<p>Using TikTok&nbsp;to propel their careers and create a space for self-expression, these creators have appealed to the social media masses.&nbsp;</p>


Entertainment

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<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@notparalyzedjustlazy?lang=en">@notparalyzedjustlazy</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong>&nbsp;128G</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for: </strong>Quadriplegic shares her story and ways of life</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>After a ski accident in college changed Rebecca Koltun’s life, she found a new way to share her story – through social media.</p> 
  <p>The 24-year-old Plainview native was hospitalized for most of 2021 after the incident left her paralyzed from the neck down. Since then, she has learned new ways to complete life tasks. But one thing that stayed the same: her sense of humor.</p> 
  <p>Koltun has since used her platform to not only connect with others who have gone through the same or answer others’ curious questions on how she does things like eat, but also to show her funny side. Like in one of her most popular videos, which received over 16 million views, she celebrates 3 years since her accident by blowing out a candle with her breathing tube.</p> 
  <p>“I think that a lot of people are like so curious about what was going on with me, I feel like it’s just best to hear it from the primary source like how I do things,” she says. “And I think that people do enjoy seeing how I do things and want to see how I’m doing because I feel like I have come a long way.”</p> 
  <p>In addition to her dark humor, Koltun uses her platform to express her new interests since becoming paralyzed, such as painting.</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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Rebecca Koltun, 24, of Plainview

AIAudio - Rebecca Koltun, 24, of Plainview


<p>Koltun began posting TikToks in the hospital to show how she paints by using her mouth as well as other tasks that she does on a regular basis.</p>


Things to Do

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Painting, dark humor and community support is how Rebecca Koltun shares her story on TikTok

Newsday

Rebecca Koltun shares her story on TikTok

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<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@codells?lang=en">@codells</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong>&nbsp;4.2M</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for: </strong>Family pranks</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>For the D'Alessandros, pranking is a family norm. Now, thanks to social media, it's also their business.</p> 
  <p>Marco D'Alessandro Jr., 27, of Lake Grove, is the lead behind the videos that have garnered millions of views and involve his other family members: Dad, Marco D'Alessandro Sr., 58; Mom, Donna D'Alessandro, 55; and siblings, Pier, 25, Lynda, 23 and Nikki, 21.</p> 
  <p>The siblings have always been pranksters, even as little kids. So when TikTok started to grow, Marco Jr. got the idea to record their pranks on other family members and post it to social media. Quickly, not just the jokes, but the family dynamic, drew millions.</p> 
  <p>&quot;We were all together during the pandemic, and we were kind of trapped in the house together a little bit, but we saw it as an opportunity to get close and during that time, we spent so much time with each other it kind of just naturally happened on its own,&quot; says Marco Jr.</p> 
  <p>Together, the family has each grown their own social media pages and started the &quot;SaucyTV&quot; business. The family has reached more than 3 million subscribers on YouTube.</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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The D'Alessandro family, of Lake Grove

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<p>While being stuck at home, Marco D&#39;Alessandro saw the pandemic as an opportunity rather than a road block to prank his family and share those moments on TikTok.</p>


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Italian heritage, comedy and sauce are the perfect recipe for this Long Island family on TikTok

This LI family has millions of social media followers

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<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfilipinograndma?lang=en">@ourfilipinograndma</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong>&nbsp;1.8M</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for: </strong>Being &quot;Our Filipino Grandma&quot;</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>Most people associate TikTok’s content creators as Gen-Z, but Nora Sangalang, also known as “Our Filipino Grandma,” is proving the social media platform is for everyone.</p> 
  <p>Her grandson, Jeffrey Juarez, got the idea to join the app from his younger family members. He started posting content and experimenting with videos and found the ones that went viral didn’t involve dancing or lip-syncing – but were featuring his grandmother.</p> 
  <p>“I realized I need my videos to make money. I need my videos to have more consistent views,” Juarez says. “The videos of my grandma are the ones that always went the most viral.”</p> 
  <p>Sangalang&nbsp;launched her&nbsp;own TikTok account, which has now grown to over 1.2 million followers. The popularity of the account stems from Sanglang’s viral series where she shares creative pickup lines, all directed by Juarez.</p> 
  <p>There are also plenty of videos sharing her Filipino culture with the world. The account has&nbsp;led to&nbsp;advertising opportunities with major companies like McDonald’s, Netflix and Hulu.</p> 
  <p>Many younger TikTok users refer to her as “our lola” since she reminds them of their own grandmothers.</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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Jeffrey Juarez, 28, and Nora Sangalang, 81

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<p>The dynamic duo created &#39;Our Filipino Grandma&#39; with over a million followers across platforms.</p>


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Jeffrey Juarez and Nora Sangalang spread memes, positivity and Filipino culture on TikTok

This lola and her grandson spread memes, positivity and Filipino culture on TikTok

