Kristen Maldonado, MTV’s Senior Manager of Social Media & Established Film+TV Critic, Is Building a DIY Pop Culture Empire
INTERVIEW BY TREY ALSTON / CONTRIBUTING WRITER
For Kristen Maldonado, success in the world of digital media didn’t happen overnight. From studying journalism to creating her own YouTube content for over seven years to starting her own outlets in Pop Culture Planet and The Fan Club, she’s been cultivating a massive presence for the crux of her career. Now, she’s in a position to reflect on her journey thus far—one that started with taking musical theatre as a kid and is in its current phase at MTV where she is the network’s Senior Manager of Social Media. In this position, she gets to fully realize her creative potential and design some of the network’s most intriguing ideas and content franchises across the social and digital spaces.
Maldonado’s inspiring journey shows how having the ability to self-start can help creatives build a legendary career—one that begins by pulling the trigger themselves. Here she is on where she’s been, how she got here, and what she loves about her job.
What initially drew you into the world of digital media?
I had no idea that I would end up here. In fact, these types of careers didn’t even exist when I was growing up. When I was graduating college, it was all still so brand new—I tried to do as many internships as I could before graduating and ultimately ended up making a connection with the MTV shows team and getting hired there. Initially, the job was uploading full episodes to their website so people could watch them after they aired. Eventually, they realized since we had to watch so many of the shows anyway, we might as well run the social platforms for them as well. That slowly changed the team to become the MTV shows social team and we went from uploading video to creating whole social strategies around the shows and running those platforms. While I sort of fell into the career, it feels like fate. This is what I love doing and I continue learning every day.
What did you learn over the course of your seven years making content on YouTube? What was your creative process like?
When I first started making content, I was just trying to figure out what my “thing” was. I would try different topics, different styles, but always stayed true to my personality. What I’ve learned over time is that finding your niche can be hard but so rewarding. As someone who does movie and TV reviews, it can be so easy to get caught up in needing to do everything, but you don’t need to. I’m constantly doing research, trying to improve my content, learning more about what my audience connects with, and expanding my reach. You don’t have to do what you’ve always done just because. It’s okay to experiment and try new things. The biggest things I’ve taken away from my work there are to always embrace learning, try something new, quality over quantity, and stay true to yourself.
“It can be so easy to get caught up in needing to do everything, but you don’t need to. I’m constantly doing research, trying to improve my content, learning more about what my audience connects with, and expanding my reach.”
How did you first get introduced to MTV? What led to you being hired there?
I was always a fan of MTV, but following an internship I did at TeenNick and NickToons, I was able to connect with someone who worked on the MTV shows team. I really just wanted to know what they did there and learn more about the industry, but, of course, I brought a resume with me just in case. Luckily they asked me for it and, after suggesting some other job opportunities at MTV that didn’t end up working out for me, they told me about a position on their team. I applied, did an edit test, and was hired. Over time I’ve moved all over the MTV spectrum—from MTV shows to MTV2 to TRL to MTV brand proper—but always in the social media space.
During your early years developing digital strategy, what was your approach to doing so? How has it evolved since?
Digital strategy is always evolving. Things that worked in the early years of developing strategy may not work anymore. It’s important to know things like who you are targeting, what your voice is, and what your goals are, but I think the biggest key is to be open to change and think outside the box. Working at MTV is a blessing because it keeps me young and in the weeds of what is popular in both culture and social media.
What I really love about MTV is that there is so much opportunity to try new things and expand your skills. Being Senior Manager of Social Media at MTV means I get to have my hand in a little bit of everything. From the brainstorm to the pitch, the script to the producing, the editing to the captioning, and then eventually to the strategy and posting of the content itself. It’s really helped me to become so well-rounded in my field because I get to handle so many aspects of both content creation and social strategy.
“Being Senior Manager of Social Media at MTV means I get to have my hand in a little bit of everything. From the brainstorm to the pitch, the script to the producing, the editing to the captioning, and then eventually to the strategy and posting of the content itself. It’s really helped me to become so well-rounded in my field.”
Do you ever feel imposter syndrome? If so, how do you combat it?
Absolutely. I think we all feel imposter syndrome at certain points in our lives. It can be really stressful and make you feel like you’ve accomplished nothing or that you don’t know where to turn next. The best way to combat it is to look back at your wins and remember that everyone feels this way sometimes. You’re not alone.
What’s the most challenging part of managing social media for such a large brand and its properties?
I would say the most challenging and rewarding part is coming up with new ideas based on new features social platforms are highlighting. Back when IGTV was brand new, we were tasked with coming up with a franchise that would really pop there for the new iteration of TRL. I worked with a team of three others and we came up with a series called 60 Second Draw, where musicians would draw their album covers in 60 seconds or less. It was great because some were incredible artists and others… weren’t… which made for really funny content. We really tackled it in a grassroots way as we pitched, produced, and edited it all ourselves. We would get millions of views on these videos and it was so incredible to see that success. We would even have the celebrities sign the drawings, which we framed and mailed to superfans who absolutely loved it. We ended up winning a Shorty Awards for Best Use of IGTV that year, and the series still lives on now on the MTV brand platforms.
“I’m a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and a part of journalism organizations. I’m getting reached out to by publicists for screeners and interviews. It wasn’t an overnight success story. It took a lot of time and work and energy, but it’s a really empowering feeling to know that I created all of this myself and am building my own empire.”
What’s your favorite part about the job?
The biggest is the community aspect. I’m a big pop culture nerd even outside of my career, so to be able to help build platforms and communities about things I love is so fun. I also love on-the-ground events and activations where we get to be in the weeds with both fans and celebrities, like working events like VidCon and the VMAs.
In what ways are you able to express your creativity and bring your authentic self to your work?
I’m lucky to work in a really creative field so it’s fun to think outside the box when it comes to bringing MTV content to life on social media. Since I’m so passionate about the world of entertainment and digital media, even when I’m not at work, I’m constantly creating and putting my authentic self out there through my own side projects. Whether it’s deep-diving into the themes within a TV show or speaking with a celebrity about inclusion on my podcast Pop Culture Planet, I am never at a loss for ways to express my creativity and authentic self.
What’s been the most important advice that you’ve received in your career?
The most important piece of advice that still helps me to this day is that if you want to do it, do it yourself. When I was a young journalism student, I would go to panels where anchors for news outlets would say if you want to be on-camera talent, go out and film a reel, go film stand-ups. I took that to heart but decided to take that a step further with my YouTube content. I started creating reviews and interviews that have now led to me building my own outlets Pop Culture Planet and The Fan Club where I am taken seriously as a journalist. I’m a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic and a part of journalism organizations. I’m getting reached out to by publicists for screeners and interviews. It wasn’t an overnight success story. It took a lot of time and work and energy, but it’s a really empowering feeling to know that I created all of this myself and am building my own empire.