Patry Ruiz, originally from Madrid, has crafted a unique space in TikTok by infusing humor into her experiences as a teacher and an immigrant living in the UK. She candidly discusses her unplanned rise to influencer fame, the challenges and opportunities within the creator economy, and the importance of authenticity in a saturated market. 

With her own blend of comedy, language education, and relatable life stories, Patry continues to create content that resonates deeply with her audience.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you started your journey as an influencer?

Patry Ruiz is originally from Madrid and moved to the UK about ten years ago. She mainly does comedy and educational content related to her experience of teaching, learning languages, and living in the UK as an immigrant. 

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Her start as an influencer was completely unplanned. “I studied drama when I was living in Madrid, so I’ve always been a bit dramatic. I’ve always loved the camera and being in front of an audience,” Patry shares.

Patry did several acting jobs in Madrid as a teen, usually on TV and in ads. Then she realized she needed to focus less on the acting world and build a career instead. This motivated her to study English Philology at university, leaving her very limited time to do acting.

She focused on being a teacher, teaching English in Madrid, and decided to move to England, where she started teaching Spanish. After a few years of teaching, she decided she’d had enough. She had a few bad experiences in school, which led her to quit. 

During this time, she was looking for some direction and asking herself what she should do with her life. Some people suggested she start sharing her cooking recipes on social media — and she followed their advice. That’s how Patry’s journey as an influencer began.

Can you tell us more about the type of content you enjoy creating and why they resonate with your audience?

“My content is related to my Spanglish life. My content is just about me and what’s relatable to my life, so I guess people who are in a similar situation can relate to me,” Patry says. 

Her content is all about her experience of teaching English and Spanish, learning English as her second language, and living as an immigrant in the UK. She always tries to give her audience some kind of value in her videos in the form of entertainment, comedy, or education. 

Patry’s content is light, making it very easy for her audience to watch, plus she takes pride in her content, making her audience happy. “I like to see the feedback, people are always laughing at the videos, and that’s what keeps me going, really,” she shares. 

Of all the social media platforms available, why did you choose TikTok as your main platform for content creation?

Patry’s largest following is on TikTok but shared how that happened by chance. “I actually opened an Instagram [account] way before I opened TikTok. But when I opened Instagram two years ago, its growth was not as easy as TikTok has been,” Patry shares. 

Her profile on Instagram was different. She was doing cooking videos, which she felt wasn’t true to her personality. It wasn’t long before she decided to do content about languages and mix languages with comedy — and she was happy she did because her audience liked it, and this was something that felt true to herself. 

“TikTok gave me a lot of growth at the time, and it still does. The videos, you know, go viral a lot easier on that platform or at that time, at least. But I was still repurposing the videos onto Instagram and now onto my YouTube channel, as well,” Patry says. 

How has TikTok helped you in building your personal brand and growing your audience?

“It has helped me immensely to become a content creator because now I know what videos work well, how to create them, and use editing tools. TikTok helped me a lot as I was mainly editing and filming on there, so it gave me a good idea of how to create good videos that have got the hook that can engage the audience. I then started using external editing tools like CapCut. ” Patry says. 

Patry also credits TikTok for helping her understand what her audience likes and doesn’t like, what they want to see, and what their needs are. She also does research on the platform by watching other people’s videos and seeing which videos are successful in her niche. 

What attracted you to work with ClicksTalent Agency? How has the agency supported your influencer career?

Patry started working with ClicksTalent Agency a few months ago, but the agency already helped her a lot. “As a content creator, I’m not good at handling emails. I have no background whatsoever in managing deals, contracts, etc. So creating content and managing all of that was a bit overwhelming, and obviously, I don’t have the time to reach out to the brand that I want to work with.”

When ClicksTalent Agency approached her, she thought working with them would be good as these are professionals who have years of experience in what she’s doing. At the moment, the agency has been very supportive of Patry and is helping her manage a lot of things, particularly on the business side of content creation. 

“It makes a massive difference to have somebody out there that, you know, can help you out and knows about the business and has got the contacts. And whenever I reached out, that I have any issues, they have responded straight away.” Patry shares. 

As an influencer, how do you view the current state of the creator economy? What are some of the challenges and opportunities you’ve observed?

