‘Our TikTok is about making other people happy’

“You are a great duo, and would put a smile on anyone’s face” is one comment left under a TikTok video made by Kathlin Maughan and her father Terry.

It’s true. Between product reviews, songs, games and even a make believe audition in front of Simon Cowell; Kathlin and her dad’s videos are light-hearted and funny, which is exactly what they want them to be.

Both are great advocates for mental health, and through their videos they want to share positivity and laughter.

Twenty-four-year-old Kathlin currently has 28.2k followers on TikTok, and it’s on the road for 30,000. She juggles her lively social media account with working in Vincent’s in Cavan, a job she loves.

As a member of the Traveller community, Kathlin was nervous when she initially applied for the job, as she says some people “paint you with the one brush” but at Vincent’s she was treated like “family” from day one.

“Especially when you’re a Traveller you don’t know how to feel when it comes to working. You don’t know how people are going to make you feel. They treat me just like their own.”

The videos began with an awareness that everybody suffers with their mental health, and some may not have anyone to speak to.

“In the videos that myself and my daddy do, we always tell people that we are here if you want to talk to us. There’s no shame you can always text us privately.”

“Mental health needs to be out there in this world. You have to realise there is always someone out there.”

If she’s feeling down, Kathlin would always go to her father.

“He would listen, my mother [Tina] would listen too, but I’m a daddy’s girl so I would go to my daddy.

“My mother and father are my greatest supporters. They’ve always been there and they’ve always supported me no matter what I wanted to do.”

Despite the serious reason behind their videos, the content is anything but.

“What we put out on our TikTok is about making other people happy. Even if you’re having a really horrible day our videos will hopefully make you laugh.

“We’re always singing, we’re always ranking stuff, doing reviews. People are so generous and so kind that they send us stuff to review.”

These gifts include make up, shoes, food and in the most recent video Kate’s Bakes had sent them an abundance of cookies to sample. In another, where the pair are reviewing skincare products, Kathlin uses the products while her father does the voiceover with his hilarious take on skincare.

Kathlin has been using TikTok for a “long time” and at Christmas time her father decided that he too would join her on screen.

“He was giving out about too many Christmas decorations as an Irish person would. The video went viral and people said, Kathlin we need to see more of your father.”

The result was a viral video with over 700,000 views.

“All of a sudden they just blew up, and everybody loves them. At first, we did get a bit of hate for doing TikTok,” she says, however “so many kind people” are following the page and this outweighed the negativity. “We’re always going to get hate but as I always say, ‘Don’t paint us all with the one brush’. There’s no need for it. We’re not all the same no matter who you are.

“People just love the way we have our sense of humour. We’re not going to change who we are, we’re just ourselves on TikTok.

“I do be in my pyjamas sometimes if I’m not working. I’m just rough and ready and people love it,” she laughs.

As a proud member of the Traveller community, she loves promoting herself and her way of life, particularly for young audiences.

“A lot of young ones really want to get married, and they really want to start a family. Then there’s other young Traveller girls that want to start a career and want to look for other stuff in life. To be honest I’m one of those girls, I look forward to working and God knows what can happen at the end of that.”

Her love of fashion coincides with her job in Vincent’s, where she can have first pick on the range of clothing that comes through the door; she has “always” loved thrifting clothes and books.

“You can’t beat a charity shop, no way,” she beams.

Working there also suits her love of music and singing; when customers hear country music playing, they know Kathlin is working. She believes so many people have “amazing voices” but are “afraid” to show it off.

“That’s why sometimes for the craic I do a singing video on TikTok. I don’t care what people think, I just do it because I’m enjoying it.”

The Ballinagh TikToker is filled with confidence, and admits she was shy when she was younger, something she puts down to being an only child. At the age of 13, she began kickboxing and still does it today.

“It was mostly for my fitness but not just that, for your mental health, it clears your head and keeps you going.

“That built my confidence an awful lot. It helped me grow more and made me try other things.” Kathlin is currently doing fashion design courses online, and hopes to pursue a career in this field someday.

“I look forward to my work, I look forward to doing a bit of kickboxing, I look forward to doing my courses.”