Welcome to On the Rise, where we find and profile breakout creators who are in the midst of extraordinary growth. You can check out previous installments here.
Look, we’ll be frank: We’ve all had a shitty boss.
People share their horror stories online all the time. And you can find plenty of them in Rob‘s comments, where people talk about bosses doing everything from forcing them to prove their family members actually died, to telling them mental health isn’t “real,” to threatening to fire them because they prioritized taking a sick kid or pet to the clinic over their shift.
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But in a lot of Rob’s videos, that’s not the sort of thing you’ll see.
Instead, thanks to characters he plays like the “millennial manager,” you’ll get a little catharsis. Rob doesn’t always play wholesome characters in his POV videos, but when he does, they’re doing things like respecting your work/life balance, telling you to take time off if you need some self-care, and reassuring you that if your workload is too much, it’s not because you’re failing, it’s because tasks aren’t properly allocated, and that will be fixed asap.
Rob has nearly 800,000 followers on TikTok, and gets tens of thousands of these sorts of comments on every video, so it’s clear his content is resonating with viewers.
But it took him a while to get to that place.
He originally tried YouTube, way back when, and it “didn’t really pan out,” he says. He let go of the idea of being A YouTuber, but kept making short comedic videos for friends on Instagram. Then, when COVID hit, those same friends told him he should try posting his stuff to TikTok. Rob wasn’t keen. Wasn’t TikTok a kids’ app?
Eventually he gave in and downloaded it, and once he realized TikTok is “just a content app, just a space where people were sharing creative things,” he “got sucked into it immediately,” he says. At the time, he was still working a full-time job, but he started making videos as frequently as possible, experimenting with different filming/editing styles and topics. Last year, he hit on the POV style he’s now known for, and his follower count surged upward.
Now, content is his full-time job, and now that he’s found his footing, he’s looking at spending 2024 expanding to a podcast, longer content, and maybe even standup comedy.
Check out our chat with him below.
@robdon567Follow me here & on IG 😊: Therobdon567♬ original sound – Rob
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tubefilter: Very nice to meet you! I’ve seen your videos across TikTok for a while now. To start, imagine that somebody is watching this and they’ve never seen your stuff, they don’t know who you are. Give me an intro about you, where you’re from, and your life leading up to you making videos.
Rob: Sure. I’m 31. I live in New York. Originally, I’m from New York, but I grew up in Jersey for the most part. I did work a full-time job, for the most part, until last summer, when I was fortunate enough to be able to leave my job to do this full-time, which has always been the goal, it’s a dream. Honestly, it’s weird. There’s days where you stop and think like, oh, I get to do what I’ve always imagined being able to do for a living, and it’s surreal.
What led me up to this point is, I guess, for four years, I’ve been making content. I feel like I’m starting to hit my stride now, the past like five or six months, but it’s been a slow build, obviously, for four years, when you think about it. I guess what led me to this point is I’ve always wanted to be a creative person. In terms of content creation or being a creative person, you’re allowed, now, with social media, there’s so many outlets for you to express yourself if you are a creative person, I feel like it lends itself to being able to just make your own career out of it.
I was always into YouTube. I tried YouTube when I was younger. It didn’t really pan out. Then I would always make these one-off videos on Instagram that were silly and funny and whatever. They were just ranting. I would just be straight to camera, just trying to make people laugh, and it got a good response from like my friends and people within my circle. I would go out and people would be like, “Oh, I saw that video. That was funny. You should make more of those,” and I just never really thought about, okay, there’s something there.
I guess looking back, it’s like, I was setting myself up for where I am now, but that’s what built to it. Then the pandemic hitting, everything stopping and slowing down. Everybody’s on the same page at home, not really knowing what to do with the abundance of free time they had. It was just in a group chat, one of my friends suggested, “Hey, those videos you used to make, why don’t you just start doing that? You have free time.” I was like, “Ah, I don’t really like TikTok. It’s not really my thing.” I saw it as a kids’ app, which most people did, people in our age group did, when it hit the scene in late 2019, 2020.
Then obviously, I finally downloaded it, and I saw that it was just a content app. It was just a space where people were sharing creative things, and it was funny and it was engaging. It was just a new way of exploring content. I loved it. I got sucked into it immediately. Then I think by April of 2020, I had made my first video, which took off right away. It was weird waking up the next day and seeing all these notifications. That’s never happened before. You’re just like, “Whoa, what the– What happened?” [laughs] Then I think within two weeks, one of my videos got a million views, and I was like, wait, there’s something here. Obviously, being that I’ve never had a video do that well scale-wise before was motivating, in a way, but then it took me so long to really find my footing, find my voice with what content I wanted to produce, until, I would say, last summer is when I really started to hit a nice stride in terms of what I was creating. I was happy with it. I was engaged. I was motivated. I was getting new ideas all the time. I still am. Yes, since then, it’s just been such a fulfilling, enjoyable experience overall.
