LIANA LAWRENCE – COVER STORY BY AMANA IFLAL
LIANA LAWRENCE – COVER STORY BY AMANA IFLAL
Liana Lawrence is a girl with both beauty and brains! This nineteen year old is a force to reckon with, since her rise to fame on TikTok. She plans to become a clinical psychologist and is majoring in psychology at the University of Melbourne. Liana loves baking, dancing, creating content and, most of all, she loves her dog! Her content is light, fun and enjoyable and she’s slowly becoming the face of many brands in Sri Lanka!
Here’s a sneak peak into who Liana really is,
By Amana Iflal
You’ve risen to fame during the past two years as a content creator on TikTok, tell us a little bit about your journey.
“I mean I wouldn’t say I’m famous but I actually started way back in 2016, with this app called Musically and I lost interest at that time. But then when the pandemic struck I started making TikToks for fun because I was home and my exams were postponed. I didn’t have my siblings around me either so I thought this would keep me company and pass my time. It just took off from there.”
How does it feel to have other people watch and enjoy your content? Your TikToks have a lot of views!
“It was honestly very unexpected because you don’t expect anyone to actually enjoy your content. Surreal would be the appropriate word to describe the feeling! It’s really nice to see everybody’s support and love even though half of them are complete strangers, it means a lot to me.”
As a young and influential content creator, how do you deal with the responsibility of influencing people in the right way?
“I think a lot about my content before I post it anywhere. My goal is to promote a platform that is safe and full of positivity while concentrating on respecting people and being friendly. It’s important to think about how people can perceive your content, how they might misunderstand it because you have to bear in mind that everyone thinks differently and that’s okay. You have to be very careful because there are a lot of young and highly impressionable viewers watching your content every single day.”
With that being said, there’s always going to be people who are pretty mean on social media. How do you deal with trolls and nasty comments?
“You’re not going to make everybody happy, they’re always going to be someone who has an opinion that clashes with yours. It might surprise you and be hurtful but it’s really important to understand why you started doing what you do. The main thing is that at the end of the day you need to be happy”
Have you ever considered quitting TikTok?
“Not yet. I actually really really enjoy it and I feel like the more I’m on it the more I’m exploring new interests and coming up with new content to keep my viewers happy! I started out with just dancing but now I’m more into the lifestyle aspect of TikTok. I’ve been thinking of doing food related content so yeah I have a lot more to offer!”
How did you feel when brands started reaching out to you?
“That was pretty crazy, I was like what? Do they want me to promote their products? But in all honesty it felt great because I appreciated the fact that the content I put out was being noticed”.
Are you planning on blogging anytime soon?
“I have thought about it honestly and it does seem like something I want to try out maybe in the future but who knows! Right now my TikTok is my only public page, so maybe in the future I can venture out into content creation on other platforms too. There’s a lot of time and effort going into content creation and i want to put out good content not half baked content just for the sake of it”
Do you plan on pursuing your modelling career?
“I don’t think it’ll be a full time option but definitely something i enjoy doing part time.”
When did you decide that Psychology was the path for you?
“Well it was a surprise to me as well because sciences aren’t my strong suit but I enjoy being with people understanding them so psychology was my first choice career wise. I found myself watching a lot of psychological thrillers and documentaries which further sealed my decision.”
Where do you hope to see yourself in the future?
“On a professional level, working for myself and opening up my own clinic. I’ll be in Australia for a few years and then come back and establish myself here.”
What would you like to tell budding content creators?
“Don’t think about content creation as a chore. If a video you did didn’t do well or you get a negative comment, don’t dwell on it and let it bring you down. You must really love creating content and taking that effort to be successful because that will show in the content you put out. Be genuine and true to yourself, don’t try to impersonate someone else because somewhere along the line you will get stuck. With your content, keep it original and fun. It’s not sustainable to be making content that doesn’t make you happy. End goal is that YOU need to be happy.”
Fun questions –
If you could go anywhere in the world for free, where would you go?
This is tough but Greece definitely! Its so pretty I’ve always wanted to go
What’s your favorite dish?
Anything sweet, I’m always in the bakery looking for something
What is the one show you can binge on?
Keeping up with the Kardashian
What’s the one person you can always call ‘Home’?
My mom
Who is your support system?
My friends and family.
How would you define your sense of style?
I’m definitely girly but I’m still figuring it out?
Glossy lip or matte lip?
Depends on where I’m going
What’s your favorite literary genre?
Fiction!
What’s your Favorite book?
I honestly cannot choose one
What is your ideal vacation?
Something adventurous and or relaxing!
What’s your go-to restaurant?
Street Burger or Gallery Cafe. It depends on my mood!
