Lindsey Heppner has become a mogul in the social media marketing world. Through her creative initiatives and memorable moments, Heppner has completely changed how influencers, social media, and the overall culture is perceived. Her first business, VAMPPED, specializes in curating one-of-a-kind events, strategic planning for brands in the market space, world-class content, public relations and representing top digital talent with far-reaching online audiences. She also has a podcast REVAMPPED where she interviews other creatives in the social media space. In 2020 she began her newest venture ReVampped.tv, a network focused on creating original content. _Flaunt_ caught up with the mogul to discuss VAMPPED, influencers, and getting her start in the industry!
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**What inspired you to start VAMPPED?**
I had gotten into a really bad car accident in 2014, and I had been a designer and a model for a really long time. I think after getting into something like that where you almost lose your life, you kind of question if if you’re taking the right path, and if you do have an opportunity at having a second chance at life, what would that look like. I think that is what happened. I just wanted to be creative. I wanted to make a lot of noise in this space. I saw an opportunity at that time that wasn’t happening, and I wanted to connect with people in this industry, and I felt like, as a model, I had a really hard time accepting a lot of the toxic people in the industry and the dark side of it. So I decided that if I was going to come back into this industry, I was going to do it right and be true to myself and come with a lot of integrity and values and connect with people like that.
**Can you explain the need for a business like VAMPPED regarding the back end of being an influencer?**
At that time, there wasn’t really anything monetized on Instagram. It was more of a space and a platform where people just wanted to take pictures of things. I saw that a lot of people who I was connecting with, brands and things, I wanted to create and connect for them. I wanted to be a creative director, and I knew the only way I was going to do that was to actually build my own business, because in the industry that I was in, which was the surf industry, if you wanted to be a creative director, you had to basically wait for someone to die. There was no opportunity. Obviously, I wasn’t going to do that, so I was like: I’m going to have to do this on my own. I started noticing that the brands were going ‘OK Linds, takeover and do shoots for us.’ Through that, I started managing models that were getting crazy engagement on Instagram. I didn’t even know where it was coming from.
So they wanted management, and the first one I actually managed was a huge influencer from Australia, and she was like ‘Can you take over everything for me? This is getting crazy and out of hand.’ What was happening was brands were emailing her going, ‘Can you post this, post this, post this, I’ll pay you.’ And at the time, it was kind of like the wild west. They’d name a price and pay for it. No one knew anything. The engagement was insane, and you didn't know what to price, because everyone was like, ‘Sure I’ll do it for $5,000,’ or, ‘Sure I’ll do it for $600.’ Tt didn’t even matter. So I was like: wait a minute, something is happening. I started going after people and reaching out to them and telling them they can be monetized on this platform and everyone said, ‘Wait, wait. I don’t understand. On this platform, you can get paid?’ And so that was the trickle effect of everything.
After a year of being in business, I wanted to put forth the tours portion, and we tried with every brand. Seriously begging them to grab on to this opportunity that they didn’t know was an opportunity, and the first people that really saw that was something was San Lorenzo Bikinis, and we did a trip to Hawaii with fifteen influencers. We did a whole tour throughout the islands, and now you see these tours everywhere. We honestly had no idea what we were doing, this was either going to be a shit show or something that we do for our business and now twenty-two tours later, I think that is what put us on the map, tours.
**What are you looking for when selecting podcast guests? What do you hope listeners get from the ReVampped podcast?**
I try to interview people that I have met along the way, and I love their heart. I honestly just want to praise them and show their journey and also make them spotlighted in a way to where people appreciate them. I also want to show how well they are doing in the space they are in and to show that we all have flaws and we can take advantage of those flaws and make them a good thing. The biggest reason why I did the podcast was I felt like, for all this time, that everyone has been helping me. I just wanted to help others, and I really think that when you share knowledge you never know who you are actually helping get through the day. Before I had my car accident, I was super depressed. I didn’t want to live anymore. The car accident was a relief, because I wanted it to happen in some weird way. I would listen to TED talks every day for a year because I was so depressed, and I wanted that encouragement, so I feel like this is me giving a 360 back to the people who might have the same feeling every morning of not wanting to wake up. That is kind of why I do it.
**Tell me about your new venture ReVampped.tv?**
We are actually changing the name because we want to keep our ventures, not all of them VAMPPED. It is a new network of original content of shows and podcasting. So we have six shows right now all with different podcasts, then we venture out, for example, one of our girls has an advice podcast, but she also wants to do a cooking show. So we are doing all original content based around our talent and different influencers. For instance, we have a podcast coming out with Gabby Epstein and Rampage Jackson who is a former champion UFC fighter, and we are putting a show together with them. So stuff like that and really building a network around the content we are producing.
**Who is ReVampped.tv designed for? What does the ideal user look like?**
I think what it is going to be is a lot of our talent that we are promoting on a different platform but also it is anyone who’s wanting to create a show or create a podcast. We are all hands on deck; production, marketing, Adsense, everything. So we kind of do everything for them. A lot of people in this space, the podcasting world, only do audio. We are doing audio and video for them.
**What would you say to any young women trying to start a business?**
To be honest I actually think this is the best time to brand yourself with your business. I think being behind the scenes is not always the best way. People want to connect with people more than ever. I think this a great time to put your face first and your business second. Whoever you are and whatever your journey is and your story I think that will connect people more to whatever you are trying to achieve with your business. I think also to just being empathetic, transparent and loving, and being real, whatever that is for you, I think will stand out more than trying to be this imposter that you think will serve a purpose.
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Check out VAMPPED [online](https://www.vampped.com/) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/vampped/)!
Photography: Jethro Alaba
Hair/Makeup: Susie Salazar
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