Kylie Larsen: TikTok Superstar

Our interview of Kylie Larsen for “The Creative Influencer” podcast is available today for download on iTunes, Spotify, and premier platforms everywhere. Kylie is a beauty content creator with 2.2 million followers on TikTok. She shares her body positivity message and insights on how she grew her channel.

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A transcript of the episode follows:

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Jon Pfeiffer:
I am joined today by Kylie Larsen. Welcome to the podcast.

Kylie Larsen:
Hello.

Jon Pfeiffer:
You are a beauty content creator, I believe is how you describe yourself.

Kylie Larsen:
Yes.

Jon Pfeiffer:
And you're on Instagram, where you have over 200,000 followers. And I learned from, in doing my research, your first post was, you were a junior in high school, and then...

Kylie Larsen:
Yep.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Probably don't even remember doing that one. And then there was a short video of you receiving your diploma, and that's... The fact that you have 200,000 followers is impressive, but what to me is far more impressive is your two and a half million, or excuse me, 2.2 million TikTok followers, and what's crazy about that is your first video was posted one week after the COVID lockdowns.

Kylie Larsen:
Mm. I think I was bored.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Well, and your first video was you sneaking into the bathroom and turning cold water on your boyfriend while he was in the shower.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah. Yeah, that's something I would do. I can't believe that's my first one.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yes, it's your first one. But then you quickly started into makeup. Can you tell me about just the moment you decided to start a TikTok channel, and then the direction you decided to go with it?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah. Well, I kind of knew I wanted to be an influencer because I had seen them on Instagram, and I tried to go on Instagram to grow my following on Instagram, but it was really hard, because I think at that point it was already oversaturated. There were so many people on there already, and the algorithm wasn't that... It wasn't as easy to go viral. So Gary Vee was talking about TikTok because it was new and it wasn't very saturated, and people were going viral very easily, and the algorithm was just set up that way. So I started posting for fun, and then I kind of studied the algorithm through watching YouTube videos to see how to go viral. And then I got into makeup, just because I think I posted me doing my makeup one day, like trying contour, and I went viral. So I was like, well, that's easy. I do my makeup all the time. Might as well post it.

Jon Pfeiffer:
And I want to come back to that, but because I don't wear makeup, I have to ask a makeup question.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Put strips along your cheek and then blend it together, is that the normal way? Is that how girls, women are taught to do it, or is that the way you do it?

Kylie Larsen:
No, a lot of women do it. It's been around for a long time. I don't know the history of it, but it has been around for a long time. I know there were phases where women didn't do it. I think in the early sixties and stuff, I think blush was more popular, and they kind of did that with blush, but contouring is a big thing now.

Jon Pfeiffer:
It's like performance art, to watch-

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah. And it's kind of satisfying too.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah. So do you have, talking about kind of decoding Instagram and TikTok, figuring out the algorithms, do you have certain days of the week that you post?

Kylie Larsen:
No, no. Maybe certain timing is good, just like when people are awake, I guess, to post 5:00 PM when people get off work, or 12:00 when they're on their lunch. But I mean, it doesn't really matter the time. And then day of the week, it's probably better to do it on the weekdays, but I think that you're... My best videos are when I upload them right after I do them, because it's just more natural, because you know you're going to upload it, so then you're like... I don't know, it just feels different for some reason than saving it and then posting it later.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Do you ever take videos down?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Why do you take videos down?

Kylie Larsen:
Sometimes, I overshare. And I'm like, oh, wait. Maybe you don't want people to know.

Jon Pfeiffer:
That's an honest answer. One of my other clients has a podcast with another influencer, and the other influencer disclosed that she wanted to lose her virginity, and she had scheduled. She went on YouTube to find out how to do it, and her dad listened to the episode before it happened.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah. See, things like that.

Jon Pfeiffer:
A little bit of oversharing.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
So you also feature your boyfriend a lot in the videos?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
How is he with that?

Kylie Larsen:
At first, he didn't like being on camera, until I started making money, and then he was like, "Oh, I guess it's beneficial."

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah.

Kylie Larsen:
And he's more willing to be on camera.

Jon Pfeiffer:
And then your family's also on camera every once in a while?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Oh, okay.

Kylie Larsen:
My mom's fine with it, but my younger siblings that are Gen Z teenagers, the people that are watching the videos mostly on TikTok, they don't want to be on there.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah. So what are your goals for the channel in 2023?

Kylie Larsen:
I actually haven't made any goals, except for I just want to be more consistent. I have spurts of being consistent, and then I get burnt out. And it's also a creativity thing, where sometimes you just have more inspiration and you're more excited about things. But I just want to be more consistent. I think I used to want to grow more and stuff, but I mean, what makes you grow is to be consistent. So I think that's just my goal.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah. So tell me about the creative process. How do you decide what routine you're going to do, or what makeup to use? Or is it just what you're going to do for that day, or is it you sit down, have a editorial calendar, and think through the different topics?

