Welcome to Touchgrass, a miniseries where I chat with
creatives about staying sane while being chronically online.
I'm your host Lauren Meisner, and Touchgrass is a miniseries
brought to you. By Britta where we.
Explore the implications of being chronically online with
the creatives who can't escape it.
One thing that keeps coming up in these conversations is how
important small grounding routines are offline.
And for me, one of those routines is drinking enough
water. Whether I'm refilling my water
bottle for a long walk or taking a break from scrolling my For
You page, Britta makes it easy for me to stay hydrated and
grounded. With pure fresh.
Tasting. Filtered water straight.
From any tap, thank you to Britta for supporting
independent media and helping us take better care of ourselves,
one refill at a time. Today, I'm chatting with Sammy
Jenkins, a video producer, content creator, and founder of
WILTY Meetups, a grassroots community that creates safe
spaces for connection. Through our conversation, Sammy
takes me through her unexpected into content creation,
navigating an extroverted industry as an introvert, and
how she's become a community facilitator for other socially
anxious young people in Melbourne.
I'm so sad to be chatting with you in this like beautiful
jungle slash garden that we're in right now.
Yeah, this is. I'm a little overwhelmed, but
like in the best way. It's really beautiful.
I wish you were here. So actually this I think is
maybe the my favorite location that we have recorded one of
these episodes in and I'm so excited to be chatting with you
today. So before we get into it, we
like to ask every guest some iteration of this question.
Would you consider yourself chronically online A. 100% yes.
Like everyone else, my screen time is insane.
I don't even look at it anymore because I know it's just like
way too high. But we're working on it.
It's a constant journey of like managing screen time.
No, I know. I don't look at my screen time.
People ask me about that all the time and I'm like, it's none of
my business. I need it for work.
So it's it's none of my business.
OK, so some of your earliest viral Tik Toks were about
quitting your job because you were unhappy.
At that point, did you see content creation as a genuine
path to consider? Why is that funny?
I don't know, I just, Oh my gosh, what a throwback.
I haven't thought about that in a while.
I we do our research here. You do your research, you do
your research. So I didn't consider it as a
legitimate career path for me. I think I would watch a lot of
creators online. I grew up watching YouTube and
loving these people and like, to me, they were making legit
career moves. And I think it was an imposter
syndrome thing. I always thought that's not for
me. I'm not creative, I'm not well
spoken. I'm too shy to be in front of
the camera. So it all just kind of happened
naturally and almost like accidentally.
But I guess here we are. Yeah, that's amazing.
So when was that? How long ago was that?
This will be the fourth or third year.
OK, yeah. So then how did you move past
your imposter syndrome to start actually putting yourself out
there? You know, there's like a cliche
that when you first start making content, people are really
scared about what high school people are going to think, like
what your friends are going to think.
I created basically like a burner account and I thought
that no one would see it. And I kind of had this like the
imposter syndrome was was very loud and I was like, no one's
going to see it. It's probably not very good.
So I was just like posting so, so much.
I was experimenting. I was like posting every single
day. And I kind of did that
consistently for like, I think 3 months.
I guess through just trial and error, I found certain things,
you know, went viral. People like certain things.
And I kind of just kept doing it.
And I guess like over time, I kind of build my confidence a
little. Yeah.
So can you talk to me about experimenting with your content?
Because I know a lot of your content centers around being
introverted, which is really interesting.
I studied marketing and media, so I kind of was, I mean, I did
a little a few internships in media and like at a marketing
agency when I first started, but doing content was all new.
Like I didn't have experience with like filming or editing or
even how to like create an engaging cook or anything.
The thing that stuck was my little introvert series and how
that came about was I just genuinely loved spending time
alone and I never really thought it would go anywhere.
But what was interesting is that a lot of other people felt the
same. A lot of other people maybe
didn't have friends or a partner and they just wanted to go out
and have fun. And then I thought, why don't I
just turn something that I already do into content?
Yes, I know. I say that to a lot of people
who asked me about like starting content creation or how they
should build their following. And I say just start like
documenting what you actually do.
Don't try and necessarily create content, especially when you're
starting out. Just document what you already
do and then you will find that through line of like what your
story can be. And then you can start actually
experimenting with like the curation and like making things
a little bit more, you know, aesthetic and things like that.
OK, so the Internet often rewards extroversion.
Have you ever felt like the introversion element of your
content, your niche, and your personality was at odds with
what performs well online? Whoa, that is such an
interesting question. That's such an interesting
question. I'm glad you asked it.
I think 100 percent, 100%. I think working in media and
marketing and like being a content creator, from my
experience, you're not encouraged to be quiet.
You're encouraged to be loud. You're encouraged to be the
centre of attention and speak your mind, which I think is
really important. That's really great, but I've
found that you can still have an amazing impact by being quiet.
