Welcome to Creators on the Rise, where we find and profile breakout creators who are in the midst of extraordinary growth. You can check out previous installments here.
Three years ago, on her 22nd birthday, Naomi Hearts made a decision.
“I’m like, ‘I know that I can do it,'” she says. “‘I want to follow my dreams.'”
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Her dream was to be a content creator–and when she told her mom about it, she wasn’t exactly sure what the response would be. Turns out, it was a pretty good one: Her mom bought her a streaming camera, and Hearts jumped on Twitch.
“I was doing fine. I was having fun with it,” she says. “[B]ut then my friend was like, ‘You should really do TikTok.'”
Hearts said nah. She, like many people, figured TikTok was an app for kids, where dancing reigned supreme. She didn’t think her content–which spans various lifestyle niches and also focuses on body positivity and trans/queer activism–would be a fit. Luckily, her friend kept pushing, and Hearts gave in. One video, where she parodies the Kardashians by shaking a salad, took off, and her account “just skyrocketed,” she says.
She ended up pausing her Twitch streams and going full-throttle on TikTok, where she now has over a million followers.
2023 has been Hearts’ biggest year yet: She secured a partnership with Target and is wrapped up in production for her first clothing line–an endeavor that’s taken a lot of negotiating to ensure her plus-size and straight-size items will be priced the same.
Check out our chat with her below.
@naomiheartsxo Is this a cannon event for the babes i need to know 😭🤰🏻 #relatable #plussize #funny #comedy #plussizeedition ♬ original sound – NaomiHearts
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tubefilter: Nice to meet you! Hopefully I’m not too intimidating. I don’t know how many interviews you’ve done before.
Naomi Hearts: I’ve done a few. I just kind of take them as like a chat with a friend.
Okay, cool. We’re going to be fine. It’s going to be great. I would love to start with, pretend somebody is reading this and isn’t very familiar with you. Give me a little bit of background about you, and where you’re from, and how social media came to be a thing for you.
I’m Naomi Hearts. I am 25 years old, and I started this during COVID. I’m a COVID creator, as I like to call it. A lot of my content truly is based off confidence and self-love and reclaiming hateful things that people say about us and turning them into a positive. I feel like if people were watching me for the first time, they would pick up on that and also have a good laugh.
You’re in a bunch of different niches in terms of your content. I know you do body positivity, beauty, fashion, and then comedy, like you said. I’m curious how you’re able to balance all these elements in the videos you make.
Early on, one thing I wanted to not do was be niched down. I know that a niche can work with people, and I know that niches are super beneficial, but for me, it’s like, I don’t need to be niched down. I just make the core of my content myself, and then expand off of that. If we’re doing fashion, we’re going to have a good time with the fashion, but I’m at the core of it. If we’re doing body positivity, it’s the same thing. If we’re doing comedy, it’s the same thing. It’s just always me at the root, and not being afraid to dabble with different niches.
That’s smart. I’ve been talking to a lot of creators lately, especially streamers, who really struggle with, like, they started streaming one game, and then their audience drops off when they stream something else because they themself are not the core of their content. Maybe that should be more of a focus for people.
I agree. I think also, though, that’s something that scares people, and I always say, “Don’t be afraid.” When you’re switching up your content, as you should often, people are not going to necessarily always show up for it, because it’s not something that they’re used to. They were watching what you were saying, watching you for a different game, but you’re going to find a new audience–and also, the audience that’s already been watching is going to engage as long as you stay true to yourself.
I feel like it takes a level of vulnerability to make yourself the center of your content.
Yes. I would say so. I think it’s just not– Maybe it’s because I grew up fat and trans. I grew up in high school as trans, but I was always fat before I was out, and so, I feel like, for me, this is just amplified at a higher level. You know what I mean? The hate comments, the bullying, we experienced that as queer people already in school. For me, it’s like, it’s just now elevated. I feel like, as for me, it made me stronger when I was growing up, and so now I’m just here to let people know that it’s okay to be yourself.
Absolutely. You said you started doing content during the pandemic. Was there something in particular that inspired you? What platform did you start on? Was it TikTok or was it Instagram?
It was Twitch.
Oh, wait, really? Speaking of streamers.
Yes.
Why did you start on Twitch?
I don’t know. I think it was my 20th birthday, maybe 21st, but it was back in 2020. It was my 22nd, I’m way off. I think I’m younger than I am. Ignore me. It was my birthday, and I was really, really– I’m like, “I know that I can do it. I want to follow my dreams,” and I told my mom and she bought me my first streaming camera. I started doing Twitch, and I was doing fine. I was having fun with it, but then my friend was like, “You should really do TikTok.” I was like, “No. People do dances there. I’m not really a dancer. It’s kind of a young app. It’s not me.” Then, all of a sudden, I was like, “Let me give it a shot, ” and it just skyrocketed. I was like, “Okay, Twitch can pause for a second.”
Wild. That’s the complete opposite end of the spectrum, too. Twitch is like the longest-form content there possibly is. Then switching over to TikTok, it’s short. You said it took off. Did it take off right away? Do you know if there was a particular video that took off?
I think the first video that took off was a Kardashian skit, where I was just shaking a salad. I think I hit 100k by the end of my first year, and then it just kept stacking and stacking and stacking every year. I was forever grateful for it.
Was there a particular point where you were like, “Okay, this is what I’m committing to as my career now”?
Yes. I believe in 2021 is when I first started to get brand deals. Not necessarily huge ones, but– I’m excited for it. I’m grateful for it. I was learning so much at the time, and I was like, “Okay, this really is something bigger and something that I should pursue.” It was just after my first year, I started to really see so much growth, and people reaching out in terms of collaborating on a monetary scale. I was like, “Yes, I think this is definitely bigger than what I expected it to be.”
