Everyone has dreams of becoming great and successful. However, this will only happen if one starts by putting themselves out there.
Nyaishya Lilly, also known as “Big Ny,” has done just this. Lilly is a student at Northwestern State University of Louisiana with a major in psychology and a minor in communication. Additionally, she is a content creator on her social media platforms Instagram and TikTok.
She can be seen around campus interviewing people for video content. When doing this, she goes somewhere and randomly interviews people with questions ranging from how they are doing during finals week to what they would say to their former partner.
“I not only do public interviews, but I post videos like ‘a day-in-the-life of a full-time college student and hair stylist,’” Lilly said. “I see what the people like and I do what the people like.”
Lilly posts a variety of content. Recently, she posted a motivational video sharing her hopes for the month of January. Because people left positive comments on the post, she said she will begin posting more motivational content.
On top of being a content creator, Lilly has two businesses. Her business, Ny’s Hairtivity, is based in Zwolle and Natchitoches. She offers wig installations, braids and retwists. Her business, Nytivity, consists of photography, videography, 360 photo booth videos and graphic designs.
Before any of this started, Lilly received the name, “Big Ny” as a sophomore in high school.
“Whatever I would put as my name on Twitter, everyone at school would start calling me that,” Lilly said. “When I made my username, ‘Big Ny,’ I went to school the next day and everybody called me ‘Big Ny.’”
Once she was a junior in high school, Lilly received her first camera.
“I would always bring it to school and vlog, but I would never post. But when I graduated, I was like, ‘why am I not posting’?” Lilly said.
Lilly started vlogging, also known as video blogging, for the sole purpose of a personal hobby. However, this began to change when she went viral on TikTok for a screen recording of someone else’s livestream she commented on.
“I gained a whole bunch of followers,” Lilly said. “So after that, I was like, ‘okay, I can do this – I can do this’.”
After the increase in followers, Lilly began posting vlogs she made about her days. Soon enough, though, she began posting different things.
“I had trouble finding my niche; vlogging was good and all, but I wanted to interact with people,” she said.
This eventually led to her posting public interviews and having more encounters with new people.
“People love public interviews, so I just keep doing them,” Lilly said.
Out of all the content creating, hair-styling and business-running Lilly does, her favorite part of her experiences are the people she meets and the supporters she gains.
“I love how happy and joyful and excited they get,” Lilly said. “They’re like, ‘Ny, when are you gonna post my video’?”
On the days that Lilly feels shy, reserved and as if it is harder to present herself as “Big Ny,” she finds comfort in these people. Reading her followers’ positive comments and direct messages encourage her to keep going. They remind her of how much she loves being a content creator.
“Everybody that knows me from when I was younger is so surprised because I used to be just that shy,” Lilly said. “But the people from my small town, Zwolle, are really rooting for me.”
Whether they are family friends from back home or new people she met through public interviews in Natchitoches, the feedback Lilly gets from her viewers and customers keeps her motivated.
“When you see other people manifesting for you, it gives you hope,” Lilly said. “People always tell me, ‘Ny, you’re gonna make it out’ and ‘you’re gonna get us out of here.’”
Lilly’s rising success story inspires people in her hometown, Zwolle, and her college town, Natchitoches. At a young age, Lilly bravely stepped out of her normal comfort zone and discovered something she loved to do. She shared advice to others who would like to start now, too.
“If you want to start creating content, just do it,” Lilly said. “Basically, if you just find your niche and be consistent, you can do anything you put your mind to.”
This past Jan. 26, Lilly even released a song titled, “Put It on Da Flo Nymix.”
“I would describe it as a hype song for the girls,” Lilly said. “When you’re feeling down and need a little ‘get-up-and-go,’ listen to that song”.
This song is currently out on Lilly’s YouTube channel, “Nyaishya,” and it will soon be available on all streaming platforms. Along with this, all of Lilly’s content can be found on her Instagram accounts: @nytivity_, @nys_hairtivity, @ny_asha_ or along with her TikTok account, @ny_asha_.
