236: Blowing Up on TikTok and Getting Creative with Keenya Kelly

Hi, I'm Natalie Jill, fat loss expert turned lifestyle and high performance coach. Welcome to Listen up the podcast. On this podcast, I do what I do best. Taking complicated information that is relevant to us now and breaking it down simply with actionable steps you can implement to level up your life. I also regularly interview some of the most inspiring and courageous men and women on the planet who at their worst, learned how to achieve success greater than anything they ever, ever dreamed possible. Creating everything from nothing. If you are new here, I encourage you to go back and listen from episode one, when this podcast was previously called Leveling up for the Full Transformative Experience. Today on Listen up, meet my friend, Kenya Kelly. Now, Kenya was an accomplished business executive, teacher, inspirational speaker, all the things before what we're about to share today. But during the pandemic, Kenya decided to learn about TikTok. You know, that small platform that seems to be everywhere now. She figured out a way to market her business on it. And in just 11 short months, Kenya has grown her account over 400,000 followers and has helped clients reach over 500,000 in six short months. I am one of Kenya's clients and friends now. I just love her and I built my TikTok from nothing with her help. So lucky to have her today on Listen up, sharing all of her tips, her tactics, her journey, why she got on, and all the things you need to know about TikTok for you. Today I am talking with my new and dear friend, Kenya Kelly. We are new friends and I just love her. I don't know how I made it through 49 years of my life without you, Kenya. It's. It's just the truth because now we're texting almost every day together. Yeah, just such an enjoyable person. And I. And I have so many questions for you and I thought, let me get you on the podcast and share with my audience, because Kenya is the TikTok queen. I had no part of TikTok until I met Kenya. But what I wanted to share with you all today is not just about TikTok, although we're going to get into that, but just who she is and how she even got into this niche, like how that even happened. So thanks so much for being here today, Kenya, and chatting with me.

I'm excited.

So, Kenya, take us back, because two years ago, you weren't even doing TikTok. That wasn't a thing.

Nope.

Who were you then and how did you get into what you were doing? Let's start with that.

So two years ago, I was focusing on my Brand design agency called if youf Brand It. We were doing, like, consulting web design, logos and things of that nature. And two years ago, Shalene Johnson actually was talking about TikTok, and her and Brock kept doing the baby shark challenge. I could not figure out what was going on. And I downloaded the app, but it was just too much happening on the. On the buttons, and I just didn't do anything. But then, like, I kept building my business over the last couple of years, and it's been going great, but there was aspects of, like, really not sure if I want to keep doing this. And it wasn't until the pandemic. You know, at the beginning of the pandemic, I was dealing with so much fear of dying and all this stuff. And I have this really happy, joyful personality. And on a daily basis, I'm always talking to God, like, God, help me with whatever. Help me with strategies. And I literally heard him tell me to get onto TikTok, which I thought was the craziest thing, because what does God know about TikTok? But because I had had strategies from him previously, I said, well, let me just try this. And so I initially just got on just to have fun and be entertained, but I ended up becoming an entertainment.

Okay, let me back up because I've got a few questions here. So when you say God told me to get on TikTok, like, what does that mean to people that don't get that messaging? Because I know. I know you now, and I know that you definitely get messages, and you're brilliant at writing us notes and letting us feel heard about what's coming through you. But, like, what does that mean to somebody? Like, you just wake up today with the idea in your head and you're like, wow, thank you, God, for telling me this. Or how does that come to you?

Yeah, so sometimes I'll have a dream at night and I'll see very specific things. But in this, I was awake early in the mornings when I feed my cats, I journal. I dump out all of my feelings, positive and negative. And then I usually will just talk to the air as if he's sitting right there in the room with me. And I don't remember exactly, but I knew I was like, I need a creative strategy because the pandemic had hit and all that. And it's like I have this. Like, this knowing. And the way that I know that it's him and it's not me is when it's something that there's no way I could have thought up. And so TikTok was not on my radar whatsoever. And so to hear that was like, what? That's insane. But that's like, that's how I know. Especially when God's like, I need you to apologize to that person. That ain't me.

You're like, I don't want to apologize, people.

What's going on?

