Aba Asante is back, and she’s ready to take her place as one of the industry’s newest leading content creators. After taking a three-year break at her peak, Aba returned, choosing to go full force into rebuilding her brand, moving to New York to focus on her career. At just 16, the first-generation Ghanaian American and Indiana native went viral on TikTok for a simple lip sync video that garnered over 200 million views. Now at 22, Aba has amassed 6.6 million followers across all of her platforms, engaging her Gen Z audience through POV stories and beauty and lifestyle content with a comedic edge.
Since starting her journey, the content creator has worked with brands such as Sephora, Netflix, Dunkin’ Donuts, YouTube, Paramount, and more. Beyond content creation, Aba has been dedicated to donating to the JEQ Foundation (Joseph and Elizabeth Quansah Foundation), an organization focused on bringing individuals from Ghana to the U.S. for school.
The influencer spoke with Her Agenda about her break from content creation and her return, how social media has always been her passion, and growing up with ADHD.
Her Agenda: How did you begin your journey into content creation?
Aba Asante: My journey started when I was 16. At the height of COVID, I was like every other teenager, hopped onto TikTok, and I started making videos a little bit different than the videos I make now. They were just like cutesy dance videos, but I’ve always had a love for makeup, so I started leaning into the makeup and beauty content and building a community there. Then I had this one viral video that blew up, and that’s what skyrocketed my whole career. My journey has been full of ups and downs. I took a two or three-year break when I was in college a few years ago, and this is my first full year really doing it.
Her Agenda: Growing up, what were some of your passions, and where did you see yourself headed career-wise?
Aba Asante: Growing up, I had and still have really bad ADHD. I was interested in anything related to creativity. I loved to exert my body in sports. I played volleyball and track and field growing up. My passions were just spending time with other people and friends. I’m really extroverted, so anything that I could do with other people, that was what I loved doing. I also loved social media. That was my first true passion. I didn’t have a phone until I was 16. When I was 13 or 14, I would record on my dad’s MacBook, talking to myself. I guess my first passion was social media content creation without even realizing it. I eventually went to school per my parents’ request, and I studied business management and marketing. I always knew deep down that when I graduated, I could finally just fully dive into it and move to New York and do the whole thing.
Her Agenda: What has content creation taught you about yourself, and how has it helped you to tell different stories?
Aba Asante:I think the biggest thing with putting yourself out there to the whole world is that you just have to be open to criticism. I had to work on becoming more confident in myself and how I articulated myself. Growing up, I wasn’t the best with words. I would just say any thought that came to my mind, and this is something that I still do, which is why I think my audience loves that so much. It’s taught me to keep on being resilient and confident, and also to instill confidence in my followers. A lot of my followers look and are just like me, so I think that’s super important. I always had the same mindset when it came to creativity and being a little bit outside of the box. Now I just have a better way of explaining and showing it, with my words and my platform. I always try to do it in a fun way, and also acknowledge that my audience is primarily Gen Z. I’m learning to translate that into our Gen Z language.
Her Agenda: What has been your favorite brand collaboration so far?
Aba Asante: I love all my collabs. A big one for me was working with Sephora. That was major because I grew up going to Sephora. So just working with that brand, that was really full circle for me. Vaseline was another really, really good one because I also grew up using Vaseline. My mom splattered that on my face growing up. Working with them was super iconic. All of the brands that have reached out to me, and that I’ve collaborated with, have been brands that I align with when it comes to their goals as a brand, being inclusive. I always try to align myself with brands that I actually use or I would actually recommend.
Her Agenda: How do you hope your audience feels while watching your videos?
Aba Asante: I only hope that they feel comfortable and entertained. I feel like that’s the only two things that I can guarantee that whoever’s watching my videos will look like they’d be entertained. I feel like that’s the least I can do because I feel like not a lot of influencers now are super open with their personality. I’m okay with, and I actually encourage showing up not the best, showing up ugly, because that’s how everyone is. It’s so boring to be perfect. That’s what I hope they feel, just to feel comfortable and entertained.
