Gay Influencer Carter Gibson PridePlus

Recently, we caught up with Carter Gibson – founder of the PridePlus community on Google+ almost immediately after Google rolled out the community feature and currently have 5,700+ members. He is also the founder of The LittleBigFund aiming to provide exposure to lesser-known charitable causes by working closely with them to tell their stories.

Gay Influencer Carter Gibson PridePlus

Tell us about being an gay influencer?

That happened completely by accident. When I started blogging I did it because there things I wanted to talk about or say that didn’t fit with Facebook or in a 140 character tweet. I took up blogging mostly for myself and it just happened that a carefree, honest style was what people were looking for. I didn’t mind, especially since I was just doing my own thing and was thankful for the new perspectives. What’s frustrating is the expectations people put on you that you don’t put on yourself. Once people see that you have influence they expect things of you that you don’t expect of yourself. You have to find the right way to give them some of that and adjust your commitments while still doing the things that made them follow you in the first place.

Most importantly, people following me is why I am where I am and I’m eternally grateful for all of it. Knowing that I have an awesome job, have had so many opportunities to work with incredible organizations, start my own organization, and be in San Francisco make all the ugly parts of being an influencer much easier to swallow.
As a beer lover, what is your favorite?

This is tough, but I’m huge fan of Double Big Daddy IPA or Lagunitas Maximum IPA. The hoppier the better.

How has being out in business affected your career?

Positively! It gives a lot to talk about and, especially after coming out in high school, I have a lot of experience communicating my thoughts, feelings, and otherwise connecting to people who disagree with me. It’s an important skill for a community manager. Being gay doesn’t affect my day to day, but being a gay male in the south definitely made me view the world in a more empathetic way.

What is Accidental LGBT activist?

My involvement with the LGBT movement stems from me being fed up with the fact that fighting for equality is even still an issue. If it were up to me, this issue would already be a non-issue. In realizing that, it became clear to me that if we were ever going to the point where people just accepted that LGBT were equal, that I had to do something about it. To me, an accidental activist is one who speaks their mind, fights for people, and then realizes that they’re an activist. I didn’t wake up one morning thinking, “I’m an activist! What should I do?”

Your thoughts on Russia?

Heh. I never think an entire country is “bad” – but I’m not thrilled with Putin. I think it’s important to send him a peaceful message and even more important for people inside the country to fight back. It’s unfair to hold a country like Russia with such limited access to education and internet to the Western notion of equality. I don’t blame the people there for thinking the way they do. I blame Putin.
You claim to be a gay techie? Explain.

I thought about calling myself a “gaymer” but that didn’t encompass everything about tech that I love. “Techie” incorporated things like architecture, devices, etc. I like being a gay nerd

Congratulations on the new job, how do you juggle so many balls?

I literally have no idea. I think that, as I got busier and busier, I had drop some of the balls and pick them up when I could. I refuse to be unhappy or work so hard that I’m not enjoying life anymore. I’ll drop a ball for a weekend to do that, but I can’t ever drop them all. It really comes down to priorities. The job that makes me money? Priority number one. The LittleBigFund? Priority number one. After that I have to look at what’s extra and what’s critical. Everything has a place and I put a ton of work in in the short run to maintain it in the long run.

I do think though that people don’t believe me when I say I fuck up. I hate that people have this image of me as a perfect person that doesn’t mess up. I mess up all the time and I think it’s important to tell people when you do. I would hate to let people down because they have an expectation of me I’ve never kept.

What is the Little Big Fund?

The LittleBigFund aims to provide exposure to lesser-known charitable causes by working closely with them to tell their stories. We help small organizations sustain and expand their programs and operations so they can accomplish their goals.The LittleBigFund is an online nonprofit organization that helps nonprofits in need and empowers donors to make a big bang with just a few bucks. Each month, the LittleBigFund features three nonprofits from a highlighted category—all while collecting small donations to form one large fund. At the end of each month, the fund is given to one nonprofit as determined by donor vote.Donors make contributions primarily on a monthly subscription basis (one-time donations will also be an option) while The LittleBigFund receives financing through a separate donation option. By crowdsourcing donations and allowing donors to vote to decide which nonprofit gets the fund, we show how small donations can have a big impact and encourage more people to give a little.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life?

My parents. 100%. My mom is a very caring, very empathetic person who taught me to be creative, encouraged me to look at the world through the eyes of others, and taught me the magic of art. My dad is a very energetic, but severely driven man who cares about the bottom line and is ruthless in his protection of what he finds valuable. They’re both equally caring, but in extremely different ways. It was fun to have one parent who was a psychologist / author / painter and another who was a Vietnam Veteran / executive. And when I say “fun” I don’t mean all the time. It was challenging, but I think that we really grew as a family from the time I was a kid until now.

If someone were starting to network, what piece of advice would you offer?

Prep! Do your research! I hate it when people say, “Don’t be afraid!” You’re going to be afraid if you’re afraid. You’re going to be nervous if you’re nervous. The best thing to do is to arm yourself with information that gives you and another person something to talk about. Sprinkle in stuff that isn’t work related and see what they bite at. Networking sucks. I used to awful at it. Now I’m just sort of awful at it.