Influencer
Furniture Scientist Clinton Avery Tharp On Brand Collaborations, The Furniture Niche, And Overcoming Challenges As A Creator
Clinton Avery Tharp is a content creator, musician, and “Furniture Scientist.” About a year ago, Clinton, his wife, and his now three-year-old son moved from Oklahoma City to Purcell to launch their vintage store. Keep reading to learn about the furniture niche, Clinton’s advice for aspiring creators, and his thoughts on the creator economy.
Recently, Additive Creative Partners signed nine new and high-profile creators, including Clinton Avery Tharp, James Wright, Lauren Kettering, Legit Tim, Carrie Berk, and more.
Clinton shares that he is excited about being represented by a talent management group because it makes him feel more legitimate as a creator and gives him additional support. Through his manager, Clinton has already secured multiple exciting sponsorship opportunities.
Keep reading to learn about Clinton’s approach to brand collaborations and creating standout content.
Furniture Scientist Clinton Avery Tharp On Brand Collaborations, The Furniture Niche, And Overcoming Challenges As A Creator
A Unique Approach to Interior Design
“Furniture Scientist” Clinton has grown a massive following of over one million followers on both Instagram and TikTok.
Before amassing his huge following, Clinton treated Instagram as a personal photo diary for sharing about his life and music. During 2020, he couldn’t perform due to lockdowns, prompting him to look for other ways to share his music.
Around this time, TikTok skyrocketed in popularity, and Clinton became determined to crack the algorithm. Initially, he shared random lifestyle content, but nothing went viral.
After discovering TikTok’s furniture niche, Clinton created content that took off due to his zany personality and unique approach to flipping furniture. He even sings in some of his videos to share another part of his life with his audience.
His first viral video showed one of his favorite furniture-flipping tips. In this video, he removed the skirt around the bottom of a chair to give the sofa seat a more modern look instantly.
Clinton’s Content Goals
Now that he has additional support from Additive Creative Partners, Clinton plans on going after some of his biggest goals, such as designing courses and taking on intuitive sponsorships.
He shares, “I want to do more sponsorships – the kind of sponsorships that have an organic fit with what I already do. Although it’s fun whenever you get that random sponsorship, like Moss Ball Pets was one I had early on. They wanted the furniture guy, and it was one of the most fun times I had creating a video. I like sponsorships with products because it’s like a creative prompt.”
He shares that one of the biggest benefits of signing with Additive Creative Partners is no longer needing to worry about negotiations with brands.
The Furniture Niche
Clinton favors mid-century modern furniture, which he often shows off in his content. This love has been around since he worked at the mid-century modern furniture store, Directions in Furniture in Oklahoma City as an 18-year-old.
Clinton comments, “Going to Directions in Furniture and working there was amazing for me. I’ve been into that style for a long time, but honestly, I love all the styles. I feel like in almost any time period, I can find something I like.”
As an artist, Clinton strikes a balance between showcasing his creative vision and making the furniture practical for today.
Since he flips furniture, he prioritizes refurbishing what people are interested in buying – a lesson he learned early on after opening his store.
@clintonaverytharp Watch us make this retro furniture look cooler #fyp #furnitureflip #diy #howto ♬ original sound – Clinton Avery Tharp
Brand Collaborations
As for brands, Clinton would love to work with Ikea or Jonathan Adler, especially if given the opportunity to create unique but practical furniture.
Whenever he considers a brand for sponsorship, he vets the brand thoroughly by researching its reputation, history, and more. Clinton’s manager also handles this to ensure he never works with companies that don’t align with his brand.
Clinton shares, “[The brand] has to resonate with me, or it’s not going to be a good partnership.”
Clinton’s Advice for Aspiring Creators
Clinton’s biggest advice for aspiring creators is just to start.
He explains, “Just do it. Think about what you like to do and mix that with some other things that you like to do. Give good, valuable information, and go hit start. Be consistent, but not to the point where it’s affecting your mental health.”
To protect his mental health, Clinton takes long breaks when needed to focus on other projects. As he puts it, you can’t be funny on command, especially if you feel drained.
He also shares that everything isn’t as glamorous or put together as influencers make it out to be. For example, he has 1.2 million followers on TikTok and over 200,000 followers on Instagram, and many people assume he must be rich, which isn’t the case.
Go into content creation because you love it and have something to share, not for the perks that many assume creators automatically have at a certain point.
Overcoming Challenges as a Creator
Previously, Clinton has felt pressured during sponsorships in ways that take away from the art of content creation.
He doesn’t consider himself an influencer and emphasizes creating unique short films, which take a lot of planning, creative energy, and editing, so pressure like this can impact his creative process. To avoid this, he looks closely at sponsorship requirements before agreeing to the gig.
Another significant challenge is how many creators struggle with mental health.
Clinton explains, “Having to make content and think that this is now your identity, and if a video goes bad, it can affect people’s mental health. That doesn’t really happen for me if a video doesn’t get a ton of views. I’m just like – all right, challenge accepted. I’ll workshop my next one and make it even more awesome.”
He also cautions creators about becoming overly concerned with their audience to the point that they only make the content they think the audience wants and become less interested in what they create.
The Creator Economy
Clinton feels that the creator economy was in a big boom, and now things are becoming more standardized.
He says, “I feel like I got in at a time where it was the wild west of content creating, and now I think it’s a lot harder. I think it’s a lot harder to get as much of a following. People are a little more stingy with that plus button than they used to be.”
In reaction, Clinton predicts that creators may create crazier content to capture the audience’s attention.
Future Plans
In addition to continuing to grow on TikTok and Instagram, Clinton plans to work on YouTube shorts and create long-form YouTube content. His manager has also mentioned putting his videos on Snapchat.
Clinton says, “Right now, it’s just any new platform that pops up. Start putting your stuff on there and see what happens. Try them out. My plan is I want to get a TV show.”
Once he lands a TV show, Clinton plans to promote it heavily online through his content, especially after noticing that many TV cast members don’t post about their show online, which is a missed opportunity to land another season.
His final message? Use coasters on your wood furniture! Clinton has refurbished far too many damaged tabletops due to a lack of coaster use.