You don’t have to answer this question, but does the majority of the money you make from social media come from brand deals?
At the moment, yes. For me, it’s business, and it’s just being strategic. Every brand or social media site has their own way of gaining money, for sure, giving out money, their systems, but I believe that the easiest way for me, or the best way at the moment, is brand deals, for sure.
Got you. I’m also curious, I was looking at your Linktree earlier, and I noticed that you have a Lemon8 account, and I don’t know any other creator who uses Lemon8, so I’m wondering if you like it.
I don’t use it often enough to be like, “Oh, I love it,” but I will say going back to the niches, it is for my people who love a lifestyle niche, and who just love to create and have fun. I feel like it’s a really good way to get inspired and also be creative. I think sometimes it’s hard to stay creative all the time when we’re following trends, but I think it’s a good way for you to deep dive into your own creativity and create what you want to see.
Interesting. I feel like there was a lot of hype for it, and then it launched and it just didn’t really go anywhere, so I was curious about it. Back to brand deals, I know you did a big Target collab.
I did, yes. That was my, I believe, my biggest collaboration this year, was with Target.
Can you talk a little more about that? I know for me personally the uproar over Pride stuff being stocked at Target was really difficult. The fact that Target is still working with trans creators is important to me.
It actually happened right during all of that, but they were super, super supportive, super sweet. They were offering like if I needed anyone to contact or call, or talk to about any hate comments, they would be quick to delete them. If I needed someone just to talk to about my experience, they were available. They were just super, super good to work with in that way. I could tell that it wasn’t just like, “Oh, we’re reaching out to transgender creators, we’re going to do whatever.” It was like they genuinely cared about their creators. They let us know they’re here for us, let us know if there’s anything they can do. It was just a really great experience.
That’s good. I’m glad to hear it. It was not a fun experience with the comments, I’m sure.
Pride was wild this year, for sure.
Pride was very wild this year. In terms of your current production schedule for content, what does the average day look like for you?
It’s changed a lot. When I first started on TikTok, I think I would make about six to seven videos daily.
Daily? Oh man.
Daily. As I started to learn more about the algorithm and learn more about engagement, not every video is going to be a hit and that’s okay. I learned how to tone it down. Right now, like my schedule, what I do typically is like, I am really invested in my emails as Chloe and Elisa would know, and my manager as well. I’m really hands on. I love to be just into it and seeing what’s going on. If there’s anything we need to discuss, we’ll discuss it.
I used to not pun out content, now I plan it a little bit more just to have more structure, because I think the hardest thing as a creator, and for me, at least, the hardest thing is not having structure, not being able to– having all this time, such a privilege. Also, for me, it’s like, I wish I just had more structure and me with like my ADHD and my brain, I’m everywhere. I think that’s really what gets me.
I’m glad you have a team to help you. Any cool projects you’re working on now?
Yes. Right now, the the biggest thing I’m focusing on for the end of the year is merch. It’s been kind of like a long time coming. It’s been the biggest thing people have asked for for the past three years that I’ve been on social: When is the merch coming? I’m like, honestly, my biggest issue was finding someone who would keep the prices the same for straight sizes as they would for a plus size. We were able to kind of get them to change it. Now, all the sizes are the same price, and so we’re trying to figure out what’s next in terms of that. Definitely, merch is the biggest thing I’m focusing on at the moment.
Is it designs you’re coming up with yourself?
Yes. I’m trying to commission someone to work with me and get them perfect and all of that fun stuff, so I’m really excited.
My first journalism job was in the fashion industry. I’m honestly shocked you were able to talk your producer into the same price for plus and straight sizes. They’re so difficult about it. Kudos to you.
It took a year. They were like, “No.” Unfortunately, it’s like their warehouse distributor or something like that where they charge extra for plus sizes. But now they’re all the same price across the board, which I was really, really happy about.
Congratulations. I know that must have taken a lot of work. To wind down, what’s been your favorite part of this whole being online experience?
Honestly, I think the community. I think like growing up and being told that your dreams are too big or being told that you’ll never do what you want to do in life just because you’re like plus size or just because you’re trans, just because you know, I’m Latina. It was hard and it’s like coming on social media and being able to find community with people who see themselves in you. That’s the reason why I do it. It’s because every day there’s someone else who finds your page and it’s like, “This person looks like me. This person is doing big things. I can do big things too.”
I always tell everyone, there’s always room at the table. I think we live in a world of scarcity. I think people are so scared that the next brand deal is not going to come. They’re so quick to turn their backs on people. I’m talking about like, just other people like us, but for me, it’s like there’s room for everyone at the table. Everyone can come up here and shine. I think that’s what’s important and what we should keep pushing for.
I feel like especially on TikTok, there are more and more young trans people who are putting themselves out there. Do you have any advice for creators who are trans, or queer, or marginalized, and who are worried about facing negativity online?
Yes. My best advice, I would say, for people who are marginalized, specifically trans people and queer people: It’s hard. It sucks. You’re going to feel that like you’re going to feel it and it’s important to feel those feelings, but also understand that there is also a community of people who are going to rally for you, and we’re always going to be there when you need us. What is the most important thing, I would say, is just remember that we are able to build our community. We’re able to have our chosen family. We’re able to find our people and connect with them on such a deep level, and all the hate, pay them no mind, as hard as it can be. I’ve been there. You’re going to get through it, and that’s what’s important.
