TikTok creator Taryn only launched her Spreadshop a month ago, but is already getting amazing feedback and engagement from her followers. After all, they were the ones that convinced her to design merch in the first place!
Taryn, better known as Tiktoktare, specializes in making fun fashion content with sleek transitions. She gives fellow creators tips on how to make similar looking content and grow their channels. She has a story not unlike many content creators today: leaving an established career to pursue a lifelong passion. Learn more about Taryn’s journey to becoming a creator and how merch creates a connection with her audience.
What inspired you to become a full-time content creator?
I’ve always been an artsy soul. Come undergrad, I ended up talking myself out of the creative field to pursue a more stable career with the Department of Justice (DOJ), instead. I spent the past decade on that path up until the last year or so, which was pretty life changing for me. Without going into too much detail, I survived a shooting where I witnessed 2 people very dear to me get shot to death and saw my other friends get severely wounded. Since then, I’ve lost a lot of close friends, my job became unbearable, and PTSD is now something I battle everyday.
With that said, thankfully I had the support of my family and TikTok become even more of an outlet for me. Although I’d only been on TikTok since 2020, it was incredibly therapeutic to create, connect with, and inspire others through my journey. It reignited my childhood love for acting, film, and photography and was the exact creative space I had envisioned for myself growing up. I felt like I had given my best to my career in law enforcement and just couldn’t bear anymore after the trauma I endured. Ultimately, I decided to take a leap of faith in choosing myself, pursuing something that has always set my soul on fire, and become a full-time content creator.
If there was one piece of advice you could give to other creators, what would it be?
My biggest piece of advice to other creators is to remember WHY you started when you feel like giving up. Regardless of all the struggles we encounter as creators, whether it’s getting caught up in the numbers, feeling discouraged seeing others succeed, spending hours on a video for it not to perform, or receiving hate comments, I always come back to why I began in the first place.
I think the reason is the same for most of us: we love creating! We all found a safe space where we could be ourselves, have fun, and connect with others along the way. Had it not been for that, I would’ve given up a long time ago. Being a content creator can be exhausting, overwhelming, and downright discouraging. But if you’re willing to acknowledge and overcome those challenges and allow your love to outweigh all of that, then you’ll be successful no matter what.
What does fashion and dressing colorful and fun mean to you?
Growing up, I was the “quiet kid” – very introverted and shy – which made public speaking and articulating myself quite the challenge. However, I’ve always had a passion for fun fashion, colorful clothing, and anything saturated in sparkles simply because it makes my heart happy. You know how you always hear that fashion is another form of self-expression? Well, that’s exactly what it is for me, an outlet for my personality to shine through and connect with others in ways that my words rarely ever could. So much so that my colorful closet is now something I’m known for on social media.
How did you hear about Spreadshop?
Spreadshirt came highly recommended to me by the same friend who created my logo. It wasn’t until after that that I started seriously researching merchandise and came across Spreadshop, which was perfect since I’d already had a great experience with Spreadshirt. As much as I hoped to do merch myself so I could personalize the packaging, not having to worry about the inventory, printing, handling, and shipping was huge for me.
Spreadshop not only allowed me to use my custom design and create a customized shop for FREE, it removed the time, stress, and money that I would’ve encountered otherwise. Best of all, I’m able to provide a variety of high-quality products for my audience to choose from and still make money selling my designs.
What inspired your merch designs?
My merch design was inspired by “Queen T”, a nickname my audience created for me since I wear a tiara in some of my transition videos. I knew I wanted to incorporate the letter “T” and a tiara, so I created a rough draft of my idea and then passed it along to my fellow artist friend to refine and design my official logo. I jokingly suggested that it would be cool if she could incorporate my TikTok tiara used in my videos. Little did I know that she would later design an exact replica down to the sparkling gemstones. We almost stopped there, but I felt like it was still missing a splash of color. That’s exactly what we did with the background by incorporating some of my favorite magical colors.
How do you think merch helps content creators?
Merch is a great way for content creators to promote their brand and begin monetizing their platforms. But more importantly, it’s a great way for us to continue building a relationship with our followers. If my audience hadn’t repeatedly requested merch, I probably would’ve waited until I was a large creator to do so, but I’m so glad that I did because it has only made our TikTok family stronger. It’s been about a month since I launched my Spreadshop and they still tag me in their merch unboxings which is so exciting to see!
Do you have any merch designs in the works? Give us all the deets!
Without giving too much away on future designs, I do have a few ideas in the works that may or may not include elements of my well-known TikTok transitions. Possibly uneven some special limited-edition products for when we hit our 100K milestone. But for now, I’m really excited just to share my official logo and focus on incorporating more summer pieces and fun accessories. My audience has been incredible at providing feedback on what they’d like to see in the future, so my priority right now is them and releasing some new products each month with variations on my current logo.
Are you looking to make and sell your own merch like Taryn? There’s no better time than right now. Open a Spreadshop for FREE today!
I see your idea in this post.