Baby skateboards, abs suits, and DIY crafts. What do all these things have in common? They're components of TikTok celeb Avery Cyrus' most viral videos on the platform.
Rising to fame in 2019, 23-year-old Avery Cyrus - born Avery Blanchard on May 23, 2000 in Colleyville, Texas - has become an unstoppable force in the world of TikTok.
The Teen Magazine had the chance to conduct a tell-all interview with the star, where we got the chance to learn more about her and the brilliance of her content. Read on to learn more about her journey to success, and advice she'd give to aspiring influencers.
Once Upon a Time...
All good stories have an interesting beginning, and the same goes for Avery Cyrus' TikTok journey. The beauty of TikTok is how it can change your life with just one video. When asked how she started her TikTok journey, she recounted.
"It actually started as a dare or competition between me and my friends, it was kind of completely by accident, and this was at the beginning of TikTok when it wasn’t really cool to use it as a 19-year old because it was for kids. Then one day I made a video randomly with my friend and it got like 1,000 likes and I was like, 'oh my gosh, I'm famous!' and I kept doing it and it became a thing. But it was completely by accident."
Avery continued uploading on TikTok, and over the past 4 years has amassed 8.6 million followers on the platform, in addition to having 351,000 on Instagram and 310,000 subscribers on YouTube. Surprisingly, Avery didn't start off aspiring to be an influencer, and was in college when she first struck fame.
“I was going to school to become a nurse, but my dream before that was to be a travel vlogger, but I eventually dropped out because I ended up making more money on TikTok.” There is, however, a process for content creation.
Method to the Madness
As we all know, there is more to social media success than posting a photo and a video, and no one knows this better than Avery Cyrus. When asked how she creates content for her audience, she said the following:
"Well, I like to get videos out every other day. And it's not like I have an agenda, like what I should do in my account is more relatable stuff. As a person that loves to make things, whether it be food or jewelry, or rainbow pasta, baby skateboards like that stuff, I want to do outside of TikTok.
So it just kind of makes sense that I recorded it. So it honestly just fits really well into my day-to-day life. I'm just happy that TikTok allows me to do this, because honestly without TikTok, it would be kind of silly to make all these things."
Social media is an art form, and with the amount of time she spends posting videos, Avery is bound to have some favorites.
“I really like the skateboard videos, like the baby skateboard. And I just like the skateboard series a lot. It was something that was kind of my original idea, and I brought it to life. Honestly, the internet had such a great reaction to it. I just kept changing the things to put inside skateboards and that whole thing was just so fun."
Although social media does have its challenges - and it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Finding a Balance
Social media can be a draining place, and can have a negative effect on your mental health if you don’t take breaks. When asked how she keeps up with the changing landscape of TikTok and dealing with wellness, Avery was candid and open with her response.
"Oh, I've totally experienced just completely being stressed and burnt out, because this is my job, it's not just a fun hobby, like how I make my money and so for so long, like I would just be posting and it wasn't even fun anymore. It gave me anxiety because I would think this video just had to do good and when it wouldn't, it would stress me out."
She also answered the wellness question in more depth by continuing with,
"I was literally, by definition, chronically online for a really long time. And then I saw that it was starting to become an issue. And my friends and my family were like, you gotta get off your phone.
So I, like I try and limit the scrolling to morning and night. And like, honestly, just try not to even look at my phone during the day, unless I'm making something which, like, all I really have to do is set up the camera, and then talk to it.
She emphasized the importance of self awareness and accountability.
"I've just tried to really set some boundaries and hold myself accountable. Because for the longest time, it affected so many relationships in my life."
Social media will come with obstacles, no matter what you do, and it’s important to cope with them in a healthy way, which is what Avery tries to do on a daily basis. When talking about the drawbacks of a career as an influencer, Avery was honest about her thoughts.
"It's really hard to not base your entire self worth off of numbers and off of what other people say. And obviously, your entire life is publicized, and relationships can be really, really hard and trying to find people that want to be your friend because they like you. Rather than because they can gain something from you.
Or people criticizing your relationships and your decisions. That part is really hard. The stress of your job and your success are based on the opinions of other people."
TikTok isn’t all bad, and what it’s known for best is its fun and unique trends.
“My favorite one where people are like, running and singing to Taylor Swift and the Hannah Montana songs and just running on the beach," Avery says, "Because it's just upbringing. Like, I literally just did it. And it just made me so happy."
A Future Brighter than the Sun
Avery Cyrus has a very bright future in the social media and influencing industry. With how her recent videos have done, she's on a path towards greatness. If you're reading this and want to do what Avery does, these are her words of wisdom:
“Stay consistent. There are so many people that are like, ‘I'm going to start this’ and then will make videos and then film two and they won't do good, and get discouraged and they'll stop, but you just have to keep going and do what makes you happy, because people can see. When you're doing something that is authentic to you, and that you're passionate about, people can tell when it's fake and when it's not. So you just have to be consistent and do things that you actually enjoy."
Avery is a positive role model for her audience, and will no doubt continue to do great things on social media.
Keep Up With Avery
If you want to keep up with all the latest, make sure to follow her on Instagram, subscribe to her YouTube channel, and follow her on TikTok.
