Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Shane Kesneck @Coumpi

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

Currently based out of Pittsburgh, I also have the privilege of traveling around the country teaching and choreographing for dance studios and dancers in the hip hop genre! I travel and judge with a national dance competition named Rising Star Talent. When I’m in town, I teach at 4 dance studios weekly and 3 more bi-weekly including the Pittsburgh branch of Millennium Dance Complex and Appolonia Leake Dance Company, formerly Abby Lee Dance Company. I set award winning and nationally recognized choreography for studios from all over. When I’m at home, I’m either in front of my mirror choreographing new content, studying dance/choreography videos across all genre for inspiration, or studying music. I find time to sleep eat and shower, don’t worry hahahahaha. My favorite thing on the face of the Earth is teaching and mentoring my students! A very close second would have to be watching my dancers bring my imagination to life on a stage! Being seen as a role model means everything in the world to me and I NEVER take the power that comes with that lightly.

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

Freestyle dancing, choreography, teaching are my first loves! Inspiring anybody watching or following my content is a passion. Tattoos, shoes, and hats are passions as well! I really enjoy work with other artists, dancers, choreographers, and brands highlighting and promoting. My Instagram posts consist of everything I just mentioned!

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

My uncle, who passed away some time ago, went by the nickname "Coump". I can’t remember how he told me he earned the nickname but I know it means (loosely) loyal friend and I know that he changed the spelling for whatever reason. Throughout the years, as I got older, everybody told me that I was just like him and when I was around 12-13 years old my aunt decided to an i on the end of it and that was my nickname!

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

When I’m in a rush and I need to resize or throw some text over a picture I use Squaready app. It’s THEE most user-friendly and quick app I’ve come across. I found an app recently called After Photo and when I have some more time to mess around I’ll use that. It has a lot more customize-able features and looks really good afterwards. I get professional head shots taken so most of my pictures are already edited but I’m also NO slouch when it comes to photo/video editing. When I have pictures or video that I’ve taken, I’ll sit down at my laptop and edit them! I use a free open-source software called GIMP to edit photo, I’ve also downloaded a TON of plugins and effects for it as well. For video I use Corel Videostudio and all the plugins and assistant software for that program is amazing!

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

I consciously change up who I study, the style of music I listen to, and the content I search every few weeks. I love finding things, I would never even think about looking for, that give me inspiration, so you can imagine that the amount of Instagrammers that I love and Inspire me is high! My biggest Inspirations in my career I continue to follow closely and they are : @mikesong @mrkudelka @bigryat @therealjaffar @videocreators (his youtube channel is why I follow him) and @watchsnowglobe. I could literally spend another hour typing names but those are the first ones that came to mind hahahahaha.

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

@HipHopMindset, @dailybread, AND @farESHbrand. What these three companies represent is exactly what the hip hop community needs and stands for in my eyes. They’re not only active in just the hip hop community! In their local community, respectively, they do SO much to showcase up coming talent and grow the minds of the youth in their city! PLUS their clothes are just dope hahahahahaha

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

I took the old/cliche statement, "With great power, comes even greater responsibility.", and applied it to my career, as well as my life, as soon as I realized that the students I teach actually listen to everything I say and pay attention to everything I do. Complete strangers and my peers that follow me and respect my opinion are amazing and I love them all for it. HOWEVER, the kids that follow me that I’ve never even met or taught, PLUS the kids I teach week in and week out are the ones that are truly awe inspiring, not to mention impressionable. I take pride in being a role model and I realized immediately the huge amount of power that comes with a title like that. Whether it’s one kid or one million kids, I will NOT EVER be the one that steers them down a bad path or thought process so I am very meticulous when it comes to the content I post. It’s a power that I’m terrified of but I respect it and love it. My favorite part about being an "Influencer" is the ability to use that power to inspire the youth.

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

Everything I picture I post means something to me personally. If I post an inspirational quote, 100% of the time, it has something to do with a situation, or a thought that I had within that hour of posting, so I either found a quote or created the picture because it means something close to my heart. If the picture is of a friend, or a tattoo, shoes, hats, or even the token embarrassing tbt, it’s still about someone/some thing I actually love! PLUS who doesn’t love seeing other peoples embarrassing pictures lol. Pictures of class flyers, self promotion, or the promotion of others is what I use social media for in my career! Letting my followers know where I’ll be, what I’m teaching, etc. is important. Videos of freestyles are used to show that I am still actively training. Videos of my choreography are another tool I use for promotion and letting my loyal following see new content, as well as my evolution has a creative human. The way I stay authentic with my videos have everything to do with my song selection. Each song I choose means something to me on some level(s) and I like to think it shows through the video content. You could have stumbled onto my account by accident but, after the first 5-10 posts, you will know exactly what my content is and be able to tell A LOT about my personality. I would tell a brand to make sure that whatever their product is comes from a genuine place. Look at your target demo. as a specific community! Communities know how to spot the one that doesn’t belong and the ones who are just "stopping by" with the sole intention of selling or promoting without wanting to become an actual part of the community! Do the research and so you already know if you even have a chance of being accepted.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

Originality is a bit tough. Everybody has done everything 60x over but almost everything created is a product of something else. Brand new inventions get created because somebody had a problem with something which sparked the thought process to create another thing to remedy the problem, or they saw/heard something and figured out a way to make it better OR their own! In my opinion (and what I practice) as long as I am being true to who I am, what I think, and put my twist on it then it’s original. People who saw another choreographer post a video of them popping and then go my account to watch me popping will see very apparent similarities but know that my style is unique to me. As long as you make something "your own" then I think you’re being original and I know a lot who would agree with me! Quality is not something to be skimped on. Your product, picture, or video should be created with the highest quality sources available.

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

Getting to work with brands and creators that I respect, follow, buy from, talk about, and relate to makes that the actual best part! Showing that I’m not only just admiring these brands from afar but actually working with them let’s my fans know that it’s something they can trust! Let’s also be extra real here and answer this question: WHO doesn’t like free merchandise or making money doing something they love with a brand they love? I’ll wait………………………..

Topics:

• Education
• Fashion
• Health & Fitness
• Kids & Parenting
• Travel

Country:

United States of America