There are thousands of content creators carving out spaces and making names for themselves on the internet.

But one who stands out is Reagan Baylee. She’s a lifestyle creator and digital storyteller who isn’t jaded by the exciting opportunities she’s had, nor is she afraid to be honest about the not-so-glamorous moments.

She’s authentic, funny and real. She brings personality and warmth and is an open book — not a gatekeeper when it comes to how she makes things happen.

Earlier this month, I emailed her, and we did a quick Q&A. Check out our conversation below.

Rapid Fire

Take me back to the moment you decided to move to LA—what were you chasing, and what did you think your life was going to look like at that time?
I stayed close to home for college for a number of reasons, mostly because I wanted to be near my family. I was young for my grade and spent my whole life moving around the country, so college didn’t feel like the time to spread my wings. That said, I grew up in Southern California and knew from a young age that one day I’d return. I was chasing a challenge and wanted to see if I could truly get out of my comfort zone and try something new. I had no plan and very little savings, which, in hindsight, helped motivate me. I had no choice but to succeed. At the time, I had no idea what my life would look like. My top priority was being in an environment that supported dreaming big, and LA felt like the place.

What did those early days in LA actually look like for you—the parts people don’t usually see or talk about?
I’m a workaholic—have been since I was 14. My early days in LA were spent working odd-end jobs every single day for years. I did anything for a dollar, including waking up at 4 a.m. to stand in line outside movie studios for the chance to be picked as a paid audience member for the day. I cherish those simpler times now, but most people forget that it takes years of dedication to grow and develop a personal brand. Those hard moments helped me build confidence and a network of people who believed in me.

A lot of people may not realize you built your foundation in marketing—and even launched your own agency. How did that chapter shape the way you approach content creation today?
I went to business school and had zero experience in marketing when I started my agency. It was a product of my never-ending gig jobs, where I met professionals who were too busy to run their social media. I was young, ambitious and used my lack of knowledge to my advantage. I gained my first few clients by leaning into the fact that I had no clue what I was doing, but would work hard for a low cost. Client work taught me about the business side of content and how brands view and value social media. Approaching my content from a business perspective has given me a huge advantage.

What’s something about being a content creator that looks glamorous from the outside, but might be the complete opposite for you on the other side?
Most people think that because I’m a content creator, I have a super flexible schedule and work very few hours. It’s quite the opposite. My screen time is through the roof—we’re talking 8 to 12 hours a day—and not because I’m scrolling Instagram. Editing, brainstorming ideas, emailing brands, making content revisions, filling out collaboration applications, pitching—it all takes time. And a lot of it.

What’s been a true “pinch-me” moment in your career so far—one where you had to stop and think, how is this my life?
Attending New York Fashion Week was something that once seemed impossible. I had no idea how to get access or invites, and because I live in Los Angeles, I wasn’t sure how to approach the NYC market. I made it my mission to attend NYFW, and my first year—with 13,000 followers—I was able to attend several shows, from Kate Spade to Puma and Alice + Olivia. Being photographed by street photographers and watching new designs walk the runway will never not feel like a pinch-me moment.

When things slow down or don’t go the way you hoped, what pulls you out of that space and keeps you moving forward?
There is no time to slow down when it comes to content creation. Slowing down—or not posting—can hurt performance. That said, I’m human. When content isn’t performing how I hoped, it usually means it’s time for a pivot. I constantly reframe my content, spin old concepts into new formats and try to view my work from the perspective of someone who has no idea who I am. I’m not afraid to reinvent myself every three to six months.

You’ve been in this space as it’s evolved—what changes have you noticed in the creator world that have surprised you the most?
I’m surprised by how fast everything moves. The longer I’ve been in the industry, the faster it seems to go. Everything has an expiration date on social media—trending audios, hot topics, buzzwords. I’m amazed by how sped up everything feels in 2026. If you don’t jump on something quickly, it’s not even worth trying.

