Ashtin Earle Interview

There’s a myth that creators break through because they’ve cracked some invisible code—better lighting, tighter edits, smarter posting. But that’s not it. The ones who actually cut through are the ones who feel real. Gen Z was raised on vlogs; on the quiet intimacy of watching someone else’s life unfold through a screen. We’re nosy, sure. But more importantly, we have a near-perfect radar for anything that feels staged.

Ashtin Earle didn’t set out to prove that—she just stumbled into it. Out of 2020 boredom, she started posting on TikTok, keeping it low-key and mostly separate from her real life at Tulane. It was something she did quietly, almost privately. But the moment she stopped filtering – when her online world started to mirror her actual one – things clicked. Growth didn’t come from polish; it came from letting people in.

She’d seen it work up close. Her sister, Alix Earle, built one of the biggest platforms in the country on the same principle: that a chaotic house, a bad skin day or a sloppy night out will always beat a curated highlight reel. Ashtin took that ethos and made it her own—less performance, more presence. No overthinking, no hard sell. Just showing up as she is.

Brands didn’t need long to catch on. To date, she’s worked with fashion powerhouses from Coach, Tory Burch to Skims—a trio that tells you everything about her range. That’s the thing: Ashtin doesn’t shape-shift to fit a brand. She absorbs it, filters it through her life, and makes it feel native. Nothing reads like an ad, which is exactly why it works.

And yet, as I was soon to learn, there was no grand strategy behind any of it. No five-year plan. Just momentum—slow at first, then all at once. A snowball effect that’s led to millions of followers, major partnerships, and now, a Netflix show centred on the Earle family dynamic that audiences have long become accustomed with peeking behind the front-facing camera. 

She’s quick to credit her sister, and the bond between them is undeniable. But Ashtin doesn’t live in anyone’s shadow. Her audience—1.9 million and counting—is case in point. Same foundation, different energy. And it’s that energy that’s turning something accidental into something undeniable.

BOBBI KATE HEWITT: I want to start from the beginning. So you're from New Jersey, and you started posting on TikTok in 2020… What made you pick up your phone and start posting?

ASHTIN EARLE: I mean, I think everyone was kind of really bored in 2020 and becoming obsessed with TikTok. I just started doing it for fun. I think I was trying to learn the renegade dance. But I didn't think anything of it at the time.

BOBBI: So you didn't start with any intentions of it turning into what it has?

ASHTIN: Yeah, no, definitely not!

BOBBI: And at what point did you start to think, “Okay, this is actually something that could be a career?”

ASHTIN: Honestly, I feel like for so long – even when I started doing small brand deals in the beginning – I never really thought I could be something as big as what I am now, I was just having fun and being silly. I don't know. It just felt like I was doing it for fun. And I did start getting brand deals, but honestly, I don't think it really hit me until last year, when I was like, “Oh my god, I almost have a million followers.” Which is crazy, how did this happen?!

BOBBI: And as you were building this platform, you were studying at Tulane, what did it look like, balancing the two?

ASHTIN: Honestly, in the beginning, I feel like I kept my social media life, specifically on TikTok, separate from my life at school. I was kind of shy about the fact that I was posting online. Obviously my friends followed me and knew I was posting. But even with my friends and my roommates, I wouldn't be like, “Oh, I'm making a TikTok, or “I'm doing this.” I would just do it privately, which is kind of funny. But once I actually brought my school life into my online life, I think I started to become more relatable—and that's when I started gaining more followers. There were definitely times when I felt a little overwhelmed between, like my work and schoolwork, but overall, I just think it was really fun. And I honestly really miss that part of my life when I was in school and sharing it online, it was really fun.

BOBBI: How did you deal with the social implications of posting at University? Or was it not a concern for you? 

ASHTIN: I think because I had such a close group of girlfriends that were really supportive of everything I did – and they didn't really care or pass any judgment on what I was doing – it didn’t even cross my mind. I didn’t think about what everyone else in my school was thinking.

BOBBI: How do you feel about the tension between building a brand and just being yourself? Is it hard when the brand is you?

ASHTIN: Yeah, at times. I'm 22 years old. I'm still growing up and figuring out my life. So it can be hard when I'm trying to figure out myself. And you can say something or feel something or do something one day, and then change the next. Change opinions or change your style, and then there's still people still holding this narrative of how you were. But like, I'm still figuring things out. So it can definitely be hard, and I definitely struggled with that. But I think I've learned to just block out any noise and focus on myself. And realise that the only opinion that matters is mine. So if I want to change my mind about something, I can.

