MS Coast locals find careers, success on social media. Have you seen these creators?

Before social media, achieving fame and a platform to speak to thousands, or even millions, was almost impossible for most people. Today, some Mississippians have become household names through social media, reaching large audiences, making brand deals and building careers.

Because of the way social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, feed their users content from people around the world that they don’t necessarily follow, any of the platforms’ users could have a viral moment. Some Mississippi users have been able to keep that virality going, becoming social media icons with large audiences, usually by finding a niche or topic that resonates with viewers.

“Growing up in the 90s, we always saw people on TV and they’re all from like California and New York, and you very rarely see the South being highlighted,” said Kerri Paul, who posts videos about her family, lifestyle and living in the South. “But social media has opened us up to having that platform to share our lives, and I think that that is what is so great about it.”

Now, social media stars with millions of followers from places such as Mississippi do not look out of place on a red carpet or on a billboard, and help create pop culture moments and trends.

Brands and businesses have sought to capitalize off those large audiences through social media influencers and content creators who partner with brands to share about their products in a more authentic way. While many social media users aspire to be social media influencers, only a few are able to quit their day jobs.

Here are seven people from the Misssissippi Coast who have been able to find an audience on social media, allowing them to find success, careers and have impact on their communities.

Patience Wolfe — @trailerparkpretti

Social media has been life changing for Patience Wolfe of Vancleave, who goes by @trailerparkpretti on TikTok and Instagram.

When Wolfe started posting on TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she was unemployed, living in a deteriorating two-bedroom, one-bath trailer, going through a divorce and trying to scrape together enough money to raise her two kids.

Her first videos were makeup tutorials, lip-syncing videos, cooking videos, and videos about South Mississippi life. Her videos about trailer life were the ones that initially went viral.

“I’ve always lived in a trailer,” Wolfe said. “Social media can be really harsh about living conditions, just very judgmental. So the first time I ever showed my home, it kind of blew up. And I guess I knew from there that not everyone was judgmental and that I could make a place on social media for myself and for people who live somewhere like I did.”

Since then, Wolfe has been able to make social media her career, earning her brand deals and enough income to purchase land and the three-bedroom two-bath trailer that she and her husband currently own.

Wolfe says making social media her career was intimidating and scary, but also a blessing.

“It’s something I never could have imagined doing,” she said. “I always compare it to serving or bartending, it’s like you never know what you’re gonna make, so maybe one month, you have an awesome month with a lot of brand deals and good views. But you know, maybe the next month, it’s not like that.”

Wolfe recently netted her biggest deal to date. She will be partnering with Regional Homes, a Gulfport mobile home dealer, and getting a custom upgraded modular home double the size of her current trailer.

“I think being a creator has a lot of responsibility, especially if you have a large platform. A lot of people look up to you, so the feeling of having to be perfect or not making any mistakes is incredibly heavy,” Wolfe says. “I enjoy inspiring people just by opening my phone and saying a few words or showing my face. I wish I had someone like me to look up to a few years ago.”

Caroline Davis — @mississippi_kween

Caroline Davis, a Bay St. Louis mom of four, never intended to have nearly 2 million followers on TikTok.

Davis, who mostly makes cooking videos that she posts on Instagram and TikTok under the handle @mississippi_kween, says she first joined TikTok to monitor her kids’ activities on the app, which she originally thought was just for kids.

“I wanted to see what my children were consuming,” Davis said. “But then I found a community my age, and then found that there was a need for cooking content because, at the time, people weren’t doing it like I do it now. So it all started completely by accident.”

Davis had her first viral video when she filmed herself making breakfast pizza — pre-made crescent rolls topped with eggs and baked. When she finished, her daughter took her phone from her and hit post.

“I actually almost didn’t even post it because I thought it was so out there,” Davis said. “I almost deleted it because I was embarrassed.”

