“A high-energy life is a high quality of life. That’s part of the reason I’m so passionate about expanding access to clean energy.”- Isabelle Boemeke

Full Episode On YouTube

Intro

In this episode of Auxoro, Zach travels with Isabelle Boemeke between two worlds she has managed to meld with an unusual mix of creativity, hard work, and optimism: The fashion industry and the world of nuclear energy. She has leveraged her success as a model to educate tens of thousands of followers about the challenge of climate change through her digital platforms. Cultivating a unique “character,” Isabelle has separated the facts from the fiction around nuclear energy with carefully vetted, thoughtful video content. Most impressive, she has managed to engage stakeholders in the renewable energy sector as well as in the nuclear energy industry, people who fear the power of fusion and those who believe it’s the only way to meet the demands of a developing world that hungers for electricity.

Enjoy a conversation that will take you from the small Brazilian village in which Isabelle grew up to musings on atheism to transgenerational misconceptions regarding nuclear energy, radiation, and finding an environmental strategy that will improve the quality of life for citizens around the world.

Key Takeaways

Coming to the Concept of Nuclear Energy

The Rosetta Space Probe: The symbolism of the European Space Agency’s successful mission to land on a comet.
Isabelle’s upbringing in Brazil, relative energy poverty and how it has shaped her world.
“A high-energy life is a high quality of life. That’s part of the reason I’m so passionate about expanding access to clean energy.” -Isabelle (10:02)
If the quality of life is the end, nuclear energy is the means in a world where more than 1 billion people have no access to electricity.
Isabelle’s passion is resolving global energy inequity without further enflaming environmental stress on the planet.

Religion, Atheism, and the elements each provides.

Isabelle grew up in the predominantly Catholic country of Brazil with an education that de-emphasized the science of evolution.
“The Greatest Show on Earth” by Richard Dawkins (link below) sparked “learning how to learn,” opening Isabelle’s eyes to psychology, astronomy, evolutionary and nuclear theory.
Climate Change moved to the fore for her in 2019 because of environmental calamities that hit close to home.
“I had a shift where I became an atheist and I felt more spiritual, which for me meant that I went inwards for a lot of things.” -Zach (21:00)
“The only way we can understand the universe is through science – through asking questions and analyzing – and religion is completely the opposite of that; the cessation of thought and questioning.” -Isabelle (23:18)
One thing religion does excel at: community building, fostering shared experience and movements.
Isabelle believes secularism has not so far replaced the soaring spiritual aspects of religion.
A Harvard study differentiates humans can make in identifying the meaning behind unfamiliar rhythms and music whose lyrics they don’t understand.

The fashion industry’s response to Isabelle’s nuclear energy platform.

Initially, the first task was to convince “horrified” managers and others shaping Isabelle’s career that it was a good idea to take on nuclear energy as an issue.
On the client-side, there has been little interest or minimally negative reaction to the content.
Isabelle’s commitment to raising awareness mattered most and drove her to continue posting influencer content irrespective of feedback or response.

Why Isabelle chose nuclear energy as a focus for her platform.

“Climate change is a real thing, caused by human activity, and there is scientific consensus on how to solve it. We have to eliminate our emissions of greenhouse gases.” -Isabelle. (32:54)
Nuclear is a powerful tool for eliminating emissions in five key sectors:
- Transportation (cars, ships, planes, etc.)
- Energy (domestic appliances and household needs)
- Manufacturing (high-temperature production)
- Buildings (heaters and stoves – mostly natural gas)
- Agriculture (methane from livestock)
Two approaches to reducing greenhouse gases:
- Electrify: Use battery technology to fuel as many components as possible, with transportation and energy sectors being most readily accessible.
- Decarbonize: Make electricity as clean as possible by minimizing or neutralizing carbon emissions with renewables like solar, hydro, wind, and ... nuclear.

Historic public misperceptions about the safety of nuclear power.

Accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima define the popular imagination.
Unknown impacts of radiation.
Mistrust of the intimidatingly raw power of the atom.
“The truth is that we’re going to need all of it, especially if we want developing nations to get wealthier so they can increase the quality of life for their citizens.” -Isabelle (42:14)
“In my opinion nuclear should not be counted out just because of public misinformation. That seems like a very unwise thing to do.” -Isabelle (42:58)
It comes down to choosing energy sources that make the best fit regionally.
While even a single death is too many, the actual numbers do not reflect the amount of anxiety most citizens associate with nuclear energy.
At the same time, accidents caused by other forms of energy (a hydro dam break that killed hundreds, for example) tend not to draw similarly intense scrutiny.
The science of radiation and its impacts is complex and requires further study.
“A lot of people were traditionally anti-nuclear because that’s the default … and you’re slightly ‘anti’ because of the culture. But that’s the beauty of science: You have to change your mind when better facts come in.” -Isabelle (51:03)

Isodope: How the platform and Isabelle’s alter-ego evolved:

How “digital influencer” Lil Miquela” influenced Isabelle’s approach.
Isabelle used eye-catching and aesthetically different images in order to attract the attention and followers she wanted to reach.
Creating her character gave Isabelle a persona and point of entry for the information she wishes to share.
“Nuclear energy is like a sliver of Isabelle. It’s something I care a lot about but it’s not what I want my whole personhood to be. There is so much more that I’m curious about and would like to explore.” -Isabelle (56:42)
Zach meditates on the beauty of nurturing many interests and personas rather than being boxed into narrow silos.

The importance of getting facts straight when you’re an influencer.

All of Isabelle’s content is reviewed carefully by multiple experts.
Fact-checking by people in the nuclear community is counter-balanced with input from knowledgeable sources in the renewable energy world.
“You’re transforming the fact-based evidence that scientists are discovering and constantly reevaluating and innovating ... and putting it into a type of content that is interesting to people.” -Zach (1:00:43)
Isabelle weaves nuclear energy facts into TikTok and other platforms in seamless, meaningful and relevant ways.
Separation from traditional scientific approaches provides Isabelle a certain creative freedom that is highly effective in engaging people of all ages.
“I still get people in the community who don’t feel I can talk about nuclear energy even though I’m saying positive things and my facts are right.” -Isabelle (1:04:14)

How Isabelle communicates complex information:

Contextualize data that is dense.
Use visual elements to illustrate complex concepts.
Isabelle borrowed from online tutorials to adapt her original content.
Her creative process includes:
- Identify the subject matter, locate a word that keys to that concept.
- Find types of content that people gravitate towards.
  - Make-up videos
  - What I eat in a day
  - How I exercise
- Leverage cues from the fashion world to draw in the audience.
- Write, edit and then create a first draft of the video script.
- Record initial video to use as template while placing images, graphs, etc.
“The creative process is about putting in work, tweaking and changing. I spend hours editing these videos a thousand times.” -Isabelle (1:12:52)
Tone of voice, editing cuts, changing backgrounds – Everything impacts the level of viewer engagement.

TikTok and shrinking attention spans are a real thing.

Zach and Isabelle both struggle with striking a balance between generating tricky content to lure viewers into following them and at the same time contributing to ever more superficial content consumption.
Using catchy images and production effects to attract and keep eyeballs can be justified if the larger purpose is to draw viewers to deeper material (like educational information about nuclear energy).
“I’m willing to look like an idiot (on TikTok) because I know it’s a tool to draw people into content which I ultimately really care about.” -Zach (1:16:26)

Isabelle reflects on failure and how she has reframed her concept of legacy:

She doesn’t judge each of her videos individually but rather looks at them as part of a whole.
It’s all about trying things, finding her own lane and what works best on which platform.
Isabelle relies on comments/feedback and the number of “shares” as metrics to measure the efficacy of her messaging and ability to persuade.
Isabelle is hearing from people in the traditional environmental movement open to discussing the previously taboo issue of nuclear energy because they were drawn in by her content.
“The only way we can figure out what’s best and the way forward as a society is if we talk to each other from a place of openness.” -Isabelle (1:24:57)
“We all have the same goal: We all want to solve this incredibly challenging problem of climate change and we just disagree on how to get there.” -Isabelle (1:25:13)

Zach asks about how being an influencer affects love and connection.

Isabelle starts from the baseline premise that people are fundamentally kind.
A course in the Hoffman Method (link below) transformed how Isabelle approaches her life, including a shift from self-judgment to promoting positivity and open-heartedness.
“For the people who criticize me or my work, I kind of just feel sorry for them because if you’re dedicating your limited amount of time on this planet to bringing others down … It’s kind of a waste of time. You’re not building towards anything.” -Isabelle (1:28:49)

BOTTOM LINE: Isabelle’s Advice for Aspiring Influencers:

“Be optimistic about the future. Be positive about working towards something. Focus all of your time and energy into things that you care about and believe in. Don’t waste time tearing things down or criticizing, because you will end up just bitter and unfulfilled.” -Isabelle (1:29:38)