For this week’s Deep Dive Series, we are interviewing Clapper creator and Star Wars super fan: TK Beth Smith.

@TKBethSmith is a longtime creator on Clapper. She shares slice-of-life content about her love of Star Wars and Rick and Morty, all of her precious pups (including the famous Patrick!), and her recent move to Florida. Oh, and she wears masks and awesome helmets while she does it. She has built a vibrant and incredibly positive community on her corner of the app, and she’s never afraid to be a little silly if it will make someone smile. In our interview, we talked about her love of Star Wars, why she joined Clapper and how her content has changed, and so much more!

Keep reading this Deep Dive Series to find out more about this creator’s fantastic 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 story!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. What does a day look like in your life?

Mostly, I wake up and I start doing promo work, generally for online things. Then I schedule what time I’m going to shoot content; sometimes I do that off the cuff because that’s also good. And if I have a regular, “real life” project, I go and do that. That’s me setting up cameras, checking equipment, and doing things like that to get things ready for a shoot. And lots of dogs! My dogs are mostly rescues and they’re all good babies. Patrick’s got epilepsy, so his life has made my life a little more stressful. We have to go to visit the vet, but other than that, everything else is pretty well managed. There’s a lot of watching for that in my life nowadays. It’s very different when you have a little creature who depends on you.

You are obsessed with Star Wars and we are loving it. When did this become a part of your brand?

I saw it in the theater in May 1977, just like thousands and thousands of other children with their dads. I was just blown away because up until then we had Disney princesses that had to be rescued and it just wasn’t for me. Then I saw Leia take charge. As soon as she said “I don’t care who you are or where you came from, now you’ll do what I say,” I said, “that’s the lady I’m talking about!” It changed my life from then on and became part of me.

Now how it became part of my brand, that’s a whole other story. So we had this little thing that happened—you may have heard of it—COVID? It shut down every production set everywhere.  We were no longer allowed to interact or be on sets and film together in close quarters. Even commercial work, even just by myself, it was difficult. I was going a bit stir-crazy, so I turned the camera on myself and started a project on Instagram. I saw that there were other people doing what I was thinking about doing, which was decorating a Star Wars helmet. And I’m a big fan of Rick and Morty, the other part of my mash-up. So I came up with a concept for the helmet, put it together, put it up, and the rest is history as they say. It’s been a long, strange trip.

Who is your favorite Star Wars character and why?

Leia is my ultimate favorite and has been my favorite since ’77. I’ve loved every iteration she’s had, and I’ve loved the growth of that character over the series and over the franchise. It was just beautifully done. It was very sad to lose her as we did. She wasn’t a perfect hero; she didn’t live a perfect life or do perfect things, but to us…she’s our princess, she’s our queen. I just love Carrie, and I love everything that she did with her platform. She’s my hero, she’s my favorite. But Darth Vader is the best character and the whole franchise is about him. He is, by far, the closest of seconds!

You are a long-time creator and a very successful one, indeed. How did you form such a strong community?

I don’t know! I don’t know that I have any different methods than anyone else has. It might seem difficult for people to connect. As a storyteller, I understand that people want to see your face, they want to see your eyes, they want to look into your soul, and some of us aren’t comfortable doing that. I just embrace the whole “I’m not going to show my face completely.” I think that being a storyteller, and having some mystery there is much more fun. That’s how I do it. And I hope that, when people come to my page, they are happier when they leave than when they got there. That’s my real goal. Just to brighten somebody’s day and make them feel better. This is the shitshow we’re all in. We’re all on different boats but we’re all in the same goddamn storm. And I hope my content does resonate with people. I hope they get that I put my heart into it and that I think from my soul. Even if I’m just being pun-tastic or making innuendos or being cheeky or something.  It is meant to be positive and uplifting.

What are your tips and tricks for finding and creating your niche content, in your case Star Wars and Rick and Morty?

I’m like a lot of people. I had been on TikTok but wasn’t there long enough to get into the groove. So I sort of just threw out there some of my everyday-behind-the-scenes because that’s what I thought this account would be. Star Wars and Rick and Morty, for me, were a springboard. It was a place for me to be like, ”hey this is something I do that I’m really into. If you’re a geek like me, maybe we can hang out.” But when I did “who’s been taking care of my yard,” it just sort of touched people because other people do that. And I was like ”well, these are the things that people want to see, and I want to give them what they want.” As a creator, you always want to do that. Pay attention to what people seem to like about your content and maybe gravitate there. It doesn’t have to be that you give up who you are. Do what feels good for you, keep who you are, but definitely be as authentic as you can. Even if you do have to wear a mask, or a helmet, or whatever it takes because that’s what really resonates with people

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

It was April 2021, or somewhere around there. I had gotten on TikTok and done a duet with one of my friends, and I woke up to no more TikTok account! I think I said something about it on Instagram and they said “you’ve got to go to Clapper” and that’s how I heard about you guys. Immediately, I was like “this is great!” There were no kids (god bless kids, but I don’t have any, and I’m not trying to influence children) and this seemed like a much better way to go. It was hard to nail down what I would do for content creation on Clapper. I just decided to do what goes on in my daily life: this is what I’m wearing, this is where I’m going, this is what I’m building, as long as it dealt with Star Wars. And then I just branched out from there.

What made you create the hashtag #HeyPatrick for your doggie?

As I said, dogs are a lot of my day so eventually, they’re going to end up in a video. I do have four dogs, but he’s my baby and sometimes the baby gets to be your favorite. I tell them all they’re my favorite, (as you should do with all your children and pets) but Patrick is special. The others were all perfectly well-behaved; Patrick had some character to him, chewing on rocks and things, and I just thought “no, you’re a character and you should be”. So, #HeyPatrick it is!

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

That’s a great question! Everyone says to be yourself, which is true. If you want to tell a good story, there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. And if you keep that in mind as a storyteller, as a creator, you’ll do fine. Just don’t give up. That is the thing that I hope anybody takes away from anything ever. Don’t give up, keep trying. If you want to be a content creator, just do what you love until you figure out what it is you excel at. Then do more of it until you’re absolutely amazing.

Hope you enjoy getting to know TK Beth Smith. For our latest deep-dive on @DivaLasVegas, read here.