“I was one of those people that thought it was a real class,” she stated. Mercy initially intended to save Dr. Barlow’s video to educate her daughter, who is currently enrolled in a Master’s program. Witnessing the dramatic growth of educators participating in the HillmanTok trend inspired Mercy to instruct a Baking 101 course. In a matter of days, she grew her TikTok audience from around 5,000 followers to 43,000, and she owes it all to HillmanTok’s communal impact. “Every day has been very colorful with conversations, photographs, and DMs [from students],” Mercy relayed. Furthermore, Mercy credits the Black women who formulated HillmanTok for a great deal of the success she attained within the online space. “It’s very empowering, and this whole experience has made me so emotional,” she said.
