It’s easy to get bored of those perfectly polished people on Instagram. You know the ones: they’re living their #blessed lives with a cocktail in hand and not a flaw in sight. Which is why it’s so refreshing when authentic women like Sarah Clarke of @disastersofathirtysomething pop up on your feed, full of real and raw honesty that makes you chuckle.
With hilarious, and often embarrassing, anecdotes alongside gorgeous shots of her daily life, it’s little wonder Sarah has built a community of almost 30,000 loyal followers. So what’s her secret to stayin’ authentic and keeping it real? She takes us behind the Insta scenes…
Let’s start with your brilliantly hilarious, real captions – where do you find inspiration?
Thank you very much, you charmer. I simply write my captions as I see it – things go wrong but I prefer to make fun of myself than dwell. There’s more that unites us than divides us; I find if I’m honest about something embarrassing that’s happened to me, or something I’m struggling with, there will inevitably be someone who comments or messages to say “me too!”. It’s cheaper than therapy.
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Let’s get real! Tell us about how #thepeakandpitcollective came about.
First things first, I can’t take credit for the phrase ‘peak and pit’ itself. I nicked it off those klassy Kardashians. But the first time I used it was back in early 2017, six weeks into a year round the world with my husband. We were spending our first night sleeping in a van we’d bought. Not a posh camper, I hasten to add. This was just a big car turned into a #vanlife wannabe.
We’d spent the afternoon killing ourselves laughing, frolicking Britishly on a Kiwi nudist beach, but then that night I woke up in a panic attack. I felt claustrophobic and worried we’d made a HUGE error buying this van to live in. And so ‘the peak and pit’ was born – I shared that high and low of my day, hoping to show that travelling isn’t all mojito sundowners.
After a few months of doing the same every day – sharing the ‘peak’ and ‘pit’ as we travelled through New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand – I started a new hashtag for anyone who wanted to join in: #thepeakandpitcollective. And, to this day, I absolutely love reading about other people’s highs and lows. Just call me nosey.
“I love mulling over each of my days and taking stock to consider the best and worst moments” – @disastersofathirtysomething
My hope is that by being real, in some small way, the hashtag inspires other people to see tiny positives, even in the most awful days. I’ve been touched to have received some beautiful messages from people – going through break ups or grieving – who have said that they privately consider their peak and pit each night and it’s helped them. One teacher friend even introduced a ‘peak and pit’ reflection time to her primary school class.
How has the online community changed your career?
It’s completely changed it. I think – for any freelancer in the media (radio, journalism, film, blogging etc) – social media offers both a breadth of opportunities right there in your phone and a supportive community of like-minded individuals. Whereas freelancers might have previously felt alone and adrift, I think Instagram allows you to bond with others in the same position, chat through problems and successes, pass on vital contacts, share tips, and ultimately feel like you *kind of* have online colleagues. Hashtag women supporting women, n’ all that.
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What’s your secret to nailing a theme on your grid?
I wish I did have that nailed! To be honest, I think there are pros and cons to adopting a strict ‘theme’. I like my feed to look cohesive, welcoming and not jarring, but I don’t think Instagram is as fun if you give yourself too many restrictions. Personally my ‘theme’ is just whatever life stage I’m in – right now there’s a lot of baby spam, but in 2017 it was all travel. The lovely thing is having your Instapals follow along for the ride. They didn’t sign up to follow an ‘Instamum’-style account back in 2016 when my account was 87% pretty doors in London (LOL, I was obsessed), but some have stuck around and that’s a massive compliment.
How do you keep it real when deciding what to post?
I’m definitely of the adhoc School of Instagram. I tend to hope I’ll magically feel inspired each day, either at home or out and about. I aim to share a daily caption, a sort of microblog, so it can even feel a teeny bit (dare I say!) stressful realising i’ve got to the end of the day without having taken a suitable photo. I’ve spoken to other ‘grammers who find winter particularly hard with such short daylight hours.
Any tips for on-point, real photography?
I self-shoot – unless begging help from my #instagramhusband (bless him) – and all my photos are taken on my Google Pixel 2. I don’t own a ‘proper’ camera. And although I know many (most?) Instagrammers use other apps (like VSCO) to edit their pictures, I stay within Instagram itself for my editing process. And ‘process’ is a grandiose word for what’s quite a simple affair; I like my photos to look as real and – if you’ll allow me the word – unfiddled-with as possible, so I just use the ‘Adjust’ function to straighten lines, ‘Brightness’ to – as the term would suggest – brighten things up a touch and, then, often ‘Warmth’ too.
