A teenager who calls Stevenage home has shared his success story after rising to fame on the social media platform TikTok, where he has racked up millions of young followers.
Nick Murray. Sound familar?
You’ve probably never heard of him, but if your kids own a phone, they almost certainly will have.
The 19-year-old former Nobel school pupil has gone from zero to hero on TikTok, the popular social media platform where users share videos with their followers. Since January, Nick has gained two million followers on TikTok under his @repnicktv account, where he posts around seven videos a day.
Not all that long ago, Nick was delivering The Comet, or working at Prezzo in the Stevenage Leisure Park.
Since then, he has traded paper rounds and a sales job in London for a life creating short, fun videos with his girlfriend Maddie Davies (@maddiedavies.x), who is also from Stevenage.
“I really wanted to be involved in content creation, I’ve been on Twitch and Youtube, so TikTok was another thing for me to move to.” Nick said.
“I’ve always had a quirky personality, and loved being in front of the camera making things for people to love and enjoy. But, there’s been lots of things in life that I’ve started and not followed through with.
“In January, I decided I wanted to go 100 per cent and fully commit to this platform, so I went on my lunch break one day and just never came back.”
After moving out of Stevenage, the teenage couple were so determined to make TikTok a reality, they would spend evenings sleeping on their friend’s bedroom floor in London.
They were working hard to make ends meet until April or May, but Nick and Maddie’s popularity boomed with a viral video of a sneaky bush during lockdown – that was shot in Stevenage.
The video has since been shared across the globe, amassing hundreds of millions of views.
In August, the pair teamed up with fellow content creator Charlie Davis to set up their own content creation haven in Spain.
The result? The Jet House, a villa where eight of the UK’s most popular social media stars currently live.
These members are Nick, Maddie, Charlie (@Charliedavismagic), Matty (@Mattydeaks), Ben (@ben_internet), James, (@itsjamesessex), Olivia (@olivianduffin) and @itsahboi.
The Jet House is Europe’s biggest ‘TikTok house’ – with a combined following of more than 10 million on the platform.
But life isn’t always a beach for Nick, even in sunny Spain.
Every morning Nick and the Jet House team wake up with a creative meeting, then research, shoot and edit videos and publish them.
Currently, he’s managing his own marketing and business leads – juggling calls with brands such as Krispy Kreme and Oreo while trying to think of innovative and funny videos for his ever-present audience.
TikTok pays its most popular creators from its £200 million Creator Fund, but brands and businesses are also keen to work with these young social media stars to reach younger audiences.
His monthly ‘salary’ may fluctuate, but Nick says life is “pretty comfortable” at the moment and “big things” are planned for the future.
Nick also insists his time on TikTok doesn’t feel like work.
“This is more like a fun hobby that I get to do every day. I love what I’m doing on TikTok.
“It’s crazy to be part of this new generation of influencers, people moving their careers to social media.”
So, what’s next for Nick and co?
“I’ve been grinding and working hard, today I’ll be reaching two million followers on TikTok,” Nick added.
“I’m hoping to be one of the UK’s biggest content creators soon. Life’s too short and I take each day as it comes, no regrets.
“In the future, I hope to build my own brand to tens of millions of followers, and then move on to hosting shows on TV.”
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