Meet Chad Kovacs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Kovacs.

Hi Chad, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
During the height of the pandemic, like many others, I was at a very dark/lonely place with having little to no social interaction or stimulation outside my apartment. I was also in college so I had online classes and was just at home 24/7. It got to the point where my mental health suffered severely and my anxiety got so bad to where I could barely go out without getting overwhelmed.

I had no outlet or creative purpose for so long by the time Spring 2021 came around I was desperately trying to find something to put my energy and time into besides work and class. It was also that time where I started to get more into fitness and thought it would be a good idea to share my progress/journey with my friends online to help keep me accountable. I was looking to become a personal trainer so having a social media platform would be a good base and foundation to start for when I got certified/could take on clients. I finally got a TikTok and posted a video of me dancing I had also posted it to Instagram.

It did decently well and I found myself really enjoying putting my real self/daily life and routine for others to follow and get inspiration or motivation from. After being on social media for a little while I connected with certain people who got me in touch with photographers in cities I was going to visit (seeing friends) and one thing led to another and I kept getting referred to other photographers, which led me to find an agent and here we are today.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh no, at first it was just the fear of people judging me for sharing myself online, or my content not being good/funny/impressive enough. I mean, I still struggle with that. I feel like it’s natural to want your content to be liked, to some extent.

There was also the fact that what I was getting into (modeling/acting) is not the best where I currently am, which is North Carolina. I had to fly out to NYC or a city to cram shoots into a couple of days and then fly back. That is something I still have to do, but in the beginning not knowing if it was worth it or not was constantly on my mind.

Unfortunately, I did have some friends who showed their true colors and tried to knock me down and discredit what I was doing. Having to cut toxic people from your life is a necessary skill I have started to develop because not everyone is going to support what you do, and if they are jealous/hateful of it you can’t let them take you down to their level.

There were sometimes where my mental health would take a hit and I had to push past the lack of motivation to still be present on my pages and put out content.

I keep having to remind myself that what I put out online is up to me and I do not have to fit anyone’s expectations or desires which in the beginning I definitely felt the pressure to conform what I was doing to what people wanted. It’s truly best to be yourself and let people who want to follow along with you do just that, and those who don’t let them keep living their lives.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
So right now, I am currently able to do model work as well as have a platform on social media (TikTok/Instagram). Outside of my “creative” side, I am also a personal trainer and work at O2 fitness.

I would say I’m mostly known for my TikTok content in which I do a lot of Different stuff along the lines of trending content, humor, and dancing (which is probably the main thing I’m known for online). I find a lot of the times people online tend to create this persona in which they fulfill where I very much try to show my true self however weird/goofy I may be.

I would say I’m most proud of how I am able to connect with people online and how I can motivate others to better their lives whether it be brightening their mood or helping them/advising them how to work out or live healthier. When people message me saying I made their day or helped them lose weight/workout it validates my feelings on why I’m doing all of this.

If I can help anyone reach any of their goals, I’m satisfied.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I would say the biggest thing is realizing no matter how many followers/big someone’s page is they are still human. I have people being surprised I respond to them on my platform or assume I’m a certain way due to materialistic factors. Everyone has started off new in whatever they are currently doing, and most people like giving their knowledge and teaching their skills to others.

Doing your own research and reaching out to anyone who may have more knowledge than you on a topic is super useful and will help grow your own connections later on down the road. I reached out to a lot of photographers and models and asked advice about whatever I had questions about. This also went for social media in general.

I know most people know how to utilize social media platforms but there is so much you may not know and don’t even know you don’t know. Be inquisitive and seek out people who have more experience in whatever field you are going into.

Contact Info:

• Email: chadrkovax@gmail.com
• Instagram: @thekovacs
• TikTok: @chadkovax

Image Credits
Patrick Farabaugh and Eduardo Fermin