Exactly. So when I hear apologize, I'm like.

So what was it about the brain? Because you had a business that you were doing with clients, Was it being affected in the pandemic? Was that like, what do you think that was what was opening the door that I needed to shift or add something else? Like, what was going on there?

So I knew that people were losing their jobs and I knew that there was a potential that people that were hiring us for one on one for design work may not have hired us if they weren't making a significant amount of money. But also, I was already stressed about the business because you're dealing with clients, I love them, but like, you're dealing with time frames and all this and revisions. It was just enough. And then when the pandemic hit and all the race wars and all that, it was just like, it all just kind of came to a head and I was like, what am I doing? What is happening here? And I realized that I was actually not happy continuing on in that frame of. And that, that scope of business.

You know what's so interesting? I think a lot of people in 2020 had that conversation with themselves, like, okay, what I'm doing isn't working. I got to shift it. Especially people with brick and Mor disorder. But. But many people went a different direction. They went into like, just this scarcity and it's not working. And it made them depressed and anxious and they are still in that spot. What do you think was the difference that made you listen to that and take action in a different direction?

I think initially is because I've read a lot, a lot, a lot of books. Like Starting at like 21 years old, I read all these business books. And so when I think about quitting, there's always this knowing that, well, look at Michael Jordan, look at Steph Curry, and look at all these people, Oprah, that made it through tough times. So I had that, the books that's on the inside of me. But I also have people that I look at today and I'm like, these people are only successful because they kept going. And so there's this. There's like, there's just something in me that says. I said, I wanted to do this, I'm going to have to do this. Even if I'm doing a military chess brawl one second at a time, I've got to just keep going. And that, that's kind of what I do. I'm not always going 100 miles an hour. Sometimes I'm barely walking.

So good. So good. So, TikTok, when you're hearing this message and you're like, I'm going to try this, I'm going to do it. I've heard of it. What was your first reaction? Because I'll tell you, I had downloaded it like a year ago and I put a couple of things on there. I had no idea what I was doing. And I just went into this, it's for kids. This is dumb. It's a waste of my time. And I thought, okay, delete the app. Delete the app. It's. You're not supposed to be on here. Like, what was all that? And do you have any insight around those things? And is it really just for young people?

I felt all of those things. You know, all the things. I was like, well, are they really spying on us? And I was like, well, doesn't Amazon and Facebook and all them already spying on us? I was like, okay, check.

You know, aren't they all spying on us?

We go to Amazon for a vacuum and then it shows up on Facebook. So, you know, it's all the same thing or whatever. But I dealt with that about like, President Trump was going to ban TikTok and all those things. I did see a lot of teenagers on there dancing, doing all the things. And so initially I was like, well, I'm just going to come here and be entertained because I don't want to be filled with fear because of COVID 19. And so that was my thing. And when they talked about banning the app, I was like, okay, if it gets banned, then it just gets banned. Business wise. It didn't make sense until I saw marketers doing stuff on the app. But I was just, I was just trying to have fun.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I want to the spy thing first because I think that that's a thing that comes up. What I want everyone to know is if you have a phone, if you have an iPhone, you there. That's what retargeting comes from. That's what all of it. So I just made peace with that. Like, I actually like retargeting ads. I'm like, thank you. I forgot I needed that.

You just reminded me.

Thank you.

So, okay, so I. We've Got no fear around that part. The younger thing, I had this whole idea that it's just for young people too. But like you said, there's a lot of people on there that are not the young people and they're crushing it on there. They're growing, they're thriving. I see doctors, I see lawyers, I see all kinds of people on there really doing well, building an audience and monetizing there for sure.

I think that what happens with a lot of people is their impression of TikTok is what they've seen on Facebook, like someone has shared a funny video and has gone viral or they see TikTok on their daughters or grandkids phones. And we have to understand that the way TikTok works is based upon each person's phone. So if you're 15 years old and you're engaging with certain pieces of content, then TikTok is going to show you that 15 year old content that you want to see. If you're 45 and you're into the stock market and everything you engage with is about stocks and finances and that's all you're going to see on your phone. And so it's important to not base TikTok off of the little things you've seen on your kid's app or whatever or what you've seen on Facebook, but to really dig in there because all of us are there. I think It's. At least 40% of people are over the age of 25 on TikTok.

