Where to find Casey:

Her Website:
Click here!
Her Blog, 49th and Fifth:
Click here!
Social media:
@caseydelbasso

Prefer to read instead of listen? Here’s the longer version of what we talked about:

Casey Delbasso is a journalist, on-air host, digital writer for ABC’s Good Morning America, and co-founder of the blog 49th and Fifth. Basically anything in digital content production is her jam.

Being a digital producer is someone who is always staying on top of the latest and keeping up with trends, making sure you’re in the know of the content being created and the “next best thing.” (Example: Tik Tok.) Having a message and a voice and something you want to share with the world. Content creators are always putting themselves out there. At the time of recording, she’s writing commerce content for Prime Day. Always be ready for the next best thing. Day to day she’s writing, posting, interviewing, on and off camera. Writes content for GMA.com, e-commerce, shopping and shop-able content. Also has her side hustles where she’s on camera and does work for YouTube, Tik Tok, etc. Jack of all trades!

Prides herself on wearing many hats. She enjoys doing a lot. A lot of people told her she had to be really good at one thing, but she loves to dip a toe into a lot of things and do them all really well.

Her mom talks about how she was a child performer. She loved being on camera from a young age, was always singing and dancing and being a ham. Into middle / high school years, was into theatre and was a creative person. Considers herself an “idea machine” and always has something new she wants to share and create and do, for better or worse. This has led her to doing what she does now, even though she’s not an actress.

Has taken lots of different learnings from different experiences in her life. She competed in the Miss Connecticut’s Outstanding Teen and Miss Connecticut pageants in high school. Competing in Miss Connecticut helped her hone in on her voice and confidence, and be able to stand in front of a crowd and talk and be comfortable in her own skin. Parading around in your swimsuit in front of hundreds of people is not for the faint of heart. Owning her own confidence is what she took from this. Even though she didn’t wear the crown, she still feels like she won because she attributes a lot of her confident and self-assured nature from those pageants.

Just like being in a pageant, as a digital influencer / creator, your work is you as well. You are your own brand. People are following her social media because they’re following her. She doesn’t hide behind the name of a company, it’s her own name. You have to have healthy boundaries because it’s you, but it’s also not going to make or break the person you are in the world. Same with walking away when you don’t win a pageant.

Studied TV, Film, and Communications at Fairfield University. She’s a lifelong learner – always figuring it out and trying something new. She became known as the girl who wanted to do TV – the TV person. People would point in her direction when someone mentioned TV. Always wanted to be in broadcast. Fairfield gave her so many great hands-on experiences, like taking a camera out from the media center and reporting on-campus news, using the studios there, etc. She definitely knew she wanted to work in the media industry specifically, and television.

She loves talking to people, getting advice from others, and forming her own opinions from people who have done things she wants to do. Heeding advice from those who have gone before her. After graduating, so many people knew she wanted to be in TV, and everyone kept telling her she needed to go to Tulsa, OK and report there for 5 years and build up her tape and then come in like gangbusters to the city after. But, she’s a city person at heart. When she thought about being away from the city, that wasn’t the life she wanted to live. There were other ways she could do it. She always listens to her own intuition and so she stayed in New York. It was the biggest and best decision she’s made in her career.

“Putting your happiness first and following your heart is really, really important. I knew it was going to be hard, and it still is hard to this day to kind of elbow my way into what ultimately is my dream job.”

Worked at NBC for 7 years, hopped over to Good Morning America, and it was the right decision to stay in New York and not go to a small town, and be able to do the work she wanted to do where she wanted to do it. Mentors are important, but you don’t need to follow everything they say. Production assistants at NBC and interns ask her for advice, and she says,

“What feels best to you? Follow your path. I can tell you what I did, I can tell you what my journey was, but your path is your own path. Follow your own intuition, because it will lead you to where you need to be.”

Lifestyle blog 49th and Fifth – it feels like her child. Takes a lot of love and care to keep it active, especially when it’s not your 9 to 5. At NBC, became close friends with coworker Izzy, and they would talk about the fabulous things they tried, concerts, restaurants, etc. These conversations became, “What if we wrote these down and shared our experiences?” Evolved from a friendship. Her hope is people can go to the blog and get a great food recommendation but also feel inspired and motivated and less alone in what life is like when you’re 20-something.

