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The Journey of a Social Media Influencer
Amanda Castrillo’s been invited to blockbuster movie premieres and has gotten free merchandise from brands like Nickelodeon, Universal and Marvel. At the big events she wore the nicest outfits her closet could provide, and she walked the red carpet with all the celebrities.
When the event was over, she would go home and get some sleep, because she had work in the morning.
That was the life of Castrillo before February 2022. She worked at a women’s retail store folding jeans, but in her free time she was making it big on TikTok. Castrillo talks about and makes up skits about nerdy franchises including Marvel, DC, Avatar and anime.
Castrillo started her first TikTok account at the beginning of the pandemic. She had a two-week quarantine that turned into three months.
“I had a lot of time on my hands.” Castrillo said. “Then Avatar went back on Netflix, and I know way too much about that show. So, I started talking about it and they just kind of popped off.”
At the end of 2020 Castrillo created a new account called Amandajustvibin, and now she has more than 290,000 followers. She also made great friends along the way.
Danielle Silverstone is a TikToker with more than 100 thousand followers. She makes videos about Jewish and LGBTQ representation in media. Castrillo met Silverstone through the app, and found out they live near each other in California.
“We started chatting back and forth.” Silverstone said. “We have gone to events together; she is literally one of my favorite people on the planet. I adore her, and I am so proud of her.”
Castrillo also connected with TikTok creators with massive followings like Nicque Marina. She currently has 1.6 million followers, and also talks about and makes skits about nerdy media.
“When I started blowing up, in the back of my head I hoped this opens doors for women who look like me and for women darker skinned than me.” Marina said. “I think Amanda was one of the first creators that started to emerge after me, and that made me really happy.”
With this following on TikTok, brands like Nickelodeon, Marvel, DC and Disney started to reach out to Castrillo asking her to do unboxings and promote their products.
“I was getting contacts and people emailing me. Asking me to promote things and go to things.” Castrillo said. “I was like what? I’ve only seen other people do that. But I remember my first PR box was from Malignant by James Wan. I thought it was so cool. I got a sweatshirt and a hat and did my first unboxing video.”
Castrillo has grown to become an internet celebrity. However, balancing life as an influencer and her retail job was becoming more of a problem.
“I got to a point where I started to miss out on opportunities.” Castrillo said. “I never asked for days off. I never called out. Even when I asked two weeks in advance, 9 times out of 10 there was a magical reason why I couldn’t go.”
On top of trouble at work, Castrillo also had to deal with harsh comments directed at her for who she is. She is a woman of color and is openly queer. Sometimes people just can’t look past that.
“Like I will be saying something completely unrelated to my physical appearance, or my gender, or sexuality anything — but someone will find a way to bring it up.” Castrillo said. “And if I do bring it up it’s also a problem. So, I am damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.”
Castrillo has always been a creative person and has had support from her family since she was a child.
“They told me to leave my job.” Castrillo said. “They have been following my page since I started it and have been there every step of the way. They had faith that I would figure it out.”
She quit her job in retail on February 22, 2022.
For a month Castrillo put in applications to countless different companies. She has a degree in media arts and animation and wanted to put it to good use.
“LinkedIn basically became my best friend,” Castrillo said. “And one day one of my mutuals told me about a job opening at Paramount. So, I applied, and after a month-long interview process. I got hired.”
Today Castrillo is a social media producer at AwesomenessTV for the reality show, “My Dream Quinceañera.” She helps run the TikTok page by creating content to promote the show.
With this new job came support from her friends. Both Silverstone and Marina used the same word to express how they felt.
“I was one of the first people she called,” Silverstone said. “We screamed on the phone for a good minute or two, and I was just so proud of her.”
“I was so proud. So happy.” Marina said. “To see her genius and her intellect rewarded, It’s so amazing. I was happy for this win. I was happy for this validation that she is amazing. She is good at what she does and is truly a good person.
With this new job Castrillo is not only able to make time for big events like the Spider-Man: No Way Home premiere and WonderCon, but she also has time to do social media because that’s her job.
She has gone full circle. She started with talking about Avatar on TikTok, and now she works down the street from where it is produced.
“Whenever I feel bad about myself,” Castrillo said. “I just think about how cool 14-year-old me would think I am.”
