Creator Science #66: Chris Sutherland – How a Physics professor built an audience of 2M+ followers on TikTok (in less than two years!)
Jul 27, 2021
Chris Sutherland, a former collegiate physics professor, shares his journey from academia to becoming a full-time content creator with over 2 million TikTok followers. He discusses how humor and teaching skills helped him engage with a younger audience. We learn about the differences between TikTok's rapid engagement and the slower growth on other platforms like YouTube. Chris also explores the evolving landscape of creator monetization, the delicate balance of short-term content strategies versus long-term branding, and what's next for him in the crypto space.
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Early TikTok Success
- Chris Sutherland's third TikTok video went viral, gaining hundreds of thousands of views.
- This demonstrated TikTok's universal content distribution, where good videos catch regardless of the creator's background.
Path to Physics
- Chris Sutherland initially liked math but wasn't aware of career options beyond traditional fields.
- Discovering physics provided a practical application of math, avoiding disliked lab work associated with engineering.
PhD Motivation
- In high school, Chris viewed a PhD as the ultimate achievement in academia, like "winning" the game.
- This goal, set in his youth, motivated him to pursue a PhD despite realizing later it wasn't the ideal approach.
