County Native Helps Others through TikTok

By Eugenia Jones

A McCreary County native, Ryan Griffis, has become an almost instant success as he spreads positivity and motivation through social media sites, including his extremely popular TikTok platform.    

Griffis’s passion and desire to help others resulted from struggles he faced after returning home from Iraq last year.  Upon his return, Griffis had difficulty adapting to “normal” life and desperately wanted to break the typical stereotype of military personnel who have difficulty adapting to life once they return home from service.  Griffis decided to make it his personal goal to be sober for 365 days and went on TikTok to express his emotions to others dealing with similar issues.  Griffis began using TikTok to spread awareness about mental health and build a positive social media community with his goal for 365 days of sobriety as a way to inspire others who might be struggling with similar issues.  Griffis’s approach on social media is to connect as a video partner, walking alongside others, as they provide support and overcome struggles together as a team.  As for his own goal of sobriety, Griffis has now surpassed 314 days.

It is the social media followers who message him with words of encouragement and stories about their own struggles who inspire Griffis to continue posting his videos.  By using his own relatable and real life content, Griffis’s motivational videos often have a “day in the life” format and focus on spreading positivity.

Thus far, Griffis has already accumulated more than 30 million views across YouTube and surpassed 5 million views on various Instagram sites.  His TikTok platform has garnered more than 50 million views and one million followers.

Griffis is associated with several organizations and businesses including Old South Apparel, RavenWood Coffee, Black Rifle Coffee, ThreadBeasts, Sunday Swagger, Pins & Aces, and Ridge Wallet.

 Griffis lived in Stearns; however, since being on Active Duty in 2017, he has resided in Hawaii, Tennessee, and Missouri.  After graduating from Eastern Kentucky University in 2017, Griffis married his high school sweetheart, McCreary County native Amber Genoe.  Due to his military service, Griffis missed key moments in his own personal life as his first child was born while he was in military training and he deployed to Iraq when his second daughter was only nine months old.  With his return home, Griffis is making up for lost time by playing with his two children and taking them on adventures.  Presently, the family resides in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  Griffis is continuing his Master’s degree in Engineering and upon graduation, the family will move to Fort Carson, Colorado.

To follow Griffis, look for “mrgriffis” on TikTok.

Ryan Griffis has garnered many followers with his motivational TikTok videos.