In this day and age, doing things out of boredom can land you a full-fledged career. That's exactly what happened to Alicia Breuer, a 17-year-old girl from the UK who started posting videos on TikTok to kill time during the pandemic. After a clip of her lip-syncing to Katy Perry's Teenage dream got noticed by a talent agency last summer, Breuer was signed and now makes over $12K a day from her page. She says she even outearns her parents now.
Most of her income is sourced from her various promotions of fashion and cosmetic brands, which include big names like Lancome, Urban Outfitters, Benefit, and Fenty Beauty. Since her meteoric rise overnight, she has amassed a following of almost 750,000 on TikTok and 200,000 on Instagram.
"It gave me something to do during the pandemic when I wasn’t studying for my A-levels," Breuer told The Mirror. "I’m now able to make £10,000 ($12,000) some days. I’m going to focus on my videos–there’s no point in going to university. The majority of my videos are lip-syncing to music. None of them take too long. Even a transition video only takes an hour to make."
Jessica Henig, the founder of the talent agency Unlocked Branding which took Breuer on, explained that she is among 25 other girls who are also signed and making a living off of the app. Some of their clients make as much as $120,000 a day; however, those deals usually entail six months' worth of content.
"When we approached them they only had about 20,000 followers, but they’re now earning high wages and making real careers and a lot are not going to university," Henig added. "We help them build their own businesses, like a fashion or skincare brand."
"They build out of TikTok and Instagram and YouTube but can end up investing in a brand as businesswomen. Alicia also wants her own clothing range, so we will help her create her own website and she could get paid for personal appearances at events."
The success of teens like Breuer has motivated other young individuals to shift their focus on content creation rather than school. While it's unclear just how sustainable a career as a social media influencer is, it's hard to say no to an opportunity like that. For most people, making money as a content creator is the ultimate dream—when you have the chance to see that through, you just have to take it.
