Manifesting a fashion career on TikTok
Atiya Walcott: “The minute that I sell my first sweater or scarf or whatever, I will feel like I'm in fashion.”
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.
Last week, I was a guest on the Good For U (?) podcast, where we chatted about internet scams and cursed algorithms, among other things. Give it a listen here (after you read this interview). —Kate
Atiya Walcott knows what she wants—she says it at the beginning of every single TikTok video.
“My name is Atiya Walcott and I want to be in fashion and I’m incredibly fashionable so I’ve decided to post an OOTD every single day.”
The videos, which Atiya makes in collaboration with her husband, first grabbed me because of their high production value. TikTok makes it easy to find success without any fancy tools, so I’m always curious about creators who put in that effort anyway, especially for what often ends up being a five-second clip.
“I was a film major in college, so I think that ties into the high production value,” Walcott tells me over Zoom. She moved out to L.A. after graduation and started working at Sony as a casting assistant, which Walcott quickly realized wasn’t her vibe. Sony “was corporate Hollywood. And I wanted to be more like A24 Hollywood, artsy films.”
She pivoted, pursuing an MFA in acting from USC and graduating in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. The managers she had been with for a year ended up dropping her, and content creation went from a hobby to a lifeline.
Walcott now lives in Chicago with her husband, in an apartment that they chose in no small part because it would look nice for TikTok. Walcott shares her outfits every day, with the hope of starting her own fashion line that she’ll maintain alongside a career as an actress.
In this interview, we chat about her progress in fashion, how sponsored posts can complicate relationships with followers, and treating TikTok as a nine-to-five.
How did you get started as a creator?
I started my YouTube channel while in graduate school, ‘cause we had a homework assignment. At the end of grad school in 2020 when I graduated on Zoom and we were all in lockdown, I just started YouTubing. I did like a Jenna Marbles reaction video, and then I got like 300,000 views and I was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm a YouTuber." But I hated making YouTuber drama videos. I was like, “I don't wanna do that at all.” I've posted hundreds of videos on YouTube that are all deleted now.
Eventually, someone who I went to high school with [became] a social media manager, and they were like, “Hey, I love your YouTube. You should start a TikTok to promote your YouTube.” So I started a TikTok to attempt to grow my YouTube. And then eventually, I don't know, I wasn't going anywhere on social media. Everyone's inside. I felt like a failure basically. So I was like, what can I do every day? What do I do every day? And I was like, I wear clothes every day. So it started that I would post, like, me in my pajamas, like it was not fashion content, it was not a fashion channel. It wasn't very serious. But then the first time that one of those videos got like 30,000 views or something, I was like, “Wait, this, this could be my thing. This is fun.” And my favorite part of it all is the editing, the lighting, the cinematography of it all. The styling is the hardest part.
What has your journey been like in terms of fashion? Has TikTok been helpful with that?
Oh yeah, definitely. The TikTok growth, it happened very intentionally. My parents were like, “You are being cut off [financially].” Which is such a blessing to have family that helped me, they were supporting me, but they were like, “You are getting cut off.” And my mom was like, "Did you get a job yet? What are you doing?" And I was like, "I'm being an influencer, mom." I was like, "I'm choosing this." So January 1st, 2022, I decided I'm gonna be consistent. I'm gonna post every single day an outfit. This is my nine-to-five. So then I did that and I grew. I went to 20,000 followers, I went to 50,000 followers, and then the same company that dropped me for acting representation, I get an email from my old manager being like, "Hey, someone in the branding influencer side saw your TikTok and they wanna rep you." So now I'm back at that agency as a TikTokker.
So January 1st through April I posted an outfit every single day on TikTok. I got like 50,000 followers. I booked UGC content and brand deals. So it was a nice little growth spurt, but I was like, “I need to move back to LA. I need more money and I don't have any money, so I need to get a job.” So I got a job in PR and I moved to LA with my husband, which just ended up being the worst move for us ever, and there was nowhere to film the outfits. So the content kind of suffered. I was now working an actual nine-to-five so, again, the content suffered and I was like, “Why did we move to LA from a house to this apartment with no natural sunlight?” And so I quit my job. We sold the house. And we moved to this sunny apartment in Chicago.
Hearing you describe the decision, like, "I'm going to commit to content creation." Or even the way you start your videos, it's the same way, almost like a mantra, like putting it out in the world. What is thinking behind that?
The thinking behind that was how can I make my job as easy as possible. And how can I make my content as clear as possible? It happened organically. Like one day, maybe January 1st, I was like, “I wanna do this. My name's Atiya Walcott, da da da da.” The next day I just said the same thing. And now like a year later, I just say the same thing. I think it is years of just trying between YouTube and all that stuff. But then also it is a mantra, and I'm thinking about changing it to something like, "I am in fashion or I am a designer."
