The faces of Michigan’s TikTok scene: 14 creators influencing trends, inspiring others

Among the thousands of creators on TikTok, Michiganders are making their mark by creating short-form videos about their passions: sports, sustainability, fashion, music, even Michigan itself.

We've compiled a list of TikTok creators based in Michigan among a variety of content niches, who have a large following on the platform. The creators on this list have used TikTok for endeavors such as starting a brand, winning an award and founding an organization.

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Here are some of Michigan's top TikTok creators:

All things Michigan

The Wandering Michigander

Followers: 201,000

Taylor Dustin showcases beautiful landmarks to visit across the Great Lakes state, such as Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island and Tahquamenon Falls. Her "Michigan Bucket List" videos of places to visit have garnered millions of views.

“It’s very real life," Dustin said about TikTok. "People follow people for their authenticity, and it doesn’t have to be perfectly posed or, like, perfectly edited."

That Michigan Guy

Followers: 133.400

Ryan Redoute is a Michigander creating content for Michiganders. Born in metro Detroit and now located in Oakland County, he uses his TikTok account to highlight what he loves about his home state through skits and travel videos.

“It warms my heart to just see all of the kinds of joy people are getting out of it,” he said. “The comment section is kind of becoming its own digital Michigan community in itself.”

Food

Old Time Hawkey

Followers: 7.7 million

Old Time Hawkey creates soothing content in his log cabin as he prepares comfort food for his viewers with his two Australian shepherds and retro technology in the backdrop. His recent videos include making hard apple Blake’s bread while watching "The Land Before Time" and cooking breakfast in a cedar swamp while playing "Zelda" on a Game Boy. He also posts videos of him enjoying the outdoors.

Jonathan Kung

Followers: 1.7 million

Jonathan Kung is a chef based in Detroit who shares cooking demos with his viewers. He describes himself as a third culture cook, as he was born in Los Angeles, was raised in Hong Kong and Toronto, and now lives in Detroit. In 2021, he teamed up with the anime distribution company Funimation to share cooking demos for dishes based on anime characters. His first cookbook, “Kung Food,” will be released this fall and is available for pre-sale.

Chow Down Detroit

Followers: 150,200

Seoung Lee is a food reviewer based in Detroit. He usually records videos in his car and visits local restaurants to show off hidden gems.

“I’m always on a food adventure,” Lee said. He added, “Even when I travel all over the country, it’s always for food. So if I go to New York, LA or Atlanta, or whatever city I go to, I’m always, always planning my trips around restaurants to try.”

Music

Curtis Roach

Followers: 2.1M

This independent musician based in Detroit creates content documenting his life as a musician and showcasing his music. He’s best known for going viral when Tyga discovered his "Bored in the House" video, which led to the two producing a song that has received over 52 million streams on Spotify.

DJ DC

Followers: 453,000

Derrick Castenholz is a DJ and entrepreneur based in Ann Arbor who has his viewers guess a song with just one note. He also shares his own remixes and mashups, and answers questions about being a DJ.

Castenholz said that his favorite part of being a TikTok creator is the community he’s built of fellow music lovers, who help him discover new music.

“I just get to learn about new music and music that I haven’t been exposed to, because there’s millions of songs out there,” he said.

Environment

Great Lakes Great Responsibility

Followers: 183,000

Through her videos, Meag Schwartz hopes to draw more awareness to the threat of marine debris in the Great Lakes. An environmental educator in her day job, she has always had a passion for spreading information about protecting the environment and regularly organizes litter clean-ups through her non-profit Great Lakes Great Responsibilities.

“Sometimes we take things for granted that are in our own backyard,” she said. “But then you post it online and you get a barrage of ‘wow, this is so beautiful, I’d love to visit this place.’”

Her presence on TikTok helped her win the $100K Chevrolet Lead Dream Chaser Award, which she plans to use to organize a series of clean-ups across the different Great Lake areas.

Sabrina Sustainable Life

Followers: 227,800

Sabrina Pare is a TikTok creator based in metro Detroit who shows her viewers how to be more sustainable in their daily lives. Pare is a founding member of EcoTok, a collective of 17 content creators, activists and scientists who use their platform to educate on the climate crisis and the environment.

“I think a lot of people in general just aren’t aware of the climate crisis and climate change,” Pare said. “So, it’s really just planting those seeds to get people more interested, maybe take the time to learn more about it, because it can be hard to cover a lot in a 30 second video.”

Pare said that she hopes her content can inspire her viewers to make changes in their lives to help the environment, whether it be composting and gardening or getting involved in larger scale efforts to advocate for policy changes.

Sports

Dominique Spica

Followers: 117,600

This TikTok creator hopes to “bring the hype back” to Detroit sports. A Detroit native, she is a longtime fan of the Lions, and enjoys creating content about them the most.

“I love, now, the little underdog story with the Lions. You know, finally we have a team that is showing potential,” she said. “And I’m so excited that I can finally, like, I have a platform that I’d be like: 'Okay you guys, this might be the year of the Lions.'”

Fashion

Nur Shah

Followers: 81,000

This influencer’s content is a mix of travel, fashion, inspiration and skincare tips. Though she started her TikTok account for fun, she now hopes to use her platform to inspire and empower other women.

“I want to empower them to gain the confidence to wear whatever they want and remind hijabis, in particular, that they can be confident, stylish and covered,” Shah said.

In September 2022, she started a fashion brand, Layali, which combines western and cultural eastern styles to create inclusive and designs.

Self-defense

Detroit D.U.S.T

Followers: 1.4 million

D.U.S.T, which stands for Detroit Urban Survival Training, offers preventive threat management classes in Ferndale. On their viral TikTok account, they use humor to get people interested in learning self-defense. In their videos, founder Dale Brown and other instructors show viewers techniques to protect themselves in a variety of situations.

Cars

Christina Roki

Followers: 3 million

This TikTok creator wraps and customizes cars on her account to empower young women to enter the male-dominated industry, something that she has been advocating for since high school. Earlier this year, she led an automotive STEM program called Project 102, in which she taught girls how to work on and customize cars.

Dogs

Tucker Budzyn

Followers: 11.1 million

Tucker the Golden Retriever is a pet account that focuses on Tucker and his son Todd. Tucker became popular for bringing smiles to his viewers during the coronavirus pandemic. His account shares cute moments from the dogs’ daily life, as well as dog care tips and taste tests. During their time on social media, they’ve started a line of dog-themed merchandise and dog products, including a unique dog leash.

Contact Mika Travis at mtravis@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan TikTok influencers create food, sports, nature, car videos