I recently spoke to social media power couple Cole and Kelsea Moscatel, Instagram influencers and the creators of a new luxury lifestyle platform called Snob World. The newlyweds - and now parents to a baby boy - are passionate international explorers who offer who target those interested in the travel and luxury verticals.

Adam: What is something about each of you that would surprise people?

Kelsea: We were naturally childhood friends. We both grew up as neighbors in Redlands, California and our mothers were best friends. We would always hang out with each other every day. This usually comes as surprising to other people because they would have never guessed that we grew up with each other.

Adam: How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your journey?

Cole: Later on as we grew up, we developed a deeper relationship with each other and ultimately fell in love. Eventually we married in March of 2016 and had our first son Zayden, shortly after. Our passion for traveling began during our first trip to New York as a married couple and from then on we decided that eventually we’d turn it into a business venture. Flash forward to 2019, we began our own luxury/lifestyle brand, Snob World! With any new company, there are struggles; Kelsea and I reach disagreements, however, we always compromise and meet in the middle. Other than that, this venture has brought us even closer to one another. We’ve gotten to know and learn more about each other throughout this whole process. It’s a thrill to show people our passion for travel. We want to inspire others by showing them that, even with a young child, you can travel the world and live your life to its fullest.

Adam: How did you become social media influencers? What advice do you have for those interested in working with influencers or becoming influencers themselves?

Cole: I began my entrepreneurial journey in my teens by developing a successful dog washing company while Kelsea began her path by designing lines of clothing, phone cases, and fashion accessories. We were originally business innovators but also used social media to highlight our everyday lifestyle.

Kelsea: We essentially had a following but it grew even bigger when we decided to highlight our traveling even more. We wanted our followers to see that as young parents you can still want that life of luxury, no matter how many diaper changes we need to make. A piece of advice for people interested in working with influencers or becoming an influencer yourself is to set yourself apart from others, find what qualities work best for you, and always be persistent.

Adam: What has life in the influencer space taught each of you about branding and marketing?

Cole: The influencer space taught me that authenticity is everything. Being your true self is extremely valuable when connecting with your followers. You also have to take the authenticity in your everyday life and translate it onto social media. If you’re not true to yourself in real life it will be even harder to portray that to other people online.

Kelsea: I think the influencer space has taught me that the bond between lifestyle and brands is crucial. Similar to Cole’s answer, it is all about authenticity. Cole and I love to share with everyone our luxury traveling photos, videos, or any advice for traveling in style to our followers. Our lifestyle has carried our brand and opened up many opportunities for us.

Adam: What are your three best marketing and branding tips?

Kelsea: Take great pictures, be innovative, and always try your best to be relatable.

Cole: As a precursor to those three, I think a good tip is to start by defining your brand. Finding what you’re passionate about, what you want to share with others, and how you want to help elevate someone’s life. Your brand character helps you connect with others and overall promotes your business.

Adam: What is the biggest misconception about the influencer world and life as an influencer?

Kelsea: A big misconception is that people think the influencer life always comes easy. People think that you just take pictures all day and post them on social media. What many people don’t know is that it takes time to create the ideas, to develop them, to find the right sponsorships, and to connect with others. While being influencers, Cole and I have other business ventures, it’s hard to juggle these things and also taking care of our family.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? Who are the greatest leaders you have been around and what did you learn from them?

Cole: What makes a great leader is having a clear vision, being courageous, and having integrity. The greatest leader that I have been around is my father. He always taught me valuable lessons not only in business but importantly family. How to be a great husband, father, and entrepreneur are the lessons that I learned and are still continuing to learn from him.

Kelsea: I agree with Cole. Adding on to that, being passionate is another quality of a great leader. I think Cole is one of the greatest leaders I’ve been around. I’ve learned a lot from him when we were growing up with each other and am still learning more now, especially since we’ve taken on becoming influencers.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Cole: Never stop learning, have a solid business plan, and build a team that shares your vision. I’m very grateful that Kelsea and I are in this together because without her, this would not have taken off as successfully as it has. 9. What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Kelsea: Dreams will remain dreams until you take action. Cole: Life’s good, but it’s not fair, so you must always be patient and persistent.

Adam: What is one thing everyone should be doing to pay it forward?

Kelsea: As influencers, one thing that people should be doing to pay it forward is to be involved in philanthropy. Cole and I are involved with Lupus LA, a non-profit health organization dedicated to finding the causes and care for lupus. Cole was diagnosed when he was 15-years-old. We use our platform Snob World to promote positive changes and awareness to this issue that we hold closely to our hearts.

Adam: What are your hobbies and how have they shaped you?

Cole: Traveling has shaped us in many ways. It has opened our eyes to a lot of experiences, gave us the opportunity to create new memories, and showcase the way we travel to others in the world. Most importantly, we get to experience these big moments with each other and our son.