The TikTok star is the highest-paid influencer on the platform -- and she's ready to take things to the next level.
Addison Rae is ready to take things to the next level!
The TikTok star is expanding her brand and her inner circle -- and a Forbes report recently named her the highest-paid influencer on the hottest platform.
"It is pretty crazy," Addison tells ET's Katie Krause of her meteoric rise to fame when she and her mom, Sheri Easterling, sat down to talk about their new podcast, Mama Knows Best.
"At the end of the day, we're all just having so much fun that we're not even focused on that," she says of her creative endeavors and fellow influencers. "It's really just us enjoying our time and, like, really taking in our opportunities."
For Addison, those opportunities have definitely started to expand in recent months. In addition to the podcast, she has personalized merch, a cosmetics line, and "a lot of other exciting things coming up" -- which includes hopes for future opportunities in fashion and acting.
"It's really just a little bit of everything," she notes. "I enjoy so many things, and I think it's slowly just coming to the point where I can do those things and I'm gradually getting more in depth in things I've always loved and enjoyed."
"Fashion is always so much fun. Discovering new things and trying things out -- I mean, they don't always work, don't get me wrong! But I think, yeah, it would definitely be super fun... hopefully one day having something of my own or even with my mom or my family, just continuing to expand our brand," she shares.
As for acting, she says, "I've done lots of classes. I've read tons of scripts... I think it's always a really exciting conversation, and a long and very hard journey, but it's always worth it in the end. Hopefully that'll continue to be a part of my life and maybe something big will come out of it."
Addison left her collegiate studies at LSU last fall and moved to Hollywood full-time, becoming one of the founding members of the Hype House alongside fellow creators like Chase Hudson and Charli D'Amelio -- before branching out on her own. And her following has continued to grow from there.
"I think the best part has just been the people that I've met and the connections I've made," she marvels. "The friendships that I have now... are such deep and fun and loving relationships, because I think everyone that I've met has kind of had the same mindset and same goals."
Unfortunately, with the fame and exposure comes some downsides, as Addison admits the hardest part of being a recognizable TikTok star is "the negativity."
"Just dealing with the fact that there are gonna be people that just don't like you, and will always have something negative to say about you," she says. "But there's so many good parts about this industry, and the social media world, that it kind of just outweighs it. At the end of the day, I have to look at the positive and not look at the negative. And the positive has brought me so many great things."
One of the things that's helped her stay positive and resilient as her exposure continues to grow is a strong connection with her family -- dad Monty, mom Sheri and her two brothers.
"They're here. They're supporting me. They love me," she says. "I've done so many great things in such a short amount of time, and I think it's just always about stepping back, appreciating everything you have and everything you receive. And really just thanking everyone around you and appreciating them and their time too."
That's a lesson Sheri hopes her daughter carries with her throughout her career. "I just always want her to be grateful and thankful," she tells ET. "That's very important to me."
The mother-daughter duo admit that working together on their podcast has been "interesting, to say the least," but as they've gotten candid with their listeners about everything from childhood crushes to relationship drama, they've also learned more about each other.
"If anyone knows me for who I am... it's her," Addison notes. "Sometimes it can be a little weird or uncomfortable, but I feel like, at the end of the day, it's just a conversation and it's kind of giving ourselves the chance to be vulnerable."
"I've definitely opened up to her, and the audience, especially about my thoughts on relationships and relationship experiences, and things I've gone through emotionally and figured out about myself. So I feel like it gave me a chance to be vulnerable about it and really open up, versus covering it or hiding it."
"She's sharing more with me," Sheri agrees. "She didn't share with me or open up with me through her teenage years. Most teenagers don't. So it's actually fun hearing things-- and sometimes not."
As for their dream mother-daughter duo to have on their podcast, Addison has a great idea: "Reese Witherspoon and her daughter, Ava, that would be really cool.... I haven't met Reese, she's just a really great actress and I love Big Little Lies. I feel like that just makes me want to talk to her even more."
And how about her pal, Kourtney Kardashian, and her super momager, Kris Jenner?
"I would totally love to have them on the show, I think it would be hilarious," Addison raves. "I love Kourtney and Kris so much, it would be really interesting to compare their relationship to ours. Who knows in the future, what that holds!"
New episodes of Mama Knows Best go live Mondays on Spotify.
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