KINGSTON, Jamaica – A nine-year-old Aamir Cunningham would have told you that he wanted to be a chef when he grew up.

Now at 24, Cunningham, known more popularly on social media as ‘Bwoizy’, is making a name for himself by simply making people laugh.

With more than 145,000 followers on TikTok and over 25,000 followers on Instagram, Cunningham’s relatable, sometimes dramatic, always hilarious videos have become a staple for many during the pandemic.

”I didn’t even know that many people liked me or my videos,” Cunningham said.

But becoming a social media influencer, a title that he told OBSERVER ONLINE he still finds hard to accept, wasn’t always how Cunningham envisioned his life going.

He only started creating videos to overcome what he said was extreme shyness as he studied to become a journalist at the Caribbean School of Media and Communication at The University of the West Indies.

”Outside of my circle at home or my circle at church, I would never really interact with people because I was super shy. But then I said to myself, if I’m going to be a journalist or do anything in the field of communication, I have to get over this fear. I have to learn how to interact with an audience,” he said.

”I started putting out a one video, a two video, and it just kinda took off from there,” he added.

The name ‘Bwoizy’, Cunningham explained, is a moniker given to him growing up in Spanish Town, St Catherine, that has stuck ever since.

”What’s crazy is that my family doesn’t call me Bwoizy. When I was younger, and my mommy used to walk with me, you had some neighbours who, whenever they saw me, would be like ”Bwoizy, wah gwaan” and it just became something that stuck with me,” he told OBSERVER ONLINE.

He added that once he decided to commit to making content for social media, the name just felt right, especially when he considered an old Easter Bun commercial featuring veteran Jamaican comedian Oliver Samuels and another character named ‘Bwoizy’.

He began making videos in his bedroom at his grandmother’s house with just his cell phone.

Cunningham said he eventually brought a tripod and a ring light. However, he still makes content using only his cell phone and a few applications from the app store.

He said a lot of his success could be attributed to the traits he inherited from his grandmothers and parents.

”I feel like I’ve been influenced by strong women in my life. Growing up with my mommy, she would always encourage me to choose education, and I’m happy that she helped me lay the foundation,” he said.

As for his engaging style of communication, that’s a mixture of his dad’s charisma and his grandmothers’ knack for storytelling.

His grandmothers, Cunningham said, also taught him how to make do with want he had and not to complain about everything not being perfect.

”I had the opportunity to grow up with both of my grandmothers; I’ve lived with both of them at some point in my life, and growing with them, I realised that we never necessarily had a lot, but they were very innovative. They knew how to work with the little that they had,” he said.

”I really learn from them how to be as innovative as possible and not complain about not having something, because if I was complaining about not having the right equipment to start and I don’t think I would have ever started,” he added.

Cunningham said he was grateful for his family’s support, especially after he announced that he would no longer pursue a career in the science field.

”When I decided to switch from studying sciences at University to studying media and communications, at first, they were like, are you sure? And they did counsel me and gave me some advice,” he said.

”Eventually, when I switched over, then everyone was supportive,” he added.

Once his videos became popular on social media, it didn’t take long for his family to catch on.

”I didn’t tell my family right away because I wasn’t even certain about it. The content just started to reach them, and then they were like, ”wait, hold, on how come me never know ’bout this?”” he shared.

”My grandmother even said to me, ”is like yuh go tan inna me house and tun millionaire and me nuh know’,” he said.

Regardless of how he started, Cunningham said he takes his content creation very seriously and has been working on improving his consistency. He how tries to post content online every day.

But creating daily content for social media while balancing school and since his graduation from university in 2020, a full-time job, can be exhausting.

A firm believer in the importance of maintaining good mental health, Cunningham is not opposed to taking social media breaks to recharge and refocus — a ‘social media fast” to ensure that long-term, neither his content nor his mental health suffers.

However, Cunningham said he found what he loves to do – interact with people and make them smile – and he hopes to grow his success even further.

”A lot of what I’m doing right now is a lot of self-marketing and networking and expanding my reach,” he said.

However, in 10 years, Cunningham said he hopes to be an entrepreneur.

”I would want to be a business owner, and I’d like to be excellent in the field of communication,” he said.

As for upcoming content creators, Cunningham’s only piece of advice is that, ”connecting with self is important if you want to be successful in anything”.

“You have to know who you are and what you have to offer that differentiates you from everybody else,” he said.