Today we’d like to introduce you to Cole Manning.
Hi Cole, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story started all on its own. When I first downloaded TikTok, it wasn’t for any hope or dream of being an influencer but because of boredom during the pandemic. Being a Disney Adult, I quickly found myself on the Disney side, and just one day, I decided to make a video. My first few posts were pretty standard, following trends and whatnot, but as I got more comfortable with it, I started making more lip-sync style content, which took off from there. My goal has always been to make fun and comedic content conveying the views of many Disney Adults like myself. If I can bring a smile to someone’s face or make them laugh during a hard day, then I’ve accomplished all I want from a video. It’s never been about views or fame for me. Creating Disney content has been a creative outlet that I get to share with people. Where I’m at today is something, I must thank my friends for. As I grew in the Disney Adult community online, I made more and more friends who inspired me, showed me new ways to make videos, etc. This gave me more confidence in the space and allowed me to express myself publicly in ways I hadn’t before.
One of the biggest examples I can give is finally feeling comfortable enough to wear Loungeflys or Spirit Jerseys. Both things were widely still considered for girls at the time. Through being comfortable with those products, my platform grew, and I have even been blessed to have a strong working relationship with Loungefly now to help them reach more male consumers.
My biggest thing is that I’ve never been searching for this to be full-time. I’ve never wanted that, and honestly that scares me. I prefer stability more, so this has always been something I do on the side for fun. Besides, it’s been more about the relationships I’ve built than the follower count for me. Creating content should never feel like a job; it should be based on your passion and creativity. I’ve always liked to paint or build models to express my creativity in the colors I chose or the models I worked on. TikTok became a bigger canvas for me, allowing my creativity to thrive and making people laugh at the same time, which was a win-win. I’m enjoying the ride and the time it gives me with friends. Everything else is just a bonus.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For the most part, it has been smooth, but it certainly had its struggles. Tiktok had 2 major milestones that people were looking to hit when I started. 1K for the ability to go live and 10K for the ability to enter the creator program and make money. I hit 10K on the night the Walt Disney World 50th anniversary celebration kicked off.
The next year or so was filled with some struggles. Almost immediately following hitting that milestone I had my first experience with someone lying about me online. Which only grew with a select few individuals becoming “negative” creators. These creators focused mostly on bad-mouthing others in the community targeting popular/viral videos and questioning or twisting the truth in response videos. During this time, I had several videos misrepresented; I was used to showcase creator entitlement using a video of an event I paid to attend, and that anyone (Not just creators) could have purchased tickets. That, and a few other false allegations, tested me for a moment there. It was hard for me; I would open TikTok or other platforms, afraid to see what lies were possibly told about me that day. It was even more complex because I decided not to respond to them or fan the flame early on. This meant staying silent even when I wanted to show proof that they were lying. I didn’t though, because I don’t believe in being the reason someone hates another person. I like to say, “I don’t believe in weaponizing my following.” As creators, we hold a lot of power and influence that honestly, we shouldn’t. People who like you will believe you, even without proof. I learned that from how these creators treated me; I didn’t want to be like that even though I did have proof. I didn’t want to sway people’s opinions of others, I want people to draw their own conclusions, so I didn’t respond.
Luckily, all of that went away with time. Additionally, I’ve struggled privately with some of my friendships. This community has been an incredible group of Disney-loving adults who all enjoy the Disney parks and are very creative individuals. But it has also been filled with those looking for success and fame as creators. This has tried me at times, with people I thought were my friends turning out to be using me for their own personal gain and growth as a creator. I’ve had to let some friendships go and be more cautious with others, and it’s been challenging at times. Being a creator isn’t everything some people think it is. You’re seen as competition by some or as a ticket to fame for others, and it’s hard to pick those people out of a crowd sometimes.
With all that said, I still wouldn’t change the experiences I’ve had, I may wish some of them weren’t as negative or didn’t affect me as much solely for my own mental health’s sake. But ultimately the experiences I’ve had have helped to shape the creator I am today, and the individual I am, and I’m happy with who I am today, so I wouldn’t change that for anything.
I appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As I said before, I’m not in this to be full-time. I’m a full-time Recruiter in the Government Defense sector. I’m a military brat who grew up all over the world. After college, I found myself recruiting and quickly fell into military recruiting as I was familiar with that world. I am heading up the recruiting efforts for a mid-size Defense contractor here in Orlando and working a 40-hour week. Leaving nights, weekends, and lunch breaks for content creation and trips to the theme parks.
Content creation is a fun thing I do on the side when creativity strikes or when I feel the need to share an experience, product, or attraction with people, and I like it being that way for me.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up a military brat, so my environment changed every few years. This made my interests change as well. I spent my elementary school years in England, where I enjoyed Soccer and a table top model building and battling game called Warhammer, but that shifted to Lacrosse and football in middle School/High School when I was in South Carolina and then track and field when I was in Germany for my senior year. Outside of sports, at heart, I was still always a geek who enjoyed pretty much anything friends introduced to me. I grew up on Star Wars and Marvel because those were things my dad liked, and Disney, for most kids, is just standard media. So naturally, as I got older and those things merged under one umbrella, my title as a “Disney Adult” solidified. I’ve also always enjoyed the concepts and ideas that most fantasy series introduce, so anything with Magic, Dragons, or some other element of the supernatural caught my attention. I grew up a Geek; I’ve never pigeonholed myself into liking just 1 thing.
Additionally growing up a millennial really helped me to start to share my interests more as I got older. Where things like watching anime or playing card games like Pokémon was considered being a geek when I was younger it became a staple for being a millennial and allowed me to express myself more and meet more likeminded people. Which is something even now as an adult in his 30’s that I’m still growing and learning how to express in my own life as well as my content.
Contact Info:
- Website: tiktok.com/@bibbidi.bobbidi.beard
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bibbidi.bobbidi.beard?igsh=MWJtNnczNnM1NnVrcA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coleemanning/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Bibbidi_Bobbidi_Beard
Image Credits
Dapper Day Star Wars photo credit: Pixeldustisaiah on Tiktok