Patry recognizes how the creator economy is booming at the moment and has experienced significant growth in the past few years. It has completely transformed digital platforms and how people view marketing. “So, the opportunities are endless; the sky’s the limit, really, when you’re doing this job. And that’s the beauty of it — you go to bed every day thinking, ‘Oh, I could never,” but then you see it happening, and it’s really cool,” Patry says. 

The current state of the creator economy allows anyone to dream and live their dreams in many ways. However, this status quo isn’t all good, as Patry recognizes that this growth led to bigger and more significant issues surrounding monetization. For her, that’s the biggest challenge for creators at the moment. 

“I invest an awful lot of hours into creating videos, filming, editing, and you have to show up every single day. So, it’s a big challenge to find sustainable revenue streams and not only depend on the brand deals. Especially for small creators like me, it can be quite difficult to generate consistent income, so you don’t know what’s going to come in every month,” Patry says. 

Another challenge Patry sees as a content creator is when she partners with a brand, works hard on a video, and it could entirely depend on a third party that she doesn’t know as to how the video will perform on a particular day or week as the algorithms might change. 

And then there’s content saturation. She explains further by telling us, “There are so many content creators at the moment. The competition is out there to hook people in, to get people to stay in your video and scroll to the next one. So how do you do that? How do you compete?”

In order to adapt, Patry is always thinking of new ideas and renewing herself, her style, and her videos, and making them better and better. 

“But, as I said, the challenges and opportunities are here. So you can diversify your revenue streams. As a teacher, I only had one revenue stream, which was my normal 9-to-5 salary. But now, it’s a lot better as you can do it through many ways, not only through brand deals, but you can sell merchandise, do crowdfunding or offer membership courses, which is what I’m trying to do at the moment,” she adds.

She also creates communities comprising her niche audience. These communities can be valuable for creators because they’ll have more engaged and loyal bases who share the same common grounds as they do. Plus, creators can directly interact with this audience through live streams, a method that was nonexistent before. 

How do you maintain authenticity and connect with your audience in a space that can sometimes feel saturated with content?

“I think it’s essential that I am just myself. What didn’t work at the beginning was me, trying to be what Instagram expected me to be. You know, the poses, the pictures, the perfect girl. Nobody wants to see that anymore. They want to really get to know who you are and enjoy the person that you are,” Patry shares.

“There are thousands and thousands of millions of girls doing the same thing out there, but there’s only one Patry Ruiz that can do videos that I do,” she adds.

To keep her audience engaged, Patry just tries to be herself and get inspiration from her day-to-day life. She even writes her own scripts and also uses her followers as her inspiration. 

What role do you think influencer marketing plays in today’s digital landscape? How has it evolved over the years?

“It has completely transformed it,” Patry says. “I’ve been playing a part in this recently, but obviously, we’ve been surrounded by it without even realizing it for a long time now. It has transformed and revolutionized the digital landscape as we knew it because the world of marketing is no longer what it used to be.”

Initially, marketing was saturated with celebrities. Now, with the rise of social media, influencers who talk and look like the Average Joe are becoming more prominent in the space. These individuals have carved their name in the industry because of their expertise, skills, niche content, and relatability and have successfully gained the trust of their audience. 

Could you share your insights into the future trends of influencer marketing and the creator economy?

“I think authenticity and transparency are going to be more crucial. That’s going to be the key element in doing marketing,” Patry shares. She continued by telling us that some platforms at the moment even mock a few big influencers in their campaigns as they look fake with the product or service they’re endorsing.

“Brands are going to think twice and think carefully about who they’re working with and how authentic and how genuine the ad is in that sense. So, I think transparency is going to be key, as well as the genuine connection between that influencer and their audience.”

Another trend Patry sees happening today and that will continue in the future is the rise of niche influencers. Influencers who have a very confined niche are going to perform better in marketing deals because influencers who do a little bit of everything — say, in lifestyle, fashion, and travel — don’t translate that well in terms of views when advertising products. 

As such, it’ll be more beneficial for brands if they work with an influencer with a defined niche, as they’re able to target a very focused group. 

