TikToker Ashley Yi Reveals What Being A Korean American Influencer Means To Her - Exclusive Interview

I would love it if you could tell me a little bit about what inspired you to start a TikTok page.

I actually started TikTok last year [in] November. I've been in the social media sphere for quite a while, and a lot of my friends were in it, and I tried to fit myself into this mold, specifically their mold — like fashion girl, beauty, makeup. I was forcing myself to do it. It was not working. I lost myself. 

And then I saw on TikTok so many people, these creators, inspiring me. They're at home being themselves, being quirky. I was like, "Oh my God, I love them. I want to be like them." They're putting themselves out there. I was like, "I want to do that." I know I have a loud, crazy personality, so one day I was like, "I'm going to do it." Then I did it, and then in eight days grew a million followers — I was like, "I think this is what I'm supposed to do." 

So that's how it started, and then it grew. I'm still getting my foot in it.

That's amazing — congrats. I was looking through some of your videos. I saw that you have a variety, from personal ones to comedic ones to food ones. Do you have a certain type of video that you like creating or filming the most?

Yeah. My favorite videos are definitely where I'm sitting in my car, eating something and giving some life lessons that I've learned in life, because I wasn't always the most happy-go-lucky human. I was in a dark period, and I found a lot of times that what helped me the most was reading books and listening to podcasts and taking in a lot of thought leaders' lessons in life. These help me when I hear them over and over again. I always play them in the background. I was like, "I want to share these," because I actually played them for myself in the morning. If I can listen to it and then help these people too ... Because it's always nice — we always need a little pep talk. Those are my favorite videos. I actually have them on repeat all the time.

Do you think that your fans respond well to those types of videos?

They do. When I go through the comments and they say it helped them or they leave me a DM, I seriously am like, "We're all humans at the end of the day and just trying to get through life in any way possible." It really inspires me to keep going. It motivates me.

You can definitely see the fun and energetic side of you in your videos. How do you go about choosing which foods or brands you feature? I saw you did some big candy haul, and they sent you candy. That looked fun.

A lot of the food that I try on my TikTok is stuff that I'm curious about because I'm a curious person. A lot of things I try for the first time. The candy one, I wanted to try it and then give my first general impression. It became this whole series and blew up, and I was like, "Oh my gosh," but I love helping small businesses. If they want to send me something, I'd love to share it.

I want to help everyone grow and win. That's what I love. I like to show some things that I love to do — some things that are scary in the Asian culture to people who aren't necessarily Asian, like a century egg. It's scary looking. It's a dark egg — it looks like a moldy egg. I love to share my first opinion on it, because I feel like I'm a bridge where I love to share. It's not necessarily weird or gross. It's just someone else's culture you're not used to. Giving my first impression on [things] — that's what I really love to do.

TikTok is a great outlet for that, so that's awesome. Are there any recipes that may have been passed down to you that you still enjoy making, maybe through your heritage or that you could do in general?

I live alone, so I don't get to cook that much, but something I make probably two [or] three times a week is Kimchi-Jjigae. It's basically a Korean kimchi soup, and you can add tofu or meat or whatever you want in it. I'm a soup gal, so I need to have that two times a week. But that's one of them, and I love the Korean soy-marinated eggs. [They're] simple things, but I always have it in my fridge.

You said you had that in your fridge, but is there one food or beverage that you have to have in the kitchen at all times?

I need to have a large jar of kimchi in my fridge. I'll probably open that jar three or four times a day, just [to] snack on it. I eat it with everything, without a doubt, because it's a nice palate cleanser.

Would you say that's your go-to snack food, then, if you had to pick one?

Yes. Seaweed, rice, and kimchi is my go-to snack every day.

Do you have one go-to fast food order, and which restaurant is it from?

In-N-Out. It's because I've been craving it lately, but my order is a double-double, animal-style, grilled, whole grilled onions, chopped chilis. For my French fries, I get extra, extra, extra well done. I like them to be crunchy chips because I'm a textural person. That's it — and a Sprite. I would love a shake, but I can't pronounce the one word, "Neopatolitan."

Neapolitan?

Yeah, that one. I cannot pronounce it. My brain just [malfunctions]. It doesn't click, so I don't order it. Sprite — that's my order.

When it comes to TikTok, how long does it normally take for you to create your videos?

Editing and then putting it up, [it takes] maybe an hour. I film it, and it's hard sometimes. Actually, it might take longer, because I never film with a certain intention or a storyline. I create it after I'm editing, and then I'm like, "Oh, this could be the storyline." So I film whatever and then create something after. I don't know.

So you imagine it and then it comes to fruition rather than planning out your week?

Everything's really organic and I'm just living life, and then I'll tell something after.

When it comes to your fans, what food do you think gets the best response? Especially the candy one — I liked that video because the candy was crunchy, and I was like, "What is this candy?"

I agree. It was really exciting and fun for me because I've never had freeze-dried candy. When it's freeze-dried, it doesn't look like itself. You're eating this round ball of styrofoam-iness, but it's taffy. So it's a mind game too, but it's fun. I didn't know caramel balled up that big and exploded. I'm actually doing another series because I'm working with the company now. They're like, "What candies do you want to be freeze-dried? We'll do it." 

But I'm really happy for them. They're messaging me — I just got a message. They were like, "We hired more people. Can you not post any videos? We have to fill all these orders." I'm like, "Oh my God."