- I accidentally became a meme, and this is that story.
My name is Brittany Broski,
but most people know me as kombucha girl.
This all started in August of 2019.
I was 22 years old, I was living in Dallas, Texas.
I worked at a bank in trust and investment services.
Life was very normal for me.
I had no idea what was coming. (dramatic whooshing)
I downloaded TikTok as a joke, (laughs)
because I kept seeing ads for it on Snapchat.
And I was like, "What is this?"
People in furry suits and all this,
cosplay was kind of the main thing on the app.
And then just by accident, I started uploading
'cause I ended up having a lot of fun on the app.
I didn't even know what kombucha was
and I just kind of wanted to try it.
And I was at the grocery store one time
and I walked by the aisle and I was like, "Why not?"
And so I bought it.
I just kind of got home, put all my groceries away,
set up my camera and just
filmed me trying it. (can cracks)
No.
Well. (chuckles)
And the reaction is genuine.
I mean, it's kind of nasty,
but the flavor I got was like a soda,
so it was kind of sugary.
And it didn't do well on TikTok.
It was downloaded and uploaded to Gay Twitter
and they took that and captioned it (chuckles)
"When I ate (beeps) for the first time."
And other ones, like "When I tasted (beeps)
"for the first time" and all these nasty,
like I work at a bank!
And I DM the guy who first uploaded the video
and I was like, "Hey, this is me,"
in hopes that he would take it down.
'Cause I was like, "I don't want to get fired."
But he was like, "Oh, this is you?"
and tagged me under it, and I was like, "Oh shit!" (laughs)
So then I started getting an influx of followers.
I had a private account with maybe like 400 followers.
It was me and my friends. (energetic classical music)
In a day, I got like 12,000 requests.
And I was like, "Well man, I guess it's time to go public."
So I made my account public.
I gained 96,000 Twitter followers in one day.
Like it is insane how fast it spread.
The meme, actually, not the video,
but the two reaction pictures.
There's no language affiliated with it,
so that's how it went so viral,
is it doesn't take an English speaker
to think faces are funny.
I started seeing my face on Hong Kong protest posters,
climate change posters in New Zealand.
Like it was global, insane!
You know, then it's like,
"Well, how do I tell my boss what's going on?"
When you're 50, 60, having to explain the idea of a meme,
as Gen Z to a boomer, it's like I would rather die.
So I had to explain to her, this wasn't me.
Like I didn't caption it,
"When I ate (beeps) for the first time."
It's someone that's taken my video
and captioned it with a funny caption.
So whatever you see, it's out of my control.
So there was a fateful day, early September
where I was pulled into my boss's office.
And she was basically like,
"You need to choose if you want to be a meme
"or if you want to be a corporate professional."
"Girl, I have rent to pay,
"obviously I want to be a professional.
"Like what do you want me to do,
"go work at Outback Steakhouse?"
So I was like, "No please, like it's just a hobby."
And she was like, "Okay."
But then sure enough, I mean, a week later,
she brought me in, slid a piece of paper
across the table and was like,
"Yeah, I think we're gonna let you go."
(dramatic music)
I was mortified.
I was so embarrassed to tell my dad of like,
I got fired from a bank job?
That's so embarrassing, for what?
'Cause I'm posting videos
of me doing (blows raspberry) online?
I graduated college, I graduated in three years.
I was magna cum laude.
I'm a licensed insurance agent, I worked at a bank.
I had every intention of being a functioning member
of society. (laughs)
I understand, and I don't hold it against them at all.
Having a young, 20 something year old,
fresh college grad dickin' around online,
saying, "I'm a banker!"
All it takes is one Google search.
So I made sure when I had that call with my parents
that I, you know, like there is a backup plan.
It's not just me sitting on my (beeps) unemployed.
I had a team behind me at that point.
And you know, a week later I was flown out to LA.
I was meeting with the platform headquarters.
I started working with Comedy Central,
MTV, all these major brands and networks.
I was a presenter at the Streamys,
I was in a Super Bowl commercial.
I was nominated for a Shorty Award, TikToker of the Year.
I literally can't even keep up.
And that's not even the brands that I've worked with.
It's just a dream.
You know, it wasn't just "Hey, can you recreate the meme?"
I was pumping out other content.
I was doing accents, impressions,
skits, what I've always done.
And now that all the eyes were on me,
I was like, "If there was ever a time
"to create content, it's now."
Caleb!
Caleb, Mom says get out of the tub.
Quit trying to drown yourself, dinner's ready.
Literally, we're almost coming up on to the day.
It's August something right now and I just hit 5.1 million.
Being a meme, it's very dehumanizing.
People forget you're a real person.
Like if someone would tag me in something
and I'd respond, they'd be like, "Oh my God."
(laughs) It's like yeah, I'm real!
I had some old Tinder matches text me again.
And I was like, "Really, no, no, absolutely not."
(laughs) Block.
I have every intention of, you know,
stand up, SNL audition, all that.
My number one is voice acting.
I wanna be in a Pixar film so bad.
I wanna voice act for a Disney film.
It's like, I'm a multifaceted person.
I have so much more to offer
than just "Well," you know what I mean?
But it was such a learning experience
and it's gotten me where I am,
and I'm very grateful to be where I am.
So hey, Disney, Pixar.
Hey, Blue Sky Studios, how y'all doin'? (laughs)
Call me!
(laughs) (bright music)