{"id":71842,"date":"2022-10-19T03:06:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T16:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elements.blog-cms.envato.net\/?p=23962"},"modified":"2025-11-11T17:31:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T06:31:15","slug":"meet-the-experts-flex-mami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elements.envato.com\/learn\/meet-the-experts-flex-mami","title":{"rendered":"How to build an engaged online community with Flex Mami"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Flex Mami<\/a>\u2014AKA Lillian Ahenkan\u2014is an internationally recognized author, media personality, radio host, DJ, podcaster, business owner, CEO, entrepreneur, award-winning Influencer, and cultural icon. Known for sparking challenging and thought-provoking conversations online, Flex has cultivated an engaged community<\/a> centered around critical thinking and self-awareness.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Named Instagram Australia’s #YoungEntrepreneur 2020, Lillian is also the Founder and CEO of Flex Factory<\/a> and the creator of the popular conversation card game, ReFlex \u2013 designed to facilitate deep, meaningful, and unconventional conversations and deep dialogue.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a superpower for asking difficult questions, she’s breaking the ‘influencer<\/a>‘ mold by continually speaking her mind and encouraging her community to do the same. We sat down for a heart-to-heart with this expert entrepreneur and creative powerhouse to learn how she built her thriving online empire, and get her best advice for cultivating a stand-out brand<\/a> and highly engaged online community<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did ‘Flex Mami’ come about?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Sitting at a round table with some of my close friends, brainstorming what “would be a good DJ name.” Flex was a colloquial word used a decade ago, and Mami was a suffix because the username Flex had already been taken by the yoga and chiropractic community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the mission behind your content?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Making content is my job, so I try not to over-intellectualize what I create and why. It’s an income stream and an opportunity to create financial stability for myself. Since my content is often an extension of my being (i.e., my thoughts, identity, and interests), it’s essential to create boundaries with myself to avoid believing that my content is part of me, as opposed to the manifestation of my skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What motivates you to highlight current issues and spark important conversations online?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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We must all be empowered, informed, and equipped with the skills to express ourselves and our interests. Once I started sharing mine, I noticed that many of my audience found the process alienating because they hadn’t explored or unpacked what they believed and why. I quickly understood that if I wanted to have practical, mutually beneficial discussions with my audience, we, at the very least, needed a baseline understanding of the content’s context. This inadvertently turned into an education of sorts, which I now try to avoid as the responsibility quickly became burnout-inducing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the most challenging aspect of speaking your mind and making yourself vulnerable on social media?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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The most challenging part of speaking your mind online is being misunderstood, feeling solely accountable for the education of your audience, and not being able to maintain personal boundaries. The most rewarding part is noticing how empowered people feel to challenge their beliefs and remain open to hearing other perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author, TV Host, DJ, Podcaster, business owner, entrepreneur \u2013 you’re a true powerhouse! How are you using these platforms for good?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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I’m not actively trying to make a difference in the world by using my career \u2013 I think it’s been a gratifying and illuminating byproduct, though. You have to understand that I started my career DJing and playing music in clubs for young partiers, so it would be remiss of me to give the impression that that was an altruistic platform. My priority is not simply “doing good”; it’s to show the breadth, depth, and diversity of what it is to be me. To integrate intersectionality identity, culture, ethics, philosophy, and pop culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you grow your online following into what it is today?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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 <\/strong>It’s coming up on almost ten years of content creation, and the landscape has changed so much. I transitioned from a casual Instagram user to a specialist, strategist, and content creator. Growing an online following can be done in two ways: replication or innovation. Do what every else does and do it well, or try something vastly different and hope it resonates with your audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your tips for growing an engaged online community?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Learn how to get your audience to perceive you as a person, not an object in their phone, made for entertaining them. People resonate with emotions and relatable experiences, so to build a responsive community, you need to create content with them in mind. Ask yourself, “Why would this content be helpful, interesting, inspiring, or relatable to someone?” Are you creating something intentional, or could your audience simply Google it? Is the integration of your content adding value?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re also the CEO of Flex Factory! What inspired you to create your business, and what are you most proud of?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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