Kylie Larsen:
I usually write down my ideas in a note on my phone, and then I'll go through and decide what I'm going to do. I used to be better about that. Lately, I've kind of just went off of what I want to do that day, or I'll look back and see what did well before and do that again. Doing a full face of products that I hate did really well, because I think that sometimes on TikTok, especially that I've noticed, there's a lot of newer makeup creators, so they're a little bit scared to say what they don't like because they don't want brands to be mad at them. So I think those videos do really well, because people want honesty and they want to know what not to spend their money on, because I mean, beauty products are expensive. But that's how I go about it.

Jon Pfeiffer:
And you devote a fair amount of time to talking about body positivity.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
You know, because Instagram is essentially the beautiful people's... Well, people would like you to believe it's the beautiful people's platform, but you've pushed back on that. Can you talk about that?

Kylie Larsen:
Um...

Jon Pfeiffer:
I mean, I'll get you started. I found two in particular.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
There's a TikTok where you pointed out stretch marks.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
And then there was, my favorite was when they say girls over 150 can't wear crop tops.

Kylie Larsen:
Oh yeah, that was funny. That was an old, old one. Yeah, I've done a lot of that. I've always struggled with my weight, and I know a lot of people can relate to that. So I think it helps people when they know that they're not alone in that. And I mean, I try to be body positive. It's hard, but I mean, I just try to talk about it more to help people feel like they're okay.

Jon Pfeiffer:
How have you been able to keep centered on that?

Kylie Larsen:
I feel like I'm not a hundred percent there, but I think that it's better to find your worth in something else. I mean, women are smart and creative. I mean, there are so many other things that can be great about you besides your body, you know?

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah.

Kylie Larsen:
It's hard in this society though. But yeah, I think if you just put your focus elsewhere.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Well, I teach a class at Pepperdine, and I tell my students, and it's directed to the men, "Look for a smart woman."

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Everybody ages and their beauty will fade, but the smart will stay there.

Kylie Larsen:
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Beauty does fade. Stay with personality.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah, smarts and personality.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah. Smart, good personality.

Jon Pfeiffer:
So I want to talk about comments. On a scale of one to 10, one being you couldn't care less what anybody says, and 10 being the comments really get to you, where are you on that scale?

Kylie Larsen:
I think it changes. It changes a lot. At first, I didn't care, because I was going viral and that's what I wanted. I wanted to this to be my career, and that's how it was going to be my career. I think now that it's my career, I care a little bit more, because I feel like, oh, I need people to like me so that I can get more brand deals, and it helps my income and it makes me grow. But I would say, right now, how much do I care? I feel like I'm super sensitive right now, actually. You said 10 would be caring the most?

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah.

Kylie Larsen:
Or the least? Maybe like an eight.

Jon Pfeiffer:
How do you deal with that?

Kylie Larsen:
It also depends on how many comments. If posts go viral and there's like 5,000 mean comments, I mean, yeah, that's going to hurt a little.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Odds are, if it went viral, there's not going to be 5,000 mean comments. Do you read all the comments?

Kylie Larsen:
No.

Jon Pfeiffer:
How do you decide if... Well, do you respond to the comments?

Kylie Larsen:
Sometimes. I rarely, rarely respond to the mean ones, but I respond to nice comments here and there.

Jon Pfeiffer:
So you had said that your siblings didn't really want to be on camera?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
How do they feel about you being out there, that their older sister is an influencer?

Kylie Larsen:
I don't know. I haven't really asked. Their friends follow me, I guess, but I don't know how they feel otherwise. I don't really know.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Does your mom understand it? I mean, a lot of my clients, I'll talk to their moms and they're like, "I don't get it."

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah, I think she understands it. Not to the level I do, of course, but she does. She's... Yeah, understands it pretty good.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Okay. I'm going to shift gears on you, talk about your creative process again. What's your biggest challenge when you're creating content?

Kylie Larsen:
I think the pressure. There's a lot of pressure, like in the automatic either reward or not reward, especially with my account, because I have videos that go viral and some don't, whereas some other creators, their views are kind of all the same. So I think I anticipate the reward, and my brain gets down when I don't go viral.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Are you able to predict when a video's going to go viral? Do you upload it and say, "You know, I killed that one"?

Kylie Larsen:
I think it depends. It depends. So there are certain videos that I know I can do where I know I'm going to go viral, but then there's some videos I do where I'm like, this might, it might not.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Where do you get your ideas?

Kylie Larsen:
Sometimes I will see other people's posts on TikTok and I will get ideas from them, or just on my downtime when I'm not on my phone or watching TV. A lot of times in the shower, because then you're not on your phone or TV, you have no noise. So I think of new ideas then.

Jon Pfeiffer:
What's your favorite video?

Kylie Larsen:
To watch, or of my own?

Jon Pfeiffer:
Of your own.

Kylie Larsen:
Of my own? I don't know. That's hard. Maybe my scale video, where I threw away the scale. I mean, I liked that one. Just any kind of video where I'm super vulnerable. Or yeah, the video I did about binge eating, or things like that.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Do you shoot for a certain length? When you start out, do you want them to end up being a certain length?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah, sometimes I go overboard though, because I talk a lot.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Okay. So say, let's take a... You're going to do a five-minute video.

