An American woman quit her high-flying job in investment banking to do TikTok full-time – just to be faced with the US ban.
Danielle Pheloung, 27, joins hundreds of other creators who ditched the corporate grind to make it big on the social media app – but are now facing an uncertain future after January 19.
If the Supreme Court doesn’t block the federal law that forces the platform to cut ties with its China-based parent company, the viral video-sharing company will stop its distribution in the country on Sunday.
In a video poking fun of the situation, the influencer quipped that she’d be calling Goldman Sachs – her old employer – if the ban goes through.
‘How y’all expect me to act,’ Danielle, who is now running her own company, DEP Communications LLC, wrote.
The New York based social media star gathered her following of 431,600 subscribers – with some 20.5 million likes across all her videos – after posting vlogs and office fashion videos.
Viewers couldn’t get enough of her chic ‘old money’ style and early morning routines, filled with 5am pilates classes and healthy breakfasts.
Much like many TikTokers who venture into full-time content creation, Danielle had a normal job before her foray online.
Danielle Pheloung, 27, joins hundreds of other creators who ditched the corporate grind to make it big on the social media app – but are now facing an uncertain future after January 19
Viewers couldn’t get enough of her chic ‘old money’ style and early morning routines, filled with 5am pilates classes and healthy breakfasts
Much like many TikTokers who venture into full-time content creation, Danielle had a normal job before her foray online
She was at Morgan Stanley from 2019 to 2021, before moving onto Goldman Sachs in January 2023. In June last year, according to her LinkedIn, she set up her own communications brand.
Her last corporate role was listed as PWM Associate, which as reported by ZipRecruiter would earn her from $83,500 to $140,000 ( £68,371 to £114,635) a year.
Speaking on the Gals On The Go podcast in September, Danielle appeared with her twin sister Brigette – who is also an influencer – and they spoke about their start in social media.
Danielle revealed: ‘Brigette would tell me every day, “post your work outfits, look at this girl, that could be you”… And I would always be like, “oh no”.
‘And I don’t know what it was, one day I saw a video and I was like wait, literally why is this not me…
‘I started posting content but very like, infrequently, and it would do so well because it was very relatable.
In one clip, Kat Clark – an Aussie TikToker who vlogs her life as a mother – said she’s sad to ‘lose 3.5 million besties’
Much like Danielle, Bryce Lapham quit his day job to pursue social media. But in a video in March, he urged others who are in the same boat to not fall into a ‘victim mindset’
‘Like, she’s going to the office, this is her morning routine, this is what she’s wearing to work…
‘That was my niche, corporate wear, and having fun with your life outside of your nine to five.’
There are tens of millions of American creators on TikTok who are now facing an uncertain future. However while some appear to be panicking – with countless tutorials on how to download all your videos to repost them on Instagram, as well as final goodbyes being posted – others are more relaxed.
Much like Danielle, Bryce Lapham quit his day job to pursue social media.
But in a video in March, he urged others who are in the same boat to not fall into a ‘victim mindset’.
‘Okay, yes, I quit my job three days ago because of TikTok,’ he said. ‘TikTok made me quit my job.
‘You know why I quit my job? It’s not because I made $80,000 in less than 30 days on this platform utilising the TikTok shop affiliate programme, no.
‘It’s because I have now been dealt a hand that I need to f***ing run with. Opportunity knocks quietly.
In another clip, American-French social media star Condiment Claire – who is based in the UK and has released a recipe book out thanks to her TikTok fame – addressed the situation in a recent post
‘And this time it came kicking down my door like the police were after me with a warrant.’
Bryce – who has four children and said he had a normal corporate job before TikTok – told viewers he was now investing the money he made to continue ‘generating’ money, and was focusing on making as much money before the ban.
And it’s not just American creators who are lamenting the potential exodus of US users on the app.
UK-based and n creators have also been encouraging viewers to follow them on Instagram so that they can keep their fanbase across the Atlantic active.
In one clip, Kat Clark – an Aussie TikToker who vlogs her life as a mother – said she’s sad to ‘lose 3.5 million besties’.
‘I wanted to say a quick thank you to all my USA TikTok besties incase this is our final goodbye,’ she wrote.
‘You guys play a massive part in why my families life has changed the way it has… very grateful for each and everyone of you.
‘We have lots planned this year and of course would love to share our next chapter with you. So if you want you can find us on IG and YT we will be posting regularly on there. Ilysm.’
If the Supreme Court doesn’t block the federal law that forces TikTok to cut ties with ByteDance, its China-based parent company, the app will officially stop its distribution in the United States on January 19
In another clip, American-French social media star Condiment Claire – who is based in the UK and has released a recipe book out thanks to her TikTok fame – addressed the situation in a recent post.
‘Frankly, I don’t know what’s going to happen with TikTok in the US,’ she revealed.
‘But you know what, que sera, sera. Here are the facts. I live in London. I’m going to keep making TikTok videos because I can – and people do live other places than the United States.
‘For my US followers, I’ve started posting all of my TikToks on YT shorts recently just because I figured you may as well see it there.
‘I’m going to keep posting on Instagram and I still have y weekly substack – so like, life will go on.
‘It’s obviously very disappointing especially since my book comes out in the US in May so I’ll be on book tour… We’ll just have to see what happens guys.’
TikTok is just days away from being potentially banned across the United States, which could leave tens of millions of users in the dark.
On Friday, Supreme Court justices heard arguments on whether or not they should step in and pause the decision.