Tubefilter: I did want to ask about your style of content, because there’s a lot of POV content across TikTok and Shorts right now, but yours seems different. I’m curious how you ended up in your niche after a couple of years of winnowing down what you wanted to do.
Rob: It started with, a lot of my content was straight to camera, me talking just trying to be funny or doing ranty-type stuff, or I would stitch other people’s stuff. Then now, obviously, last summer, I just came up with an idea. I don’t know. It’s one of those things where it just was like, “All right, I’ll try. I don’t know. I’ve never made this type of video before.” I have, but not consistently.
I came up with a concept that I thought would elicit a reaction from the audience that would create engagement–not in a hacky way, not in a way of trying to farm viewership. It was just, I wanted to make something that was relatable to a broad audience. Something that people could be like, “Oh, I’ve been through that,” or, “I’ve seen that guy before,” or “I’ve been in that situation before,” or, “That’s happened in my relationship,” so I think that’s what spawned like majority of my POV content, is the relatability factor, what people draw to the most. What makes mine different is I really try and plug in real-life characters, people, scenarios, situations, whatever, that would relate to everyday people.
Tubefilter: It was a long buildup to things taking off, but then things took off pretty quickly for you. Was there a point where you knew that you were going to commit to this as a full-time endeavor?
Rob: Honestly, I would have to look back years. I don’t know if it’s cliché in a way, but when I was younger, I was always the class clown. I would always try and make my friends laugh. It was always something that I cared about or enjoyed the most, was being the funny person. I think growing up, realizing I was a little bit different in terms of school…I have a good degree from a good college, but it was never the goal to get a good job, work my way up, the prototypical, American plan.
I saw that as a stepping stone to always a creative path. It was always, “Okay, I’m going to get the degree, I’m going to work the job until I can make this creative thing work. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m going to do it.” That belief, that idea of, “I’m going to be able to do this someday,” was always there. I guess, yes, to your point or your question, I always saw myself doing this full time. It wasn’t until probably…I would say a year and a half ago, two years ago, maybe, where I really thought, okay, like I have enough of a following, I could build something sustainable here.
It was always, once I get to the point where I could pay my own bills, that’s when I’m going to dive in full 100%. That’s what happened last summer. It got to the point where it was almost surpassing what I was making for my full-time job. I said, it’s a now or never type of thing. I don’t regret it at all.
Tubefilter: I’m glad it’s worked out for you. When you decided to go full-time, how did things change for you on the production side? How does your production schedule work now?
Rob: Probably every day, I conceptualize. For me, there’s been short breaks in between. There’s some days where I don’t make something. There’s some days where I allow myself a break, because like I said, going back to the summertime, I was making a minute-plus fresh skit six days a week. I was going live six days a week at night for an hour, an hour and a half, two hours. I was doing that for some months. I got a little burnt out, but the passion for creativity and making stuff and entertaining people, it supersedes any small burnout I might feel.
For me, it’s, I conceptualize a new idea five days a week, Monday through Friday, sometimes Sunday, I might. I’ll write out a script, I’ll practice, practice. Then, it comes, and then I shoot. That’s basically it. There’s probably– I’m fortunate enough to say this, but I probably only work two to three hours a day, in terms of conceptualizing, writing, editing, filming. It’s five days a week, a new skit, five days a week.
Tubefilter: How did live streaming become a component of it?
Rob: Livestreaming,…TikTok is interesting in the way that like, they have a whole department of TikTok Live, and then the content side. The live lends itself to, for some reason, algorithmically, it helps your videos. When you go live, it pushes your video out more, something that I learned. It’s also a really good way to just connect with the audience. So many people get on my live, and they’ll ask like, “Are you in character right now? How are you really in real life? It’s so hard because your characters are either, I love them, I hate them. I don’t know how to think about you as an actual person.” I think it’s a really great way to connect with your audience and build a rapport and a community. I think that’s important. It’s also really cool.
Tubefilter: How long does the average video take you from conception to upload?
Rob: It depends. I have a notes app in my phone, actually, of just ideas. It’ll be a random sentence and something will just pop in my head and I’ll have to jot it down. I’ll have an inventory of ideas that I can pull from. Maybe I’ll wake up that day with a different idea and I’ll want to shoot that that day because I want to get on it, or there’s something some people are talking about that I want to take advantage of time-wise. It may be cold in a few days. I’ll try and make something around that.
Usually, I’ll wake up and maybe conceptualize. I’ll write, I do my writing and stuff in the morning for a few hours. Then I’ll do whatever I have to do throughout the day personally. Then I’ll shoot, edit and upload at night. Usually from 7:00 to 9:00 is when I’m filming, reworking it, editing and then I’m uploading around nine o’clock at night. Then in the morning, I’m writing it.
Tubefilter: What’s your favorite part of the process?