Is there such a thing as a “typical day” for you—and if not, what’s the rhythm your life tends to fall into?
Every day is different, and I like it that way. Because I’m still involved with my marketing agency and clients, I spend more time on my computer than the average creator. I post in-feed daily, so that’s probably the only constant. No matter where I am or how busy I am, I will be posting.

You’re part of some really passionate fandom communities—how have those spaces influenced the way you create and connect with your audience? What doors has that opened for you?
Ironically, joining fandom culture online was something I avoided for my first few years. I worried it would make my content too niche and scare away brands. To my surprise, the response was the opposite. I don’t think fandom culture is the sole driver of my success, but it’s been a vessel for sharing my personality. When I lean into topics I’m passionate about—like fandom and pop culture—people can feel that excitement and want to follow along.

Is there a dream collaboration or brand that still lives on your vision board?
I would love to launch a Reagan Baylee press-on nail collaboration. Press-on nails have been such a fun creative outlet for me, and I want to bring my maximalist, girly designs to life with one of my favorite brands. An in-store launch at major retailers would be a dream.

For someone who feels stuck or unsure of their path right now, what’s one piece of advice you wish you had earlier?
If you’re unhappy, quit your job. Find a new one—even if it pays less. Doing that changed my life. The moment I stopped chasing the corporate ladder, raises and someone else’s dreams, mine started coming true. I believe when you’re happy, your energy attracts the right people and opportunities. When I was unhappy, everything in my life reflected that.

How has your definition of success changed now versus when you started?
This is a difficult question. While I know I’ve been successful so far, I find it hard to slow down and celebrate. I worry that celebrating might mean there’s nothing more to come—which is something I’m working on. Success at this stage comes in bursts, which keeps me motivated to keep going.

What’s next for you that others can keep an eye out for and support?
I’m manifesting more on-camera opportunities because I love the thrill and challenge. I’ll also be dropping Easter eggs soon for a collaboration that’s been a long time coming.

<3

So grateful to Reagan for her time answering these questions and sharing more about her journey!

If you want to see what she’s up to and where she is next, be sure to check out her pages and platforms, as well as her vlogs from some of her exciting projects and days in her life.

Follow Reagan Baylee on YouTube

Follow Reagan Baylee on Instagram

See you next time!

~Shelby

Before Swifties had an official name or true fan base, Holly Armstrong was among the first of them.

Armstrong, who was around 13-years-old at the time, was on vacation with her family in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, when she first discovered a certain blonde-haired girl, strumming her guitar and singing along to lyrics she’d written herself.

“...Just heard country music playing, and I was from Texas, so I was like, ‘that was strange,’” Armstrong said and noted that they’d been walking along Jenkinson’s Boardwalk.

They made their way to a makeshift stage where a few groups of people were gathered. A young Taylor Swift was that Wednesday evening’s entertainment, which was most likely a partnership with a Radio Disney concert series through the summer.

Swift sang a few songs. The set most likely included: Lucky You, Smoky Black Nights and a cover.

“I just remember being in complete awe of her confidence and authenticity, and the fact that she was singing about things that as a 13 year old, I had never heard in country music,” Armstrong said. “I went up to her after and I was a very shy kid, but I went up to her after, and she was handing out demo cds, and she was just smiling – made it feel very safe to walk up,” said Armstrong.

Armstrong doesn’t remember exactly what they talked about. All in all, it was a very short moment with a quick conversation between two teen girls on the brink of the rest of their lives. But, even then, she walked away on cloud nine.

It’s like the quote from Maya Angelou, “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

“I was just enamored with her music,” Armstrong said.

A few months later, that became a moment that she latched on to, and that demo CD she received was on loop through it all.

“I was going through something as a kid, like traumatic childhood experiences, as one does. And it was impactful because of that. Not because of who she became, but the memory cemented itself for me a few months after we met, and that’s what I kept coming back to,” said Holly Armstrong. “And it was very much random, serendipitous encounter.”

It was a formative moment and core memory that helped shape those adolescent years.

It was about connection.

From that moment on, Armstrong followed Swift’s career, eventually following her on Myspace. That’s also where she first heard one of Swift’s first breakup anthems, “Picture to Burn.” While Swift didn’t always play in her area, she was always checking in and seeing what she was up to and rooting for her from afar.

