Humans of Blair: TikTok wisdom

Darya Toolsie Photo

Photo: Senior Darya Toolsie uses her TikTok skills wisely to jumpstart her marketing career.

Senior Darya Toolsie uses her TikTok skills wisely to jumpstart her marketing career. Photo courtesy of Darya Toolsie.

“Don't let haters get in the way of your own success.”

This was the lesson senior Darya Toolsie learned through her journey to TikTok fame. With over 200,000 followers, she amassed her popularity by not only cracking the algorithm but also learning to respond to hate. “Whatever you do on social media, there’s always a group of people who need to put out negative energy,” she says. “It’s just a matter of not letting them drag you down.” 

Her success began during the pandemic. “I was scrolling on TikTok during quarantine, and there was this one guy talking about video outreach,” she says. “It was kind of just like a bunch of tips and tricks. And I thought it was bogus, but I tried it anyways.” The result: a gradual yet substantial increase in views. “I remember the first few videos only got like 500 likes, but it just kept on increasing,” she says. “And then at one point one of my videos got maybe 67,000 likes. And that was like my first big video.” From there, she continued her steady stream of posts and watched as the numbers slowly climbed. 

Toolsie has already been able to use her fame and platform to advance her career. “I have a job in marketing for a translation company,” she says. “And I actually got the job through my TikTok connections.” In the future, Toolsie plans to use those connections to work in marketing full-time. “I want to keep going down marketing,” she says. “I feel like I'm good at it and I understand social media. One day, I want to start my own PR firm.” 

Throughout her journey from quarantine struggles to TikTok fame, Toolsie says she maintained a spirit of independence that guided her work. “I would always say don’t listen to others,” she says. “Just believe what you believe and keep doing what you feel is right.”