Rob: Seeing people’s reactions, I think. I think that it’s funny to see the conversations that happen in your own comment section. Sometimes they’re a little much, but other times it’s interesting to see different perspectives of what people are getting from the video, what people are taking from the video, how they saw it from their viewpoint and how people have conflicting thoughts about it. I think that’s probably one of the most interesting parts about creating. It’s fun to watch.
Tubefilter: How do you come up with ideas for videos? You said you like to film things that resonate with people’s real life experiences, so I’m curious what you draw on for that.
Rob: Yes. I think you hit it on the head right there with your question, but I do draw from real life 90% of the time. I might see a movie or read a tweet that might spawn an idea, but for the most part, it’s just a real life experience. People that I’ve met, situations that I might’ve been in, stories somebody might’ve told me, a workplace thing, something, a relationship experience I’ve had, or somebody’s had that I know other people deal with, or other people have experienced on a larger scale. That’s mostly where it comes from. I would say. Real life experience.
Tubefilter: Got you. Any cool plans or goals for the upcoming year?
Rob: Yes, definitely. I know it’s watered down at this point, but podcasting is something I’ve always wanted to do since 10 years ago, when I really started to listen to a lot of informative comedic podcasts, cultural ones. It’s something that I’ve always liked, just talking and entertaining somebody for an hour while they’re at work is always an, “Ah, I could do that. I think that’s fun.” I like to hit on different things. I like to talk about different topics. I definitely want to get the ball rolling with this year. I would like to maybe get into standup, but time-wise, that’s a very difficult art form.
For me, I’m a huge standup fan, but it’s something that I think takes a lot of diligence and it’s a hard medium, but it’s definitely something I would like. Something I think about getting into this year. Let’s see what else. Collaborating with other creators. There’s definitely a lot of creators that I think are very smart. They’re fresh. They have very good ideas. They’re creative, they’re funny, and within close proximity of where I live to make some fun stuff. Then also, it’s a long shot, but I get asked a lot about acting or TV or movies or whatever. It’s a crazy concept to think about, but that’s also something that I would definitely 100% put the effort into if I had the opportunity.
Tubefilter: You mentioned earlier that you tried YouTube and it didn’t really work out for you.
Rob: Yes.
Tubefilter: Do you feel like short-form has played like a significant part in you being able to make this a career?
Rob: Yes. 100%. Without short-form, I don’t think my career exists. YouTube is classically a long-form platform. I think it takes a lot of diligence. It takes a lot of patience and a love for storytelling to make YouTube translate, to make it work for you. At least, the YouTube that I like, or that most people enjoy, I would say. Without short-form content, I wouldn’t be able to have a career.
I did try YouTube early on. I was young. I didn’t have the patience for it. I didn’t get that. When you’re young and you want that instant gratification, it’s hard to wrestle with, and waiting and playing the long game. That’s just not something that I wanted to do at the time. I tried it, but yes, it just didn’t work out. I think short-form is the newer wave.
I’m also seeing some translation with TikTok where they’re rewarding longer-form content. Instead of, 15, 30 second, 45 second videos, a minute and a half, two minutes. I’m seeing 5-, 10- minute videos get millions of views. I think that the attention span is swinging back to, I want more long-form, creative, interesting, funny, whatever kind of content, and these platforms, I think, that were normally typically short-form, TikTok, Instagram, even Snapchat, even they want elongated stories that last all day. It’s coming back to long-form, I think.
Tubefilter: I also wanted to ask, have you had any cool audience moments? I feel like, in the comments, I’m seeing a lot of people who find comfort in your videos. Like in your “millennial boss” videos, I see so many people in the comments who are like, “Man, I wish my boss was comforting when I had a mental health issue. I wish people actually responded this way.” It seems like people really find solace in your content.
Rob: Yes. It’s funny. I do, I see a lot of that reaction, typically in the nicer character videos. Then you get the antithesis in the other ones, but I think for some people, it can be cathartic, watching a video about something that they’ve experienced or that they’ve gone through in real life, that is framed in a healthy or positive light, it’s helpful and they could see the opposite side of it. You see a really negative or a bad representation of something, a situation, an experience, or whatever, and you could see the other side of it and you go, “Okay, that’s the opposite of what I want out of a relationship.”
Just yesterday, I saw somebody comment on my video that said, “Oh, it took this video for me to realize that I act like this. I have to change my behavior.”
Tubefilter: Oh, wow.
Rob: That, to me…it’s a crazy concept. To see that somebody, like you said, looking at a video of something that I made, and for that to elicit such a reaction as “I need to change my behavior…” The conversations that take place in the, in the comments between me and my audience is interesting. Then also, I get people stopping me in real life, which is insane. It happens a couple of times a week, but it’s still, it’s just like, it’s such a crazy concept to see it translate to real life as well. Like, I’m just a face on a screen, but also, in real life, people stop me. It’s always positive and nice. I think overall, the feeling is rewarding.
Rob is repped by Viral Nation.