But, while many Swifties were hooked to the online forums and community spaces, Armstrong chose the quieter route, opting out of most other social media platforms. And wasn’t necessarily reading the headlines made up on magazines in the grocery store checkout line.

“It was really important to me to hear from her as directly as possible via interviews versus what other people said about her,” Armstrong said.

Years later, she did join the other social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter (now known as X) and Facebook.

Each year, she’d make a post for Taylor’s birthday, using that photo representing a moment that meant so much to her. She also followed a few fan accounts, including one with rare Taylor Swift photos. One day the owner of that account came across Armstrong’s photo and asked if she could share it.

“I was just blown over by the fact that she asked, that she cared.”

As Armstrong said, the photo and memory “just kind of took on a life of its own.” The photo was everywhere - all the Swifties were talking about it, and petitioning for Armstrong and Swift to be reunited someday.

“I’ll never be able to say, like, how incredibly grateful I am for what the community has done. Being a part of this fandom is just life changing,” she said.

But, Armstrong is as humble as they come. She never wanted to make Taylor feel commodified in any way, or give the impression that she felt she deserved something like this.

Reunited with Miss Americana herself

The viral photo did make its way to Taylor and Taylor Nation by power of the Swiftie community. Taylor Nation reached out to Armstrong just a couple weeks before the Nashville Secret Sessions, which Swift was known for hosting at her multiple homes across the United States.

“It was 16 years between the time I met her in 2003 until I was going to meet her again in 2019. I didn’t know if she was expecting me to say something. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing,” Armstrong said. “There was all of this going on in my head.”

That wasn’t all.

If you’ve ever been part of a “secret” project of any kind with Taylor Swift, there’s a bit of added pressure that comes with it - signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), making sure you get all the details correct for where to meet, getting to the hotel and going over what you want to say – all the logistics that make any trip go smoothly.

Being the Type A person she is, she made her lists and wrote notes in her phone app. When it came to meeting Taylor, it all went out of her mind and she remembered nothing.

But, all went well in the end.

“It was amazing, it went by in the blink of an eye,” she said and called it an “incredible experience, and somehow she was better than I remembered. I could not have asked for a better person to run into.”

Finding passion and discovering a purpose

Armstrong had gone to college and done all the things she thought she was supposed to do.

After going to school for what other people wanted her to do, but realized she could not outrun the burnout she was experiencing. During that time, painting became an outlet and creative expression for her.

Not quite ready to face the real world yet, Armstrong went on to get her master’s degree, but knew she needed a job to help with finances. So, she started her own bakery business.

“It was this creative outlet that I could serve people – I had one oven, and it was not scalable. And, that was the first lesson I learned in not necessarily making your hobbies a business,” Armstrong said.

At the time, she didn’t think she was meant to be an entrepreneur, and pivoted her career.

She was in the thick of ‘corporate America’ when the Covid-19 pandemic entered. She was working from home, didn’t have a routine to stick to, and through struggles that were later diagnosed as ADHD, she was miserable.

Armstrong had gotten to a place in her career with managers who didn’t work to accommodate those challenges or the way she operated. She felt trapped, and nothing she did was enough for her superior. A mix of that with people pleasing sent her into a deep depression that she couldn’t pull herself out of.

It took a major mental breakdown in a hotel, while traveling for work, before Armstrong would turn her burnout and misery into a breakthrough. She was put on a six-month sabbatical from work.

“It took probably five of the six months to find any semblance of joy again,” she said.

She started painting again, but hadn’t unlocked her own magic in it just yet.

Armstrong shared some of the questions she was experiencing with her therapist: What am I going to do? How do I get out of this?

Her therapist then helped her flip the script with her painting by asking her to bring one of her paintings in to a session. Armstrong brought one in called “Deny the Deep,” with a woman underwater, reaching out of the water.

“My therapist looked at me and goes, ‘you realize you’re painting yourself, right?’ ‘this is you,’” she said.

