2025 Annual CityScope® Spring Issue
From fashion to hiking to beekeeping content and more, these five local influencers are gaining a following on social media in Chattanooga and beyond. Read on to learn what inspired them to begin their influencer journeys, what a day in the life looks like, and hear some of the special experiences they’ve had along the way.
I share unique things to do around Chattanooga that are focused on the outdoors, seasonal happenings, local farms, day trips, getaways, and unique vacation rentals. I share to help both locals and visitors explore all our area has to offer in each season.
I was born and raised in Chattanooga and grew up hiking the trails, swimming in the local creeks, and boating on the Tennessee River. Chattanooga’s beauty is unmatched, and it’s such a special place. Growing up, my friends would tell me that I needed to be a tour guide because I was always showing them the coolest places. So six years ago, my husband and I started a guided hiking tour business to help people visiting Chattanooga explore our area. A lot of times on tours, guests would ask what else they can do on their trip, so my social media became a way to fulfill that need of showcasing all of the unique things to do here.
Finding cool outdoor places or farms to post about, seasonal offerings around town, and seeing what the community is asking for by connecting with others on Instagram and Facebook.
I genuinely love creating videos and taking photos. What brings me the greatest joy is positively impacting small family-owned businesses.
The most prominent one is definitely Rosie Mae’s Alpaca Farm. They opened their alpaca farm and coffee shop in late 2022, and I visited them in Spring of 2023 and posted a Reel about them. The next day, they had over 600 people show up to their farm. The Reel went viral with over a million views and they ended up getting featured on TV segments and in the local newspapers. It truly changed their entire business from one post. We now partner with them to do private tours on their farm with our out of town hiking guests!
I create realistic, lifestyle-focused content all about vintage, secondhand, and thrifted treasures. My goal is to make learning about the secondhand lifestyle both fun and approachable. By blending education with entertainment, I aim to introduce thrifting in a way that feels relatable and inspiring, especially for those who are just starting their journey.
My inspiration for building my brand as a content creator stems from a passion for bridging the past with the present. I aim to introduce younger generations to the beauty and value of vintage while promoting ethical and sustainable shopping practices through thrifting and estate sales.
Finding my specialty was my first step. Am I going to focus on antiques, or all vintage? I had to figure out what my niche was. Once I did, I began creating content around that and pitched myself to brands for partnerships.
Educational, entertaining, and relatable.
Be 100% yourself. Don’t blend in – stand out by being YOU.
Depending on the day and store schedules, I’ll go to a flea market or thrift store after I take the kids to school. Then I’ll go home and pack orders, work on upcoming sales, and photograph inventory. I also host live sales during the day. I enjoy having a flexible schedule and being my own boss.
My number one goal is to launch a second edition of my digital magazine called Vintage Living Collective.
I create and share fashion, hair, beauty, and lifestyle content. My brand originally started as a natural hair page, focused on sharing tips to grow, maintain, and style thick, natural, curly hair. After a few years, I began sharing fashion/outfit looks and beauty tips for others to be able to recreate or get inspiration from when building their wardrobe.
When I started, not many women that looked like me had tapped into growing and embracing their natural hair texture. There weren’t many products on the market, and women weren’t as confident to rock their natural hair, nor was it as accepted in many job fields like it is now. Therefore, I was able to attract and build an online community for women to be inspired and feel like they weren’t alone in their journey.
Chattanooga consists of many phenomenal locally-owned businesses, thriving entrepreneurs, and other creatives that welcome the art of influencing and collaboration. This alone has allowed me to enter spaces where the work that I do is welcomed with open arms. Not only does content creation benefit my personal brand, but it also benefits the brands and business that I support. Through the power of social media, as influencers we attract new customers and clientele and expand our reach, which is why many are so supportive! I’m beyond grateful.
I believe that anyone can create content because literally anything and everything is and can be turned into some form of content; based on your creativity and perception, it can be impactful in many ways. But, to have the ability to inspire and influence other people’s lives, while leaving a long-lasting impact behind an app, is a unique skill. Content creators often times aim to educate and entertain, while influencers strive to drive a specific action. I believe that someone can be successful at both.
Domestically Blissful is all about creating joy in family life. I share easy DIYs along with big home projects, home décor inspiration for different seasons and holidays, and hundreds of homemade and semi-homemade recipe tutorials. You can also find travel tips and ideas, “life latelys,” and hope and encouragement for daily life and faith.
I started my blog in 2013 with the encouragement of friends and family to share full tutorials of the DIYs and recipes I had shared on Facebook. I had planned to get a master’s in history, but I decided to take a leap of faith and switch directions to a pursuit in helping and inspiring women online.
That it’s easy and takes little time, effort, or work. For those who do it for fun, it might be, but this is my full-time job and a small business that I take seriously. Brands and companies have limited budgets and I do my best to take each partnership very seriously and create the best content I can.
Quality content and consistency. While some creators and influencers grow overnight, for me it took years. And while some people say blogging is dead and there is no need for a website, I must say I disagree. Having a website not only adds to your credibility as a content creator, but it allows your followers and readers to easily find your tutorials (new and old) and get extra tips and details.
We moved into our home before it was fully finished (no closet shelving, pantry cabinets, laundry room cabinets, living room built-ins, library shelves, etc.), so we have a lot of big DIY projects ahead of us. I also have a full slate of new recipes scheduled for this year to film, so lots of fun content coming up!
My content is centered around an empowering, realistic, hands-on, and sensory-oriented approach to beekeeping. I am passionate about demystifying the craft by sharing both the beauty and challenges of working with bees. The goal of my content is to share a blend of scientific knowledge and sensory awareness, helping people connect with bees on a deeper level.
I wanted to inspire and educate people about beekeeping. I had a gut feeling that even non-beekeepers would be interested in beekeeping content, and it turns out I was right. When I got into beekeeping five years ago, I set out to tell stories of the everyday life of a beekeeper, not just the “highs” like collecting swarms or doing removals. I wanted people to know that beekeeping isn’t always about looking cute while collecting bees with your bare hands.
Chattanooga has been instrumental in supporting my beekeeping and content creation. From farmers markets to local businesses and social media followers eager to learn sustainable beekeeping practices, their encouragement fuels my passion. Financial support is often a difficult thing to obtain but I’ve had support from a few local businesses and groups from the beginning that have encouraged me by offering me a space to either teach, place hives, or sell my hive products.
The coolest memory is when Jamie Lee Curtis shared one of my videos saying “I feel like I have done nothing with my life,” and when actress Milla Jovovich followed me (she still does) and called me the queen bee! I’ve also had some great experiences with honeybee removals. Last year, another beekeeper and I got a giant swarm 25 feet up in a tree. When we pulled them down, thousands of bees fell on our heads! And neither of us were stung! I have met so many fascinating people and made some real friends through this experience.