And so, you know, that's because I.

Used to grab my daughter's phone when she, she doesn't have it now. I, we took it from her for different reasons. But, but when I would take her phone, that's. You're right, that makes sense. That's why I would see 13 year olds, because that's what she was following. So I thought, I just assumed it was for young. So when you jumped on there and you did start figuring it out, what do you think you realized about it quickly? Like what made it thrive and what made you become like an advocate for telling others they need to be on it?

I think that when I started having success, when I started watching people engaging with my business content, people were asking business questions. When I got the live feature and could start teaching live stream and I watched my email list started to grow. I watched people book one on one calls with me and influencers were like, help me with my rates, I'll pay you. I was like, wait a minute, this is a whole another world. And when I When my business content started to go viral, I was like, wait a minute, this is going viral because people want to know this stuff. If this was all about dance kids, then my videos would have low views. But my. This content is picking up because something is happening here. And I just said to myself, oh, I'm going all in and I'm doubling down.

You know what I notice about TikTok and tell me if this is truth or just what I think I'm noticing. Um. Cause I've been on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, all those things for numbers of years. And I watch with like Instagram and Facebook reach declines. So reach the clients over time. And it's very hard for people to break into it. So, meaning, like, you're new, you have a new business idea and you want to start your Instagram. It seems to feel harder, like to break in and get yourself noticed. What I see on TikTok is it's like everyone has a fair chance. Like there's. It's a, an abundance mindset there. Almost like everybody could go viral. Everybody could get a lot of views. I don't know how they do that with their algorithms, but it seems like people that had nothing before just can explode on there pretty quickly with great content.

Yeah, absolutely. And even if your content isn't like the greatest, but it makes people watch it to the end and it causes them to want to share. Literally levels the social media playing field. Like, I absolutely love. You'll watch someone who is polished and they've got it all together do well. And then you'll watch someone who has no idea what they're doing do well. Like, there's a guy called Old Man Steve. Old man Steve is 82 years old and he barely moves in his videos. And he has 1.4 million followers.

Wow.

Because people like his content and people like my content and your content. So, like, it literally is a level playing field for sure.

So at the time of this recording, I want everyone to know, when I met Kenya, I had 3, 300.

What was it?

3, 23, 43, 42. 3. I had 342 followers on my sad TikTok. And I had a couple videos there. One I just happened to get lucky with. Cause I had Brooks in it and it was funny. Um, and I was like, my, my TikTok's hurting. And she said, we can turn it around. I listened to everything she had to say. I followed her method. And at the time of this recording, I'm at 24,000 followers. And it's been. How many weeks have I been doing this, Kenya? Three weeks. And this is not for me saying on Instagram, go follow my TikTok. It doesn't work like that. This was literally me. In fact, it's the opposite. I'm creating on TikTok and putting this stuff on Instagram after.

Yeah.

So I had to like, see this first and I'm like, okay, this is crazy that I just did that this quick. Like, no one on TikTok knew who I was and I just started putting it there and it just, it took off like quickly. So what do you want to tell the person that's listening that's like, I just, I don't know. Social media is hard. What do you want to say to them? But they have a business they're trying to grow.

Yeah. So the number one thing that we need as business owners is visibility. We need people to see us and know that we're out there. And you've got platforms like Facebook and Instagram you can post on for sure. But TikTok is something that majority of the world still has not grasped, especially the business community. But you get an opportunity to put your message in front of millions of people in a way that you've never experienced before. So with TikTok, there are two pages. One, the people that you follow. So if someone follows you or if you're following them, then you see their content. But then there's the for you page. And the for you page means that TikTok is pushing out content to you based off of what they think you would like. So you can create a piece of content that talks about yoga or business coaching or hair products. And it's going to push out your video to people that will be interested. Facebook's not doing that unless you're running an ad. And right now you have this huge opportunity to be seen in a way through short form video that is nothing like we've ever experienced. Like, I went from I think it was 5,000 followers on Instagram to over 15,000.

Wow.

Started pushing people from TikTok to Instagram.