She started bringing her paintings in and they’d talk about them. It became a true healing experience to paint and process her emotions.

She could finally feel those glimmers of hope and joy once more. She found ways to feel in control again. Armstrong put together a playlist of Swift’s “Folklore” and “Evermore” and painted it out.

Get up, sit down, music on and paint, go to bed – that became her routine, which led to her sharing more of her paintings on her social media platforms.

“Painting, beget painting, beget healing, beget sharing,” Armstrong said. “It was this beautiful cycle.”

More than a hobby

In October 2024, she posted in her stories that she was leaving her job. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but took the leap of faith that she was going to create something. She found a lot of love, understanding and camaraderie that she received was overwhelming.

It all came back to the Swiftie community.

She started Starlight & Sage Co., a studio with high-quality items, including candles, journals, fine art prints

As described on Armstrong’s website, it “is a love letter to girlhood, grief and the glittering in-betweens. In this timeless shop, I hope you find a sanctuary where scent, story and stardust intertwine.”

It is more than a virtual shop, it’s like stepping into a storybook of whimsy, imagination, self-expression and healing.

“I think, at the end of the day, what I wanted was not to create. I’d never want it to feel like a shop, if that makes any sense. I want it to feel like a community,” Armstrong said. “I want it to be somewhere people feel understood and feel loved, like they’re part of something. It’s not just a customer or an order.”

Things are brighter for Armstrong these days, and she has a lot to look forward to - petite candles that just dropped, she’s also developing wax melts, something requested from the

As Starlight and Sage Co. continues to grow, she never wants to lose the connection aspect.

The Swiftie community is filled with talented artists and creators, and Armstrong has dreams of more collaborations with various artisans. Another dream? To host creative workshops virtually, so no matter where people are, they can still find a place to belong.

It all started with a couple 13 year old girls trying to find a place in this world, and had no idea what life was going to hold. It’s safe to say, they’re both on the right track now.

Visit Starlight & Sage Co.

Follow Starlight & Sage Co. on Instagram

Follow Holly on Instagram

Lightning Round: Get to know Holly!

I wanted to give a sneak peek and share one of my interviews/features with A Vintage Joy Life. I’ve followed her account for a few years now, thanks to the Gilmore Girls community, and wanted to share more about her account, the items she sells and how she creates cozy spaces and environments.

Enjoy!

You can find A Vintage Joy Life on Instagram for all things cozy, creative, Gilmore and nostalgic.

Follow A Vintage Joy Life here!

An integral part of any sitcom is the audience. But who helps the audience keep up the energy for a three- or four-hour taping, in between pickup shots and resets? A professional warm-up comedian.

You may not know the name Mark Sweet, but he has played an important role on Hollywood sets as a warm-up comedian — encouraging the crowd before the cameras start rolling — for years, working on some of the greatest comedies of all time.

You could say it’s a role he’s been preparing for his entire life without even knowing it.

Note: This post is too long for email and is best read on the Substack app or on the Substack webpage of your desktop.

Early beginnings and magic tricks
Sweet grew up in Michigan with his father, who owned a movie theater, and his mother, who worked in a pediatrician’s office.

“I would go down the street to this little magic shop called ‘Fox, Fun ’N’ Magic.’ A guy who owned the shop was named Roy Kissell, and he kind of took a liking to me,” Sweet said.

From there, he started putting magic tricks together, which turned into getting gigs at children’s birthday parties. You could say his mother was his publicist or agent, actively getting him work for parties doing magic tricks and short acts.

It didn’t take long before he was getting bigger shows for things like Cub Scout banquets and picnics. By the time he was 15, he had saved $3,000.

Before he even had his license, his mom drove him to meet with a stockbroker. He asked Sweet if he had an agent — which he didn’t. The stockbroker called an agent at Gail & Rice, and they had him come in for an audition.

“I went over there and was scared to death. Five people in an office is a lot different, staring at you. They’ve seen everybody in the world and book celebrities.”

Like a true pro, he got through it and they liked him. They booked him for the Detroit Boat Club, working 10 to 15 times a month, which kept him busy for a couple of years.

