【Dead Again】

Few creators can Dead Againturn internet ephemera into something intimate, but that’s exactly what Ayamé Ponder does. Her deadpan TikTok reactions to breaking bottles and hydraulic presses, her quick "smash or pass" decisions, and her singing when she found someone attractive turned mundane internet moments into emotional touchpoints, drawing in millions of viewers.

She's built a platform that’s as entertaining as it is unexpectedly heartfelt, and once you speak to her, it's easy to understand why. Ayamé is warm. She's thoughtful, she's funny, and her creative drive seems to seep out of her through each sentence. And, potentially most important, she's a riot. So it makes perfect sense that she found a way to fuse viral storytelling with real-world impact — and somehow make it entertaining, too.

For about six months, Ayamé was the center of a very public courtship with fellow TikTok creators Yuval and Oliver Mills. The trio made a collective 50-some videos with over 189.6 million views. It wasn't clear if the love triangle was real or not, but it didn't really matter: each view helped raise money for families affected by the war in Gaza, with funds channeled through initiatives like Pass the Hat and Operation Olive Branch. At one point, Yuval raised $200,000 in a single day, teasing a trip to the UK to visit Ayamé.

Today, Ayamé continues to donate all earnings from the TikTok Creator Fund. She has collaborated with brands such as Loewe, Boss, Samsung, Audible, Spotify, and The GRAMMYs. In 2023, she launched her podcast, In Ayamé We Trust, and has since hosted premieres for Warner Bros. and Netflix. TikTok has recognized her as one of the UK’s rising stars.

In conversation with Mashable, she opens up about what it means to use her platform for good, how she navigates burnout, and her next creative projects. As she puts it: "It’s good to be hot and on the right side of history."

Mashable: You first caught a lot of attention with your reaction videos. It’s easy for creators to get stuck in a niche once something works, but you’ve managed to keep doing those while evolving past them. How did you avoid getting boxed in?

Ayamé:It was difficult. When I first started creating content, I fell into it. First with one niche, which was to do Harry Potterand Christmas, and then carried on and fell into another niche, which was the "sing if you find attractive." And then fell into another niche, which was smash or pass, and then it was the [breaking] bottles. So, essentially, it's all been reactionary content. But I've had a big fear of being trapped in those niches.

I'm still finding it difficult to branch out, especially if people really took to my reaction content or to the obsession love triangle I was in last year. They take to specific things. Sometimes when I do say, "Hey, I wanna juggle this week, please let me juggle," people are like, "No, go back to the bottles." So that's sometimes difficult, but you kind of keep persevering. I've been quite lucky in that each niche I've fallen into, I've still been able to showcase my personality. So it's not too far of a jump.

You did. And now you have this platform with millions of followers. Was there a specific type of content or moment that shifted things for you?

The first fat step I'd say was when I did the "sing if you find attractive" [trend], that got me to my first million followers. I don't understand how it got so big, but I'm glad it did. And then the second big fat launch was the reactionary bottles and the hydraulic press. People lost their minds [over that], which was great. Each jump has been my next million. Funny enough, the love triangle wasn't my biggest jump, so those men actually got bigger jumps from me.

Last year was when I really found my team. Last year was a massive jump because it included that strategy, brand image, moving into the fashion space, and moving into writing and acting. 

When you got your team, is that when you realized you could turn this into a full-time career? 

No, I'd been full-time before having this team. This is the team that will stick [with me] for the rest of my life. I went full-time six months after my first viral video. So, like mid-2022 is when I went full-time. But last year was the year when it was like, "I'm gonna be a star." So that was having a team and a strategy and moving into different spaces. That was when it was like, [brings fake cigar up to her mouth and puts on an old-timey newboy accent] "Oh, you're big time baby."

Speaking of moving into different spaces, congrats on the first season of the podcast! How do you figure out what creative lane to pursue next? Is it instinct, opportunity, or something else?

It is difficult, and I feel like most creators kind of take the same route. Creative people just want their finger in every pot and feel as though they can do everything. They just want to be creative.