Her Agenda: You took a break for a while, what was that time away like for you, and how did you feel when you finally returned to content creation?
Aba Asante: I was sad, and I also felt lost. I was double-majoring, and I was also playing collegiate volleyball, so I had no time. One thing about me, I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Libra, but I want to do everything 100% to my fullest capabilities. I knew that I couldn’t do that with social media. So I’m like, you know what? If it’s in the universe’s plan, I’ll come back to it after I graduate. Taking a break was definitely needed for my mental health. I feel like it helped me come back with a full-fledged plan on how I can become an influencer again. I think that taking the time to learn and then pairing that with my degree in marketing really helped me.
Her Agenda: How do you use your background in marketing in business to better your content creation in your career?
Aba Asante: It’s a good mix of staying relatable and being myself, but just refining it a little bit. That’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned after signing with management: be yourself and curate that community, but also refine it to be brand-friendly. I try not to curse. I try not to use any crazy sounds because, obviously, this is a business for me as well. I try to protect my brand, but I feel like brands do notice that I’m being intentional with what I’m doing there.
Her Agenda: Throughout your career, what is a testimonial you received from a fan that really resonated with you?
Aba Asante: That’s my favorite thing to get. Weekly, I get messages, especially from fellow Ghanaian girls who are first-generation that live here in the states. They tell me that they love to see how freely I live my life and how open I am. I get comments like that, comments from girls that don’t feel super confident in their skin complexion, or have some quote-unquote insecurities. Having people feel comfortable enough to take that extra step to message and not just watch, that means the most to me. Regardless of anything, that makes me super, super happy. Whenever I talk about where I grew up in Indiana, they’re like that’s so random, no one would ever expect that. There are definitely other girls who live in those predominantly white areas that feel like they’re alone, so seeing someone who can talk about it and make it out okay, I think that’s really inspiring.
Her Agenda: What advice do you have for girls who may be feeling alone?
Aba Asante: I would tell those who are still living in Indiana to always be confident in themselves. At the end of the day, you will always have yourself. Also, try your hardest to find a community. Sometimes it’s hard to feel scared or shy about it, but just try your best. You may not know it, but someone in that community feels alone, too, so keep pushing on. I think also being delusional has gotten me this far. Even when I was, I guess, an ugly duckling, I always thought I was a princess. I always knew what I wanted, so just making sure you’re a little bit delusional.
Her Agenda: Since starting your journey as a content creator, how have you evolved? And what are some of your biggest accomplishments?
Aba Asante: I think being able to bring my page back up. I abandoned my followers for almost three years. I actually lost, I think, 200,000 followers. I was down to 6.4K. I was able to bring it back up to 6.6 million this year with hard work. I think my biggest accomplishment is being able to start afresh with a new lens and building my community back up again, and also taking risks. I moved to New York right after graduation, and I was broke. At the end of college, I picked up a retail job because I wanted to save as much [as possible] to move to New York. I made all the steps, all the scary steps, to fulfill my dream. I think that’s my biggest accomplishment, but hard work always. I literally clock in to this job 9 to 5. It’s more like nine to nine in the morning. It’s a lot, but I love it.
Her Agenda: Now I know that you donate to the JEQ Foundation, so tell me about the foundation and what you love about it.
Aba Asante: The foundation is based in Ghana. What they do is they sponsor less fortunate children in Ghana with education and eventually education in the United States as well, for college. My parents moved here. My mom moved here for medical school and went to NYU, and she talked about how she wished there was something like this that could’ve helped her out back in the day. I think that’s super important to me.
Her Agenda: How would you like to expand your brand in the future?
Aba Asante: My end goal is to become a business owner in any capacity. Obviously, I worked on more of the brand and business side. I worked at Crocs for a few months after graduating on the social media side. I feel like I have the best of both worlds because I am an influencer, and I also work on the back end of things. I see myself becoming a business owner and possibly starting my own management and talent agency. I have an idea that I’m working on, so that’s something that I would love to come to fruition in the next few years. I’m always keeping my foot on the pedal, never taking breaks.
[Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length and clarity.]