Around the time he turned 18, his agents took him to Chrysler for a meeting and booked him for the auto show in Detroit.

This time, they wanted him to incorporate magic with bullet points of product information, for a 10- or 12-minute bit to draw people into the exhibit.

They didn’t have the role fully defined. However, the show ran from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and how the rest of it went was up to him. Sweet started making a schedule for himself, getting up twice an hour to perform or doing shows as needed, depending on the crowd.

“You want them to like you, but you don’t even know what to do exactly right at the beginning,” Sweet said.

He would be there all day in a tuxedo, walking on a cement floor.

“I had to make up for lack of experience and lack of seniority through hard work.”

And it worked.

Soon, he was doing shows in Detroit, New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Miami, the Texas State Fair, RV shows in Louisville, Kentucky, and more.

The face of Willy Wonka
During one of the car shows, Sweet met Johnny Thompson, a magician and adviser to performers like Penn and Teller and Lance Burton. Thompson told him he was going to Las Vegas for a year and wanted him to meet his trade show agent, which led to a magic show in the American Airlines lounge at Chicago’s airport.

He performed close-up magic and was booked to play Willy Wonka for the Willy Wonka Candy Co. Sweet didn’t know much about Willy Wonka, as the movie had just come out at the time.

“I felt awkward as could be in purple tails and a top hat,” he said. “But I felt like I’m going to just own it.”

Sweet noted that, for the company, it was like having their own Ronald McDonald.

At the time, shopping malls were the place to be. Sweet was booked at various malls for three half-hour shows as part of a shopping mall tour, complete with the Wonka-mobile.

With each job, he met someone new who introduced him to his next opportunity — something not always common.

“It’s sort of — not a religion, but faith that everything is just meant to be,” Sweet said. “Even the things where it didn’t connect, maybe there’s a reason why it didn’t connect.”

For 25 years, he was on the road about 250 days a year, working auto shows, Willy Wonka candy conventions, private functions and corporate events.

By the late 1970s, he was booked for an event at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. He opened for comedian Jerry Van Dyke, the brother of Dick Van Dyke, for 30 minutes. After the show, Van Dyke’s wife told Sweet he needed to go to Los Angeles.

Sweet already had a steady career in Detroit.

“I’m still not famous, but I’m working to this day,” he said.

Comedy clubs and moving to Los Angeles
Moving to Los Angeles wasn’t initially an option.

Then Mark Ridley opened a comedy club in Detroit called the Comedy Castle. Sweet knew of The Comedy Store in Los Angeles and improv clubs in New York, but not much beyond that.

Ridley began bringing in comedians like Gary Shandling and Bob Saget, who were both on the show “Make Me Laugh.” Once again, Shandling told him Los Angeles was the place to be.

That’s show business
After more convincing — and after meeting his now-wife, Julie — Sweet moved to Los Angeles in 1981.

Another comedian, Tom Sharp, told him about the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. When Sweet wasn’t working other jobs, they booked him whenever he was available.

One night, an agent from the William Morris Agency came in to see another act but signed Sweet and sent him on his first audition — hosting a game show called “House Party.”

A few years later, he got a call to warm up the crowd for “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show.”

It didn’t take long before he was consistently booking jobs as a crowd warm-up comedian.

Jerry Van Dyke later introduced Sweet to Barry Kemp, creator of “Coach,” where he began warming up audiences.

“I brought my performing expertise and all the information I had from car shows and Wonka and birthday parties — and how to entertain an audience for a given length of time,” Sweet said.

Instead of talking about cars and candy, he began incorporating television-specific material.

“I just became more savvy about how to do it,” he said.

As he’s gotten older, he’s refined his timing — knowing when to direct attention to the stage or fill the space between takes.

Sweet has worked on shows ranging from “Cheers” to “Everybody Loves Raymond” and currently “Happy’s Place.”

During his nine years on “Coach,” he met Chuck Lorre, a writer on “Roseanne.” Lorre later created hits such as “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mom” and “Two and a Half Men,” all of which Sweet worked on.

