🔔 FOLLOW ATHCO: Stay up to date and never miss an episode!Instagram: @athco.ccNewsletter: Subscribe for exclusive insights on turning your passion into a profession👉 https://the-athco-collective.kit.com/135242159e 📍 FOLLOW LAUREN:Instagram: @lauren.gilesTikTok: @lauren_c_giles840,000 views a month. While working a full-time job as a software engineer. That's what Lauren Giles is pulling off and she's only 23.Here's what makes Lauren different: she treats content creation like an engineer. She has spreadsheets tracking every video the hooks, the length, the posting time, what worked and what didn't. She's taken her analytical brain and applied it to Instagram growth, and the results speak for themselves.But it wasn't always like this. Growing up in Durbanville, Lauren was the shy girl who didn't know how to show people who she really was. She worked her entire life toward one goal: getting her dream job in tech. She quit her main sport in Matric just to focus on academics. Four years of studying computer science later, she landed the job. And then she realized it wasn't enough.That's when content creation became her creative outlet. Not because she wanted to be an influencer, but because she needed something more. A way to express the side of herself that coding couldn't reach.In this episode, Lauren breaks down exactly how she's grown her Instagram while juggling a demanding full-time job. She shares her strategy for trial reels (and why you should be using them), the best times to post, why carousels are outperforming reels, and the mindset shift that took her from scared to post to 840k monthly views.We also talk about niching down vs. being the niche, why your friends might not support your content journey (tall poppy syndrome), and how confidence — even when you're faking it — is probably the most important characteristic you can have as a creator.If you've ever thought "I don't have time to create content" or "I'm too shy to post," this episode is for you.