Kentucky native ‘KhaoticKaylee’ celebrates her Appalachian roots on TikTok. ‘Just be yourself’
Earlier this year, an Eastern Kentucky voice was heard all over TikTok.
“Shh, don’t bother me,” the voice, accented with tones of Appalachia, said. “I’m having enrichment time in my enclosure.”
The sound was used nearly 21,000 times on TikTok, the short-form video social media app, over footage of people talking about their hobbies, niche interests, or just being lazy at home. Kaylee Stickler, who uses the handle @KhaoticKayleee on TikTok, said she made the video after being around people all weekend, and needed some alone time.
“It just felt like something silly to say,” Stickler said in an interview with the Herald-Leader.
Stickler, who is 30 and originally from Beattyville, lives in Lexington. She’s a University of Kentucky graduate who works at UK HealthCare by day, and makes TikToks in her free time. Stickler has amassed more than 316,000 followers on the platform.
Her first viral video happened last summer, around the Fourth of July. Since then, she’s gained attention on the app multiple times, like recently being noticed by Oscar Meyer after making a TikTok about hot dogs. In late July, she launched a shirt in collaboration with Kentucky for Kentucky with a quote from one of her videos.
She has more than 19.8 million likes across all of her TikTok content, with her most popular videos clocking in at more than 5 million and 3 million views.
“I’m just an obnoxious mountain girl,” Stickler joked.
Since then, she’s created an online community that centers around comedy, explaining Appalachian culture and commentary. Her social media accounts are rooted in being authentic and embracing who she is, she said.
“Just be yourself, as corny as that sounds,” Stickler said. “It’s better to be authentic, because that’s what I try to do. It’s just what comes off the top of my head most of the time. I don’t really have a creative process ... But being your most authentic self is what helps connect with people the best, I think, is what I’ve learned in all of this.”
Like many people, she downloaded TikTok during the coronavirus pandemic because she was bored. Now, she calls it her “side hustle,” and dedicates time after work to making content.
For many of her TikToks, Stickler said she takes inspiration from moments in her everyday life. In a series on her account, Stickler explains “Appalachian vernacular” to her followers, sometimes inspired by conversations she has with coworkers or friends.
Stickler hopes her account introduces people to Appalachia and Eastern Kentucky and helps them appreciate it more. She grew up in a one-stoplight town, spending time outdoors, hiking at Natural Bridge and sitting on the porch with her grandparents, she said.
Though she lives in Lexington now, those experiences shaped who she became as an adult, she said.
“People from Eastern Kentucky can be just as eloquent and well-spoken as anybody else,” Stickler said. “Just because we talk a certain way, or use certain phrases, doesn’t mean we are uneducated or anything like that.”
With a black mullet and winged eyeliner, Stickler said people aren’t expecting an Eastern Kentucky accent when they first see her. But she thinks that helps other people connect with her.
Young people have told her she helped them embrace their own accents, Stickler said.
“It just means a lot when people come up to me and say that... it used to be something I wasn’t necessarily proud of,” Stickler said. “And now it’s just something that helps make me be more successful.”
Her community on TikTok has been generally supportive. At times when she’s gotten hate, her followers have surrounded and supported her, Stickler said. When she posts about Appalachian vernacular, the comment section is often filled with people talking about how they use the phrase, or asking her to explain other phrases.
“You’re amazing, your videos make my day,” one person commented. “You’re seriously amazing.”
“People have told me that it makes them more comfortable with their accent when they hear me,” Stickler said. “I used to not really be proud of my accent, or try to turn it down a little bit. But it’s something that as I’ve gotten older, it’s just something like, this is where I’m from and this is all I knew my whole life, so I might as well embrace it.”
It’s important for her to stay true to herself and her roots, she said.
“I just think it’s important to be authentic,” Stickler said. “If you’re one way on the internet, and a jerk in real life, then people are going to know that. So much of social media is manufactured, or a facade. It’s important to me to be myself and show people that you can just be yourself, and people will still like you.”
This story was originally published August 23, 2023 at 12:35 PM.