Comedian Christian Hull slogged it out in radio for nine years before realising TikTok and Instagram could be a full-time gig.
Key Takeaways
- Chrisitan Hull boasts more than 1.5 million followers on TikTok, and 270,000 on Instagram
- He’s since leveraged his following to write a best-selling novel and launch an e-commerce store.
Fifteen years ago, comedian Christian Hull’s dream was to be Kyle Sandilands. Not literally, but to have achieved that level of radio stardom.
“It didn’t happen. Too gay, too high sounding… And then I stumbled into social media,” he tells Forbes Australia.
You’d be forgiven for not recognising Hull by his name, because in fact it’s his alter ego, Trish, who became the household name on social media. Trish sports a white-blond long-haired wig that, if we’re honest, needs a brush out, but her stereotypically Australian humour is infallible.
Hull’s career is the product of a very creative family and upbringing. His Mum was a fashion designer, his aunt was an illustrator, and as a kid, he was always encouraged to be creative. That led him straight into a career in radio. But after nine years slogging out those early mornings, Hull decided to switch gears. It took two years of consistent posting on social media before he realised it could be a financially stable, full-time gig.
Hull sports 270,000 followers on his Instagram profile, and 1.6 million on TikTok. His videos have a combined 670 million views across his social channels, but he says competition is stiffening – particularly on TikTok.
So, he’s stepped it up offline, too. Hull is the author of a best-selling novel (which took him four years to write) and the owner of an e-commerce store, cheekily called The Fuck Off Shop.
“This stage I’m in now, I’m registered as a business. I have employees, I have to pay GST … and it’s quite stressful. I love it, but I’ve got eight people I’m responsible for. So it’s been an incredibly big lesson.”