What It's Like to Make TikToks for a Living | Career Crush episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 23, 2026 · 15 MIN

What It's Like to Make TikToks for a Living | Career Crush

from Harvard Business Review · host HBR

What It's Like to Make TikToks for a Living | Career Crush 8 Jul 2021 --- 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮! ✨ https://www.youtube.com/c/HBRAscend ✨ I can watch TikToks for hours. I’ve even made a few. But what is it like to make them for a living? 00:00 I want to make TikToks for a living 00:40 Meet Dave Jorgenson 02:00 How do you keep this up everyday? 02:39 Does the editor-in-chief approve the TikToks? 03:49 A different path for comedy 04:26 Learning production in college 06:21 "Creative Video Producer" 07:19 Pitching TikTok to The Washington Post 08:00 TikTok hasn't gotten old yet 09:00 Turning your job into something you want Dave Jorgenson, the “Washington Post TikTok Guy,” shares his journey from interning at The Colbert Report, to making YouTube videos, to becoming the newspaper-hat-wearing TikToker. He chats with Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio about his creativity process, how he turned his job into one he loves, and how he helped the Washington Post’s TikTok reach almost one million followers. We’d love to hear from you! Tell us about your content preferences in our 10-minute survey: https://hbp.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2ldQ5v6xeoxKHrM?source=social_youtube Watch Dave’s TikToks at https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost Produced by Eliza Laycock, Andy Robinson, and Kelsey Alpaio Video by Andy Robinson, Kelsey Alpaio, and Eliza Laycock Editing by Eliza Laycock Animation and Design by Riko Cribbs and Karen Player Follow us: https://hbr.org/ascend https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/hbr... https://www.facebook.com/hbrascend/ https://twitter.com/HBRAscend https://www.instagram.com/hbrascend/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What It's Like to Make TikToks for a Living | Career Crush 8 Jul 2021 --- 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮! ✨ https://www.youtube.com/c/HBRAscend ✨ I can watch TikToks for hours. I’ve even made a few. But what is it like to make them for a living? 00:00 I want to make TikToks for a living 00:40 Meet Dave Jorgenson 02:00 How do you keep this up everyday? 02:39 Does the editor-in-chief approve the TikToks? 03:49 A different path for comedy 04:26 Learning production in college 06:21 "Creative Video Producer" 07:19 Pitching TikTok to The Washington Post 08:00 TikTok hasn't gotten old yet 09:00 Turning your job into something you want Dave Jorgenson, the “Washington Post TikTok Guy,” shares his journey from interning at The Colbert Report, to making YouTube videos, to becoming the newspaper-hat-wearing TikToker. He chats with Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio about his creativity process, how he turned his job into one he loves, and how he helped the Washington Post’s TikTok reach almost one million followers. We’d love to hear from you! Tell us about your content preferences in our 10-minute survey: https://hbp.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2ldQ5v6xeoxKHrM?source=social_youtube Watch Dave’s TikToks at https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost Produced by Eliza Laycock, Andy Robinson, and Kelsey Alpaio Video by Andy Robinson, Kelsey Alpaio, and Eliza Laycock Editing by Eliza Laycock Animation and Design by Riko Cribbs and Karen Player Follow us: https://hbr.org/ascend https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/hbr... https://www.facebook.com/hbrascend/ https://twitter.com/HBRAscend https://www.instagram.com/hbrascend/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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What It's Like to Make TikToks for a Living | Career Crush

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This episode is 15 minutes long.

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This episode was published on June 23, 2026.

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What It's Like to Make TikToks for a Living | Career Crush 8 Jul 2021 --- 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮! ✨ https://www.youtube.com/c/HBRAscend ✨ I can watch TikToks for hours. I’ve even made a few. But what is it like to make...

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