My friends and family said they'd seen my video, now it's my career

A man turned a potentially embarrassing moment into his full-time job.

Patrick Lewin, 25, from Walton, said had to deal with "annoying managers and customers" during his many years working in retail and hospitality. When he found himself with some free time in May 2022, he came up with an idea.

Speaking to the ECHO, he said: “I trained in musical theatre. I was really lucky and booked a job after graduating. But there was a bit of a hiatus in my contract. I was a bit bored in my flat.

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“I was playing around with TikTok. I had an idea which I thought was funny but didn’t think other people would find it as much.

“It was a retail video, it was talking about how sales assistants on the tills gossip. I’d worked in retail for five years and had this experience.”

Patrick, who was still working part-time in hospitality at this point, decided to film a comedy sketch based on this and post it on TikTok. He was surprised by the reaction.

He said: “It kind of blew up. It got over 3m views overnight. It started something really exciting.

“My initial reaction was to take the video down. I was getting messages from friends and family saying they'd seen the video. They started saying their friends had seen it.

“I didn't want to make a fool of myself on the internet. But I was getting loads of comments asking for a part two and suggesting ideas. I thought, you know what, I'll keep it going, it's a bit of fun. It ended up really taking off.”

Patrick feels his content focussing on the downsides of working in retail and hospitality serve an important purpose. He said: “The first time I made that video, I thought my experience was unique. I didn't realise it was an experience that so many people deal with.

“I do a lot of toxic managers in retail skits. It highlights to people that you shouldn't put up with these situations. I have so many people commenting on my videos with their stories. It’s a way that we can raise awareness.

“I’m moving to doing a lot towards personal content. I want to start doing a lot more theatre content. But the skits are my bread and butter and I'm going to keep doing that.”

Patrick’s content became so successful that he had a decision to make last year, and is happy with how things have progressed since then. He said: “I went full-time back in December. I took the plunge and left my job.

“There have definitely been challenges. The social aspect, you miss out on being with co-workers. You don’t have people to bounce off, to speak to, to relate to.

“It can be difficult managing your schedule as well and making sure you’re on top of your workload. That was something I really struggled with at the start, being my own boss and making sure I was meeting deadlines.

“There’s also the money aspect - when you work in a creative field and work freelance, it's not a steady job, you don't get a paycheck every month. It can be a bit sporadic. You don't know when your next bit of money will come in.

“But I love the freedom. I'm able to attend really cool events. I've met so many people I really look up to.

“I also love my community. A lot of them come from retail backgrounds and so we can really connect on different retail stories.

“I’m still actively auditioning for shows but with TikTok, I never knew it could be a career. It's taken over a little bit but I still want to do musical theatre as well.”

His TikTok account now boasts over 560,000 followers, with total likes on his videos exceeding 27m. Patrick now lives in London for work opportunities, but still misses Liverpool and tries to return to his home city at least once a month. He hopes his experience can show others how you can use frustrating situations to your advantage.

He said: “I say to everyone I meet, there’s an audience for everyone on TikTok. Whether you're a mum, a teacher, whatever you do, it's an amazing way to build your skills. Working in front of a camera, video editing - it can open you up to so many opportunities.

“It's crazy when I think back to those times. Some situations, I can’t believe I used to put up with. It’s a real full circle moment.

“I was once working in retail and having negative experiences. Now I'm able to use that to have a full-time income as a self-employed person. It's amazing how two years can change your life.

“I like to encourage everyone to do social media. It’s changed my life for the better. If you've not tried it, give it and go.”

You can find out more about Patrick’s work here.

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