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<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@amhband?lang=en">@amhband</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong> 3.8M</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for: </strong>Their music</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>Thanks in part to social media, Adam Ezegelian, Johnny Barry, Griffin McCarthy and Ryan Daversa&nbsp;are living out their rock star dreams with their band,&nbsp;Adam and the Metal Hawks.</p> 
  <p>The Long Islanders started&nbsp;the band with the goal of becoming full-time&nbsp;musicians and turned to TikTok for an audience during the pandemic. With a little help from their more than&nbsp;3.7 million fans on the platform&nbsp;they are now touring the world.</p> 
  <p>Their platform isn't all about their music. Showing off their personalities, they've been able to reach new audiences and even grab celebrity attention.</p> 
  <p>It also helps that the lead singer, Ezegelian, bears a resemblance to actor Jack Black. The group started a TikTok &quot;challenge&quot; to get Black’s attention — and it worked. Black&nbsp;&quot;dueted&quot; their&nbsp;video, sending millions of views and new followers to their page.&nbsp;</p> 
  <p>The band has&nbsp;played gigs around the world, including in Switzerland last year. Their goal: to one day get the chance to play at Northwell at Jones Beach Theater.</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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Adam and the Metal Hawks

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<p>Lead singer Adam Ezegelian got his start in music by auditioning on American Idol, but him and the band have been able to grow even more, thanks to TikTok.Videos with Dee Snyder and Jack Black are just some of the collaborations the band has done to increase their following.</p>


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Adam and the Metal Hawks gained millions of fans by sharing their music on TikTok

How Adam and the Metal Hawks got started on TikTok

<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ke11ysme11y">@ke11ysme11y</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong> 58G</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for: </strong>Comedy videos</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>Trotta had just graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie and was all set to continue her education to become a Long Island teacher&nbsp;when a phone call changed her career path.</p> 
  <p>At college, the Manhasset native met her best friend and roommate, Maddie Schrader, who started working at Barstool Sports as an intern and quickly gained a large social media following. She recruited Trotta to be her &quot;right hand man&quot; when it came to filming and content creation, which gave Trotta an opportunity to build her own personality online. So much so that she grabbed the attention of Barstool Sports president and founder&nbsp;Dave Portnoy.</p> 
  <p>Portnoy recruited Trotta, also known as &quot;Smelly Kelly,&quot; to join the Barstool team. It was an easy &quot;yes&quot; for her and since announcing her new job, she’s seen her social media following rise.</p> 
  <p>&quot;I’m in my 20s, why not? Going to work and hanging out with my best friend everyday, that’s a pretty ideal situation,&quot; she says.</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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Kelly Trotta, 23, Manhasset

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<p>From college roommates with Maddie Schrader, also known as &ldquo;Moobie,&rdquo; to now working together at Barstool Sports.Kelly Trotta, &ldquo;Smelly Kelly,&rdquo; explains her start on TikTok and how she was days away from continuing her education to be a teacher until Dave Portnoy called.</p>


Long Island

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This LIer wanted to be a teacher until Barstool's Dave Portnoy called 

Manhasset

She wanted to be a teacher until Barstool's Portnoy called 

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<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@evanhirschfashion?lang=en">@evanhirschfashion</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong> 548G</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for: </strong>Transforming dress design videos</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>Hirsch&nbsp;thought he was &quot;too old&quot; to be on TikTok.</p> 
  <p>&quot;I don’t dance;&nbsp;I don’t lip sync;&nbsp;I don’t do any of that,&quot; he says. But with encouragement from&nbsp;a friend’s younger sister, the rising fashion designer decided to join the app in 2020 to help showcase his transformative dress designs.</p> 
  <p>Four years and nearly 550,000 followers later, Hirsch has made a name for himself on the&nbsp;platform, which in turn, has translated into making a name for himself in the fashion world.</p> 
  <p>While he does not dance or lip sync on the app, he is best known for his popular &quot;transformation&quot; dresses, which can also be seen on the runway. This year, he most recently made his New York Fashion Week solo show debut.</p> 
  <p>The personality he brings to&nbsp;social media clicks: Hirsch originally wanted to be on Broadway. Once his love of fashion was sparked as a student at Half Hollow Hills High School West, he shifted gears to pursue that career path.&nbsp;In 2019, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fashion-apparel design from Drexel University in Philadelphia. Now, he is able to channel both sides on TikTok.&nbsp;</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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Evan Hirsch, 27, Dix Hills

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<p>Evan Hirsch, 27, is a rising fashion designer who&rsquo;s made a name for himself with the help of TikTok.</p>


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Meet the LI fashion designer known for transforming dresses on TikTok