The video got over 7 million views. Now, each of her videos regularly get hundreds of thousands of views, leading to opportunities like brand partnerships with companies such as Camellia beans, Pillsbury and Walmart, which she says was always her bucket list brand partner. She’s also gotten to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game, and taken her first trip on an airplane to attend a content creator award show in Las Vegas.

Social media is not Davis’ full-time job, although the partnerships pay well enough that it could be. Davis also manages Airbnbs and takes care of her children.

Davis has used her social media platform to give back to her community. In 2022, she posted an Amazon Christmas wish list to benefit area school children, and her followers ended up sending over 2,500 packages, providing hundreds of students and their families in the Hancock County School District with Christmas gifts. She repeated the toy drive in 2023 and plans to do so again this year.

“You shouldn’t have a large following if you’re not gonna do something good with it. So I’m always trying to find something in my community to do.” Davis said. “I feel like Mississippi gets a really bad rap, so being able to represent Mississippi in a positive light, to me, is amazing.”

Trevor Norris — @trevornorris

Trevor Norris is no stranger to big, viral moments on social media. Norris, a Gulfport native who now lives in New Orleans, basically grew up on the internet like many Gen Zers and Millennials.

Norris started posting on social media in the early 2010s, creating memes on Twitter and posting Vines, back when the popular video app was still around, as a fun way to pass the time outside of school and sports. He initially didn’t see much success.

“When I first started posting, there was no money, there was no getting famous from it. I saw some funny stuff online and I just recreated it,” Norris said. “And then Vine came around and then I was like, ‘hey, these people my age are blowing up, moving to LA and doing all this type of stuff that looks cool.’ I started trying to replicate what they were making and trying it, but it didn’t work out.”

Since then, lots of Norris’ content has gone viral. Norris, who makes videos and posts about a range of topics, including comedy, nostalgia, Southern living and music. His user name is @trevornorris on TikTok, and @trevor_norris0 on Instagram and X. He has over a million followers across all three platforms.

“From the beginning, I just wanted to make some cool stuff and make people laugh, and its just blown up ever since,” Norris said.

One of Norris’ earliest viral moments was when other college and high school students shared as a meme a photo that he posted showing him at a school work table, holding a paper that said “IDK what’s going on.” Norris later updated the meme when he graduated from University of Southern Mississippi, getting nearly 250,000 likes on X.

Norris again found his 15 minutes of fame in 2019, when he posted a series of candid photos of himself on X with the caption, “here are some pictures y’all can use to send to guys that won’t leave you alone or keep sending you unsolicited pictures.”

Norris says he got a lot of comments that his ploy actually worked by stopping some of the online harassment women face. Inside Edition even featured a write-up about the Tweet.

Outside of social media, Norris works full time as a graphic designer for a marketing company in New Orleans.

To Norris, social media has never been about making money. But his videos, many of which feature him singing along to popular or nostalgic songs in his car, earning him the nickname Carpool Trev, have given Norris lots of unique experiences. For example, he met and made a video with country music star Clay Walker, performed onstage with The Wiggles, and got comments on his posts from stars such as Hillary Duff and Taylor Swift.

Social media even helped Norris reunite with his car after a viral post he made about it getting stolen in New Orleans.

“My favorite thing has just been how appreciative people have been for me and just the people I’ve met that I never would have even imagined that I would meet or even commented on my stuff,” said Norris.

Sarah Blackbourn — @bourntocreate

The COVID-19 pandemic was a big catalyst for Sarah Blackbourn of St. Martin, as it has been for many other social media creators. She posts about her woodworking projects, raising chickens and homesteading under the handle @bourntocreate on TikTok and Instagram.

Blackbourn and her husband, both Mississippi State alumni, moved back to Mississippi in 2020 after living in San Diego for several years. For Blackbourn, the move was a reset. She had previously worked in athletics departments, having held nearly every role, but needed a change.

In returning to Mississippi, Blackbourn for the first time had a home with room to spread out, plus garage space.