BOBBI: Your sense of style feels quite central to who you are. How would you describe your style as of this moment, and how do you think it's changed since those first days of posting?

ASHTIN: I mean, I want to be chic, but sometimes I feel like I'm not. But I don't know, I wear a lot of dark colours, black is my favourite colour to wear. That's something that I feel like has always been consistent in my life, but I don't know. I also like to add in a little bit of edginess where I can but still keeping it refined. I have a hard time describing my style, because I feel like I change it every day, depending on my mood.

BOBBI: Is there anyone that you look up to style wise? Who inspires you?

ASHTIN: I feel like I've always looked up to Devin Lee Carlson as a style icon. And more recently I’ve been loving Gabbriette, just with the whole dark aesthetic. But honestly, I don't know. I feel like I’m always just seeing things randomly and feeling inspired to try it myself. But also my older sister, like growing up she was always someone I looked up to. Now, we obviously have such different styles, but I feel like she was the first person that I wanted to emulate.

BOBBI: With your ever-changing style, how do you decide which brands to work with and what feels right?

ASHTIN: I mean, I feel like I'm the kind of person that I can match anyone's vibe, or find anything that I like within a brand, even if what they put out isn't necessarily what I'd envision for myself. So I really just go based on if the brand excites me as there's always ways to manoeuvre and mesh their vibe with mine and go from there.

BOBBI: You've recently-ish moved to New York. What did the city mean to you before you actually lived there? And has it delivered?

ASHTIN: Yeah, I mean, growing up in New Jersey, I've always been very close to New York, and I’ve been here a lot throughout my life. I've kind of always known I wanted to live here. Growing up, my mum always loved fashion too, and introduced it to me. She loved the city, and she worked in fashion after college here, and it just always represented that dream to me of being independent and living on my own and really starting my life. So I kind of always knew that this was going to be my place. And I feel like so much has happened for me in these past few months since living here. And I've always known I wanted to navigate more towards the fashion lane and I feel like I've made a lot of progress in just these few months living here. And also, there's so much inspiration, just like walking down the streets, everyone has the coolest sense of style. I love it.

BOBBI: And it was recently announced Netflix is doing a show on your family! How did that come about? And when did you know you wanted to do it?

ASHTIN: So we've actually all been talking about this for a while. I mean, with Alix's rise to fame, she's kind of brought a light to our entire family—and we do have a very interesting relationship. My dad's remarried, with three little siblings, and then we have my mum and her boyfriend, and we all do a lot of things together, just because – especially with the spotlight being on Alix and I so much – we've really come closer together as a family. You know, it's harder to trust people in this world. My dad is also our manager, so we just have a very interesting family dynamic. We’ve always said we'd be really funny on a show together. We argue and fight, but we always come together, because we just value each other more than anything. But Alix was the one who was really pushed to actually do it, and I was kind of apprehensive about it, because I don't share THAT much about my personal life online—like I do, but I'm not very vulnerable in the way my sister is. So I was a little more apprehensive… But we're doing it, and it's fun.

BOBBI: So exciting… Have you filmed the first season now? Or are you still in the middle of filming?

ASHTIN: Yeah, we're still in the middle of filming. I think we're gonna be filming until May. It’s been fun so far. There's been a lot of ups and downs. I want them to put together an episode so I can see how it's going. Like, right now, I have no idea.

BOBBI: And how does it feel to get to do all of this, alongside your sister and alongside your family?

ASHTIN: It's really great. I don't think I'd be able to do any of this alone. My family has been a great support system, and obviously having my sister to look up to is so amazing. She is incredible with everything she does. She's so smart and such a talented business woman. She is just an amazing role model. And I feel really lucky to have my family and to be in this position.

BOBBI: Well, you've built something pretty significant in a pretty short amount of time. Do you ever stop and really take stock of it? Or are you always thinking about what's next?

ASHTIN: Yeah, I feel like it's really easy to get wrapped up in this world, especially just because people in this industry are posting their achievements and what they're doing online for you to see. So it's so easy to compare myself to them. But I was doing some reflecting just on my past year that I've had, and I was like, “Holy F, I've done a lot, and I'm literally 22, this is insane.” And so I've been working on practicing reflecting more and just being proud of myself, and practicing gratitude for everything I have, because I seriously can't even fathom what I've achieved already in my life. It's insane. And yeah, I've given up looking at other people, because everyone has their own path and their own way of life.