With so many years in television, does he have a favorite?

“Each one has been very meaningful for me,” he said.

He may not be part of the cast, but he has carved out a place in the industry.

“I’m not someone who imposes myself,” Sweet said.

Many crew members he has known for 30 to 40 years. Cast members, however, are often focused on scripts and performance during tapings.

Still, over time, he has built relationships with actors like Craig T. Nelson and recently participated in the 30th anniversary of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

“It was fantastic to see Ray Romano, Brad Garrett and Patricia Heaton,” he said. “They couldn’t have been any warmer.”

During “The Big Bang Theory,” there was a moment when Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco would come up to the audience to answer questions.

“You’re in for a gigantic thrill right now,” Sweet would tell the crowd.

At the final taping, Cuoco even helped him collect signatures from the cast on a script.

“They not only signed it, they wrote the sweetest little things,” he said.

Another standout moment came during “Two and a Half Men,” when Jon Cryer told him he was mentioned in his book — recalling a time when production halted for two hours and Sweet kept the audience entertained.

Sweet described the gesture as “sweet and generous.”

It said:

Working on a sitcom isn’t just the holy grail for actors; it’s steady and often enjoyable employment is also the goal for all of the artists and tradesmen who compose the crew as well. And when you have the luxury of a show that is known to be a hit, you end up with a group of fellow employees who are pretty much the cream of the crop at their respective trades. So much so that you begin to take their expertise for granted.

And this was typical of pretty much everyone on the show. Even our warm-up guy, Mark Sweet, operated at a level that boggled the mind. A warm-up performer’s job is to keep the audience entertained and engaged while the crew is preparing to shoot the scenes. There is a fair amount of downtime, and it’s quite easy for the audience to get bored. However, Mark’s capable of amping up a room of prisoners awaiting a firing squad. One Friday night, there was a breakdown in the camera’s ‘tap,’ the part that transmits what’s being filmed straight to the monitors, so the audience can watch a rough edit live. (Sometimes the sight lines aren’t great for the working audience, so they need the monitors). If that system doesn’t work, there’s no point in having an audience. There was much frantic hair pulling and effort to fix it, and we were down for two straight hours, which meant Mark had to keep that crowd energetic with jokes, then interaction, more jokes, maybe some magic tricks, and then even more interaction, for two whole hours. No comedian alive has that much material prepared and ready to go on a moment’s notice.

He not only vamped like a pro the entire time, but in one respect, the audience was raucous that by the end of it, I thought that actually resuming the show would be something of a letdown. The rest of the crew has never been asked to step up in quite that fashion, but I’m confident these guys would have what it takes to perform extraordinarily.

He has seen sitcoms evolve over time, noting there are fewer multi-camera shows today.

Still, he continues working, currently warming up “Happy’s Place” at Universal Studios, as well as Lorre’s newer shows “Leanne” and “Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage,” which film at Warner Bros. Studios.

So how does he engage audiences?

He keeps each experience fresh, adjusting jokes and material depending on the crowd.

Some audiences are quieter than others, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad.

“If it’s overly hot outside, it can zap their energy,” Sweet said. “Sometimes there’s an overabundance of invited guests who are more like, ‘We’re friends with the actor.’ So it’s about keeping a positive attitude and meeting them where they’re at.”

Having worked on “The Big Bang Theory” for 12 years — and its spinoffs “Young Sheldon” and “Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage” — Sweet has been part of a significant chapter in television history.

“I’m happy to be the warm-up guy,” he said.

“If you’ll come up and tell me why you love the show, what it means to you — we just want to celebrate the show.”

Audience members often respond warmly, with many traveling from other countries.

“There’s a surprising number of people who don’t even speak English,” he said, noting that many learn through American sitcoms.

Sweet genuinely enjoys what he does — and it shows.

What does he hope audiences take away?

“I hope they take away some joy and optimism,” Sweet said. “If they feel the love I have for what I’m doing, they’ll have a love for the show.”

You can follow Mark Sweet on his Instagram to see what he’s up to next!