TikTok star Keith Lee is back at it, helping small business owners. Lee is well-known and admired online for posting reviews of small family-run or struggling businesses, often going viral and bringing in new customers for the businesses involved.
On March 14, Ella Livingston posted a TikTok video saying that she would email Lee in the hopes that he could help her struggling business. Livingston is the owner of Cocoa Asante, an artisanal chocolate company. In her video, she said that she wanted to send Lee some chocolates so he could review them for his audience.
On March 18, Lee stitched Livingston’s TikTok video saying he had already placed an order for some of her decadent chocolates and was planning to review her products before he even saw her TikTok video.
“It was meant to happen; God makes no mistakes.”
Keith Lee
The food reviewer began his review of Cocoa Asante by holding up the boxes that the chocolates came in and said that it was some of the prettiest packaging he’s ever seen. He even bragged about how fast the shipping was.
Lee tasted four different kinds of chocolate from Livingston’s company, rating each of them between 8.5 and 9.5 out of 10. The TikToker raved about how delicious the chocolates were even though he doesn’t like sweet foods.
Lee described the luxury chocolate products as one of the most satisfying purchases he’s made in a long time. After trying them for the first time, the viral sensation said that he was tempted to eat the entire box of Cocoa Asante’s chai pecan caramel bonbons.
The only negative thing Lee had to say was that he believes $15 for a chocolate bar is too expensive, referring to the brand’s gold milk chocolate bar. One thing about it — Lee will keep it real.
The food critic’s extremely positive review garnished over 3.8 million views, and according to Livingston, the impact was overwhelming. She shared an Instagram post announcing that her products had completely sold out within 45 minutes of Lee posting his review to his 11.2 million followers. She informed her customers that they would have to pre-order chocolates and wait longer than usual for their products to arrive.
Livingston was ecstatic to report that within 36 hours of Lee posting his review, her daily revenue rose from just under $1,000 to $24,719, completely blowing her away. Talk about the power of influence.
“I have been Keith Lee’d, and my life will never be the same,” she said in the video, adding that she was going to resign from her part-time job to focus solely on Cocoa Asante.
“Keith, you have officially retired me from being a teacher, and to that, I say thank you,” she said.
Lee later posted a TikTok video reflecting on the considerable impact business owners say his videos have had on them.
“I know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing; I’m walking on the path I’m supposed to be walking on. I’m forever appreciative; I’m forever grateful.”
Keith Lee
How amazing is this story? It truly goes to show you just how powerful influence is. Social media is really out here changing people’s lives every day.