Dix Hills

This LI fashion designer is transforming dresses on TikTok

<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@simply_suha">@simply_suha</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong> 85G</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for:</strong> Following trends</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>Syed says she joined TikTok “begrudgingly” in 2020 because she had a lot of time to fill during the pandemic, when she was living at her childhood home in Jericho (where she still lives) and taking classes at SUNY Old Westbury. “It was a nice distraction and a nice way to connect with people in a way that didn’t require me to leave my house,” she says.</p> 
  <p>She films and edits her videos on her own; many are less than 10 seconds long and picture her face with her message in writing. She tries to post daily. “I do like to follow trends as much as a I can. A new movie, an album release, a concert or festival,” she says. For example, she posted about the “Barbie” movie and often invokes Taylor Swift.</p> 
  <p>She also likes to dispel stereotypes, she says. Being a visible Muslim wearing a hijab on social media gives her the chance to “reclaim the narrative” of how Muslims are perceived, she says. “If it is something that affects me or people who look like me, it’s definitely a responsibility and something I’m grateful to raise awareness about,” she says. “I’ve always been a loud, outspoken type of person.”</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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TikTawk

Suha Syed, 24, Jericho

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Tiktawk Sizzle Reel - Suha

<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@chefdaniellesepsy/">@chefdaniellesepsy</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong>&nbsp;109G</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for:</strong> Playing a Long Island mother</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>Sepsy, whose Hungry Gnome baked goods company makes as many as 150,000 treats a month, did not set out to be a TikTok content creator known for comically imitating Long Island mothers.</p> 
  <p>In November 2022, Sepsy was tapped to be a contestant on a new HBO Max cooking competition series called “The Big Brunch” created and hosted by actor Dan Levy. “That experience took the business and my name to a whole new place,” says Sepsy, who lives in Garden City. She appeared in all eight episodes, was runner-up and got a cookbook deal.</p> 
  <p>After the show, she decided to go all in on social media to up her profile and to help grow her business, hoping an engaged audience would then want to buy what she is selling. She hired a social media management company to negotiate brand partnership deals — she’s done videos featuring Brisk Iced Tea and Nutella, for instance. The company also does her filming and editing.</p> 
  <p>To her surprise, the videos that do the best for her don't necessarily have to do with cooking. “Me making fun of my mom as my Long Island mother, that is what resonated with a larger audience,” she says. “I just had to sort of be myself and not be afraid to be goofy.”</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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Danielle Sepsy, 33, Garden City

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Tiktawk Sizzle Reel - Danielle

<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mmmjoemele">@mmmjoemele</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong>&nbsp;31M</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for:</strong> Comedy skits with his dad</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>Mele dropped out of Binghamton University to focus on TikTok.&nbsp;He enlisted his father, Frank, 61, who is retired, to star with him in video skits.</p> 
  <p>“Everybody loves my dad. He’s a character. We’re always cracking jokes,” Mele says. Their first video together was&nbsp;posted in 2019 and&nbsp;had 13,000 views within a few hours, he says. “That one video sparked the whole domino effect, the snowball effect,” he says.</p> 
  <p>Mele’s followers grew, and he started posting&nbsp;three to four comedy videos a day that he calls “family friendly and wholesome.” Some will feature his mom, Karen, 59, or his brother, Nick, 28. He’s now got more than 27 million followers and most of his videos meet his goal of at least 1 million views. It’s not unusual for his videos to hit 30 million to 50 million views.</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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Joe Mele, 24, East End

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Tiktawk Sizzle Reel - Mele

<div class="tiktawk-user"> 
 <h2><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@rohan.murphy">@rohan.murphy</a></h2> 
 <p><strong>Followers:</strong>&nbsp;13G</p> 
 <p><strong>Known for:</strong> Youth inspirational speaking</p> 
 <div class="description"> 
  <p>Murphy uses his TikTok platform to help him gain exposure for his “dream job” — motivational speaking at&nbsp;colleges and&nbsp;elementary, middle and high school assemblies&nbsp;across the country.</p> 
  <p>Murphy was born with his legs facing backward — his kneecaps and feet were in the opposite direction, he says. At age 4, he had his legs amputated. The plan was for him to wear prosthetic legs, but his residual limbs weren’t able to bear the weight, so he stopped using them: “It’s like wearing shackles,” he says. “Why not just embrace who I am?”</p> 
  <p>Murphy goes to schools across the country talking about goal setting and overcoming adversity. He talks about how he became&nbsp;successful as a wrestler in high school and at Penn State University. “They’re always surprised,” he says. “Once I go down to a wrestling practice and roll around on a mat with them, they get it.”</p> 
  <p>During visits to schools, he’ll take videos with the students and post them. “I’m always looking for different ways to promote myself, put myself out there,” he says.</p> 
 </div> 
</div>

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Rohan Murphy, 39, East Islip

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Tiktawk Sizzle Reel - Murphy

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Long Islanders on TikTok: Notable content creators to follow

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Meet Long Islanders reaching millions on TikTok

<p>You might recognize these faces from TikTok &mdash; they&#39;re all Long Island natives who have thousands or even millions of followers. They post comedy skits with their families, offer cooking advice or voice their opinions on everything from wearing a hijab to the taste of a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.</p>

<p>Here&rsquo;s how these&nbsp;content creators use TikTok to build their careers.</p>


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Meet the Long Islanders making it big on TikTok

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Long Islanders on TikTok: Notable content creators to follow

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