‘Ripped away’: 23yo’s $70k nightmare

Natalie had just booked an expensive holiday when a $70k reality hit her hard and fast and everything was “ripped away.”

Natalie Sinead had just booked a holiday when she opened her phone to discover she’d lost $70,000 overnight when her TikTok was suddenly deleted.

The 23-year-old is a full-time influencer who earns income online by creating content for brands on TikTok.

Realising her TikTok account was gone wasn’t just devastating; it was alarming.

Her social media account had over 100,000 followers at the time, and then “all of my income was essentially gone.”

“I was absolutely devastated, and I actually went into a full blown panic attack as soon as I saw the account was banned,” she told news.com.au.

“The first few days were rough and my mental health ever since hadn’t been in the best shape. Especially since I received a lot of hate from people almost being happy about seeing me have a hurdle like this.”

The account was deleted because she’d posted multiple videos of her riding a scooter without a helmet.

Natalie had just booked a holiday. Picture: Instagram/nataliesinead

She reckons she’s lost at least $70,000. Picture: Instagram/nataliesinead

It also couldn’t have come at a worse time,

“The day before yesterday, I dropped a f**ked amount of money on a holiday because I was like, ‘I’m going to treat myself for a holiday’ because I had a lot coming in … now it has stopped.”

The 23-year-old said she was shocked that everything could be “ripped away” overnight, and now she’s trying to rebuild her social media profile by creating a new account and starting from scratch.

She been posting on both Instagram and TikTok every day, and her new account has already racked up 17,000 followers.

“It’s disheartening as it’s nowhere near where it was but I’m very grateful for the support I have,” she explained.

“Luckily for me, the community I built is proving to be strong, and it’s clear that although this has happened, it’s not over.”

She said her social media journey isn’t “over.” Picture: Instagram/nataliesinead

Losing her account has changed her work Picture: Instagram/nataliesinead

The only silver lining in the whole thing is that it wasn’t her only source of income, although it did make up the bulk of it.

She’s also a user-generated creator (UGC), someone who creates content for brands that look organic.

“Luckily it wasn’t my only source of income as I sell digital products, coach other content creators and create UGC for brands so I’m able to continue working in the online space,” she admitted.

However, it has drastically slowed down the amount of work she’s getting and the amount of money she’s making.

“It’s changed how I work currently, I was receiving inbounds daily from brands to work together and it’s slowed down a fair amount,” she said.

“I’m focusing on keeping my UGC side of my business running as well as continuing to build a second account.”