When Rohani Santos, a Gen Z alumnus and aspiring influencer, walked down the streets of New York earlier this month with a stack of resumes, she was at a loss.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m unemployed,'” the 26-year-old recalls of the now-viral moment. luck. “I’m trying to pursue TikTok and I’m not making any money at all. I have to be realistic with myself.”
Santos unexpectedly lost the babysitting job she had held since 2020 in November, and with rent and living expenses running out, she had come to the conclusion that her dreams of becoming an influencer might be over. .
So she went door-to-door in New York City in a last-ditch effort to find a job after unsuccessfully on sites like Indeed and LinkedIn.
But Santos soon informed her TikTok fans that despite having a double degree in communications and acting and knowing three languages, she was often turned down for work.
“This is the most humbling feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” exclaimed Santos.
Her candid videos touched the nerves of a generation.
Within hours of posting the video, it racked up millions of views and her follower count tripled almost overnight. Santos’ follower count has grown from her 50,000 followers to her 160,000 followers and continues to grow.
“Many of them shared their stories with me and said they were in the same position as me,” she says luck. “They still haven’t been able to find work.”
What happened after her viral video
Before long, Santos’ inbox was full of opportunities. Her followers sent her referral links to join her company, and she signed her first brand partnership with a birth control pill company.
“I certainly received over 2,000 emails,” she said. “It was intense.”
One of the “insane” offers Santos was thrilled about was a California company that would cover the cost of moving and dog care “if you would come see what (his) office looks like.” It was from.
But the offer disappeared as soon as it arrived in her email.
So has Santos officially exited the job market? Yes, but it’s not because she found a full-time job.
Securing a two-day-a-week social media consulting role and a brand deal with a contraceptive company has added to Santos’ motivation to become a TikTok star, even though the big bucks haven’t rolled in yet.
“I feel like it’s just beginning for me,” she says.
Aiming to be the next Addison Rae
Santos is aiming to become the next Addison Rae, an influencer who rose to app fame in 2019.
Ray is currently the fifth most followed person on TikTok, with over 88.6 million fans on the app.She will also appear in the movie animal friends Alongside Ryan Reynolds.
“It makes me wonder how ordinary girls have become so established in the world of Hollywood and social media.I’m just an ordinary girl, and if TikTok can provide people with that kind of opportunity, , Why can’t it happen to me? Santos says.
“I want the opportunity to live a creative life. Whether it’s acting in movies, being a full-time content creator, or being in a Super Bowl commercial, I want to do everything I dream of. I want the opportunity to make it happen,” she added.
“I consider myself one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.”
As Santos recently learned during a real-life job search, becoming a TikTok star is much harder than she expected.
“I really wished it would have happened sooner,” she laments. “I expected this to happen the moment I downloaded TikTok.”
It took Santos three years to become an overnight sensation, but she says she was “locked in a 200-view prison” even though she was posting every day.
Convinced that the account was “broken” because it hadn’t yet taken off, Santos deleted it and started over five times.
“After the fifth time, I thought, well, maybe my account isn’t broken,” she says.
Her first taste of virality came last September when she jumped on TikTok’s “Tube Girl” trend.
“For the first time in history, my videos had millions of views instead of 200,” she says. However, the number of followers remained slow.
Callum McCahon, executive strategy director at Born Social, warns those seeking viral fame:
“There is no doubt that there is still a huge gulf between creators who sign one-off deals with brands and creators who sign long-term contracts with big rewards.”
Despite this, Santos now has a talent agent. With around 165,000 followers and a background in Miss Managed LA and unemployment, she finally feels like “people see in me what I’ve always seen in me.” ing.
“I’ve always been a very hard-working and ambitious person, and when I see myself on the TV screen, when I see myself on the red carpet, when I see myself as an A-list influencer like Addison Rae, and when I see myself in Hollywood’s biggest… I see myself under a huge spotlight — and I feel like people see it in me for the first time. ”
Gen Z’s dangerous obsession with succeeding on TikTok
Santos’ ambition to become a TikTok star may seem unconventional to an older generation, but it’s all the rage among her generation.
Type “how to make money on TikTok” into the Google search bar and you’ll see over 1.2 billion results. Last year, it was one of the most searched side hustles on Google, and its popularity shows no signs of slowing down.
Years of data back this up. More than half of Gen Z say they would want to become a full-time influencer if given the chance, and that percentage has only increased in his research dating back to 2019.
Despite over 1 billion TikTok users vying for attention, interest in making money on the app reached unprecedented levels in January this year, with fewer Google searches compared to January 2023. There was a sharp increase of 73%.
“I see on social media the lives of people who wake up whenever they want and have free time to do whatever they want,” Santos explains. “Some people just go shopping. I like to spend as much time as I want with my dog and post whenever I want.”
The desire for a relatively stress-free life on social media is fueled by TikTok-driven efforts to encourage workers to “quit quietly,” take “lazy girl jobs,” and express their best lives. It has been emerging on the heels of various trends.
But experts warn that becoming a social media star is an ambition Gen Z should probably avoid.
“The chances of really succeeding with any form of media are very low. So we might advise not to try,” says Lecturer at the European School of Management and Technology, who has worked for more than 15 years. says Dr. Franziska Frank, who has taught influence to executives around the world. 24 carat success.
Even if you achieve great success in the industry, Frank warns, it can come at a cost to your happiness.
“When you’re on TikTok, you’re exposed to the outside world,” she says, adding, “The health risks come more from how you’re perceived by others than from the industry.” he added.
“Comparing yourself to others in terms of follower count, influence, and visibility is even more important,” she says. “Research shows that comparing yourself to others makes you unhappy.”
Psychoanalyst and INSEAD professor Manfred Kets de Vries describes a myriad of mental health problems that can affect people who use social media excessively. and a general sense of anxiety. ”
“Their discomfort is compounded by the feeling of being invaded,” he warned.
Some highly successful influencers have gone public about struggling with their mental health, including TikTok sensation Dixie D’Amelio, who spoke candidly about “extreme anxiety, depression, and loss of will to live.” Some people are.
The recent bestseller Extremely Online by pioneering digital culture reporter Taylor Lorenz features many of the first wave of female online influencers who are currently struggling with mental health issues.