Kylie Larsen:
Ooh, yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
How long does it take you to do that five-minute video?

Kylie Larsen:
Well, I usually don't do five-minute videos. I do like a minute and a half. I do a minute to three minute videos.

Jon Pfeiffer:
So a minute to three minutes, how long does it take to do that?

Kylie Larsen:
On the average, I would say two hours if I'm doing a makeup video, but sometimes it takes longer, because I've done some crazy looks. So sometimes it's taken like, I think maybe the longest was seven hours.

Jon Pfeiffer:
On a seven-hour video, how many cuts are involved?

Kylie Larsen:
Well, sometimes it's a lot of behind the scenes that's taking so long. But for the cuts, I would say, I mean, a lot. I don't know how many, but a lot.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Do you do your own editing?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Shifting gears again, how do you consume media? I mean, is it TV? Is it YouTube? Is it TikTok? Instagram?

Kylie Larsen:
Instagram, TikTok. I watch YouTube vlogs, and I watch personal development and wellness YouTube videos, and then I watch documentaries on Hulu. I'm not really into watching TV that's not real. I kind of try to watch stuff that's going to benefit my life, except for the vlogs. I mean, that doesn't really do anything.

Jon Pfeiffer:
What? A vlog won't benefit your life?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah, right?

Jon Pfeiffer:
Okay. Now we're going to go personal questions, so the listeners can get to know you. What's your favorite food?

Kylie Larsen:
I really like Olive Garden as of recent. I feel like people's favorite foods can go in and out. I'm a really big sauce person. But yeah, I like Olive Garden.

Jon Pfeiffer:
What's your least favorite food?

Kylie Larsen:
Ooh. Mustard, raisins.

Jon Pfeiffer:
I'm with you on that. I'm with you on that. Okay, what's your favorite cocktail?

Kylie Larsen:
There is this cocktail in town, and it's called... It's at a Thai restaurant, and it's called a Coconut Elixir, and it has coconut flakes on the rim, and I think it has vodka. It's good.

Jon Pfeiffer:
If you had 30 minutes a day to do anything you wanted, what would you do with that 30 minutes?

Kylie Larsen:
Work out.

Jon Pfeiffer:
How often do you work out?

Kylie Larsen:
Only like five days a week. Six days.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Did you say only?

Kylie Larsen:
No, I'm just estimating. No, not only.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Only six days a week sounds like a lot.

Kylie Larsen:
I know. I feel like that's a lot.

Jon Pfeiffer:
What's your favorite movie?

Kylie Larsen:
Maybe The Notebook.

Jon Pfeiffer:
What's the last movie that made you cry?

Kylie Larsen:
Probably... I don't know what movie, because I don't watch a lot of movies, but a show. I cried over this documentary that's on Netflix right now about a volcano erupting, and people were on the island. I don't know if you've seen that one, but yeah-

Jon Pfeiffer:
I've seen that one, yeah. If you could star in a movie, who would you choose as your co-star?

Kylie Larsen:
I don't really have a favorite actress, but I would say an actress. I don't know who though. I don't really... I mean, I guess there are celebrities that I like, but I don't really have a favorite actress, but... I don't know.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Have people recognized you?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
How was that the first time?

Kylie Larsen:
Oh my god, it was so bad. I think I was just not ready yet, and I didn't think about how I was going to handle that, so I was kind of awkward, and then I felt bad, because I think when you're shy and awkward, it can come off rude if you're not super friendly. And so I really didn't want to come off rude, and I was scared and I was awkward.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Where did it happen?

Kylie Larsen:
I went to a taco truck in town, and she said that she recognized me from my videos. And I don't know what I said, but... Oh, I think she was like, "Hey, are you famous?" And I was like, "No, haha," or something. I don't know. It was weird. And then she was like, "Oh, I saw your videos."

Jon Pfeiffer:
If you had a sash, what would it say?

Kylie Larsen:
Kylie Killzzzz. I came up with that name my junior year when I made my Instagram too.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Oh, really?

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:
What's the best compliment you've received?

Kylie Larsen:
That I'm funny.

Jon Pfeiffer:
You are funny.

Kylie Larsen:
Yeah, thanks.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Okay. You've had a video, I believe that most men will be wearing makeup in 20 years.

Kylie Larsen:
I did?

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah.

Kylie Larsen:
I think I kind of remember that.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Do you believe that, or were you just being provocative?

Kylie Larsen:
No, I kind of believe that. I feel like it'll happen at some point, but maybe not 20 years, but I think it will happen at some point. Even straight men, I mean, even straight men are making TikToks. I think I saw one today where it was like, "Yeah, I'm a straight man and I wear makeup. This is why." I mean, I think there's a stigma around it, so I think that'll change.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Yeah. Okay, so last question for you. Where can people find you on the internet?

Kylie Larsen:
I have been doing YouTube shorts, so I think it's Kylie Larson or Kyliekillzzzz on YouTube, and then same with Instagram and TikTok. And then I think that's everything I have.

Jon Pfeiffer:
Thank you. This has been fun. I'll be right back.

Kylie Larsen:
Okay.