With his sweatshirt on backward and his face covered by the hood, alumnus Cam Casey (‘19), social media influencer, stood next to his refrigerator, pranking his mom into thinking he was rummaging through the fridge while he was actually facing her. This video, posted on TikTok, received 67 million views. Since posting this video in March 2020, Casey has continued to post similar content on his social media accounts. 

Casey first got involved in the entertainment industry during his freshman year of college in Los Angeles when he accumulated 4 million TikTok followers from his videos, mostly of pranks and science experiments like using water balloons or blowing stuff up, Casey said in a phone interview. 

In the spring of his freshman year, Casey decided to become a full-time influencer, and since then, he has partnered with brands such as Canon, Fortnight and Head and Shoulders, to advertise their products on his social media platforms.

Starting in November 2020, Casey said he made around $4 million by posting video content, similar to his TikToks, using a Snapchat feature called Spotlight. This feature is a space for anyone on Snapchat to upload and view short, viral videos. Videos can be uploaded on Spotlight every five minutes, and Casey tried to post as frequently as possible. 

“There’s no break, there’s no weekend, there’s no vacation, that doesn’t really exist, but … also I love what I do,” Casey said. 

When senior Aidan Casey visited his brother Cam in the winter, he discovered the ins and outs of having a career as an influencer. 

“When my dad and I went out there, … it was the weekend [Cam] was buying his really fancy sports car, so it was a super interesting experience to see him go through this process and all this luxury,” Aidan said in a phone interview.

As of May 16, Cam has 8 million followers on TikTok and 126,000 Instagram followers. He said he aspires to continue to grow his content and audience. 

  “There’s no real end goal because there’s no follower amount that you’re like, ‘I made it now,’” said Cam. “It’s just to continue to grow and evolve, and I’ve been loving what I’m doing and loving life, so I just continue to keep working hard.”