On Friday, justices heard arguments on whether or not they should step in and pause the decision – a decision in which TikTok considers to be a violation of free speech for its millions of American users in the nation
A decision that the app claims is a violation of free speech for its millions of American users in the nation.
If the Supreme Court doesn’t block the federal law that forces the platform to cut ties with its China-based parent company, TikTok will stop its distribution in the country on January 19.
But what would that mean for nearly 170 million chronic scrollers in the United States?
‘We go dark,’ Noel Francisco, a TikTok attorney, told justices on Friday.
‘Essentially, the platform shuts down.’
If ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, doesn’t sell the platform to a non-‘foreign adversary’, it will become illegal for American internet services to support or even distribute it.
Those who wish to access or download the platform from the app store will be unable to do so as it will be made completely inaccessible through internet browsers in America.
TikTok has argued that the decision is a violation of free speech for its millions of American users in the nation (pictured: Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance)
Although TikTok has called the measure a ‘total ban’, the app will not magically vanish off users phones if it already exists on their home page, People reported.
Pre-existing users may even be able to access its content after January 19 – but not without a catch.
The app would fail to update – including security patches and bug fixes – degrading the quality and making it more difficult to use overtime before it becomes completely unworkable.
A VPN, or a virtual private network that allows users to mask their current location, has been brought up as a possible ‘workaround’ method to access the app after the ban, ABC 7 reported.
But the method may pose larger problems for giant American internet companies, such as Apple or Google, who will face massive financial penalties for violating the law – meaning they may find other ways to clamp down to avoid heading in that route.
While thousands of users and creators continue to hold out hope that the ban will end up not taking effect, a majority of Supreme Court Justices appeared to be willing to rule against the cemented entertainment app.
Their motivations may be because they seemingly don’t feel as though the law creates an unconstitutional block to the nation’s right of speech since TikTok’s Chinese owners can simply sell the app.
‘The law is only targeted at this foreign corporation, which doesn’t have First Amendment rights,’ Justice Elena Kagan said at Friday’s hearing. Either way, an ultimate ruling is expected sooner rather than later, given the deadline coming up in less than two weeks.
Although TikTok has called the measure a ‘total ban’, the app will not magically vanish off users phones if it already exists on their home page and instead will fail to update
President Joe Biden signed the legislation last year after it overwhelmingly passed the hands of Congress.
The legislation is intended to force ByteDance to sell it over based on fears that China’s government can use the app’s data to manipulate or even harm the American people – ultimately posing a national security risk to the nation.
Conservative Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh focused on that exact risk – suggesting that the Chinese government can gather information on millions of American teenagers to eventually ‘develop spies, turn people, blackmail people’ when they grow older and attempt to work for security agencies or the military, the Times reported.
Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson agreed, suggesting that the law was less about speech than about association.
Jackson said that barring the app from associating with a Chinese company was similar to barring Americans from associating with foreign terrorist groups – again citing national security reasons.
But lawyers for TikTok have pushed back, criticizing the sell-or-ban ultimatum as ‘conceived and pushed through based on inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people’.
Noel Francisco, a lawyer representing the app and ByteDance, along with Jeffrey Fisher, a lawyer representing the app’s users, suggested that potential manipulation wasn’t enough to justify the law.
Francisco said that the government in a free country ‘has no valid interest in preventing foreign propaganda’ and constitutionally cannot keep American users from being ‘persuaded by Chinese misinformation’.
The legislation is intended to force ByteDance to sell it over based on fears that China’s government can use the app’s data to manipulate or even harm the American people – ultimately posing a national security risk to the nation
President-elect Donald Trump has also joined forces in pushing for a pause in the law from taking effect until after he’s back in the White House on January 20, despite once sharing a view that the app posed a national security risk
A majority of Supreme Court Justices appeared to be willing to rule against the cemented entertainment app – also citing potential national security issues
He added that the legislation is targeting the overall content of speech which isn’t permitted within the First Amendment.
‘The government just doesn’t get to say “national security” and the case is over,’ Fisher added on Friday.
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‘It’s not enough to say “national security” – you have to say “what is the real harm?”‘
But lower courts have concluded that the federal government had a valid interest in their beliefs that the app could create national security issues., People reported.
On Friday, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who was arguing on behalf of the government, said that for TikTok to operate as normal, the only solution was simply to sell it.
‘TikTok, if it were able to do so, could use precisely the same algorithm to display the same content by the same users,’ she noted.
‘All the act is doing is trying to surgically remove the ability of a foreign adversary nation to get our data and be able to exercise control over the platform.’
President-elect Donald Trump has also joined forces in pushing for a pause in the law from taking effect until after he’s back in the White House on January 20, despite once sharing a view that the app posed a national security risk, the Times reported.
Lawyers for TikTok have pushed back, criticizing the sell-or-ban ultimatum as ‘conceived and pushed through based on inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people’
Giant American internet companies, such as Apple or Google, will face massive financial penalties for violating the law
When describing what the ban will do in front of justices on Friday, Noel Francisco, a Tiktok attorney, said: ‘We go dark. Essentially, the platform shuts down’
Trump urged that he be given the time to ‘resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office’ in a brief he filed before the high court.
But the justices suggested that they didn’t take it seriously and appear unlikely to wait for the former president’s return to the Oval Office.
Other established social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and Google are expected to benefit from the ban as one of their biggest competitors would be out of the market.
However, the new law does require that TikTok provides users with their data and their personal published content upon request before the restrictions take place on January 19.
Other countries, including India, have additionally taken similar action against TikTok, People reported.
China has also followed suit with banning several massive US platforms, such as Facebook, Google and YouTube.