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You’ve been on some amazing adventures – what’s your advice for getting the perfect travel shot?
This is a really hard feat to achieve actually. It’s incredibly difficult to be remotely original in hugely popular tourist spots. The account @insta_repeat is testament to that! It’s a humbling feeling once you realise how deeply unoriginal you are.
Mummy bloggers are big business! What have you learned about sharing images of your twins?
People absolutely love baby photos! I’m hesitant to overshare, but it’s pictures of Scout and Kipling that always seem to be the most well-loved, bless them. I’ve also found I’m now contacted by far more PR firms and brands as I fit into a niche of ‘mummy blogger’, whereas before my account has veered between London life, foreign travel and general moronic ramblings. Well, the moronic ramblings live on. I only work with around 1 in 10 of the brands which approach me, but I feel far more comfortable talking about useful/unique/adorable baby products than I ever was when the focus was more on me as an individual.
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In what ways do you use Stories compared to the grid?
Stories are a chance to show life unedited, be real and spontaneous, and have fun. I love watching stories to go ‘behind-the-scenes’ of other accounts, so I try and use mine to do the same. And run important polls to find out what proportion of my followers use a teaspoon, rather than a regular spoon, to eat their cereal.
How do you use hashtags?
I used to use the full permitted amount – around 30 per post – but it was time-consuming and I wasn’t sure if it was helping my photos be any more visible. In fact it felt a little desperate if I’m honest – throwing 30 hashtags in and hoping one would stick. Shake up the algorithm.
These days, as well as my own hashtag (#thepeakandpitcollective) I join in with others started by friends (eg. #chattycaptioncommunity (@bethsandland), #whatmamaworemonday (@heyitsromeca), #reallifeandstyle (@vixmeldrew), as well as using tags relevant to the specific photo/my current life status – #twinstagram, #twinmum. Or I might research to see if a brand visible in a given photo has a hashtag I could include, for example a wall in our house painted with Dulux paint means I could include their #FeelGoodColour.
What’s your advice for building a real, engaged audience?
Be real. It’s not something you can fake, or shortcut. Genuine engagement from others comes from being engaged yourself. Take an interest in what others are sharing, what’s going on in their big, messy lives and their small, pretty squares. Do this, genuinely befriend people, and you’ll find they’ll engage with you too.
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Instagram can often get a bad rep – how do you use it as a platform for positivity?
I thought of a term recently that could ~easily~ have been penned by someone before me, but I shall take the credit. Your feed should feed you. I only follow accounts – people – who build me up, inspire me and make me laugh/think/feel all the feelings. I’m attracted to people on Instagram who are on the overshare end of the honesty scale; it’s incredibly refreshing in a sea of perfect bodies paired with Gandhi quotes.
And which elements of Instagram do you struggle with?
Quite a few. It’s hard to be original, hard to think of fresh photo ideas, hard to visit places and not end up pulling a pose worthy of the @insta_repeat feed. It’s hard to please everyone and avoid the inevitable haters. But, ultimately, the good outweighs the bad. And that’s why I’ve given four years of my life to this app. It scares me sometimes how much time I’ve spent posting, scheming, writing, liking, scrolling and commenting. But Instagram is a force for good in my life. I’ve made great friends through it and it allows me a platform through which I can flex the organ that is my brain every day.
“Your feed should feed you” – @disastersofathirtysomething
Any advice for avoiding the dreaded comparison trap?
For this we turn to my main man, Oscar Wilde: “be yourself; everyone else is already taken”. It’s become an overused quote but the truth is valid and liberating. No one follows you in the hope you’ll be a copycat version of another well-known account. They follow you for something different. Obviously comparison remains our go-to reaction as we scrollscrollscroll, we’re only human. But if you share what YOU love, in your own real inimitable way, you’ll find people respond.
Finally, which accounts do you love following?
Other than those already named, and a flurry of fellow twin mums, my favourite accounts include @lareesecraig (she has me creased), @erica_davies (she’s as stylish as she is witty), @annamathur (her wisdom knows no bounds), @misskatyenglish (for weird and wonderful creativity using words suggested by her followers) and @bright__mama (as well as a fantastic mum/lifestyle blogger she also happens to be my little sister and I love spying on what she’s up to). I’m getting The Fear here that I’ve forgotten some firm favourites – must be what it feels like to do an Oscars acceptance speech and realise you didn’t thank your agent!
