For this week’s Deep Dive Series, we are interviewing an inspiring Clapper creator: @Lil_Aries_Devil.

@Lil_Aries_Devil is a motivational creator and vlogger on Clapper. In this Deep Dive interview, we got to know her passions, as well as her struggles and how she turned her chronic disease into a way to help other people. Her content revolves around chronic illness awareness and taking care of stray animals in her downtime. We got to know about her journey on Clapper and the reasons why she stayed in the app. If you are someone who struggles with a chronic illness, please reach out to Lil_Aries_Devil. Her DMs are open and she is willing to listen.

Keep reading this Deep Dive Series to find out more about this creator’s amazing story. Make sure to tune in every Thursday at 5pm CT on our @Clappertalks account, to listen to the bonus questions that will only be available on our live radio show: Clapper Talks.

Deep Dive into this amazing creator’s life!

We noticed that your content really focuses on chronic disease awareness. Can you tell us what inspires you to inform your community about chronic diseases? 

On Clapper, I talk a lot about chronic illnesses because I personally struggle with something called Meniere’s Disease. It causes hearing loss, I am deaf on one side completely, vertigo, and disassociation where you feel like you are not in your own body. When I first started going through it, I didn’t know anybody else that dealt with it. I must have gone to 30 different doctors in a year. It took me many years to get my diagnosis because it’s basically ruling something else out.

For someone who doesn’t know about Meniere’s Disease what are the most important things people should know about this disease and how it affects people?

I would say that if you know someone who suffers from Meniere’s disease, you should always expect the unexpected. I no longer make plans because of vertigo and drop attacks. A drop attack is when I could be standing anywhere and it feels like someone pulls the rug from under your feet. You never know when it’s going to happen. Mine was so bad that I am housebound. If you know anyone who suffers these symptoms, be patient and educate yourself. You are never going to fully understand what they are going through, but the empathy and the understanding that you can show mean the world. I can’t even express that enough.

In what ways do you help people who are going through a chronic illness? How do your experiences help others? Do you have any advice or insight for people who struggle with this?

When I first came to Clapper, the first time I decide to post a video about my chronic illness I said “My DMs are always open”. On my first video, I got so many DMs from so many different people saying “hey, what you are describing I’ve dealt with”. With that, I was able to start directing them to ask questions and I realized I can help people. I can use this platform to help people, and in doing so, I started posting more and getting awesome feedback from some amazing creators. I was so alone at the beginning and I don’t want anyone to feel like that again.

You are a big animal lover and we love the fact that you foster them. What steps do you take to look after strays? Do you accept all types of animals or just certain kinds? 

With our county we have a feral cat colony that is registered to us. I am a huge animal lover. I always say that if you show up in my yard I will feed you. If I am not on Clapper I am usually out with the animals, it is literally a group of straight cats. We work with a nonprofit organization that will come up, they trapt the animals, then they get taken to the vet and they get fixed and vaccinated. After that, they get brought back to the neighborhood. I have a total of 15 cats registered to us. Unfortunately, we had to put down one of my favorites. We watch for health issues, preexisting, and future issues. Between chronic illness and taking care of animals, I feel like it gives me a purpose.

I love that one of your tier options is to adopt a feral cat, what brought you to help these animals, and how does that tiered structure work?

It’s my second tier. With 10 dollars you can adopt a feral cat. I started it as a temporary thing. It was actually an idea from a creator. It’s kind of when on TV where you can adopt an animal and you get pictures. If someone picks that tier and let them pick a feral and send them pictures and videos.

So, When did you join Clapper? How did your journey as a creator begin? 

I want to say August or September of 2020, I received an invitation through Instagram to join Clapper. I downloaded it, posted some videos, and ended up taking a break from social media. When I decided to come back I went back to Clapper to see what it was all about. That was March 2021 when I really started doing the daily posts and I found a group of creators that I clicked with. Those creators really helped me and made a positive impact on me and I never went back to the other app.

What advice would you give new users that want to be successful on Clapper?

My advice would just be yourself. You don’t need to do all these filters or the lipsyncing that I see a lot. Just be you. We want to see everyday life. It lets you get to know somebody. That’s how I found my group of creators. I popped into livestreams and radios. When Clapper has an event, become part of it. Push your content and just be you. You don’t need all the extra stuff. That’s what I’ve done and that seems to work here.

For our latest deep-dive on @King.Of.Poetry, read here.