That was going to be my next question, because at a certain point, you are in fashion.
It's interesting because, one, yes I am. I'm very confident right now and I know that my passion is in the design realm. So ideally one day I'm selling my own clothes. I find fashion so fun. And the good thing about also being an actor and a filmmaker is like, that to me is very serious. I'm not online about it as much. So it's nice to have fashion as a solely creative outlet, but am I in fashion? So I've worked with brands, clothing stores. I got to work with Fred Segal, which I thought was super cool. I got a cute little Issey Miyake mini dress. So all that stuff makes me feel like, "Ooh, I'm in fashion." I haven't been to Fashion Week. And also, I'm not even proactive. I don't know if I wanna go to Fashion Week. I'm very much a hermit. What I know I wanna do is make clothes. And the minute that I sell my first sweater or scarf or whatever, I will feel like I'm in fashion. But I kinda already do.
We mentioned this up top, but the production value of your videos is so good. How long does an average video take? I'm interested in all the behind-the-scenes stuff.
Definitely. So my whole page is a collaboration with my husband who—we met on YouTube actually. He commented on my video one day, I commented on his, eventually he sent me an email, then we texted and then we met in person and then we got married. And so he films all my TikToks, he shoots all of my photography on a really nice camera. And so that is why the production value is so good. And then so the filming process, it starts with picking the outfit, and then the rest of the routine is the same right now, like every time. Once I pick my outfit, we shoot handheld camera work on his nice big camera, then we do photography, and then I set up for the actual filming where the camera stays still and I can sort of pop around the frame. It's like whatever the mood is, whatever I feel.
I think the biggest variable is the location. I moved in with my husband and he lived an hour outside of LA, and that is where my channel got bigger where I was in these big grass fields or I'm on the roof of a house. And I didn't realize how much production value that was until we moved to LA when I was in an all-white room with one ring light. No sunlight. And it was looking really, really not perfect. So natural sunlight and a cool location will up your production value and will make brands wanna work with you, companies wanna work with you. It makes a night and day difference I think.
What would you say your relationship with your followers is like?
I would say that on TikTok I have a deep amount of love for my followers, but it's this interesting experience of the bigger I get, the less brand deals I actually wanna take. I have so much love for my audience [so] I don't think I can sell them things. Like I'm not as great of an influencer now 'cause there's more people who follow me and they leave these nice comments. And I feel like we do have this relationship where I'm like, “Hey, I'm giving you entertainment and fun. Something to just make you smile for seven seconds of the day.” So I would say I am discovering and working out my relationship. Because since I wanna do it full-time, I do need to make money. So it's just this interesting balance of figuring out how to be an ethical content creator under the capitalistic umbrella.
I know people do Patreon, and I obviously have a Substack. Have you considered anything like that?
So in my YouTuber phase I did. I started to try and start a Patreon. I definitely have imposter syndrome so I'm like, “Why would anyone ever pay to hear what I have to say?” So I'm glad that we're having this conversation because that is something I will think about in the coming months. You gotta do what you have to do as a content creator if you wanna go for it, you know? So I don't have anything like that yet, but it's definitely an avenue.
I know TikTok has a creator fund. Are you in that?
I am in the creator fund. I had a video that got like 8 million views [and it] did not change my life at all. Which, come on. That video got like, I'm trying to remember how much the creator fund paid, it was like $200 or something. YouTube pays so much better. I made like 2K my first month on YouTube.
Do you have any specific things you're hoping that posting on TikTok and posting on YouTube and doing this work will achieve for you?
I have specific goals, but none of them are on TikTok. My biggest TikTok goal is to post every day. But subconsciously, I already know if I show up, if I post every day and do the work that I know I can do, I know that will lead to brand deals. And that's what I view TikTok as quite frankly. I view it as my nine-to-five. So right before this, I filmed my video for the day. It's a grind. I'm treating it like my nine-to-five because I think the most money I made was as a UGC creator. And those videos I don't even post on my own account, they're just ads. So I feel like that speaks to how I view TikTok.
I'm an actress and I just am about to get my equity card. So I paid my dues and now I'm just waiting and then I can audition for Broadway again. My five-year, ten-year plan, I plan to be on the stage. My goal is to book a play and I would like to just YouTube behind the scenes of that experience for anyone who wants to see it. And then I also want to book a TV show after that, the same thing. How I see myself 20 years from now is that I'm an actress. I've done films, TV, and then I also have a fashion brand. Maybe I have a brick-and-mortar store and an online website. And so I can do a little bit of acting and create clothes and then create content around both of them.