For this week’s Spotlight On feature, we spoke to Irish TikTok star and The Smooth Company founder Aine Kennedy.
The Dublin native is best known for her hilarious and heartwarming TikTok videos with her grandad Billy Kennedy, which she started making during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aine has received a whopping 2million likes on the app, and has a following of 25.5K.
@ainekennedyyy Words ✌🏻 #fyp #grandadbilly
After building a huge online following over the past couple of years, Aine decided to launch her own brand called The Smooth Stick.
It is a premium hair perfecting wand that tames your baby hairs and gives you a perfect and sleek hairstyle.
Check out Aine’s exclusive interview with Goss.ie below:
You and your grandad are adorable in your TikTok. Can you tell us a bit about your close relationship?
Aw thank you so much! We definitely were not expecting to get the reaction we have but we are very grateful. We have always been really close.
My Nana and Grandad would collect me from school a lot when I was younger. I think when my Nana passed away in 2016, we got even closer. Doing the TikToks together has been so much fun and such a laugh when we try to record them! We always look forward to doing them!
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Most grandparents don’t even know what TikTok is, let alone know how to make one. What made you decide to make TikToks together and what has his reaction been like to your videos blowing up?
It was in the height of the first lockdown, everyone was so bored. I told my grandad to download TikTok (he is very tech savvy anyways) because I knew he would find it easy to use and that the algorithm would adjust to his interests. He quickly got addicted to scrolling through TikTok like all of us do!
Then it was during the 2nd or 3rd lockdown, he moved in with us for a while & we were bored, so we did one for a laugh and it got a great reaction. Everyone was saying it made their day so we just kept going with them from there! He can’t get over the amount of people who have seen them or who have recognised him out and about as a result – as he puts it, ‘it is just utterly crazy’.
There’s a good and bad side to social media. Have you ever had to deal with online trolling?
We have been really lucky that we haven’t really had much trolling at all – thank god! That being said there will always be a few bad comments especially with the videos that go really viral but unfortunately that is just how it is, you have to take the good with the bad but I am getting better at ignoring them. The videos are always just for fun and not to be taken too seriously.
Tell us about your brand Smooth Company. What inspired you to start the brand?
Starting my own business is something I have always wanted to do. I studied Entrepreneurship in college for four years and worked in the beauty industry for the last 8 years – I have always admired people like Pamela Laird and Suzanne Jackson and even though I am not an influencer or anything, I knew I wanted to start a beauty brand at some stage (that was my goal) but wasn’t sure when or how I would do it!
During the lockdown in 2020, I was watching so many hair & makeup tutorials and noticed a common trend of girls using so many products to smooth back their hair – I thought that there has to be an easier way than this? So I did lots of research and worked night and day, tried so many different formulas, different packaging etc and two years later I finally launched The Smooth Company and The Smooth Stick™.
It took so long because I was trying to get everything as perfect as I could while doing it all myself with the money I had. I have had the best support from my friends & family to help me get to where it is now!
Are you working on any new products?
Yes I am – all going well they will be launched this year!
What advice would you offer someone who wants to start their own business?
I would say to try and get experience in the field you want to start your business in first. It will save you time and money in the long run.
Also, never be afraid to ask for help. I was hesitant at the start and I went around and around in circles trying to figure things out and turns out some of my friends knew how to solve them straight away when I finally asked someone else.
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You attended Coachella last month – what was that like? Did you see/meet anyone famous at the festival? What was the highlight?
Oh my god it was so amazing! We originally booked it over 3 years ago before Covid, so it kept getting cancelled every year, so I never thought we would actually get there, but we did and it was the best weekend ever!
It was actually different to what I expected – it is much more tame than any Irish/UK festivals but having said that it was still literally like a dream!
My two friends who I went with – Rachel and Rebecca – and I tried to spot as many celebs as possible so we could give them a Smooth Stick. We met James Charles and Millie Court Lucinda Strafford from Love Island – they were so so lovely. We were chatting to them for about 10 minutes. I even got to give Millie a Smooth Stick which was definitely a highlight. Every part of it was honestly a highlight.
Would you like to launch your brand in the US?
Yes absolutely, that would be a dream come true! I’m so lucky that I have had lots of US customers already from TikTok but there is so much more room for growth and fingers crossed I will get to launch there properly some day.
What advice would you offer your younger self?
Probably to not panic and overthink absolutely everything and that it will all work out as it should. I am still the world’s biggest overthinker so this is something I really need to take my own advice on.
What are your plans for the year ahead?
This year I am putting my heart and soul into growing The Smooth Company as much as I can. I want to take every opportunity that comes my way for it and literally work as many hours as possible to make it a success.
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