Lohanny Santos,
26, is now employed after the “humbling” video she posted at the end of January received more than 25 million views. In the clip, Santos is crying on the sidewalk and speaking to the camera after unsuccessfully handing out resumes to business owners in a desperate job search.
“I just want to be a TikToker, if I’m being so real with you,” she said in the video.
Santos seemingly got both her wishes — and the famous clip led her straight to her dreams.
The Gen-Zer announced last week that she is now employed at a part-time job as a social media consultant for filmmaker Adam Faze, who has kickstarted a project making television shows for TikTok.
“It’s been incredible. I feel like I have so much creative freedom and it feels like a collaboration,” Santos told The Post Friday.
Santos, who has chronicled her job hunt since posting the original viral video, is now sharing her journey as a newly employed New Yorker.
She uploaded a video Friday showing off the set of one of Faze’s upcoming shows, which looked convincingly like a real Big Apple bodega.
The new gig will even marry Santos’ dream of appearing in front of the camera, not just behind it.
The influencer — who has degrees in acting and communications — pitched a new program based on her tedious and sometimes desperate journey to finding a job, which often involved applying to every possible position she could find.
“It’s about me, Lohanny, experiencing new part-time jobs or just new things because on my video, so many people commented things like, ‘you should be a security guard,’ ‘you should be a translator,’ ‘you should be a flight attendant.’ So then I said, ‘Well, what happens if I actually do try out different jobs or jobs that people suggested?” Santos said of the aptly titled project, “Part Timy Lohanny.”
Not all the commenters left kind responses, however, with some accusing Lohanny of being an “industry plant,” an idea she resented.
The Elizabeth, New Jersey native came from humble beginnings, emphasizing that she and her family often relied on food stamps and Medicaid to survive.
Because her mother is a Brazilian immigrant, Santos recalled having to teach herself how to apply to college and even work as a resident’s assistant to afford her time at Pace University.
“It’s been a really difficult life just constantly worrying about money,” Santos said. “And when people do say ‘industry plant’ or those things, I find it quite funny because it couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Santos even started her first job at 16 to help her mom pay the bills, making her struggle to land a job with two degrees even more perplexing.
Surprisingly, her vulnerable outcry is what connected her to Faze and ultimately led to job stability.
Santos gained more than 100,000 followers since posting the weeping video and gained a strong support base of other young people enduring the same problems.
Now from the inside looking out, Santos is using her platform to encourage others to keep pushing until they accomplish their goals — just as she did, and plans to continue doing for her own acting and TikTok careers.
“The main thing is to never give up. Keep trying but also don’t be afraid to talk about your struggles out loud, because you never know who can be there to help you,” Santos said.
“If I didn’t post that video, I don’t know if I would have been able to find a job today or right now or soon after the video.”