It sounds a bit wanky, but it's been something I've had to
navigate. Yeah, I think content creation
is one of those careers that even though it does kind of
reward being a larger than life personality in some ways, that
also can be a really nice career for people who are a bit more
introverted. Because at the end of the day, a
lot of your work is slow, right? Like you're by yourself, you're
speaking to a camera. And a lot of people find that a
lot more natural than having to speak to a room filled with
people. So now that you have kind of
this other arm to your career doing content creation, how
would you say that has impacted your relationship with scrolling
in the Internet I. Think that it's definitely
changed my relationship with like screen time and what I do
when I'm like wanting to rest and recharge.
I have to be a lot more mindful with the content I'm consuming
and how much time I'm actually spending doom scrolling because
I think it's just too much. It's not normal to, you know,
work in this space, make content, be creative, and then
work another job that's also meant to be creative and then
come home and rest and look at your screen for three more
hours. Like, I just don't think, you
know, some people could do that and that's totally great for
them. I, I feel like I just burn out
and like I'll try to be really, really switched off or really
present when I'm with my friends, for example, because I
just don't want to look at my phone.
And so it's a constant like push pull of being online and being
offline, taking care of yourself.
Yeah, well, you can't be creative like it if you are
never out touching grass, if you will, if you're never
experiencing life, right, That's where you actually recharge.
But it's also where you get inspiration.
Do you feel like you have a hard time switching off when you say
that you don't really use your phone when you're with your
friends or you're intentionally trying not to scroll?
Is that difficult for you? Oh, the the big question.
Yeah, Literally the biggest question.
Yeah. I do have a problem with
switching off and it's something that I just haven't gotten right
yet. And I think it's something
that's just really hard to do in 2026.
Like we are all chronically online.
Yes. I think it's just like being
intentional with your energy and your time and even like the
people that you're with. I am so grateful that a lot of
my friends now, when we hang out, we are there with each
other, and it's not really about us just being in a room
scrolling together. We're often doing things or,
like, having really meaningful conversations.
And I feel so recharged from those Hangouts.
But sometimes I do still find myself going home and doing
scrolling. And I leave those experiences
just not feeling good. Yeah.
And when I don't clock that, you know, it can just happen again
and again. And then two weeks have gone by
and you're like, oh, I've wasted a lot of time watching nothing
on my phone. Yeah, I know literally nothing
is worse than the do scroll. It makes me feel so bad about
myself but I have feel like I have to do it for work.
I'm yeah it's so hard. So I wanted to pivot and chat
with you about WILTY meetups. Can you tell us what that is?
Yes, I can. That's my little baby.
Multi Meetups is a community that I started about four years
ago and we host meetups for introverts.
A lot of people ask me I'm I'm an extrovert, can I come along?
Yes, I can come along. It's not exclusive.
No discrimination. No discrimination here.
We love all people, but yeah, it, it kind of happened
organically through creating content about doing things
around Melbourne. And then other people in my
comments section were making friends with each other, were
wanting to set up plans and, and kind of create a group.
So through that, I hosted one meet up one day and, you know,
didn't expect anyone to show up. I think about 10 people showed
up. We were just complete strangers.
And it's literally just been hosting these monthly events
ever since. And monthly, that's a lot.
About monthly, you know, sometimes I've, you know, had to
take a break here and there, but it's been, it's been a pretty
constant, yeah. Wow, that's amazing.
Has anything surprised you about hosting events offline?
Yeah. I've been thinking about this a
lot recently and it's interesting because, you know, I
am a content creator. I do kind of exists online and
the meet ups is everything's in person.
So it's like it's really interesting.
And I think what surprised me is how real it feels, how real
everyone is who shows up to these events.
I try to do a little spiel at the start to kind of remind
people like, hey, we all don't know each other.
Hey, we're all here because we met on social media, but I kind
of come from a place that social media is fake a lot of the time.
And at these events, like, be real, like try to be your most
real self. And what surprised me is like,
even though people say they're introverted, give it like 10
minutes. Everyone's like making friends
and everyone's, you know, feeling really comfy.
And then they leave and they've made a whole new friend group.
And it's just really, really wholesome.
Yeah, it's great. I've been to a couple in Sydney
through different organizations, and every time I leave, I find,
honestly, there's a totally different type of energy when
you're in a room filled with people that you don't know.
And I, I feel like it's such a great opportunity to let your
guard down even more than I feel like if you're in a room filled
with people that you do know because, you know, at that
point, there's no judgement. People don't know your back
story. They don't know who you are.
And you can really just, like you said, truly be your
authentic self. That's how I have felt at these
events at least. Yeah.
I love that. You know, there is a lot of
discussion about the lack of third spaces and actually one of
our interviews that we had yesterday, yesterday with Eugene
Healy, he was saying not that he said that doesn't necessarily
that conversation doesn't apply to Australia, but he was saying
less so in Australia. He said we actually do have a
lot of, he believes there's a lot of like infrastructure here
that still supports third spaces for young people.
But from your experience, what is it that you think young
people want from community? Unrelated but I'm a big Eugene
Healy fan so I can't believe you met him.
I'm very jealous. Hi Eugene.
