I spent a day filming with two of YouTube's biggest stars and discovered hanging out with influencers was not what I'd imagined
- Rodney Petersen is a TikToker who has branded himself as a look-a-like of YouTuber Logan Paul.
- Petersen recently got a chance to meet and film with Logan Paul and his brother Jake.
Over the past year, I've developed an online presence as a look-a-like of YouTube star Logan Paul on TikTok.
I never expected that this is what I'd be doing with my time, but after I made an account and people in my comments section said I looked similar to the controversial influencer, I decided to make being a doppleganger part of my online brand.
I now have 207,000 followers and live with my wife and four kids in Iowa, where I build fences for a living.
I would never have guessed that I would actually get to meet Logan Paul because of my TikTok account. But when I did, the experience was even better than I could have hoped for.
I was shocked when Logan Paul contacted me and agreed to film content together
In October, Insider published an interview with me about my content and TikTok account. Shortly after the story came out, Logan Paul messaged me on social media and called me his "twin."
I was immediately starstruck and replied by suggesting that we meet up someday and film some content together. Logan seemed to like the idea.
The next thing I know, I'm taking a 21-hour drive to Arizona, where Logan's influencer-turned-boxer brother Jake Paul was going to fight former UFC champion Anderson Silva.
The plan was for me and my family to watch Jake's fight on October 29, and then film some content with Logan for both of our TikTok accounts.
After the fight, I went to meet Logan outside Jake's AirBnB to film with him, and his assistant came out to meet me, carrying a briefcase from Logan. He gave me some shoes, necklaces, and a hat, and I was told to wear the outfit so I would be matching with Logan and could film content as his doppelganger.
Logan set up a video where he got some of his friends and family members, including Jake, to react to the two of us standing next to each other. He filmed their genuine reaction: everybody laughing and saying that we looked really similar, even in our mannerisms.
It was also cool to see how a big influencer shoots content. Logan had a whole team with him and they were talking about camera angles and sound quality. I learned a lot that I hope can help me to improve as a content creator.
I was pleasantly surprised by how genuinely nice the Paul brothers seemed
I got to spend a lot of time with both Logan and Jake during the trip, and although they both have controversial online pasts, they were both extremely nice to me and my family, on and off camera.
They both met my kids and played with them. There was a point where my son got really excited and started showing them some paper origami tricks he can do, and the brothers were genuinely listening and responding to him.
I have to say I wasn't necessarily expecting that from people as famous as Logan and Jake Paul. I was expecting them to be much shorter with their time, but they got to know my family and also asked me questions about my personal life, which I appreciated.
Logan made me feel really at ease the entire time I was with him. He even asked me to be a featured guest on his podcast, and gave me a pep talk when I was feeling nervous about it.
It was an incredible experience to have spent a day as an honorary Paul brother after all these months making content joking about it on TikTok — I even noticed that quite a few people recognized me from TikTok and wanted pictures with me.
It was really nice to get a taste of the big influencer lifestyle, but I ultimately love my life in rural Iowa, and was happy to head home. Still, I'm hoping to keep in touch with Logan in the hope we can do it again sometime.
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