Among the many hundreds of creators on TikTok, Michiganders are making their mark by creating short-form movies about their passions: sports activities, sustainability, style, music, even Michigan itself.
We have compiled a listing of TikTok creators primarily based in Michigan amongst a wide range of content material niches, who’ve a big following on the platform. The creators on this checklist have used TikTok for endeavors corresponding to beginning a model, successful an award and founding a corporation.
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Listed here are a few of Michigan’s prime TikTok creators:
All issues Michigan
The Wandering Michigander
Followers: 201,000
Taylor Dustin showcases lovely landmarks to go to throughout the Nice Lakes state, corresponding to Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island and Tahquamenon Falls. Her “Michigan Bucket Record” movies of locations to go to have garnered hundreds of thousands of views.
“It’s very actual life,” Dustin mentioned about TikTok. “Individuals observe folks for his or her authenticity, and it doesn’t should be completely posed or, like, completely edited.”
That Michigan Man
Followers: 133.400
Ryan Redoute is a Michigander creating content material for Michiganders. Born in metro Detroit and now positioned in Oakland County, he makes use of his TikTok account to spotlight what he loves about his house state by means of skits and journey movies.
“It warms my coronary heart to simply see the entire sorts of pleasure individuals are getting out of it,” he mentioned. “The remark part is form of changing into its personal digital Michigan group in itself.”
Meals
Previous Time Hawkey
Followers: 7.7 million
Previous Time Hawkey creates soothing content material in his log cabin as he prepares consolation meals for his viewers together with his two Australian shepherds and retro know-how within the backdrop. His latest movies embrace making onerous apple Blake’s bread whereas watching “The Land Earlier than Time” and cooking breakfast in a cedar swamp whereas enjoying “Zelda” on a Sport Boy. He additionally posts movies of him having fun with the outside.
Jonathan Kung
Followers: 1.7 million
Jonathan Kung is a chef primarily based in Detroit who shares cooking demos together with his viewers. He describes himself as a 3rd tradition cook dinner, as he was born in Los Angeles, was raised in Hong Kong and Toronto, and now lives in Detroit. In 2021, he teamed up with the anime distribution firm Funimation to share cooking demos for dishes primarily based on anime characters. His first cookbook, “Kung Meals,” can be launched this fall and is obtainable for pre-sale.
Chow Down Detroit
Followers: 150,200
Seoung Lee is a meals reviewer primarily based in Detroit. He normally data movies in his automobile and visits native eating places to indicate off hidden gems.
“I’m at all times on a meals journey,” Lee mentioned. He added, “Even once I journey everywhere in the nation, it’s at all times for meals. So if I’m going to New York, LA or Atlanta, or no matter metropolis I’m going to, I’m at all times, at all times planning my journeys round eating places to attempt.”
Music
Curtis Roach
Followers: 2.1M
This impartial musician primarily based in Detroit creates content material documenting his life as a musician and showcasing his music. He’s finest identified for going viral when Tyga found his “Bored within the Home” video, which led to the 2 producing a track that has acquired over 52 million streams on Spotify.
DJ DC
Followers: 453,000
Derrick Castenholz is a DJ and entrepreneur primarily based in Ann Arbor who has his viewers guess a track with only one be aware. He additionally shares his personal remixes and mashups, and solutions questions on being a DJ.
Castenholz mentioned that his favourite a part of being a TikTok creator is the group he’s constructed of fellow music lovers, who assist him uncover new music.
“I simply get to find out about new music and music that I haven’t been uncovered to, as a result of there’s hundreds of thousands of songs on the market,” he mentioned.
Setting
Nice Lakes Nice Duty
Followers: 183,000
By means of her movies, Meag Schwartz hopes to attract extra consciousness to the specter of marine particles within the Nice Lakes. An environmental educator in her day job, she has at all times had a ardour for spreading details about defending the setting and recurrently organizes litter clean-ups by means of her non-profit Nice Lakes Nice Tasks.
“Typically we take issues with no consideration which are in our personal yard,” she mentioned. “However then you definitely publish it on-line and also you get a barrage of ‘wow, that is so lovely, I’d love to go to this place.’”
Her presence on TikTok helped her win the $100K Chevrolet Lead Dream Chaser Award, which she plans to make use of to prepare a sequence of clean-ups throughout the totally different Nice Lake areas.
Sabrina Sustainable Life
Followers: 227,800
Sabrina Pare is a TikTok creator primarily based in metro Detroit who reveals her viewers learn how to be extra sustainable of their day by day lives. Pare is a founding member of EcoTok, a collective of 17 content material creators, activists and scientists who use their platform to coach on the local weather disaster and the setting.
“I feel lots of people typically simply aren’t conscious of the local weather disaster and local weather change,” Pare mentioned. “So, it’s actually simply planting these seeds to getpeople extra , possibly take the time to study extra about it, as a result of it may be onerous to cowl so much in a 30 second video.”
Pare mentioned that she hopes her content material can encourage her viewers to make modifications of their lives to assist the setting, whether or not it’s composting and gardening or getting concerned in bigger scale efforts to advocate for coverage modifications.
Sports activities
Dominique Spica
Followers: 117,600
This TikTok creator hopes to “deliver the hype again” to Detroit sports activities. A Detroit native, she is a longtime fan of the Lions, and enjoys creating content material about them essentially the most.
“I really like, now, the little underdog story with the Lions. You recognize, lastly we now have a group that’s exhibiting potential,” she mentioned. “And I’m so excited that I can lastly, like, I’ve a platform that I’d be like: ‘Okay you guys, this is likely to be the 12 months of the Lions.’”
Vogue
Nur Shah
Followers: 81,000
This influencer’s content material is a mixture of journey, style, inspiration and skincare suggestions. Although she began her TikTok account for enjoyable, she now hopes to make use of her platform to encourage and empower different ladies.
“I wish to empower them to realize the boldness to put on no matter they need and remind hijabis, particularly, that they are often assured, fashionable and coated,” Shah mentioned.
In September 2022, she began a style model, Layali, which mixes western and cultural japanese kinds to create inclusive and designs.
Self-defense
Detroit D.U.S.T
Followers: 1.4 million
D.U.S.T, which stands for Detroit City Survival Coaching, affords preventive risk administration courses in Ferndale. On their viral TikTok account, they use humor to get folks eager about studying self-defense. Of their movies, founder Dale Brown and different instructors present viewers methods to guard themselves in a wide range of conditions.
Automobiles
Christina Roki
Followers: 3 million
This TikTok creator wraps and customizes automobiles on her account to empower younger ladies to enter the male-dominated trade, one thing that she has been advocating for since highschool. Earlier this 12 months, she led an automotive STEM program known as Challenge 102, during which she taught ladies learn how to work on and customise automobiles.
Canine
Tucker Budzyn
Followers: 11.1 million
Tucker the Golden Retriever is a pet account that focuses on Tucker and his son Todd. Tucker grew to become in style for bringing smiles to his viewers in the course of the coronavirus pandemic. His account shares cute moments from the canines’ day by day life, in addition to canine care suggestions and style checks. Throughout their time on social media, they’ve began a line of dog-themed merchandise and canine merchandise, together with a singular canine leash.
Contact Mike Travis at mtravis@freepress.com