That's incredible. That's incredible. What, what would you tell? I'm going to get a little sidetracked with questions, but I'm just thinking, what are my listeners going to want to know? So what would you want parents to know about their kids on TikTok? What do they need to know?

Yeah. So I would say I would monitor my kids on TikTok because you've got interesting people, you've got awesome people, and you've got interesting people. I use that interesting word loosely. But you've got that on all social platforms. And so I would encourage you to. I don't know if they have child like things on there, but I would be monitoring my kids phone. You know, I would be looking at inside their DMs, I will be looking at their videos, seeing what people are commenting on because you've got questionable characters that will pose as a young person or whatever and actually an older guy or whatever. So just like with any social media, I would 100% monitor every single day.

So as a mom and Kenya, you know this. And I actually did an episode on my podcast earlier this year about taking it from my daughter because she's 13 years old. And I used to look at it as, oh, she's just fun, creative, creating this creative videos. And then I started looking at what was happening there and I we deleted it from her phone because I did see how it could get sideways quick for kids if we're not monitoring it. And what I saw is she was one of the things on TikTok is people will copy trends. So she was making videos from older kids that were not, not mom approved. So I would see them and I thought, whoa, what's going on here? So I personally decided to take that from her. Although I did like the creative aspect of it of being One thing about TikTok that I think is fun, especially for entrepreneurs and is it really is a creative break. Like to me, Kenya, when you send me like you should dry this or we're sending back and forth what we're doing, it makes me laugh and it's creative and it's getting me thinking outside of my box. So I like that creative aspect of.

Really does give you a break. It reminds me of Jerra B. She was talking about how during the pandemic she was like, she was so busy with work and all this stuff and she wanted to figure out what was a creative outlet for her that had nothing to do with work. And so she started roller skating and now she's been showing us these cute little videos on roller skating. And it made me go, what is something I can do that has nothing to do with work that actually brings me joy or whatever? And it's like TikTok gives you that. It's like a whole different community type outlet. It's like a creative expression like you're saying, but it's a break.

Yeah. To me it doesn't feel like work. One of the kips, one of the tips Kenya had given Me was to post like four times a day there. And I thought four times a day.

I.

But I actually look forward to it now because it is fun. And they take me no more than five minutes. Like, I just scroll, I see something funny, I make something funny. It's totally a creative break for me. And it's. I find it easier to create that way too.

Yeah.

And especially like, if you're growing on Instagram and you're looking for creative strategies for your Instagram reels. Well, the number one place to get that is on TikTok. But it's like, why not create on TikTok, use a good strategy, go viral there and take that content and post it on Instagram and go viral there too. It's like it's the best of both worlds.

I learned that the hard way. I have some friends on Instagram and I was like, dang, they are so creative. How are they coming up with these things on reels? This is so amazing. And then when I started working with Kenya, I'm like, okay, they got these ideas from TikTok. I got it. This wasn't so creative. They got the idea there. But it is, it's really brilliant. What do you want people to know about monetizing TikTok? Because that's the other thing that comes up is, well, how the heck do you monetize if I'm just making fun, creative videos?

Yeah, for sure.

So one of the things to understand is that you're creating content already on Instagram, Instagram stories and Facebook. TikTok is where you're taking a bite sized piece of it, 15 seconds and you're turning it into whatever piece of content. You don't have to be funny, you don't have to dance or whatever. It can literally be you teaching relationship tips or what have you. But you already have a business and so your job is to then drive people to where you want them to go. So oftentimes I will teach on branding or consulting or something like that. And in my video you'll see on the screen where it says follow me on Instagram. And that's me driving people to my Instagram page.

Why?

Because an ad eventually is going to catch them. That's going to get them onto my email list. Also you'll see in a lot of my videos me driving people to free tools in my bio or when I'm on live stream doing the exact same thing. So you don't have to figure out a new way to make money on TikTok. I tell people that to TikTok is the marketing tool. You already have the business, you already have the products. Now it's about bringing your business and your product in front of millions of people and then pushing the message the same way you would do on Facebook and Instagram, but more creatively.

