Being a college student at The University of Alabama is no walk in the park, but school is just part of the hustle for Honors College student Heather Grimes. A junior from Hartselle, Alabama, Grimes has her hands full pursuing a degree in chemical engineering in the STEM Path to MBA and maintaining a popular and thriving social media platform based around her love for lifting, fitness and inspiring others.
Around January of last year, Grimes posted a video on the popular app, TikTok, and suddenly gained popularity. After the video initially blew up, she continued sharing relatable content, and her platform grew out of nowhere, expanding over to Instagram as well. With 174.9k followers on TikTok and 38.4k followers on Instagram as of Nov. 15, 2021, Grimes has even been sponsored by various companies that send her merchandise and pay her salary and commission. Her recent sponsorships include Vooray, Helimix Co. and 1st Phorm, a vitamins and supplements company with over a million Instagram followers.
While this life of social media fame can seem like the perfect accident, Grimes is no stranger to how difficult balancing life and social media can be. Operating this platform has its ups and downs, from hate comments to trolls to stress from school and life in general. However, being open and relatable to the hundreds of thousands of people viewing her content daily is what she said made it possible to keep posting. The most encouraging part of it all is that despite how much life throws her way, there are people who continue to be inspired by her work ethic and lifestyle commitment. They have found a drive to create their own lifestyle changes because of her influence and presence on their social media pages.
With her popularity on the uprise, Grimes hopes to continue growing a social media presence but will also continue her education in pursuing her master’s degree with a bright future in whichever route she chooses, or maybe even both. For now, Grimes is competing in her first powerlifting competition in November and continues to maintain her healthy lifestyle and success as a student on campus.
