they're the ones that create the fake accounts and do it. I just feel like people just need to be more relaxed in life, Like you don't have to follow people that you don't like.

Why waste your time and your whole life to follow.

People that you don't like and to and to waste your energy and comment on them. Everyone needs to follow people and you know all that kind of stuff to people that are going to listen up and make your life better, not take you know, take their own life down.

That's so true. And I think that a lot of the content, as Amy were saying, that you put out is so positive. Watching your YouTube is a guilty pleasure of Amy and I so we really enjoy your content. Yeah, and so what I mean obviously as a viewer, what are there a few things like if you could say three things that would surprise your viewers to learn about you, Is there some stuff that you know that you haven't put out online that we might be shocked to know.

Probably the big one would be for everyone just thinks you're an extrovert straight away and can go up and can talk to anyone, and.

Super out going and that kind of thing.

But I think I'd probably class myself as an introvert for most most cases unless.

I was with my friends. I can't. I can't.

I find myself not being able to go and I go up to a random and start talking to them. I find that really hard and always kind of have. But to my friends and people that I'm comfortable with, I'm the complete opposite. And that's one thing that I think everyone kind of expects straight away you to be super out going and that kind of thing.

I don't know with the other ones. I'm very hard. Was getting put on the spot, Nah, that.

Was a good I think that's a good response because mostly most of the time you would think that someone was an extrovert who was putting out so much at their life, but I suppose because you're talking to a camera, it's not like there's someone actually there. Just lastly, where do you see your again? This might be a hard question, but where do you see yourself in five years?

Well that's a good question as well.

I feel I get that question a lot, especially through my DMS and stuff. But I think my main thing I would love to again own my own business. I've done it in the past and I would love to do it again with the fashion industry, so trying to bring out something that's especially for the male following this

And how would you describe your style?

Oh, that's a good one.

I feel like it's really changed in the last couple of years. It used to be a lot of the street style. But I love seeing you know, like the indie plus all those kind of things. So I try and incorporate as much as I can from each different style and try and make it my own. If that makes sense, I'd say, just completed a lot, a lot of street style.

Like that's heap because I reckon you should bring out a hoodie line. I feel like that would go off. I feel that Jonathan is known for his white shoes, so maybe his shoe line as well.

I would love for the shoes. I've always had a big, true collection. It's something that I've always loved and that's probably my one I guess, what is it?

Like one thing?

I always buy too many of shoes, So that's one thing that I would love to do.

Actually, Well, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate you giving up your time.

No ways, thanks for having me on