Let me tell you a story about a bold idea, a brave team, and a platform full of 17-year-olds dancing in Crocs.

Spoiler alert: I am no Mr. Beast. I’m no Preston. And we didn’t break the internet.
But the internet did almost break us.

The setup

It all started when Kelsey (our Prez), Andrea (our cautious but fearless marketing director) came to me and said:

“Mike, we need to be on TikTok.”

Ugh. Are you sure?

Now, I’m not anti-TikTok. I’m pro-growth. Pro-attention. Pro-not-being-obsolete. And if that means trying out a platform known for lip-sync battles and chaotic cooking videos, I’m game.

Andrea had a plan. A good one, too.

She’d been studying TikTok trends, gathering inspo (did I just say, “inspo”?), and building a strategy that could bring The Money Habit, Fix This Next, and Profit First into the feed-scrolling minds of a new generation of entrepreneurs.

And we were all in.
We called it “The TikTok Experiment.”

It was going to be brilliant, right? Right?

Spoiler alert #2: It was something.

The plan

Andrea lined up a posting schedule.
She trained herself.
She got me on camera doing things that can never be unseen.

We danced (badly).
We used trending sounds (questionable).
We gave serious business advice while wearing sunglasses and trying to look like we understood Gen Z slang.

The hashtags? FIRE.
The lighting? Impeccable.
The commitment? Unmatched.

We were ready to go viral.
We hit publish.

The results

…crickets.

Well, not exactly crickets.

One video of me lip-syncing to a sound about “getting rich slow” did okay.
Another clip of Andrea dancing while explaining the Profit First formula actually caught some attention.

And then, then came the comments. The Toxic TikTok I had heard about was illustrated. Too well.

Let’s just say, TikTok users are creative in their feedback.
We got roasted.
Affectionately, savagely, relentlessly roasted.

One person said I looked like “the accountant your mom warned you about.” To note, I’ve never been an accountant!
Someone else accused Andrea of being a bot (which she took as a compliment).
Another just wrote, “OK Boomer,” which, for the record, I am not. Though they did point out that I had Skechers on. I was walking through the woods in that clip, guy.

But us being us, we kept going – because experiments aren’t supposed to be safe.
They’re supposed to be real. Even if they hurt real bad.

Our meltdown (and breakthrough)

Around week three, the team had what I’ll kindly call a “creative breakdown.”

Andrea was in the office, surrounded by ring lights, empty coffee cups, and a pile of rejected sound clips. She looked at me and said, “Mike. What even is our brand on TikTok?”

A fair question.

Because somewhere between trying to be “cool” and trying to stay on-brand, we realized something:

We weren’t failing because TikTok didn’t like us.

The pivot

So we stopped chasing trends.
We stopped trying to sound like a 19-year-old entrepreneur with a ring light and a six-pack.
We started doing what we do best:

Telling the truth.
Teaching what works.
Laughing at ourselves along the way.

Andrea led the shift. She scrapped half the calendar, took a breath, and said, “Let’s just be us, but faster and weirder.” I can do that.

We started making videos that were a little offbeat, a little uncomfortable, and very us:

• Explaining financial principles as I scribbled notes onto a legal pad
  
• Breaking down marketing myths while power-walking through the office
  
• Talk about burnout, bad launches, and budget regret, with zero filters and questionable lighting.

And guess what?

People started watching.
Not millions. But thousands.
People started commenting things like, “Finally, something real on this app,” and “I didn’t expect to like this, but here we are.”

It wasn’t viral. But it was honest. And it was working.

And then there was the algorithm

Oh, the glorious, mysterious, emotionally abusive algorithm. One day, we’d post something that felt like gold, and nothing. Total silence. The next day, we’d upload a shaky, last-minute clip of my son and me at the Final Four, and thousands of views. No explanation. No logic. Just TikTok doing TikTok things. It became a running joke on the team: “Post it and pray to the algo gods.” Honestly, it felt like dating in high school – hot one day, ghosted the next. (I mean, that’s what I heard.)

What we learned

Here’s the truth about trying to go viral:
If you’re not clear on your voice before you hit publish, the algorithm will eat you alive.

We went into this experiment thinking, “Let’s go viral.”
We came out of it realizing, “Let’s go real, and let the right people find us.”

That’s marketing.
That’s leadership.
That’s what Andrea taught us by surviving what we now call the Great TikTok Breakdown of 2024.

So… Would we do it again?

100%.
With Andrea in charge? 200%.

Because here’s what most people don’t realize:

Marketing isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about being somewhere authentically.

You can fail beautifully in front of thousands of strangers and still win if you learn, adapt, and stop trying to be a copy of someone else’s viral moment.

So if you’re a business owner wondering if TikTok is worth trying, I say yes.

But not because you want fame.
Because you want connection.
Because you’re willing to experiment.
Because maybe, just maybe, you’re willing to look a little ridiculous in the process.

And in our case? Mission accomplished.

At least today.

-You’ve got this (even if the internet tries to break your spirit).

-Mike

P.S. If you see a video of me explaining The Profit First formula while holding a blender full of gummy bears… just know Andrea made me do it.

And I’d do it again. 

@mikemichalowicz