An influencer-model on authentic partnerships, PacSun denim, and building creator-first brand relationships.
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Show Notes:
In this Mission Matters episode, Adam Torres interviews Valera Djordjevic, Influencer & Model, at the PacSun Purpose Summit in Los Angeles. Valera shares how a viral TikTok Shop video led to a PacSun Fall ’24 campaign, her checklist for evaluating brand deals (values fit, audience relevance, fair compensation), tips to avoid scams, and why authenticity and inclusive product drive real results.
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Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to mission matters.com and click on be Our Guest to Apply. Alright, so today I’m in Los Angeles, California, and we’re at the PacSun Purpose Summit.
That is a lot of peas and a little bit of a tongue twister, but we’re at a summit, honestly. It’s gonna, it’s great. They’re they’re unveiling today their youth report, and my next guest is Valera Vale. Welcome to the show. Hi. Thank you for having me. Alright, so what brings you out to the summit today?
Well, I have been working with PacSun for probably like three years. Mm-hmm. We’ve done a lot of things together, especially TikTok shop. That’s kind of how I initially started to meet Pax Sun. Yeah. I made a TikTok shop video that went mega viral for them and probably sold out their jeans is what I’ve been told.
And then from there I was in their fall 2024 campaign. Mm. So I modeled for them as well. And we’ve just been, I’ve been going to events with them and we’ve just made or created a really amazing relationship together. Its amazing. Mm. What draws you to the P on brand? So much, like a lot of different brands you can work with, a lot of things you, you can do.
Why p. Honestly, they have an amazing team and an amazing community. Hmm. And their products, like genuinely their jeans are something that, for me, especially as like a curvier girl, I have a hard time finding jeans. Hmm. And when I tried their jeans on, the reason the jeans went viral is ’cause they looked so good on me.
Right. So I was like, shook that I found a pair of jeans that flattered me. That fit. Right. Yeah. That were like all good in the right places. Mm-hmm. And so genuinely I love their product and their team is just been one of the most incredible teams I’ve ever worked with. Hmm. So I want you to talk to a lot of influencers.
Watch this show. I want you to talk to them for a moment. Okay. When you’re deciding what type of brand or what, who to collaborate with, like what are some things that you kind of go through, what’s your mental checklist or physical checklist that you go through when you’re trying to find the right brand partners to collaborate with?
Yeah, of course. So I just kind of. Filter through my emails and I really check at emails. Like if I recognize the brand, I’m on social media a lot. So if I see a brand that I recognize, I open that email. Yeah. And I look through the email and I’m like, okay, what can they offer? What can I offer them?
Mm-hmm. And for me, something that’s very important is that it’s a paid partnership or paid collaboration because you know, that’s how I make money currently. Of course. Of course. So paid partnership, paid collaborations. I also just really, want a brand that I can resonate with. Mm-hmm. And that my audience can resonate with.
So if it’s a product that I use in my daily life Yeah. That they wanna work with me on a hundred percent working on it. Mm-hmm. Even if it’s not like the best paid collaboration. Yeah. If it’s something I genuinely love, I will put effort into that. Mm-hmm. And also just. Brands that my audience can resonate with because my audience is mostly female and a lot of young females.
Hmm. And also brands that care about the creator and care about, like that’s a thing too, like, oh yeah, I don’t want you to skip over that. Go a little bit further into what that means, especially ’cause there’s people that like there the next group of creators that aren’t as far along as you are and that maybe don’t have.
Brands like Paxon that they’re working with. Yeah. Like they’re thinking, but they’re kind of like, you know, I remember when I started nine years ago, I started in this, in this business and figuring out, don’t say wow like that, but like, you’re like, wow. Well, I mean you, you’re a professional. Like, I’ve only been doing this for a few years, so I know, but, but it builds over time.
Yeah. And what’s interesting to me is what you’re talking about, like paying attention to email. Yeah. I tell people that all the time. They’re like, how do I find somebody to collaborate with? I’m like, did you open your email lately? They’re like, that’s spam. Like you don’t really, I’m like, they, it might like, yeah, 90% might be, but with that one out of 10, you only need one email.
In the bio of your social media is extremely important. ’cause I feel like dms from brands happen, but they’re not as common as like an email. Especially when you give your email. Yeah. And really serious partnerships, they’re gonna email you for that. Yeah. Dms are usually for like PR or stuff like that.
Mm-hmm. But for me, as I said, caring a brand that cares about you. They invest in you. They, you know, pay for things. They fly you to different places. Like they care about you as a cont, they care about you as a influencer, as and as a person. Mm-hmm. And they wanna help you. They wanna help grow you. And they want to, I guess, very mutually beneficial, right?
Yeah. Yeah. So stuff like that is important as well. And of course, like, as I said, for me, it’s very important that. Stuff aligns with me value wise. Yeah. That use, yeah. That you use and stuff there. Mm-hmm. Especially like with Paxon, for example. Mm-hmm. They, from the get go, when they first emailed me for like collaborations, we first did social media collaborations.
Mm-hmm. We did a swim collaboration and some closed posts. Mm-hmm. They paid me, you know, they sent me clothes. Amazing. And the next email I got, they’re like, Hey, do you want to model for us? Yeah. And this was like completely out of the blue. I did not expect this to happen. Yeah. And they just sent me there.
