The article is based on a conversation with a 19-year-old social media manager at a candy shop in Australia. It has been edited for clarity.
I started working at Sticky to support my parents. I never worked at the store before.
After the Pandemic seriously impacted sales, Sticky was on the verge of collapse. We went from busy to bust. I took to social media in order to save my business.
In its first month of existence, the TikTok account had more than 1 million followers. The store is drawing a lot of customers and we are hiring again, as opposed to letting people go.
Content creation is the most obvious job I do. I take photos of the candy-making process at Sticky about three-quarters of the time. I spend between two and five hours a day turning what I film in the shop into something interesting.
To make good content about a subject, you have to be involved with it. I try to be involved in the process as much as I can when filming candy construction.
My daily responsibilities have changed so much that I only grab coffee for myself and my dad. I do a bit of everything. I make candy, pack lollies, and handle online orders. I'm your girl for whatever you need me to do.
I would love to be a full-time candy maker. To make candy all day, you need specific skills. I like stretching and the mold, but I have issues lifting a certain amount of candy. It becomes too heavy for me to manipulate.
The team wants to make around six batches of candy a day. Sometimes, we have very quick and easy designs, and we get more candy as a result.
You get less rock when the designs take ages. We don't have any unsold lollies because of the huge demand for Sticky's candy.
It is difficult to keep candy in stock.
There is a rock candy.
There are stickylollies.
Everyone in the shop makes the flavors. Some of the single flavors are more popular than others.
The excitement for us comes from the combinations. Someone will come up with a new combination of flavors that is so good. It was mangos and cream recently. I hope we keep that one.
I have been working at Sticky for a year now and I don't see myself leaving anytime soon. I admit that working at Sticky has been my favourite job so far, even though I have worked in other stores.
Being the boss's daughter can be a problem, but I love my co-workers. We spend a fair amount of time goofing off at work, but don't tell mum, I am treated with respect and we spend a fair amount of time goofing off at work.
It is hard to plan for the future because it is changing so fast. I take each chance it comes.