What would you tell somebody that maybe doesn't have a business online? They don't want to monetize, but they're just like, I need a. I keep hearing about social media platforms. Why would you tell them TikTok might be the place for them to jump in and scroll?

Because, first of all, it's a lot of fun. You can spend a lot of time there really, really enjoying yourself. Like one day I spent two hours watching dog videos. I was dying during the pandemic, but I needed that comedic relief, you know, and it's a platform where it's like, it's not a lot of fighting. Like there's some politics on TikTok, but not the way that it is on Facebook. Like, that is just an animal right now.

Yeah.

And so it's a nice place to just relax, to learn, grow. And then when I think about what happened to me, like I was in so many boxes that I didn't even know I was in boxes until I got on TikTok and I started dancing or being funny or being more creative and I started posting these videos out on social, the other socials and my friends were like, oh my God, look at you. And I rewatched my own videos. I was like, oh, I've been in some kind of box. And it just literally just broke me out in a way that I didn't even know that I was in.

Oh my gosh. I had that same experience because I think of like, I think it brings us back to us. Like it brings out a playful, childlike version of us. That's what I find. I one thing that I've picked up on because I know YouTube is like the go to place for people to learn, but in the world of fast pace and slower attention spans, I don't know how many people watch 5, 10, 15, 20 minute videos anymore. And what I like about TikTok is there are 15 seconds to a minute. So you can get a recipe or you can get a workout, you can get an idea in literally like less than a minute.

Sure.

That's what I notice. One of the things that I've been creating on TikTok is quick workouts. Again, because I'm like, that's what people want. They want, like, what's a Quick workout I can get from you, and I show it in, like, 15 seconds. And, like, got it. And now I can go do it. I think that's super cool. With it. Now, did you pivot out of your current. Your other business? Like, are you still doing that? And has TikTok helped with that?

For sure.

So we actually did pivot out at the end of the year. I took three weeks off, and I was just like, okay, let's just, what is going on? What's working? What do I want to do? And I said, I don't want to do design anymore. Not for now, because it's just. It's just too much going on there. And I said, well, what is actually working? And it's like, people want to learn how to use TikTok for their businesses, how to be more confident on video. And so during that three weeks off, I just started kind of plotting out how I could help more people to use TikTok and video marketing. And once I. It's weird, but once I put down the agency, like, the amount of inquiries and calls we've gotten in, like, clients has just, like, tripled because I finally stopped doing what wasn't bringing me joy, and I started doing what really makes me happy. And now I'm just. Every day, I get so excited about coming into the office because I'm creating video content and helping people do the exact same thing.

Oh, so good. So good. Kenya, did you ever think 10 years ago you would be the TikTok expert? Like, did that ever. Did you ever think that would be a thing?

No.

I mean, I don't even think I like seeing myself on video, let alone hear myself. So.

No.

Oh, my God. Or dancing on video. Did you think you'd be dancing and shaking yourself on video? Like, it's so fun?

No, not at all. No.

Your content lights me up. Everyone has. If you. Everyone better download TikTok after this and make sure you're following Kenya there because she's a hoot. One and two. She gives such valuable knowledge there. Such valuable knowledge. Um, Kian, this is my. So I've had my podcast leveling up for quite some time. I have over 220 episodes. But I'm changing the name of my podcast. Uh, you might not have even known that. To Listen up. To Listen up versus leveling up, because it was always so story based. And I want to be able to teach more skills in addition to the stories that we share. So since you are my first new episode of Listen Up. If I complete this sentence, if you're going to tell people, Listen up. What do you want them to know?

Listen up, listen up.

You need to be on TikTok. You need to invest in learning this as a strategy for your business or just for your creative life.

Oh, so good. If you're going to give, could you also give just a few, like, rapid fire? I want everyone to get your program if they want to really dive in. But can you give a few, like, rapid fire? Like, make sure you do this and you don't do this if they're going to get started for sure.