They’re like, how much do you charge? Mm-hmm. Like, we’ll fly you out. We’ll pay for a hotel, you know, we’ll be in New York for five days. Yeah. And like all that stuff, I was like, like a brand. That was one of the first times a brand had done that for me. Mm. And that was just. Like, I sat in my bed like, is this real?
This is actually happening. Yeah, yeah. Like, am I, is this a scam? I thought it was a scam. At first, I was like, I checked my emails like, this is Paxton. Right? Not like a random like scam. Like you see the back of the back of the email. You have to check that. By the way, I’ve almost been scammed a few times.
Okay. But Agreed. Yeah. Yeah. But. When I, when everything checked out, I was like, oh my God. And then it’s just, growing relationships with brands is so important. Yeah. So when you first post a video for them, like a random brand, if they DM you or email you, you know, building from that connection, you know, making more content for them, you know?
Mm-hmm. Just growing a relationship with brands that you care about. And at first you might have to do stuff with no compensation. Yeah. Like for example, if you have a brand that you love, mention it in your video, talk about it. Mm-hmm. You know, show it in your video. Don’t. You know, just add little bits and pieces and that brand will notice you.
Yeah. Yeah. Eventually they will notice you that you’re putting effort for them. And I’m telling you what, what’s interesting about that strategy is it’s worked way back when. Yeah. It’s gonna work in the future too. Yeah. Like brands love it. I’m still, they love getting, you know. Free, you know, for sure. Free content.
Free for sure. And especially when it’s real. Yeah. Like I have some big brands that I’m, that I, I have certain brands I work with, but there’s some really big aspirational brands and I tag em all the time. Me too, me too. I’m like a, they might never see it, but hopefully they do. I’m a, I’m a wannabe movie critic.
I don’t have any training, but I have my little baby Instagram account and I, and I tag Regal all day. Regal Rewards. Shout out and maybe they’ll send you some free movie tickets. Well, well they coupon, well they, I mean they share all my stories, but I’m looking for the partnership. Where you at Regal. True, true, true, true.
But I’ve been doing that for years. It’s hilarious. And people are like, why are you still doing that? And I’m like, one day Regal’s gonna give a shout. I wanna be a movie one day. You know? You gotta be like, I’m an accidental movie critic. No real still. I know, but maybe somebody cares. I know. Same for me with restaurants when I go out there.
Oh, there you go. I tag them and I’m like. When am I gonna get outta this? I don’t know, but, you know, maybe they’ll repost me. Yeah. I feel like there’s a certain level of karma too. Oh yeah, for sure. And also for your, you, I want you to comment on this. Mm-hmm. Like from the audience standpoint. Mm-hmm. Like, they don’t wanna be sold something all day long if you’re doing it.
If you’re sharing something, recommending something, and they kind of know, they’re like, oh, that’s not their sponsor. They’re just, they’re just, they want me to know this is good. Like, what does that mean to you? That is all I can say that for experience, it is very important to put mostly like original and valuable content for your audience, right?
Yeah. So your audience won’t care about you. That’s, it Sounds really harsh. They don’t care about you, just give it to it. Yes. They care about what you can give to them. Oh, so the content you make has to be. Selfless, like Yeah, they don’t care initially, especially, they don’t really care about what your day in the life is, you know?
Mm-hmm. Because they don’t care about, they’re not invested in you as a person. Mm-hmm. So you have to make them invested in you. Yes. Yet, so you have to make them invested in, you give them value, whether that be comedy, whether that be education. Mm-hmm. Whether that be just anything that can provide value to someone else.
Yeah, people appreciate that. And just authenticity is super, super important. People don’t wanna see like a, a super, like, this is my day in the life. No, they want you to be real without makeup, you know, just, you saw my original videos, it’s cool, it’s cool. Go ahead, continue. Yeah, they just want you to be you and they want to rest.
To resonate with people and they wanna follow people that they resonate with. Mm mm So you have to create that strong relationship with people first. Mm-hmm. And then you can start talking about products that you love. Yeah. Promoting different things. And that will. They will care because they care about you.
Amazing. Yeah. Valera, I know you gotta go. They got a bunch of things and appearances you gotta be at. Last thing I want you to do, look into the camera. How do people follow you? How do they connect? How do they learn more? All right. My Instagram is Valera GeoVic last name is kind of hard, but starts with a dj.
Just look me up. Valera Givi. And my. And TikTok I, my brain kind of Blu for a second. My TikTok is real Valera dj and those are my two social media platforms. Awesome. So you guys can find me on there. Perfect. And for everybody watching, just so you know, we’ll definitely put some links in the show notes so you can just click on the links and head right on over and check out Valera.
And speaking of the audio. If this is your first time with Mission Matters and you haven’t done it yet, hit that subscribe or follow button. This is a daily show. Each and every day we’re bringing you new content, new ideas, and hopefully new experiences that enrich your life and journey as well. So again, hit that subscribe button.
And Valera, thank you so much for coming on the show. It’s a pleasure much for having me. This has been awesome.