“I knew I needed some decor and I had always wanted to make an Aztec version of wood art. I wanted to learn how to do that, so we went out and bought the tools, made my first piece in November of 2020, and I haven’t stopped since,” Blackbourn said. “During that time, TikTok was kind of blowing up. I wanted to do something on TikTok. so that’s where the wood art came in.”

Blackbourn’s how-to videos about woodworking gained her thousands of followers and buyers, allowing her to make wood art her career. She now fills custom orders and regularly has a booth at Ocean Springs’ Peter Anderson Festival, where customers regularly recognize her from TikTok.

“I feel that being on social media nowadays is probably the most important way to grow a business and to get your name out there,” Blackbourn said. “People can relate to me more than just pictures of my pieces. I love when people come by my booth and they say, ‘I saw you getting ready for your booth on TikTok and I saw this piece.’ Everyone’s so supportive and it’s really cool to actually meet people in person when all you do is put yourself on the internet and people are watching from all over the place.”

Blackbourn is also known for videos about her chickens. In 2023, she decided to build a chicken coop in her backyard, documenting the process, along with how she acquired and raised the chickens now living in it.

Videos about Polly, a small, black chicken, went viral after she hatched two babies. Blackbourn let her followers name the two chicks, Pickle and Pepper.

Even though Blackbourn enjoys raising chickens, who regularly lay eggs, she says she doesn’t really like to eat eggs.

Matthew Bounds — @yourbarefootneighbor

Matthew Bounds says he is not a chef, even though his 1.5 million TikTok followers regularly watch his cooking videos.

Bounds, a Gulfport resident who goes by @yourbarefootneighbor on TikTok and Instagram, posts videos from his home kitchen of simple weeknight meals, as he describes them, made with easy-to-find ingredients.

Bounds says that he never learned how to cook growing up so he decided during the COVID-19 pandemic that he would make that his project. In 2022, he discovered TikTok after a friend asked him to make an account so he could like videos of her French bulldog.

“I originally started out doing DIY and yard work content,” Bounds says — hence the handle @yourbarefootneighbor — but the original videos didn’t gain much traction. “In the fall of 2022, I posted what I was making for dinner that night, and people liked it. So I did it again. It just kind of stuck.”

At the time, Bounds was working as an insurance adjuster. In 2023, he quit his insurance adjuster job and started doing social media work full time.

“When I got off of work, I would film what I was doing for dinner, and I would post it that night, and I eventually got enough momentum going. I was fortunate enough to be able to quit my nine-to-five and do this full time,” he said.

Now, Bounds has two cookbooks on the market, “Come Fix You A Plate,” which has sold over 77,000 copies, and “Keep It Simple Y’all,” which was released in July.

Bounds says that social media fame has given him an unexpected platform. Bounds, who is openly gay, has used that platform to spread a message of inclusivity, often including things such as a wooden rainbow on the counter, or painting his nails to convey acceptance.

“Early on, I would mention that I was cooking dinner for my husband, and that sparked a lot of conversation online, and I knew from then on that it was something I really needed to talk about,” he said. “I needed to make sure my kitchen was inclusive. I want everyone to be welcome here, and it’s really important to me.”

Bounds has also used that platform to fundraise for local charities, including groups that support children in foster care, suicide prevention in the LGBTQ community and a summer camp for people with disabilities.

“I love what I do,” Bounds said. “I’m able to not only make a living doing it, but I’m also able to use my platform to advocate and fundraise and make people aware of causes that I care about right here on the Gulf Coast.”

Kerri Paul — @thekerripaul

Social media was a natural jump for Kerri Paul, a mom and business owner from Gulfport.

Paul, who makes social media content about her family, travel and lifestyle under the handle @thekerripaul on Instagram and TikTok, says her entrepreneurial spirit and background in communications helped her become a social media content creator.

