This TikTok influencer is quitting to work 9-to-5, and expects to earn less

TikTok star Ana Wolfermann says she sacrificing fame (and possibly money) to take on a regular 9-to-5 job.

Wolfermann told Fortune in an interview that she began building her social media audience when she was a freshman in college, and the work paid off because she now has over 960,000 followers on TikTok and 116,000 followers on Instagram. 

Wolfermann told Fortune that her job was a dream for many young people and was brimming with opportunity. 

“Part of the reason why so many people idolize social media, and want to make it their full-time job, is because it pays very well and it comes with a lot of incredible opportunities,” she said.

“That’s why there’s so much power in it, and there’s a lot of money in businesses and in marketing and definitely [more than] any other job that I would have gotten as a new grad.”

But she’s now giving up influencing to find a regular corporate job in an industry she’s passionate about and expects to make less than she did in a year as an influencer. 

“I don’t think it’ll pay me more than my yearly influencer salary,” she said, but “there’s a really nice feeling about having something steady.”

“As an influencer, I can only assume I’ll make as much this year as I made last year,” she added, without sharing details of her earnings with Fortune.

Part of her dissatisfaction with social media stemmed from a lack of fulfillment.

“I felt myself becoming more superficial … there was nothing to my content outside of my life,” she said. 

“I want to call attention to that, because I think so many young girls idolize the idea of sharing their life on the internet. You’ll ultimately become self-obsessed because — what you’re doing, who you’re hanging out with, what you look like — become your priority. It’s a little dystopian,” she added.

Some creators are also making thousands of dollars on TikTok through its new creativity program, which is still in beta.

But being a TikTok star has disadvantages, including inconsistent pay and success hinging on consistent popularity. 

Fitness influencer Taylor Olsen told BI she got a corporate job in 2023 because she was almost canceled on TikTok.

She explained that a fellow creator who met her said online that she had “mean girl” vibes, which lost her roughly 100,000 TikTok followers and 40,000 Instagram followers. People also reported her account and it was taken down for six months. 

Olsen said: “Now, if I lost all my followers tomorrow, I still have a job. And I generally care less what people think because I know I have another purpose.”