Greenville hairstylist Bailey Lavender is TikTok star. How she gained 2 million followers.

Greenville-based hairstylist Bailey Lavender, 28, has always wanted to spread joy. Little did she know she would get to do that for nearly 2 million TikTok followers.

Since 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lavender has been producing TikTok videos that highlight and poke light-hearted fun at her experiences with customers as a hairstylist.

She said a TikTok series, search for #salonkaren, has helped propel her as an influencer. Videos from that series have views in the millions.

But it's her mental health check-ins that have elevated her from an entertainer to a virtual support for millions.

While interviewing her at Greenville's Summer Moon coffee shop, a fan approaches Lavender and fiancée, Charley McFarland, at our table. The fan tells her how much her skits resonate. This is true for many of Lavender's followers, who appreciate her motivational videos where she inspires them to make the best of their day despite negative feelings.

"She's really big about making sure she's checking in," McFarland said.

What to know about Bailey Lavender's TikTok videos

On TikTok, Lavender describes herself as an "open book." You can find her doing just about everything, like making funny relationship videos with McFarland, trying new local foods in Greenville, making fun of her height of 5'11'' or having fun with friends.

An LGBTQ+ ally and advocate for mental health, Lavender also posts videos encouraging followers to learn to love oneself when family members do not understand or agree with your sexuality.

But her favorite videos to shoot and post are wacky salon skits based off her experiences as a hairstylist.

Lavender tells the story of a regular who bleached her hair lighter, each time she visited. Lavender warned her, if she bleached her hair any further, it would cause breakage.

After being refused service, the angry client found Lavender's social media business accounts, leaving hate comments and ringing her phone at 2 a.m. In fear of losing clients, Lavender blocked her.

"I was worried that she was trying to take my career as a stylist because I didn't have a social media platform at that point, but I had my social media advertising for my hair world," Lavender said.

She also shares a story about denying a haircut to a man who said he hadn't shampooed his hair in over 10 years in order to sustain his natural oils.

"It was a whole ordeal to the point where he informed me multiple salons rejected him from sitting in their chair," Lavender said. "He finally left. My nurse client who was sitting in my chair was also very astonished and said, 'If you had touched his hair, I would not feel comfortable coming back to you.'"

Meet Bailey Lavender and her fiancee, Charley McFarland

As a child, Lavender attended a program for dyslexia at Camperdown Academy. While there, she discovered her love of theater, which would later inspire her salon skits.

Lavender and McFarland met in 2011 when they both attended Crest High School in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. McFarland, 29, said they ran with different crowds due to their different class years. When Lavender moved to Greenville, the two went their separate ways.

Ten years later, the two would reconnect through mutual friends, eventually becoming a couple.

On Sunday, July 23, McFarland asked for Lavender's hand in marriage in front of their friends in Cincinnati. Right before taking pictures, a butterfly caught Lavender's attention.

"This butterfly comes through and stops for a second right in between us and then just goes off," Lavender said. "We're like, 'That was a sign. That was Bibi.'"

Bibi is the nickname for Lavender's late great-grandmother, Margaret Robertson, who was always supportive of her relationship with McFarland. Lavender said her grandmother was "best friends with God, and loved birds and butterflies."

"You, or anyone else finding someone who loves them, is beautiful, and I want that in this world," Robertson once told Lavender.

McFarland, who is also Lavender's brand manager, has a sales background.

"When her TikTok took off, I started helping her navigate through some of those emails with brands," McFarland said. "Now, we're just a cohesive business. We work and live together. It's amazing to watch how we make things happen."

McFarland said, however, she is not always in business mode when it comes to her relationship with Lavender.

"We turn it on and off. I'm not her manager all the time," she said. "The fiancée hat goes back on and we go on date nights. Then through the week, I run personal errands for whatever she needs. I make it happen."

How Lavender advocates for mental health, LGBTQ+ community

Lavender is open about her mental health and therapy journey in her TikTok videos.

A big part of her social media outreach involves making others feel at home and loved. She said losing a friend to suicide made her realize the importance of checking in and connecting with her fans and followers.

"If I can just make a simple video and say, 'You're important. I love you,' hopefully, it will touch somebody and save someone. That's all I can ask for. One person is enough," Lavender said.

When it comes to finding LGBTQ+ safe places in Greenville, Lavender noted the Upstate SC LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce as a point of reference. The organization has a directory of safe places to visit in the area.

She wants fellow LGBTQ+ members to feel appreciated.

"You can help someone else by being proud of who you are, telling your story," she said. "Your story is just as important as someone else's."

Want to know more or want to meet Greenville influencer Bailey Lavender?

Lavender will appear on the Hawk and Tom Show on 93.7 FM on Friday, Sept., 29 at 9 a.m. for their Influencer Friday segment. Fans eager to meet Lavender and McFarland in person can meet-and-greet the couple at Greenville's Summer Moon Coffee shop from 4-7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7.

Nina Tran covers trending topics. Reach her via email at ntran@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: TikTok star Bailey Lavender talks social media, salon, LGBTQ+ rights