5 TikTok influencers who walk and talk the #worktok

Recently, some influencers have been following a new trend on social media – but not viral dance routines, exotic holiday destinations or outfits of the day, like you might expect. Amid a rise of full-time influencers who leave their previous jobs to pursue careers in social media, these influencers have instead been using TikTok to showcase their main jobs under the hashtag #worktok.

And why not? Their work is their life too.

Here are five work influencers who make #worktok exciting with engaging videos and valuable insights into their professional lives as a private chef to billionaires, an anaesthesiologist, a keycap maker and others.

1. Cass Holland

TikTok handle: @cassholland
Number of followers: 2.3 million
Real name: Cassie Holland
Age: 29
Work: Golf cart bartender
Watch this video:

Love a good ole cart clean-up

Cassie Holland’s “office” is a pink-and-green cart, which is often further adorned with colourful ornaments on special occasions, like her birthday. She is a golf cart driver and bartender based in Las Vegas. 

Enter Cassie’s world as a “cart girl” as she uses vlogs and humorous mini-stories to talk about how she relies on tips from customers, makes her rounds to concoct drinks and interacts with guests. 

Driving around golf courses to serve drinks can be harder than it sounds. Not only does Cassie have to do this often under the hot sun, she also has troublesome customers to handle from time to time.

Through it all, Cassie’s unflagging #worktok enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air, according to many comments on her TikToks. Her followers also empathise with her service industry problems and express their support for her: “Preach,” said one. “Felt this so hard,” said another.

Her vivacious personality is matched by her dazzling outfits – full-pink ensembles or floral tops paired with skirts, accessories and a touch of glitter. Little wonder Cassie reminds followers of blockbuster movie Barbie.

Her followers, who seem to be mostly women, love watching Cassie’s genuine love for her job. They sing her praises for her sense of fashion and attitude as a girl’s girl, and for how she radiates good vibes and embodies positive femininity.

2. Rob Li

TikTok handle: @broccoliraab
Number of followers: 1.1 million
Real name: Robert Li
Age: 27
Work: Private chef
Watch this video:

Sweet baby babka she’s perf

Full-time private chef Robert Li thinks his biggest flex in life is that he’s never worked in a restaurant before – apparently, he learnt to cook from internet videos. His clients are typically chief executives and billionaires living in the Hamptons, New York.

Robert’s followers admire his organisation and time management skills, as he takes them on a mouth-watering culinary journey from shopping for groceries to prepping, executing and plating full-course meals, and finally, to cleaning up.

On top of all this, Robert manages to keep his cool – not to mention shoot and edit aesthetic videos of himself working – even when he has to prep large-scale events such as a 50-person cocktail party. Some followers have expressed their wish to be a part of his family or to marry him, so they can enjoy his delicious home-cooked meals too. They’re kidding – or maybe not.

While he does experiment and vary his menus, he says these are his go-tos: 

Breakfast: Blueberry and peanut butter oatmeal with toasted pecans; mushroom, avocado and broccoli omelette; turkey bacon

Lunch: Soya sauce-glazed salmon with sauteed baby yu choy and brown rice

Dinner: Turkey chilli with sweet potato

His menus and recipes can be found on his Instagram account under the same username.

3. Keni Lin

TikTok handle: @keni_lin
Number of followers: 479,700
Real name: Belle Keni Lin
Age: 29
Work: Anaesthesiology resident
Watch this video:

What if I told you you could chase your dreams AND have fun along the way?

As a woman in medicine, Keni Lin is the ultimate girlboss, say her followers. She sets out to dispel the myth that medical students waste their 20s studying without living their lives to the fullest, and does that engagingly in her snappy, peppy #worktok videos.

Despite working 55 to 70 hours a week, Keni makes time to attend parties, go on vacays and go to the beach with friends. Her “day in the life” videos and vlogs give followers a glimpse of her jam-packed schedule as she runs errands, works out in a gym and practises self-care between long hours of work at a hospital.

For followers who are interested in the healthcare field, she is a source of motivation and often provides answers to their queries.

Meanwhile, the rest of her followers are simply amazed at her productivity while running on such little sleep.

4. Lee Yik Keat

TikTok handle: @yk
Number of followers: 2 million
Real name: Lee Yik Keat
Age: 28
Work: Photographer 
Watch this video:

Quick and easy way to switch it up with your video!

Singapore-based street photographer Lee Yik Keat – who has worked with big brands such as Adidas, Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Porsche, and famous personalities like Apple CEO Tim Cook and American singer Lauv – is another self-taught work influencer on this list.

Much of his work is not about big concepts or fancy projects, though.

He invites his followers to appreciate small, precious moments or scenes within Singapore and when he travels overseas.

With a keen eye for the picture-perfect, Yik Keat can turn the commonplace into something creative, be it a mirror reflection, the view from a balcony or a rainy day. And he teaches viewers how to do the same in one-minute videos.

His content is aimed at those who want to level up their game on Instagram or make their feeds look better. While his tips are tailored mostly to iPhone users, viewers are just happy to see the results.

5. Tiny

TikTok handle: @tinymakesthings
Number of followers: 3.2 million 
Real name: Tiny 
Age: Not known
Work: Keycap maker
Watch this video:

Have some mould-making and resin casting sounds

A computer keyboard need not be a boring slab of tech equipment when you can replace the enter or backspace keys with customised keycaps.

Have you seen little Kirby keycaps “eating” food on your social media feeds? They’re custom-made by Tiny, a keycap artisan who uses polymer clay and resin to transform keys for mechanical keyboards into miniature works of art.

While some of her followers are potential customers, most simply enjoy watching her create keycaps of characters such as Harry Potter, Mario, Snoopy and Pokemon. They also suggest goofy ideas, such as a baguette for the space bar.

Tiny is also great at producing ASMR videos – who knew it would be so calming and satisfying to listen to the sounds of her designing and moulding keycaps, and even just restocking her tiny store in San Jose?