JC Dombrowski embodies one of Generation Z’s classic coming-of-age triumphs: going from high school zero to TikTok hero. Interestingly, the social media star seems almost embarrassed by the cliché nature of being bullied for his gayness and for being the only Asian kid in his affluent, predominantly white suburb.
After all, coming out at age 11 gave him plenty of time to accept himself; the world needed to catch up, though. Arriving in New York in 2019 after graduating high school, he downloaded TikTok and posted his first video channeling his experiences. He unexpectedly watched it go viral.
Fast-forward five years, and Dombrowski’s storytelling has come a long way from being a bullied teen. He recounts to So.Gay how important it was to find a sustainable—and empowering—niche to ensure his success grew with him. He exclusively shares his secrets to how he attained nearly 3 million followers and reveals the not-so-glamorous aspects of content creation.
“I’ve accumulated over 4 billion views across my four accounts, including two TikTok accounts, my Instagram, and a YouTube channel,” says Dombrowski. “My story wasn’t necessarily 100% unique, but I think I succeeded because of my ability to convey that I wasn’t victimizing myself.”
Dombrowski quickly captivated the internet with his comedic skits, in which he portrayed a 19-year-old gay boy in white suburbia. “But I realized how many of those stories could I possibly have?” he adds.
The influencer didn’t want to risk his content becoming repetitive, so he returned to the drawing board. He contemplated what he knew: his extensive knowledge of the sea from majoring in marine biology in college and his passion for beauty from being fabulous. A natural intersection presented itself. He’d cover cool creatures and take down bogus beauty claims.
Dombrowski’s interests went more profound than just the subject matter and permeated his own insecurities. Displaying his face to millions of viewers didn’t come easy, as he struggled with facial and body dysmorphia. He never liked how he looked but still needed to click upload.
“I focused a lot of my content on spiders and sharks because these creatures are so misunderstood, stigmatized, and hated,” says Dombrowski.
He considers them the product of millions of years of evolution, drive, and perseverance against the natural world and mass extinctions. Naturally, any LGBTQ+ person can relate to persecution, regardless of the species.
Of course, the #influencerlife requires constant posting, so his page covers a myriad of subjects.
In one TikTok, Dombrowski’s head is floating over a video of a pelican trying to eat a capybara (looks like a giant gerbil), narrating the hilarious situation. It has 21 million views.
In another TikTok, he is breaking down a recent viral skincare trend known as “skin flooding.”
Another difficult challenge Dombrowski had to overcome was learning to detach himself from the number of views. “It’s like an addiction. You chase that rush of endorphins and dopamine, and it’s this insane feeling,” he says.
He focuses on ensuring his videos maintain quality and add value, even if he tackles the same subject multiple times from different angles.
As a creator, he prefers Instagram over TikTok, finding it more friendly for influencers with established followings. He has 100,000 followers on Instagram, much less than TikTok, yet scores more overall views.
“The issue with TikTok is that even with a large following, your followers will never see it. TikTok focuses on the explore page,” he says. “There’s a huge discrepancy in how the algorithm works, and it doesn’t reward people with large followings. They’re doing it to make more money and force people to post more.”
He adds that Instagram has better support and more monetization, and most importantly, it doesn’t cage you as a person.
“Once you put yourself in a niche on TikTok, it’s impossible to break out of it and be anything else,” he says. “I picked marine biology because there’s so much shit in the ocean. If I had stuck with college stuff, I would’ve been stuck in it.”
Regarding longevity, Dombrowski’s biggest advice is to hold on to an audience’s trust, which ultimately will make you more profitable. “If you take every single deal willy-nilly, people are going to start seeing you as a shill,” he says. “And then you’re going to drop your return on investment because people stop believing in you since you’re recommending everything.”
In other words, know what you’re selling. Conducting due diligence on the Internet has never been easier.
He achieved every aspiring content creator’s dream of making enough money to quit his day job, but he missed the structure and mental stimulation that came with a more traditional career doing actual science rather than just talking about it. So he returned to working a 9-to-5 alongside his 5-to-9, which also helped minimize creator burnout.
“Eventually, it feels no different than my corporate science job. Input equals output,” he says. “I don’t think I’ll ever escape marine biology [from TikTok], but I want to bring more of who I am to the table,” he says.
He fears losing his success if he stops presenting himself as a hub of science facts. But abstaining from risks has never brought him a reward.
You can follow JC on Instagram here and on TikTok here.
