These days, everyone wants a following. From the thirst buckets that want a shoutout for a shoutout, to others posting scantily clad photos for attention. However, some have the gift to reach and create a true loyal following organically. Everyone in the game that has good engagements and a huge following, can tell you that building a fan base these days isn’t a walk in the park.
For this version of Street Notoriety, we caught up with Oldmanalan – the guy who’s behind pretty much every one of your favorite pages. From the IG solely dedicated to Adidas Boost to the Apple and Coffee page, this guy was gifted with creating unique pages thus creating a loyal following. Check out the interview below.
Who are you? Introduce yourself to the reader:
“My name is Alan G. I don’t know what I would really title myself officially other than just someone who loves to create and bring good vibes to the people. I’ve started several movements you might have heard of like @OutfitFromAbove, @Simple.Fits, @TODAYSHYPE, @MinimalMovement, @MobileSneakers, @boostVIBES as well as some other platforms.”
How many accounts have you had or branded?
“I’ve had my hand in a total of 8 accounts past and present. I originally started the whole #OutfitFromAbove and #SimpleFits movements which I recently stepped away from to focus on some new upcoming projects I have in the works. Currently I have 5 accounts I am responsible for and created myself as well which include @MinimalMovement, @MobileSneakers, @boostVIBES, @Jordan1Club and @AppleAndCoffee.“
When did you get on Instagram?
“I first got on Instagram a few years ago. I can’t remember an exact date since everything has become a blur at this point but its been a handful of years.”
Where does your inspiration come from?
“I pull the majority of my inspiration from the things I love and just general everyday life. I’ve always been into sneakers, fashion and music since elementary school back in the mid 90’s.”
We’ve noticed that you dont post just footwear on your personal page, whys that?
“Yeah sneakers are cool we all love them but at the end of the day there is much more to life than just sneakers and clothes. Life would be very boring and pointless if all I cared about was that. I have a wife and two kids which is my number one priority above all else.”
You’ve recently made an IG page solely dedicated to the all things boost, tell us about that.
“@boostVIBES was just an idea I came up with after I personally fell in love with the boost technology after I picked up a few pairs here and there. There wasn’t a platform for people to gather and show love to this new cushioning technology that has really taken over the sneaker industry as of late from all things Yeezy to the popular Ultra Boost among other options as well.”
“I really see the boost infused sneakers having a long lasting impact moving forward in the sneaker world and I think @boostVIBES is a great platform for people to follow for new release information and also killer shots from people around the world that share that same love.”
These days, everyone is trying to have a successful IG page. Whats your advice to them?
“The only advice I can really give someone is just stick to something you really are passionate about and aren’t doing it for the wrong reasons. I see so many people starting pages and stuff which is cool but almost all of it seems very forced and not organic. Everything I’ve done thus far has been 100% organic and authentic from the idea down to the work that goes into pushing and getting that pages name out to the world.”
“One other thing I need to say is don’t see somebody else’s idea and just copy that wave identically. I have personally had to struggle with this with nearly every page I have started. As soon as something gets popular someone wants to try and come up with a very similar idea and take credit for all the hard work the originator put into it. It’s one of the most frustrating things you can encounter as someone who is always creating to have someone just swoop in and act like it’s their idea. Imitation isn’t a form of flattery to me. Jony Ive had a great quote I always use and that is that “Imitation is just an excuse to be lazy and in all honesty is theft.”
Last words?
Just do you, be original and do whatever you can to push the culture you’re in forward to a better place. Stay tuned to my personal page @OLDMANALAN for the new upcoming ventures at the end of this year and into 2016.