A star of social media has moved into one of Hull’s oldest buildings with a business which is making a global impact in one of the newest and fastest moving sectors.
Poppy Mead, a social media influencer with more than 750,000 followers on TikTok, has set up her new studio at Danish Buildings and Bayles House in the city's High Street.
Only recently turned 20, she sees the move to the Old Town as the ideal inspiration as she works with her partner Kris Taylor to expand their activities into podcasts, a clothing label and property.
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Poppy said: “Before we moved in here I worked from home but it was too easy to put Netflix on and not get any work done. Here I am in a much better environment. I love the Old Town area and this place helps us get out of the house and separate work from home. It also gives us the space we need to do the podcast.”
Poppy made her big social media breakthrough when she was just 17 after being furloughed from her waitressing job. A rant about someone she didn’t like got four million views, and she turned from disgruntled posts to fashion. One of Poppy’s TikTok contacts then introduced her to a manager whose job is to bring in the big brands for Poppy to promote. Clients now include Pretty Little Thing, Missguided, Asos, Spotify, L’Oreal and Maybelline.
The earnings enabled Poppy, who also has around 290,000 followers on Instagram and 80,000 on YouTube, to move out of the family home in Huddersfield and get her own apartment in the centre of Leeds. With the second lockdown looming she moved in with Kris and his family in Hull, and now the couple and their dog Pippa have their own apartment.
Poppy sits down at least once a week to study various big brands. She then gives her manager a list of targets. She said: “About 95 per cent of them get back to me. Brands have to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to appear on TV so they see the benefit of paying people like me. My followers will look at the products because they are promoted by me and I am someone they trust.”
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With the majority of Poppy’s followers aged 18 to 25 she’s aware of the need to keep pace with changing trends and develop new business interests. She said: “We are starting a clothing brand together and a podcast and we are also investing in property – people are always going to buy clothes and a house.
“At the moment my whole life is my job but you can do this for as long as you want as long as you are keeping your followers engaged and keeping up with the brands. You have to be truthful. At first I never realised I could turn this into a living.”
Kris, who has nearly 150,000 followers on TikTok himself, helps Poppy handle the stress of her soaring profile, especially when they are recognised by followers while doing the weekly shop.
He said: “We get recognised in the street and in the supermarket and sometimes Poppy gets quite anxious because it’s a stressful job. I don’t mind the attention because I love talking to people, especially if they’ve supported Poppy.”
Georgia Allenby, design and marketing manager at Allenby Commercial, relishes how the buildings are being used now, and the inability to comprehend for the original occupiers as technology as arrived and advanced. She said: “Since we bought Danish Buildings and Bayles House in 2017 we’ve welcomed all sorts of high-tech, on-trend businesses but podcasting is a first for us! We’ve got architects, filmmakers, marketing agencies and more but to now have a social media influencer with so many followers across various platforms shows how the world of business is constantly changing.
“Parts of the building date back to the 17th century and it’s incredible to think of all the different ways the building has been used between now and then.”
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