Paul turned to social media when she was laid off in 2018 from her job in higher education fundraising. As mom to three young kids, Paul decided a traditional nine to five was not going to work anymore. Her degrees in communications and public relations, experience as a model and her time on CBS’ reality TV show The Amazaing Race made the turn to social media a natural progression.

“I’m a pretty resourceful gal, and being on social media my whole life, I saw that my audience really resonated with me when I was sharing the things that I was involved with,” she said.

Around the same time, Paul embraced that entrepreneurial spirit she inherited from her parents in another way, opening Gulfport, Biloxi and Mobile franchise locations of a brunch restaurant called Brick and Spoon. She also joined the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce and has given presentations on how small businesses can use social media.

Her social media content features her business and family.

“My most viral content online is always the very organic, funny moments with my family, especially my children and my parents,” Paul said. “My kids are a carbon copy of me. They share my same mouth and quick wit.”

Paul says the videos give her an opportunity to teach her children about working and earning a living, as she rewards them for participating in her videos. She’s also gotten to take the kids on trips to places like Vietnam and the Nickelodeon Resort in Punta Cana because of brand deals with various companies.

“It would seem like [content creation] would be so much fun all the time, but it really is work, because you really want to portray someone’s products in a good light,” Paul said. “I’m only going to work with brands that I really like and products that I think are valuable and can bring value to me and my audience.”

Some of the brands Paul likes working with most are small businesses, especially Black- or women-owned businesses, including many South Mississippi businesses.

“It’s really important for me as a mom, to be able to go and take my children shopping and for them to see images of themselves, because we didn’t have that when I was growing up. So brands like that are very, very important to me,” Paul said. “I love being able to represent women of color on social media, because you don’t see as many of us.”

Growing up, she says she mainly saw people from places such as California or New York represented in popular media, but social media has given her and others the opportunity to highlight the South.

“You know, if you want to do social media, just get started,” she said. “Don’t think too hard; don’t doubt yourself. Social media has opened us up to having that platform to share our lives, and I think that that is what is so great about it, and it gives people the opportunity to share who they are.”

Alexa Harrison - @gathergulfcoast

Alexa Harrison started making videos on Instagram Reels to change outside perspectives of Mississippi. Her videos, posted under the handle @gathergulfcoast on Instagram, highlight different businesses, events and restaurants in South Mississippi.

“I feel like people who don’t live here, who aren’t from here, might have a jaded perception of what Mississippi is,” she said. “I really wanted to change that narrative.”

In 2023, Harrison was laid off from her remote Silicon Valley marketing job when the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. She realized that working remotely had isolated her from the community and she had made few friends during in the eight years since she came back to South Mississippi.

Harrison likes to call herself a boomerang. She was born in Ocean Springs, but lived in California and Massachusetts before she returned after meeting her husband at a wedding.

“I have a lot of friends and family in other parts of the country that were really confused when I chose to move from Boston to Mississippi,” she said. “It didn’t make any sense to them,” Harrison said. “Maybe at the time, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me either, but I grew to really love it here and understand how really special it is.”

After the loss of her job, her husband encouraged her to start a food blog inspired by their date nights. She started what eventually became Gather Gulf Coast in hopes of sharing some of her favorite restaurants with her friends in other cities and in the hopes of making new friends in South Mississippi while trying to figure out her next career move.

Harrison says things just picked up steam from there. Now, Gather Gulf Coast is not just an Instagram page, but a business devoted to promoting local businesses and connections.

Harrison also added a community events aspect to the business, hosting ticketed events at different locations for different businesses. She has since hired nine independent contractors to help with event planning and social media, and hosted 16 community events.

These days, Harrison says, many businesses reach out to her, hoping to be promoted by her business.

As far as her goals for her business’s future, Harrison said: “We’re all about collaboration over competition, so we want to continue to spread that message and collaborate with as many different media organizations, event planners and businesses as possible to just help make the Mississippi Gulf Coast a very fun and unique place to live and visit.”