Anyways, I also think about this a lot and I was thinking in the
shower this morning actually. That community is such a
buzzword at the moment it feels, especially if you work in the
social media space. I think what young people and
adults are looking for is really a place where they can come
together and let their guard down.
I think yes, we are so like privileged here in Australia and
in Melbourne to have a lot of third spaces where people can
gather safely and connect. But what we can always improve
on is how do we make people feel safe in these environments?
How do we make them feel like they can express themselves
without judgment? I think, you know, that's
something that's really important to me in any, you
know, event that I have because, you know, I'm very anxious.
I have a lot of social anxiety. I know a lot of my peers do as
well. And, you know, everyone's a bit
like tense because we're all chronically online.
So like, how nice to be able to walk into a space and just feel
free. Yes.
Oh, my God. Free.
That's actually the perfect word that I was looking for when I
was talking about like, I genuinely, when I leave.
Yeah, when I leave, meet up sometimes with people that I
don't know, I genuinely feel a sense of freedom.
It's so nice. Do you think that social
platforms or even brands have a type of responsibility?
Do they have a responsibility to help foster a sense of
community? I think they do.
I think it would be great if all brands had that awareness of
creating community. And I think if they're a strong
brand with strong values and a mission and they're doing good
in the world, I think that the community will just form
naturally. That said, I think they do have
somewhat of a responsibility to take care of their customers and
take care of their audience or even just someone who follows
their Instagram, whether or not that's actually happening with
brands. I feel like there's a lot of
performative community happening, like brands wanting
to capitalize on this buzzword, but fostering real community I
think takes like a really intense level of care and just
like awareness of people's needs and different people's needs as
well. I agree, I think a great way for
brands to start, given what you just said with, you know, the
level of care that it requires to truly foster a meaningful
community. I think a great place for a
brand to start is to support existing community initiatives
like WILTY meetups like the heated rivalry look alike
competition that just happened in Sydney.
Oh my God, yes. Yes.
Did you see you saw that on? Social.
I saw that everywhere on Social. Shout out Lena.
Yes. Did you go to it?
No, but Lena's actually our guest.
She come her episode comes out today.
Oh no way. Oh my God.
Amazing. Yeah, no, she's great.
No, I couldn't go to it, unfortunately.
I actually did have a nail appointment and I know that
sounds dramatic but my nails take like 4 hours.
That's valid. That's so valid.
Yeah. So yeah, I.
Think, you know, supporting kind of grassroots initiatives like
that that are already happening through creators or people where
they align with their message and they align with what that
person is trying to do. That's a great place to start, I
feel. So, given how deeply your work
is intertwined with mental health and community, how do you
personally protect your emotional well-being while still
showing up online and showing up for your community that you're
building? Yeah, I think like, like I said
before, it's like a constant push pull of maneuvering your
online offline self. I think it comes down to having
very clear boundaries and rules for yourself because you know
when you're online and when you're making content, even
though it's like authentic and it can have impact, it's still
like the curated version of yourself doing practices like
journaling or walking or spending time with friends who
you feel safe with when you're offline.
Doing those things is really important to, like, come back to
your sense of self, which sounds like.
Yeah, I think that's important because if I don't know when I
don't do these things sometimes, you know, historically I've
gotten caught up in, oh, this video performed really well.
I feel so good about myself. Then a video performs really
badly. I'm like, well, I guess I'm a
failure. Yeah.
But that shouldn't be the case at all.
Like, that's kind of crazy to say that out loud.
So. Yeah, leaning into like, like
your your community and fun mental health well-being
practices like journaling. Yeah, it's so hard because in
this line of work, your identity is so intertwined with what you
do, how you perform, all that. It's so hard to, like, untangle
that, Yeah. Do you feel like there's any
lessons that you've had to learn the hard way while being
chronically online, whether it's through work or just through
your own personal like social media use?
Oh my God, so many lessons, so many lessons.
I feel like I'm constantly learning lessons and like
readjusting things. Yeah, one of the biggest lessons
is like your online self and persona.
It's still you, like you said, but it doesn't have to be you
and it's not where you should be drawing your worth from.
Yeah, like don't attach yourself worth, self love, identity to
your Instagram. Yeah, it's difficult because I
create content. We all create content, and I
love expressing myself online. But you just have to be really
mindful if you want to like, work in this career path, right?
Or like you want to do it sustainably.
Like it's not. It's not for everyone.
Yeah. Yeah.
No, that makes sense. OK, So the last thing I would
love to know from you is how do you touch grass?
I love to literally go to the park and sit on the grass.
And touch grass. I love to like literally touch
the grass. I find that really healing.
Yeah. Going to the park, grabbing like
a little picnic mat, whipping out my journal or like I've been
listening to these really quick like 5 minute meditation or
affirmations like literally from Spotify.
And then like maybe exercising and seeing friends.
Like any offline activity that's just like something fun to do.
It's just like super recharging for me.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
For having me, this is so much fun.
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