At just 23 and 24 years old, Abby and Matt Howard have become social media sensations with over 4.7 million TikTok followers, 2.34 million YouTube subscribers, and 15,000 followers on Instagram.
The couple met in the 8th grade and after dating long-distance all throughout high school, eventually married during their sophomore year in college.
It wasn’t until the pandemic hit, when both found themselves out of a job, that they began dabbling into the TikTok world and soon went viral with their videos.
“We were super frugal in college and had saved up money so we didn’t have to jump ship immediately into another job,” said Abby. “Our TikTok just took off and it was totally unexpected.”
In addition to TikTok, Matt and Abby were vlogging frequently on their YouTube channel, slowly growing their presence and gaining subscribers.
“We made weekly YouTube videos for a year—that really helped us learn perseverance,” said Matt. “It was like we were working a part-time job getting paid nothing and just hoping it would work.”
The couple documented everything from their day-to-day life, Abby’s pregnancy journey, and even took viewers alongside the birth of their son, Griffin, in July 2022.
Now, they have successfully turned their social media platforms into a source of income, earning a stream of revenue through Youtube, Tik Tok, Instagram reels, and various brand and merchandise deals.
“When we started to make money doing brand deals, we were freaking out,” said Matt. “It’s almost like we have a reality TV show only we’re doing all the roles of making a show.”
Recently, they hired on the help of a video editor and agent and said they plan to continue building out their business as they grow.
“It’s like doing an 80 hour a week job,” said Matt. “We’re constantly making new videos and putting so much thought and work into the production to tell a story.”
Viewers can witness the ins and outs as Matt and Abby show honest and real inside looks into their lives as new parents with topics like: Driving 12 hours with a newborn, a day in the life with a newborn, first time leaving their baby, being a single dad for 36 hours, and more.
“We want the focus to be us and how we are handling parenting rather than just focusing all on Griffin,” said Abby.
While their son makes regular appearances in the videos, Matt and Abby agreed that they both strive to create genuine content but still keep parts of their life private.
“We never want to sacrifice our relationship or our family for this,” said Abby. “That was one of my biggest concerns going into this. Through constant conversation and always prioritizing us and our family is how we keep doing this.”
Although both parenthood and their social media business have had their stressors, the couple said they couldn’t be happier with where life has taken them.
“If you would have told me this would be our life three years ago, I would have laughed,” said Matt. “We used to dream about one day working together and now we get to and it’s the best thing ever.”
