Courtesy of Emily Cole
- Emily Cole is a student athlete at Duke with more than 180,000 TikTok followers.
- She reached out to brands after starting her account and posting about nutrition and running.
- She spends up to 20 hours a week on content creation and doesn't post while out with friends.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Emily Cole, a 21-year-old influencer and student at Duke University. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I started running when I was in high school because both my sisters ran track, and as the youngest, I always found myself doing what they did. I fell in love with it, and by my senior year, I'd qualified for my first state cross-country meet and was favored as a top contender.