How TikTok teen Ryan Shakes went from 0 to 5 million followers and represents Gen Z's new hustle culture
- At age 18, Ryan Shakes has made a name for himself on TikTok, where he boasts nearly 5 million followers.
- The Florida native, who left high school to pursue content creation full-time, is best known for his dance videos, comedy skits, and joint content with his younger sister, Zayla.
- After running side businesses and making videos for six years, Shakes found his audience on the app Musical.ly and parlayed his success into brand partnerships and an online business.
- Shakes attributes his success to consistency and "hustle" over the last decade, a work ethic that is increasingly common among Gen-Z creatives pursuing social media careers.
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Ryan Shakes was nine years old when he saved up enough money to buy a fourth-generation iPod touch. The Walmart purchase, he says, was the first piece of technology he'd financed himself. After perusing the new device, he discovered the YouTube app — and two months later, he started his first YouTube channel. His content, which largely took the form of comedy skits and footage of himself "running around this house," didn't get any traction.
Fast forward almost ten years, and the Florida native has become a TikTok phenom, boasting almost 5 million followers on the platform. Nearly every video he's posted in the last year has been viewed over 1 million times. He gets stopped in malls and airports by fans who recognize him for his dance videos, his viral air freshener challenge, and joint content with his younger sister, Zayla.
But before he became a household name among Gen Z, Shakes positioned himself for a career in content creation by embracing his entrepreneurial side.
"I started off young, always hustling and stuff," the 18-year-old told Insider. "I didn't grow up rich, so I was always looking for ways to make money."
In middle school, Shakes started his first business — selling bags of gummy worms to his classmates. He got caught frequently but managed to keep the operation going for several years, and he estimates that he generated around $500 by the end of eighth grade. With his earnings, he purchased softbox lights and the tripod he still uses today when filming.
In 2014, he started a YouTube channel where he reviewed technology, a venture that didn't win him viral fame, but saw more engagement than his first attempt at producing videos.
His break came in 2016, thanks to Musical.ly, the short-form video platform that was later acquired by ByteDance Ltd. and eventually became TikTok.
"I just downloaded the app for fun because everyone was talking about it and just did it," Shakes recalled.
He quickly realized that short-form content played to his strengths, and he dedicated time to cultivating a presence on the app — despite some skepticism from his peers.
"I would just wake up every day and grab my phone to record a 15-second video," he explained. "At school, kids were, like, laughing, because it was a really cringey thing at the time. It was not the coolest thing in the world."
After Musical.ly was acquired and became TikTok, an instantly popular platform, Shakes found himself reaching a wider audience
"Everything changed. I grew this massive following," he said.
By early 2019, the teenager had acquired 500,000 followers. That summer, he'd amassed well over 1 million followers, and in the fall, he left high school to create content full-time.
In February of 2020, he participated in a panel at Playlist Live, a social media convention in Orlando, Florida, where more than 13,000 attendees gathered for Q&As, meet-and-greets, performances from their favorite social media personalities.
The convention offered an opportunity to see the real-life reach of his content.
"When I walked into the convention, it was like all eyes were on me. But it was a really cool experience, just meeting fans," he recalled.
Since racking up several million followers on the app, Shakes has been able to parlay his viral fame into an online business.
Initially, TikTok fame didn't translate to financial success, as creators are not able to monetize their videos on the platform. Like many social media personalities, though, Shakes' income came from brand deals and partnerships as companies are increasingly eager to partner with internet-famous teens.
His newest venture, he says, has been the most lucrative. Shakeyfam.com, Shakes' online store, sells tee shirts, hoodies, jewelry, masks (a pandemic addition), and his own brand of wireless earbuds called Shakey Pods.
The TikTok star claims that within the first month, the site sold over $100,000 worth of merchandise (Insider was not immediately able to verify this claim).
Like many creators, he attributes his success in the social media world to consistency and hard work.
"Not giving up on myself, being consistent, and being myself was important. It was rough at the beginning of everything because nobody shows you love or notices your videos," Shakes said. "But I just kept posting. I've always just been pushing out content. And I knew that something was bound to happen if I just kept going."
With Shakes and his younger sister boasting a combined 5.5 million followers, their family has had to adjust to being in the public eye.
Movelette Shakes has had concerns about both her son and daughter becoming social media personalities at a young age — particularly when they're frequently recognized in public places.
"Sometimes, he's in the mall and they'll be a big crowd or someone will come up to us at the airport," she told Insider, "and I'm like, 'Ryan so many people follow you.' When you're a public figure, it's going to be like that, I guess."
Some of those concerns are abated, she said, by how kind fans are — and by how her son handles being in the public eye.
Shakes recalls that his mother also struggled to understand the legitimacy of a social media career at the beginning — but his newfound fame has convinced her that he can forge a career path in content creation.
"In the beginning, of course, it was a little like iffy, since she didn't really understand what was going on," said. "But as time passed and as the numbers got good, it became clear that this was becoming a bigger thing."
Movelette, ultimately, is not surprised by her son's success.
"He's always wanted to do this, ever since he was a kid making his first video," she said. "They're always filming."
Shakes' approach to his career appears to be consistent with that of many young, aspiring content creators who dedicate their childhoods to pursuing online fame.
In an era that prioritizes optimization, teenagers are entering the workforce with productivity in mind — and only 38% of Gen-Z views work-life balance as a top priority when approaching their careers (compared to 47% of millennials).
Career coach and creative consultant Nora Rahimian says that the intense work ethic among young creatives (particularly those angling for social media careers) may stem from the undefined path to success. Without obvious milestones to reach, like earning specific degrees, aspiring social media personalities may feel the pressure to produce content and increase their visibility around the clock.
"In creative industries, there's no rule book," she explained, "so your success, in a lot of ways, is really in your own power and your own hands."
The line between work and personal life, Rahimian says, also becomes increasingly blurred in the social media space.
"There's much more integration, in the work that they do, between the personal and the professional. So there's a lot of pressure around like work hard hustle all the time — it's a 24/7 thing," she said. "What I see in younger artists and younger creatives is this mentality of, like, 'I need to hustle all the time. I gotta go, go, go and if I miss a day, what will happen?'"
Ultimately, though, Shakes believes his commitment to his career comes from his genuine love of entertaining an audience.
"I started off doing this for fun," he said. "I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."
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