Social Media Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Frank Michael Smith of Juice Productions Is Helping To Change Our World
Failing is going to be a necessary step in whatever you want to achieve. Sometimes you don’t even know you’re failing. I started publishing videos to the internet at 14 years old. I wasn’t successful until age 26. My best advice is to remain curious, build skills, and stay consistent.
As a part of our series about leaders who are using their social media platform to make a significant social impact, we had the pleasure of interviewing Frank Michael Smith — CEO of Juice Productions.
After gaining over 1 million followers on TikTok in less than a year, sports content creator Frank Michael Smith has solidified himself as one of the premier sports personalities on social media. To date, his daily sports coverage has amassed 1.7 million followers and an impressive 102 million likes on TikTok. Frank is also CEO of his own production company, Juice Productions garnering over 200 million monthly views across 10 shows.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve wanted to build a career at the intersection of art and sports since I was a child. I was always well aware of my differing influences. My Dad’s is historically athletic and sports obsessed. My Great-Grandfather won the 1919 World Series, and my Uncle became the Light Heavyweight Champion of the world in boxing. My whole Mom’s side is very artistic. My fondest memories with my Grandfather were visits to his house where he taught me how to draw, paint, and see the world like an artist.
Can you share the most interesting story that has happened to you since you began this career?
The most interesting story of my career thus far is the counterculture decision I made to relocate my business from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh. If there’s anyone else who took a budding career/company in media/production from LA to PGH…I’ve never met them. It’s been the best (and most fruitful) decision I’ve made thus far.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest lessons. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I reached 100k subscribers on YouTube in roughly my first 6 months. I was proud of the accomplishment, which came with a shiny silver plaque from the kind people at YouTube. I made the decision to post a photo with my plaque and thank everyone who supported me.
The top comment read, “Hey I love the videos, and I don’t mean this in a negative way, but does anyone else think he looks like a rhino?”
I laughed and polled my followers on whether or not this guy was on to something. Sure enough, 67% agreed.
I’m still known as Rhino today.
You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Failing is going to be a necessary step in whatever you want to achieve. Sometimes you don’t even know you’re failing. I started publishing videos to the internet at 14 years old. I wasn’t successful until age 26. My best advice is to remain curious, build skills, and stay consistent.
Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact with your content?
The core principles you’ll find in all of my art are entertainment, and education. If you’re going to look at a screen and consume content, you might as well learn something.
The beautiful part about this infotainment style of storytelling is it actually helps trigger the algorithms in our favor. People might not outwardly admit that they want to learn something, but my numbers suggest otherwise. There’s something about learning that makes you want to pass it along. Oftentimes this is in the form of shares. I send interesting posts and videos to my group chat all the time.
Was there a tipping point that made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?
There was never a tipping point. This is a direction I’ve intended on going since I was about 5 years old.
Are there three things the community/society can do to help you with delivering more meaningful coverage through your content?
I don’t believe there is. I don’t feel like the burden is on our community/society to help me deliver more meaningful coverage. It’s my responsibility to develop new and improved routes to serve them.
Why do you think social media in particular has the power to create social change and create a positive impact on humanity?
Social media certainly has the power to create social change, positivity, etc. There’s more attention, eyeballs, and activity there than anywhere else in the world. The “why” is not the difficult answer here, it’s the “how?” or the “what changes need to be made to do this more effectively?”
What specific strategies have you been using to promote and advance the meaning behind your content? Can you recommend any good tips for people who want to follow your lead and use their own social platforms for a social good?
The most popular career path for high schoolers is “content creator.” I’ve taken it upon myself to give back to the kids. This Fall my team and I visited local schools to deliver advice. The biggest piece of advice for these kids is to keep going. Many of them already have a page or channel. For them it’s about building the skills that can take it to the next level.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
If you have the answers when you start, you DO NOT become successful. This is not a wish of mine.
I’ll share a story…
I took French from 7th through 11th grade. I liked the idea of learning a new language, but I never truly cared to dedicate myself.
Many of my classmates felt the same way I did. When it came time for exams. We had an elaborate cheating method. One of my friends who did take the time to dedicate himself sat in the front and relayed signals to us behind him.
This went on for 5 years. I still know zero French….because people told me things when I first started learning it.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Some of my most cherished memories are from my childhood playing outdoors with my friends. We played sports like street hockey, and football. We built forts in the woods. I even made (awful) homemade video mixtapes of our sledding jumps.
When I moved from LA to Pittsburgh, I bought the house where I was raised. This neighborhood used to be flooded with kids playing. Today it’s too quiet. There’s no games. Even the kids who make the trek back from the bus stop do so isolated with earbuds in.
I hope to one day inspire a movement that brings our youth back outdoors.
Is there a person in the world, or in the U.S. whom you would love to have a power lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.
Bill Simmons of The Ringer. I discovered one of his articles in a physical ESPN the Magazine around 2008. I didn’t love reading. His style made me look forward to it. I was bummed when he stopped, but it was the right move. I subscribed to his podcast (which was strange back then) and ate up every second of the “30 for 30” documentary series.
I look up to Bill as a sports thought leader, but even more so as an entrepreneur.
Getting fired from ESPN, starting your own company, then selling it to Spotify for $200 Million 4 years later is one of the most badass sports media career arcs I’ve ever come across.
How can our readers further follow you online?
@FrankMichaelSmith on everything but Twitter. I’m @FrankMikeSmith on there
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!
Absolutely, thank you for having me.
Social Media Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Frank Michael Smith of Juice Productions Is… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.