My two strongest ones have always been acting and writing. Historically, I've always loved writing. It's been a natural progression for me. Writing, for me, is a big creative outlet. If I can't do silly videos all the time, I'll always want to write — try acting, as well. I really wanna get into modeling. 

Most creators are polymaths. They want to do everything and be creative in as many fields as they can. At one point, I may tape a banana to a wall and sell it for $3 billion. Who knows where it'll go?

F*ck, marry, kill: Acting, writing, TikTok videos?

I'd say marry writing. I really just love it. I'll have intercourse with acting because it's a big dream, but like friends with benefits, regular intercourse. I would kill TikTok videos. But I do love the chaos of TikTok, so can I just keep it in my basement?

Do you ever get in creative ruts? How do you break out of that?

When I get in my creative moods, I get really inspired, and then I think I'm going to write it all. I'm going to write a feature film, I'm going to write a documentary. I use all of my brain power on it. And then I have no funny left. So that happened recently: A couple of weeks ago, I was like, "I can't write anymore. I can't. I have nothing left in my mind." 

To get out of it, you have to wait for it to pass. I don't think there's, personally, anything that I can do. I'm not like a lawnmower that you can take into the garage, give it a kick, really rev it up, jumpstart it. I can't do that. So I just let it pass. I went for a walk. I went for several walks. One thing leads to another. 

I don't fear burnout, which I guess is maybe a bad thing because I like to burn myself out to then get it back, you know? Now that I think about it, I don't know if that's healthy, but alas, it's worked so far.

Do you tend to write more in the mornings or in the evenings? Do you follow a schedule?

I'm more funny in the evenings.

Oh?

I'm writing quite different things. I do comedy usually in the evening, and I prefer to do the novels in the morning. Anything drama in the morning.

You have helped raise a lot of funds for Palestinian families. How has that experience changed the way that you think about your platform? Not necessarily the art that you create, but the power you have? 

It made me really attuned to the fact that I have such a big platform, which is kind of silly, but last year, I personally raised over a million pounds for Palestinian families. I was just trying to reach these goals of raising as much money as possible, making people aware, and doing as much good as possible.

I have a bit of a controversial opinion, I'd say, and not many creators agree with me, but I feel a personal responsibility to be vocal and be on the right side of history and do good because I'm lucky enough to have this platform. I'd feel almost irresponsible not using it for good on some level. I'm not a political creator. I don't do a lot of political content, but when there are things that are screaming at you to speak on, I think a lot of other people in the industry also do the same. It's important that we be authentic and also just be positive and do good. It doesn't hurt to do good. It's good to be hot and on the right side of history. That's my little tagline.

I think a lot of creators are afraid of backlash or losing brand deals if they get political. Was that ever a fear for you?

I'm gonna do it. Don't even tell me no. I'm gonna post it right now. And so I did that. When I started getting some comments that were a bit like, "Hey, what about this?" I'd be like, "Oh, OK. Maybe I might get a little bit of backlash from that side." But then that was quite a passing moment. Don't care! Because this is the good work. A lot of brands [are run by] regular people, and they also believe what I believe.

Throughout the whole time that I've been vocal, I've also been vocal about brands that I won't work with just because of the BDS [a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel]. But for some reason, those brands will still contact me. Nine times out of ten, they just want the platform. 

Has the potential for a TikTok ban in the U.S. changed your approach as a creator in the UK? 

A little, a tiny bit, just because a lot of my audience is based in the U.S., so I did feel as though my child was getting ripped from me when you guys left for those 12 hours. So, yes, it has made me a little bit more conscious. I do post a lot more on Instagram now as well. As for the creator rewards program with TikTok, all of that gets donated. 

Creators are often at the mercy of these tech platforms — your income, your reach, your whole connection to your community can disappear overnight. How do you sit with that anxiety?

It doesn't scare me that much because I feel we're under the control of a lot of tech people that we don't even know. TikTok and social media are ever-changing. It's just this moving beast. Remember Vine?