Page 4 - MidWeek West - July 14, 2021

4 JULY 14, 2021
An ‘Ewa Beach Native Garners Quite A Following On TikTok
BY GINGER KELLER
the most random video — I definitely didn’t think any- thing like that would happen,” she adds with a laugh.
dia is a super powerful tool to get people interested in businesses, and I really want to see them successful post- COVID,” says Joys.
with social media, it’s very important to make sure you’re not exposing zones, so I’m not really encourag- ing people to go and try find these places.”
ʻEwa Beach-born Cassidy Joys woke up one morning to hundreds of thousands of fol- lowers on TikTok after post- ing a video of an all-too-fa- miliar green lizard.
“He literally came back to life on camera. I was giving him CPR on camera, and his little gecko hand grabbed my finger. It was really cute.”
On her personal page, meanwhile, Joys shares tid- bits of her Oʻahu life with more than 350,000 followers. So far, the University of Ha- waiʻi grad has accumulated 11.3 million likes, and posts videos of hikes, hair appoint- ments, nights out on the town and so much more.
At the end of the day, pas- sion is what drives Joys to create, and she encourages anybody with a similar senti- ment to join her.
“I had posted a funny vid- eo on my Instagram stories of a gecko that got stuck in one of the fridges at work, and he was frozen,” recalls Joys. “I took him and warmed him up in the sun and started giving him CPR, like pressing on his little chest, and everyone on my Instagram said ‘Oh, my God, this is so funny,’ and one of my friends messaged me and said ‘This would do really good on TikTok; you should try post it on that platform.’
After her account gained a massive audience, Joys re- ceived messages from strang- ers asking to purchase her page. Though it was tempting, the 22-year-old decided to stick with it and use her seren- dipitously found online stage for good.
‘Ewa Beach’s Cassidy Joys rose to TikTok stardom after posting a video of a gecko on her page. Since then, she’s used her platform to spotlight local businesses. PHOTO COURTESY CRAIG BIXEL
“I got kind of over- whelmed at first and felt pressured to constantly make videos and tried to make it too relatable or too crazy to try get views,” she says. “But I have since learned that peo- ple just like things that are natural and engaging, so I kind of just stopped trying so hard and I posted what I like to create.
“If you’re passionate about it, people will see that. What- ever you’re into, people will come alongside of you and want to be supportive, too. If you’re putting out good ener- gy, you’re going to get good energy back. People love to see what other people are in- terested in; you could find the most random hobby or pas- sion, and if you’re super ded- icated to it, then people will start to be like, ‘Oh, I want to know what that is.’”
“So, I just posted the video I made and, overnight, it went super viral, it got like 21 mil- lion views and I got 200,000 followers. It was just me giv- ingCPRtoagecko—itwas
“As I started to get a hang of what kind of content peo- ple like to see on TikTok and what goes viral by accident, I decided to focus my efforts on creating something that could be beneficial to supporting local brands in our commu- nity. I asked myself, ‘What does everyone love?’ And it’s food — everyone loves food.
I started gearing my content to make food TikToks and food content on Instagram to main- ly drive people to eat at local- ly owned restaurants and visit locally owned businesses.”
with her friends, visit local eateries — like Roy’s Ko ʻOlina, for example — and showcase their dining experi- ence, as well as their favorite bites to eat.
Thus, Hungry Hunnehs was born. Today, the TikTok account has 17,500 followers and 203,000 likes. Joys, along
“After COVID, I’m happy that a lot of the places I grew up eating at are still around and I found that social me-
“I like to share how beau- tiful the island is, but I know
Keep up with Joys on her Instagram (@cassidyjoys) or TikTok (@hungryhunnehs).
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