When she was first starting the blog…so much imposter syndrome, why are we doing this? Why is this important? All came back to wanting to make it a place of positivity and not just something you see on Instagram that makes people feel like they’ll never be able to buy that thing or live that fabulous life of the influencer they see. Wanted to make it relatable, which doesn’t really exist in this over-saturated space. Most influencers put out a glamorous life. Wanted the blog to be a place of connection and authenticity – to connect with their audience in an authentic way.

Writing in different voices for different audiences is one of the challenges she faces. The person who reads her work on GMA is not the same person who reads her blog. Has to make sure she’s tailoring what she’s doing to her specific audience need.

Also fulfills different parts of her brain and creativity – has loves for writing and video creation and editing photos. This is probably the reason why she does so many different things. Always something new. Is that what it means to be a creative spirit? Try everything and see what goes well.

Her friends told her she looked so excited and happy when she talked about her blog, so that was a clue for her that it was something she should be doing.

“It’s a mix of what makes you feel good. Do you feel proud of the work that you’re doing? When you show someone else, do you get excited about it?”

Did an interview at the Today Show with Tiffany, a motivational speaker. Afterwards, she told Casey she felt like Casey cared about everything she said in the interview, and it felt like an authentic and genuine connection to what she was saying. Will carry that compliment wherever she goes.

“To have one person say that it felt like I cared about the work that they do and sharing their story is a really powerful point and something that is really important to me on this journey.”

Her super power is talking to people and sharing their stories. It’s a huge part of who she is and what makes her feel fulfilled, but also hopes others feel connected to the work that she does. We all find our voice in different ways, and that’s part of her way. Bases the stories she pitches, the work she puts out there, on positive, impactful connections with others.

“Definitely follow what lights you up, but when you hear someone else talk to you or tell you that the work that you’re doing has made them feel equally as amazing, you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”

People seek validation from tangible things – likes, comments, applause, etc., but almost more valuable to hear is that other people felt really good by what you’re doing. It’s so hard not to get caught up in the likes, shares, and comments. Just have to learn to stop yourself. Over the last year when we had so much time with our own minds, it was so important to seek validation from inside yourself.

“If you want to look outside of yourself constantly, your cup will never be filled. It will never be enough. You’ll always be chasing what someone else wants.”

Certain life lessons you should keep – You are not for everyone. Not everything you post on social media, not everything you create, is for everyone. Seeking validation from yourself for your work is one of the most fulfilling realizations for her over the past year.

I first learned from Seth Godin about finding your tribe – you don’t need the whole world to like your thing, you just need to find your people. Find a connection with a smaller group of people who really love it vs. blasting everything out there for hundreds or thousands of views.

A theme in Casey’s personal life:

“If I have 50 tried and true followers who love the work that I’m doing, who feel inspired by the things that I put out into the world, I’m completely 100% happy with that.”

She didn’t need a huge tribe of friends growing up either. Took to heart really important relationships, like 5 loyal amazing friends, then she felt rich with everything she needed. Took this mentality into her work. Of course she wants people to follow her because she’s only human, but when she gets some people returning to her pages and they’re not family, it makes her so happy to know that certain people love what she’s doing. That’s a huge win for her.

On meeting celebrities – She was the low man on the totem pole for some years, so even being acknowledged by some people was a huge moment. And some felt larger than life in their iconic nature. Some people that stand out are the ones who just acted like regular people.

Being able to see into people’s homes, or watch them Zoom like everyone else, was very grounding. Humanizing to see celebrities in their own environments, houses, lives. They all have fears and hopes and their own real lives. We’re all doing the work to figure out life.

On keeping creativity in your life – Write everything down! Wakes up at 3 am with an idea, or goes to bed with an idea, and the Notes app in her iphone is an explosion of things she references often.

“Just get it out of your mind and put it down somewhere, because you can definitely use it again in the future. It’s helped me to hone in on my creativity and put ideas to good use. Save it for a rainy day.”