A Nanaimo TikTok creator has attracted millions of views posting tips and tricks about the human body, and is always in search of the next viral video.
Mike DeVries, a 20-year-old Vancouver Island University student, is the man behind the @yomikez TikTok account. He claims credit for starting the hashtag #bodyhacks, which has helped him build an account with close to 390,000 followers, 14 million likes, and nearly 100 million views.
鈥淚t鈥檚 curiosity. When you hear 鈥榖ody hack,鈥� it鈥檚 like, what?鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 different ways that you can exploit your body into doing things that you want.鈥�
His most-watched TikTok shows viewers how to make one鈥檚 breath appear to look like smoke. He鈥檚 also created videos about foods to eat before bed to make dreams more vivid, how to fall asleep faster, and how to boost one鈥檚 memory.
DeVries went to high school in Duncan, but before that he lived in Europe and Africa.
鈥淪o I have a whole bunch of random life hacks and body hacks from different countries that I just kind of accumulated and now I鈥檓 sharing it with the world,鈥� he said.
He started a YouTube account several years ago that didn鈥檛 gain many subscribers, but he became interested in TikTok at the start of the pandemic when he was finishing Grade 12, grad events were being cancelled, and he was bored.
鈥淚 saw a lot of people were making videos that I wanted to make, so I instantly wanted to join,鈥� he said.
He built up a base of followers rapidly, but then he met his girlfriend and put the account aside for a couple of years before recently revitalizing it. His audience came right back, to the point that TikTok sponsorships now cover his rent.
He鈥檚 seen his videos go from 10,000 views to 100,000 views in a matter of minutes and said it鈥檚 鈥渓ike a high鈥� when a video goes viral. The filming and the editing of 15-second videos isn鈥檛 particularly time-consuming, but he said it鈥檚 a lot of work to manage the account. Keeping on top of trending topics is crucial for a TikTok creator.
鈥淎nything that鈥檚 new and popular and is getting a lot of views, you really want to jump on that,鈥� DeVries said. 鈥淚 made a video on what to do in case of a nuclear attack from Russia. It got 10 million views within a day. So you really want to make sure you know what people are watching.鈥�
DeVries is in his first year studying electrical trades at VIU, but would love to see where he can go with content creation, too, and is hoping to diversify his brand to YouTube and Instagram. He鈥檚 seen TikTokkers successfully expand to other platforms, but said it鈥檚 very hard to do because the content is so different.
鈥淓xpanding your business like that, you鈥檇 really have to step up your production quality and try and tailor your videos to a specific audience and that鈥檚 really hard to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淓specially when you鈥檝e already built one audience and know what they like, and now have to switch to another audience that you don鈥檛 know what they want at all. So it鈥檚 a pretty daunting task.鈥�
No matter how his brand grows, DeVries is proud of being a body hacks pioneer, and his content reminds him of when he was a kid looking up YouTube videos on how to be a ninja.
鈥淓xactly what I used to watch as a kid is what I鈥檓 doing,鈥� he said.
Look for DeVries on TikTok at , on Instagram at and on YouTube by searching for 鈥樷��.
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