PHOTO | Tara Espinoza
Sophomore Hunter Paige, a native Arkansan, is a video content creator and influencer who reached over 565k on TikTok and has 189k followers on Instagram.
“I posted my first video on Christmas in 2019, and my entire family was in it. The goal was to have fun, but it ended up blowing up. I believe it reached around 450,000 views,” she said.
Growing up, Paige was not allowed to have social media.
“Everything kind of happened by accident. My mom watched the whole thing take off while my dad slowly took it all in. When I started getting recognized, I think that is when it clicked for my dad, and now he points me out to everyone,” she said.
Paige is majoring in public relations and minoring in social media. She creates content about life in Arkansas, country music and personality videos.
“People really like my Southern accent, and I grew up listening to country music, so I mixed the two and found my brand,” Paige said.
Paige has turned her brand into a business by working with country music artists like Koe Wetzel, Bailey Zimmerman, and others. She has also been able to travel through her work, traveling to southern hotspots like Nashville and Dallas.
“The highs are being able to travel, and the low is sometimes my confidence is not there to make videos, but I love what I do, and I just find time for myself and build it back up,” she said.
While Paige is a well-known face in the media, she also enjoys the behind-the-screens work. “I enjoy coming up with ideas and working with talent. It works well with the degree I’m getting because that is one day my goal, to work with a brand company full time,” she said.
Paige realizes that attending college and creating full-time content is not common, but she has been able to balance it all with good time management skills.
“Going to college was a big deal because I wanted to learn more and connect with others with similar goals,” Paige said.
With a vast platform, Paige has learned some lessons about online safety and ensuring others understand the oversharing risks.
“I do not share my last name or where I live with my followers. I want others to follow the same page because you never know what kind of person you might be dealing with, and safety is the most significant concern,” she said.
To keep up with Paige and all your video content, her TikTok and Instagram is _hunterpaige_.
