In the modern world, becoming a social media influencer is a common career choice. But it’s not as simple as it seems. You need to produce interesting written posts, videos, and graphics if you want to draw in readers. That’s exactly what Nigerian-American content producer Drea Okeke has done, earning her over 6.2 million TikTok followers. She graduated from USC with a master’s in entrepreneurship and a bachelor’s degree in engineering. Drea has carved out a place for herself on social media, where she mentors people in TikTok mastery to help them become content creators. I had the opportunity of asking her about her beginnings.

“I was working as an engineer for two years and while I was doing that, I started creating content for fun. But at the same time, it was more of a passion for me. I was getting a lot of feedback from the videos I was posting. A lot of videos I was posting were centered around my Nigerian culture. I was cool being an engineer but, I saw I had more influence on people through posting content on social media,” said Drea. Drea began to make some money as she kept up her social media postings. She persevered in producing material even though it wasn’t enough to quit her 9–5 work at first, and eventually she was able to give up her full-time engineering career and devote herself full-time to her passion.

“I took a leap of faith and quit my full-time job to become a content creator full-time. When I quit my job as you said I was grinding being consistent, collaborating with other content creators, and just trying to get more visibility. I was posting every day to stay involved with my community so when my videos started going viral, I didn’t chill I just kept pumping it more,” said Drea.

Drea has over ten years of experience creating material and has demonstrated to the world that she possesses this via tenacity and ups and downs.

“When you’re passionate about what you’re doing it will make you want to show up and continue doing what you want regardless if you’re getting reviews whether people are watching or not. Part of my passion is to use my talent to impact the world and myself and thankfully with social media, I’ve been able to do that on a global scale. Even before I was able to touch the world globally, I was thankful to touch at least one person’s life, it was those little impacts that kept me going,” said Drea. Drea is highly renowned for her hilarious sketches that will have you laughing at her portrayal of Nigerian culture. I can identify with what she says since I watch Nollywood movies religiously, and I adore African culture and its dramatic ways. We chuckled as we discussed the extremes of African culture and how much I appreciate their self-expression.

“Most of my videos are about my Nigerian culture. When you stay true to yourself and show the world who you are it resonates with other people. African people are so dramatic even in our movies we use a lot of sound effects. We’re very loud people. Sometimes I’m loud and people will call me out about it. It’s just natural. I have a character online called Mama D who is very big on roasting people which my audience loves. So, I have created a card game with the sucking of the teeth and the word “Nonsense” which is very popular in the Nigerian culture that people really love,” said Drea.

Drea has started her own TikTok master class, in this class she helps people build a 6- figure brand by using TikTok’s Algorithm. She teaches you how to apply the right strategy creatively and consistently to your audience. And the system she developed has made her successful for over a decade.

“In my master class once I figure out what your brand is I help you understand what your message is. I help you clarify your message; I help to create videos that will make people stop strolling and watch your content. I teach you how to create content that is engaging, and I teach people how to negotiate and sell their products or to work with other brands to sell their products and make money.”

Drea is committed to supporting people of color who want to work as content creators. She thinks that information is the key to creating successful material. Drea is keen to share her knowledge with others and has a plethora of expertise in this area. You may check out Drea’s website at dreaknowsbest.com to find out more about her and her work.

Photography Credit: Jonny Marlow.