So the number one thing you want to do when you get onto the app is you want to start binge watching content, but not just what's coming up on your screen, but you want to click on what we call the discover page, which is the magnifying glass at the bottom of your screen. You click on that and then in the upper at the top of the page, type in whatever it is you want to search, whether it's dogs or it's fitness or it's makeup, and start binge watching how people just like you, how they're creating content and how they're converting their followers into actual dollars. What that's going to do, that's going to help you see what you could be doing. Okay, the second thing I would tell you to do is start actually creating videos now. Don't post them, but just start creating them so you can get familiar with adding a sound or adding tags and things of that nature. That's going to make you a lot more comfortable. And then the last thing that I would say is, like, make a list of the top 10 things that you could post about on TikTok. Meaning that, like, for me, I post about funny stuff, divorce, you know, inspiration, my relationship with God, business, branding and all that. So when I am creating pieces of content, even from funny trends that I'm seeing, I'm flipping those trends to match those 10 things that are about me. So that people, when they come to my page, they know exactly what to expect. And that's gonna help you with when you're creating content.

Okay, that's awesome. Helpful tips. I do have two more questions about it. People don't understand what hashtags are, should they use them? What do they need to know about them? Should they not use them? Should they not worry about them? Can you tell us a little bit about hashtags?

Yeah.

So your videos can have success even if you don't use hashtags. But one of the things about hashtags on TikTok. One of the don'ts is a lot of times people will use the most popular hashtags like fyp, which stands for for you page. And what happens with a hashtag is that when you use it, it's going to push your content to anybody that has interacted with a particular hashtag. For example, if I use the hashtag social mediamarketing, then I am saying that I want this video to be targeted to anyone that has used the hashtag social media marketing or that has interacted with a piece of content. But also because I use that hashtag now, TikTok is going to send me content from anyone that has used the hashtag. And so when you're trying to create content for people in New Orleans or that are in fashion, then you can use the hashtag to target those people. But just know that you're gonna start getting all that in your feed, which is not necessarily a bad thing. So you gotta be careful when you're using hashtags.

Okay, got that? Got it. Now, what about music? Should everybody use music? Does it matter?

Yeah. So I think that music is absolutely everything on the app because one of the ways that your video gets picked up even more is through trends, including trending sounds. So, so if you've got this song that has come out and then everybody is using it, you can have your piece of content and add that sound to your video, but turn the sound all the way down. But because that sound is attached to your video, whether they can hear it or not, then it's gonna cause that video to be pushed out even the more because you're using trends now, people love to hear the sound, so if you wanna play it, you can. And that's how people go, oh, so this video has that sound. I wonder if she or he is going to do that particular trend.

Got it. Okay, that's. This is awesome, awesome, awesome information. I know that people listening want to work with you now. They're like, where do I get more? So can you help us with. First of all, follow her on TikTok and on Instagram for sure. Kenya Kelly. And if you don't know how to find that, like, if you go to my pages on either and look who I'm following, you can find her easily through that. Kenya. Kenya, tell us about your different programs. Like how can people get started with you?

For sure.

So first we have a basic TikTok program. If you're like, I just want to learn the basics, we have a mini course and all of this is on our website on Kia Kelly.com, but we also have an advanced TikTok course where we walk people through, like all the strategy, whether it's identifying your brand, clarity and all that. And then walking you through TikTok and helping you get to your first 10,000 followers, which also comes with a private group and live Q and A. And then we take a few VIP clients a month with where we walk with them every single day, Monday through Friday. And we only do a few, but we have that kind of program too.

And if they're interested in that, should they just DM you through your website or what do they do for that?

Okay, yeah, just send me a DM on Instagram.

Amazing.

All right. I hope everyone found this super helpful. If you did find it super helpful, please definitely share this so others can learn from it as well. Tag me and Kenya, especially if you put it on stories. We totally appreciate it. That way we can interact with you as well. Thank you so much Kenya for being here today. So helpful.

Thank you Natalie so much.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to listen in as my guest today. If you found this episode valuable, please share it with friends and on social media. I don't advertise this show so I rely on word of mouth and reviews to get it out in the world. The biggest thank you that you can give me is leaving me a review and a nice one. I hope. By the way, this is is how others find these episodes. If you do leave me a review, be sure to Message me@supportataliejofitness.com with a screenshot of your review because I would love to send you a free digital download of my DSR journal as a thank you. And please don't forget to connect with me on social media at Natalie Jill Fit on Instagram and Facebook.

Sam.