Metro Detroit family jumps full-time into social media careers

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Meet the McCartys - a Metro Detroit family that made the dramatic jump into full-time content creating on social media. 

Guided by Kevin and Stephanie, the parents of the family, together they and their two kids have brought to life the reality of parenting in quick TikToks and Shorts on YouTube. That would make sense since according to Kevin, the "writer, director, producer, editor, and sometimes videographer" of the clips - the ideas are inspired by his own life at home.

"I would say that like 75% of it is based on parenting," he said. "Like I see things that happened with my kids and I’m like ‘wait a minute, this could be really funny’ and I just put my little crazy spin on it."

It's the authenticity to Kevin's "spin" that has helped them rack up millions of followers across social media. He attributes part of the success to being "just weird." But it's also a labor of love from the whole family, who frequently contributes in all the crazy ways social media can inspire.

The profession took-off for both Stephanie and Kevin during the pandemic. Kevin, the son of a Detroit cop, and Stephanie, who comes from Redford, quit their 9–5 jobs shortly after they got good at online content.

At the time, Kevin made TikToks to promote school academics and athletics. He was a teacher at the time. 

When the COVID-19 moved in, he did what most did and took out his phone.

"Because I didn’t have students to film anymore for sports, I said ‘let’s just try to make some crazy stuff happen' and we started filming just random things and pranks and all these other little things and we posted them on social media," he said. "I didn’t think anything of it - it was really just to keep my sanity.

"All of a sudden, I saw the likes."

The likes turned into money - enough money from big-enough brands that the two parents stopped working and made a major leap into social media. 

"We were doing well on social media. We were making extra income. It was proving to be successful and my wife a month before I decided said ‘maybe you should try it full time’," Kevin said.

The hard work has paid off in the form of income from brands like Netflix, Disney, Mattel, and Walmart. They've cashed in on what they call the "creator economy" which estimates to be a hundred billion dollar industry.

The experience has been tough - but a rewarding one, Stephanie says.

"It's work and it is very very hard work. He's running around in costume, sometimes I am too," she said. "But to be side-by-side with our kids, that's the most rewarding thing. And I never thought I would see the light on that."