Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Calmon.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always been very creative from a young age and growing up I was extremely involved in performing arts. I originally started my Tik Tok account my senior year of college right before the pandemic hit to make videos joking around with my friends. Once we all got sent home for virtual learning, I had a lot more time on my hands and needed a creative outlet to pass the time – so I turned to Tik Tok. At first, my videos got a couple of hundred views and I saw growth, but nothing too crazy. I was cleaning out my closet one day and came across my old high school uniform, which was the same high school the Damelio sisters went to, and decided to duet one of Charli’s old videos wearing the uniform for fun. I tagged a couple of my high school friends and jokingly told them to duet and “start a King School chain.” Within a few hours, the video had over 10k views, which was the most attention my account had ever gotten. If I had to pinpoint where things started to change for me, it would be that video. After a few days, the video had over 100k views, and it’s still my most viewed video sitting at 1.9M views. From then on, I saw a steady and constant growth, but still had to figure out a niche. Around the same time, Harry Potter began trending on Tik Tok, which was the perfect niche for me as I’ve grown up finding comfort within the Wizarding World. Once I had found my niche, the content began flowing naturally and. I was able to build a solid following. In July of 2021, my family moved back to Florida, making going to Universal and making content there easier. Since then, I’ve expanded my niche to include other fandoms, theme park, lifestyle, and fashion content, and am established enough on the platform to make whatever content I want to make, without having to worry about fitting into one specific niche. The journey has been absolutely crazy, filled with incredible memories and people, tons of support and has helped me find myself and develop confidence and self assurance I’ve never had before. I’m really lucky and grateful to have been given a platform to do what I love most and be unapologetically myself.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a smooth road, no. There were definitely times where the pressure, criticism, and hate got to me, times where I considered stopping making content, times where I almost let judgment from people who thought what I was doing was “weird” or “embarrassing.” I’ve been “canceled” a few times for things that were untrue or entirely out of my control, and dealing with it gets easier but it still hurts. I think people forget that behind the screen there’s a real person, one with real feelings and struggling with things just like everybody else. It’s so easy to forget that creators aren’t objects for our entertainment – I’m certainly guilty of forgetting before I understood what it felt like from the other side. People are so quick to judge on the internet and unfortunately don’t consider the weight their words can have. The pressure to make content constantly, to feed the algorithms so you have good numbers, to please so many people…It’s definitely overwhelming and hard to manage at times. That’s why it’s so important to have a good support system, I think that’s the thing that keeps me going despite all the bad times. My family is insanely supportive of what I do even though they don’t really get it. My parents and siblings especially have been key players in keeping me motivated. I also have some of the greatest friends in this world, their support has been nothing short of incredible. And like my family, most of them (except for the other creators) don’t really get it, but they still do everything they can to support me. From watching my content and interacting, to making videos with me, to “hyping me up,” they’ve been amazing and I’m so lucky. My followers also are some of the sweetest, kindest people I’ve ever encountered. They always tell me how much I’ve helped them and how I mean a lot to them, but they don’t realize how much they do for me. I don’t think I’d still be doing what I do without them, I’m really blessed to have the support system I have.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a full-time Digital Marketing Specialist and a part-time content creator on Tik Tok and Instagram, but I’m definitely known for my content rather than my full-time position. I think the thing I’m most proud of is the positive impact I’ve been able to have on others, specifically younger girls. I remember growing up I felt so alone in what I was experiencing/feeling and just wanted someone to talk to who understood, someone who’d been through what I was going through and could offer me some advice, some comfort. I always try my best to be the person my younger self needed and through that I’ve been able to help others too. It’s definitely the most rewarding part of what I do, getting to hear from people that I’ve had a positive impact on them even if it’s small.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Yes, definitely! I love astrology a lot and I like to have a general idea of what’s going on astrologically to make sense of my daily life/mindset. I use The Pattern for that and I recommend it to all my friends and followers! I also make a lot of my content centered around different fandoms, primarily the Harry Potter fandom, so those books/movies definitely help get my creativity going when I’m in a slump.
Contact Info:
- Email: amandacristinabusiness@gmail.com
- Website: https://koji.to/mandscalmon
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mandscalmon
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mandscalmon