“The third one, and the one that I keep thinking about all the time, is how the technologies will advance. What other platforms are we going to get? What’s going to be the next big thing? What will we be able to do on those platforms?” Patry continues.

She believes new platforms and formats will emerge — another version of TikTok might even come up. Because of this, she tries to be early when she sees a new platform that makes sense. “I’ve been late for everything; late for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. I didn’t know three to five years ago that they’d been this amazing,” she adds. 

How do you decide which brands or collaborations to work with? What criteria do you consider?

When a brand approaches Patry for a collaboration, she assesses the brand first, including its product, app, or whatever they’re trying to sell. She looks into different factors: whether the brand or its products align with her values, niche, and audience. 

Her first brand deal was with shampoo; she shared that it was a fun experience. But because content stays online forever, she’s now very careful about the brands she advertises. 

“I would never promote anything that I wouldn’t buy myself. And then I also need to think if it fits my niche and if my followers can benefit from it,” she shares. 

Have you encountered any significant challenges throughout your journey as an influencer? How did you overcome them?

The main challenge for Patry was finding a balance between being present in real life and being present online and how to manage her mental health. Back when she was starting, she had to show up on various platforms every day and made three videos for TikTok every day. She still had a full-time job back then, so it was a struggle for her to balance everything. 

Over time, this negatively impacted her personal life, specifically her marriage. “Because you don’t have time. I come back home from teaching at school, and then I have to film. I have to edit my videos during the weekends,” she recalls. 

In the beginning, her friends and family didn’t understand what she does, even her husband. He thought being a content creator was a silly idea, but later on when her content aligned with her personality, he had a change of heart. Now, he fully supports Patry in what she does and has become more patient. 

“For me, time has healed that and has helped me become more organized and helped me realize, ‘Okay, every week, I need to film five videos,’ I film them only on my day off, and then I edit them,” Patry continues. 

What are some of the most memorable or rewarding moments you’ve experienced as an influencer so far?

“It has always been the feedback, the comments, the moment you post the video and people are like, ‘Oh my God, I love this.’ They’re just laughing. It’s so rewarding when I see that I’ve made their day,” Patry says. 

She also shares that she has the best followers in the world and tries to give them as much credit as she can. For her, the feedback she receives from them and knowing that she’s making a difference in other people’s lives one way or another is the reason why she became a teacher in the first place. And now, as a content creator, she believes she can make a bigger impact. 

What are the key qualities or skills that make a successful influencer or content creator?

“I think there’s no silver bullet. There’s no magic formula whatsoever,” Patry tells us. “There’s a content creator for each person. It’s like clothes or wearing a dress, and nobody’s going to like the same things. But as we say in Spanish, ‘Para gustos los colores’ (or ‘Each to their own’ in English”

At the end of the day, there are so many niches out there and so much different content, and there’s going to be a different TikTok or different content creator for everyone. “So whatever you do, it’s going to have an audience out there.”

What are your long-term goals as an influencer? Do you have any plans to diversify your content or explore other platforms?

“Every time a platform comes up, I think, ‘Oh, wait a minute. This could blow up, so I should start posting content there.’ I think there was a new app called Clapper, and it became popular when they were thinking of banning TikTok. I started posting content there. So yeah, I’m always open to new platforms,” Patry tells us. 

And in terms of her long-term work goals, she’s planning to make a living out of content creation and earn a full-time income out of it. At the moment, she’s still teaching part-time, which is quite challenging at times. Even though she films and edits during the day, she still struggles to be present every single day. 

In the future, Patry wants to create courses for people to learn Spanish and English. She also shared about her new book coming up. 

What advice would you give to aspiring influencers and content creators who are just starting out in their journey?

“I think it’s essential that you are yourself. I made that mistake at the beginning. I was shy, as well. I was scared that people were going to judge me and I was not being myself. I would not post pictures that weren’t perfect or funny videos. I was just posting what was expected of me. So, just be authentic and real,” Patry advises. 

She also encourages aspiring influencers and content creators to create videos that give value to their audience. “I don’t watch any videos that don’t give me value in any sort of way; I just scroll past as you’re not giving me anything here,” she adds. 

For Patry, it’s also crucial for anyone who wants to make it big in the content creation space to love what they’re doing and be proud of what they’re putting out there.