Leading Snapchat Influencer and business owner Virginia Salas Kastilio says passion and persistence will eventually convert if you love what you do and you just keep trying.

What's passion's role when you're facing failure and bankruptcy? Actually, it will help you stay persistent and find a way to fulfill your dreams.Virginia Salas Kastilio is a major Snapchat influencer. She converted her passion for video content creation into a successful media company.She always knew what she wanted to do, but her financial resources were scarce and she didn't have any support. Though she experienced bankruptcy and failure, she never stopped. "Passion and persistence go in one word. You have to keep at it." Now she is thankful for the journey as it helped her grow. Virginia found hope in her passion and continued to improve her skills. "Passion is your inner drive, your fire towards something that gives you meaning, something that gives you purpose." She explains how it energized her to tirelessly keep on trying over and over again.Do you want to feel alive doing what you love? Watch here and remember to share it with your friends and spread the passion. Live Passionately,Moustafa HamwiPassionpreneur & Chief Energy OfficerAward Winning Author & Speaker

TRANSCRIPT

Moustafa: Hello everyone and welcome back to Passion Sundays, the best way to end a week and start another. Our guest today is phenomenally passionate about social media, particularly about Snapchat. And she took that passion and she turned it into an agency that's helping companies penetrate that platform. Virginia, thank you so much for being with us today!Virginia: Thank you so much for having me!Moustafa: That's an interesting passion, recent passion to be converted into a business. Tell me a little bit earlier, before that. How did you end up doing what you're doing?Virginia: Yeah, well, ten years ago I started on the platform YouTube creating videos about my life so daily vlogs from, you know, my entire journey after high school moving from Austria to Australia, starting a completely new life. Creating silly dance videos and whatever it was that it was inspiring me about life. So video content creation has always been the way that I expressed myself. Uhm, also, I'm a huge writer so any creative outlet for me it's just amazing. So it was never a business. So as YouTube, I never got a lot of subscribers and never came into anything. I ended up studying sociology in English literature but then going the corporate route so working for Apple and then Oracle for five years in corporate IT. And now, I've been able to convert my passion, which is video content creation into a company that's very successful. Moustafa: Interesting. So basically it wasn't about Snapchat. It was about the fact that you were just doing videos that you loved and somehow the right media platform emerged.Virginia: 100% - yes!Moustafa: Amazing! So just pursue whatever passion it is at the moment. Virginia: Yeah, it really took a long time. Like, in the end, this is what I've always wanted to do. I wanted to be a creator. I wanted to be on video. I wanted to tell stories. I wanted to challenge myself, you know, cinematically. And, yeah, when I heard about Snapchat and I started actually analyzing the platform two years ago, I saw that it would be you know, changing the market today. Moustafa: And how tough was that journey?Virginia: Uh. It was… I mean, I moved out when I was 16. So I've always kinda fought for myself. So from a financial perspective I never had a lot of freedom to, you know, buy equipment. So my first job that I had handing out magazines at a conference kinda of like this. My money went towards a Canon IXUS. Uhm, so I was able to create my vlogs and everything. And yeah, especially if you don't have the resources kinda continuing that or going out and being an artist and being a film maker. I never had the money to study that so, you know, it was a long time until I could establish myself and create that content. But it's a lot of just persistence. I think passion and persistence go in one word. You have to keep at it. And if it's something that you really love and if you truly love it. You don't just say 'Oh yeah, this is what I like or this is what I'm passionate about.' But if it's truly ingrained into your veins, then you will continue and it will convert eventually for you when the time is right and also when you're ready. Because, back then, frankly, 10 years ago I didn't have the skills that I have now. I didn't have the confidence that I have now. I didn't have the personality, so I had to go that way of growth, of failing, of bankruptcy, of, you know, just having to try over and over again and creating content that was bad until I could reach this level and look at something and say 'Whoa, I've kinda done it!'Moustafa: And how did you find passion when times were going tough?Virginia: Mmm…A lot…I think I've found a lot of solace in, honestly, Harry Potter. (laughs) Yeah, so I've listened to a lot of Harry Potter audio books and I think that is just literature, also relating to people. I think Harry Potter specifically, because he was a child that was magical, that had a really difficult life. So when I was a teenager, when I was growing up I related to that. That there was hope that you can have, you know, ten terrible years and that changed your entire life, it changes around that. And specifically, always uhm, you know, pushing yourself and constantly trying to you know, to create change and to make yourself better. So I guess I've found my inspiration in that and it was just like a daily thing. I think I've listened to the audio books like 27 times.Moustafa: Wow!Virginia: Maybe that's a condition or something. But it worked for me. (laughs)Moustafa: As long as you were able to find something that kept you passionate.Virginia: Exactly.Moustafa: It's interesting that you found a different analogy. It might not be inspiration, you just found something that would inspire you.Virginia: Yeah. I think it's a lot like role models to other people. That's why I think media is so important. That's why I think that what you're doing right now is so important. Because in order to hear the stories of other people, what they've done, how they struggled and to finally convert that into something that is meaningful and getting to where they want to be, I think gives inspiration to a lot of people.Moustafa: What is your definition of passion?Virginia: It's an interesting word that people throw around a lot. I think passion is your inner drive, your fire towards something that gives you meaning, something that gives you purpose. Where you can feel in the instant. You know like inspiration, like to inspire is to breathe in. To breathe in, to breathe in life. And I think it's when it gives you these moments when you know you're on the right track, you're going where you want to go. And even though you are up all night until 4 o'clock in the morning and your body might be exhausted, that fire is still driving you forward. And you're gonna go and you're gonna wake up and you're gonna do it over and over again. Because that's your purpose. So I think that all those things combined, that energy, that fire, that purpose is leading you towards you need to go. And that's why it's so important for us. Because otherwise we feel tired and meaningless.Moustafa: Thank you very much! This has been an amazing way to conclude this interview. Virginia: Thank you!Moustafa: I really appreciate it.Moustafa and Virginia: Passion!Moustafa: What do you think? I would really love to hear your opinion. I really hope you found this interview as useful as I did. If so, leave your comments on the blog below and do share it with your friends. And if you'd like ore tools, tips, techniques and exclusive interviews that I only share on my website, go to Moustafa.com. And until the next episode, live passionately!