Tucson social media stars grow, thrive during COVID-19 pandemic

All the while, many social media platforms exploded with activity as normal people found themselves with loads of free time and a seemingly endless list of ways to express themselves creatively online.

Tucson had its share of local online personalities reaching new levels of imagination, self-discovery and popularity during an otherwise tumultuous year.

Scott Hubbard

Tucsonan Scott Hubbard had been laid off from his sales management job in March 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic locked down the city.

At the time, Hubbard, whose claim to fame is making his 7-year-old Chihuahua mix, Gracie, do hilarious things, usually to music, was building a following on TikTok under the name @scottyhubbs, with around 1.9 million followers.

“While I was searching for a new job, I had nothing else to do but continue to just make TikTok content,” Hubbard said. “And that’s when my creativity just kind of started going through the roof.”

Hubbard’s videos took off during the pandemic. His snippets of Gracie garnered more than 1 billion views and were shared by the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Naomi Watts, Oprah Winfrey and featured on NBC’s morning show, “Today.”

As of this month, his account has surpassed 6.2 million followers.

Hubbard said he found that there was a void of people making happy, wholesome dog videos.

“Even if it was just 15 seconds, at least it made people smile,” he said. “It was an awesome way for me to stay occupied during COVID.”

Hubbard’s popularity on the video platform and his ability to monetize that popularity, working with brands like Amazon and LG, has made TikTok his full-time job, in addition to being a stay-at-home dad to his 4-year-old daughter, Aubree.

And Gracie, who was adopted by Hubbard and his wife, Shawna, seven years ago from the Pima Animal Care Center, loves filming the videos, Hubbard said.

“She has no idea what’s goin’ on,” Hubbard said, “When I call her to make a video, she’s really excited because she gets a treat afterward. On Sundays, when I don’t make a video, she just kinda stares at me and asks, ‘what are we doing, what’s going on?’ ”

Find Hubbard at: tiktok.com/@scottyhubs.

Jade Beall

Tucson photographer Jade Beall estimates that she has photographed about 10,000 people in her career. During the pandemic, she photographed 50. She said her Instagram account became a place to challenge the negative body-talk going on at the start of the pandemic and to bring her personal stories onto the platform.

“There was all this shaming going on about being fat during quarantine,” Beall said. “There’s so many opportunities to step in with body positivity, and that was a moment where I was like, ‘OK, let’s talk about quarantine body here. First of all, you’re gorgeous. Second of all, like, hello, precious body.’

“It was really hard to see all the fat jokes going around.”

Beall said she made it through the pandemic with the help of her followers and clients on Instagram when it became clear she wouldn’t be able to run her business as usual.

“As I shared my vulnerability and issues around it. I had clients sending me money, people were sending me dollars to support me,” Beall said. “They were like, ‘Don’t worry, we’re gonna get through this, we need you.’ People wanted to see me survive.”

If it weren’t for Instagram, Beall said there is no way she could be doing the work that she does, spreading body positivity via images of women and motherhood.

She is currently working on a book called the “Wise Bodies, Beautiful Elders,” that will take her around the world, pandemic allowing, this summer.

Find Beall at: instagram.com/jadebeallphotography.

Chelsey Bishop

Tucson native Chelsey Bishop started her Instagram, @ketohalfasser, back in 2018 to post about being on a ketogenic diet and her weight loss journey. Her TikTok, which she started less than a year ago, now has 83,000 followers, and her YouTube channel is also in the thousands.

During COVID-19, Bishop provided recipes for her followers and suggested keto dishes at local restaurants to support them. She believes people appreciated her help during the pandemic.

“In the weight loss community, a lot of people went to food for comfort during COVID,” Bishop said. “And so a lot of people gained, you know, a little bit of weight, which was not that big of a deal. But now with the start of 2021, people were wanting to prioritize their health again.

“I think that kind of helped my accounts grow a little bit more with people seeing success just through eating. I like to show that weight loss is possible in an extreme way, just through food.”

Social media is where Bishop discovered the keto diet that helped her lose weight back in 2018 — and she has now come full circle by using social media to help others do the same.

Bishop has found her own way to provide positive experiences for users.

“I love the ability to be able to connect with someone that is on the same journey as you because you feel very alone when you start something like this,” Bishop said about social media. “It is really just a great tool, and if it can fit into your life, and if you can change your health because of it, that makes me so happy.”

Find Bishop on YouTube at: tucne.ws/bishop.

Natalie J. Moe

Natalie J. Moe is the founder and creator of Happily Pink, a lifestyle brand and blog focused on food and travel. During COVID, she worked to support Tucson businesses by promoting them on her Instagram account and directing followers to her favorite menu items at local restaurants.

It has been a year of road trips, Moe said, and people from Arizona have continued to follow her account for vacation ideas closer to home.

She also provided recipes and local food guides.

“I created this local happy hour guide where I had a map with multiple businesses in town that were selling alcohol, and I included a description of it as well as a means to help them,” Moe said. “This was before everyone was tired of Zoom, so virtual happy hours were a big thing.”

Find Moe at: instagram.com/happilypinkblog.