Photographed by [Tim Schaeffer](https://instagram.com/timschaefferphoto)
One look at [Emma Norton](https://www.tiktok.com/@emmanortss?lang=en), and you’re immediately mesmerized by her bright blue eyes, breathtaking beauty, and enchanting persona. As of today, her following on TikTok is now at 7.9 million followers, and she has over 400,000 followers on Instagram, a number that continues to climb every day.
She says “I'm a very outgoing, bubbly person...that’s just my personality. I’m creatively driven and passionate when it comes to anything that I do. It’s a lot of work, but it's good. I love it.”
The definition of a content-creator if there ever was one, Emma is a role model for young women all around the world, showing they too can make their wildest dreams come true. With her passions covering a broad spectrum: from dancing and acting to singing and storytelling, Emma found her niche doing comedy lip-syncing, and choreographed dances and skits using special effects makeup.
With over 1,000 videos released on TikTok so far, it’s safe to say Emma has put in the work to get to where she is now. On the acting front, she starred as Kel Young in the short film _Cattle Call_, directed by Rondell Sheridan. Despite her busy schedule, she finds time to fit in philanthropy, working with Charity Water to bring clean water to developing countries and Brought to Reality which focuses on mental health and suicide prevention.
_Flaunt_ caught up with Emma via Instagram Live from her new home in Los Angeles, and she was looking stunning as always. Read below as we discuss her roots in Denver, moving to LA, how she grew a following on TikTok, her passion for beauty and fashion, her go-to for self-care, staying active, favorite artists, future goals, and more!
**You came from Denver two months ago, how are you liking Los Angeles?**
I really like it. It has been a good fit for me because this is where all my fellow creatives and my people are. That makes me super happy, and there's everything you could ever possibly want to do here. It's great for work, great for me.
**How long have you been here?**
Not too long. We’ve only been here for two months, maybe a little bit longer. But I’ve been coming to LA on and off for three years now, so at least I’m not a total newbie when it comes to the city.
**What's your favorite part?**
I like Melrose. I try to go there every Sunday for the Trading Post. I’m really into stuff like that, so that's really fun. That might be my favorite area.
**What was Emma like growing up in Denver?**
Oh my gosh, I was always so into musical theater and dance. All of the arts possible, I got my hands on those. I also had the privilege of growing up in the outdoors and being able to go skiing any weekend I wanted. I’d drive up to the mountains or go to a lake, or do a fourteener. I was definitely really involved with the outdoors.
**Did you think you'd be where you are today?**
No, definitely not. I wouldn't change it for the world. It has been the coolest year and a half of my life ever, everything has changed for the better. But no, I never thought starting a TikTok would lead to this. I always knew I wanted to do something in the public eye. I always really wanted that, but I didn't know it would look like this.
**What was the moment that you got on TikTok and realized, “oh wow, this is it!”?**
You know, it was pretty soon after I started. I was like “oh wait, okay. Maybe I can do this.” My first video that went viral, that’s over a million views, was a Harley Quinn video. I still do stuff involving her all the time because people always say I look like her. I'll be in public and certain people will stop me and say “You look like Harley Quinn.”
**That’s so cute!**
It's funny that it is still happening. That’s the moment when I said “wait, I can actually do something with this.”
**I heard you did a Cruella-inspired shoot?** **I went to the movies to watch _Cruella_, so epic.**
Oh my God, that movie is easily one of my Top 10 favorite movies. Emma Stone crushed it, and Disney did a phenomenal job with the backstory. I'm trying to do a lot more shoots involving the characters that I cosplay, that's a fun way to carry over an iconic movie like Cruella. It has been fantastic doing all that creative work. I did that shoot with one of my favorite photographers, Tyler Roth. Tyler is incredibly talented, and he’s helped me with other shoots that also turned out great.
**How did you fall into comedy lip-synching and doing skits with your special effects makeup? I love your look, it's so beautiful.**
Thank you so much, I appreciate it. I was experimenting, and my content was all over the place - which got me in touch with a lot of different audiences. So it was a slower transition to this type of content. I want to do more cosplay-related work because of how much it resonates with audiences, and it’s also a lot of fun for me. It’s cool to be able to do more of what I want.
**What has been your favorite TikTok video you’ve made?**
My favorite type of video to make is definitely the transformation videos, where it transitions to a different character or makeup look, whatever that is. I don't know if I have a particular favorite. I make so much content that it's hard to say.
**Everyone tells me that I need to get on TikTok. What worked for you in growing a following?**
For me, you have to be really comfortable with sometimes putting in a lot of effort and seeing nothing happen. There have been plenty of my videos that I loved and thought would do really well, but they did horribly. You need to get really comfortable with first of all, the opinions of other people coming at you completely unsolicited, and all of that stuff that comes along with it before you're ready to go with it. What did it for me was watching the #foryou page religiously, at least for an hour in the beginning of my day or the end of my day. From there, you study what's working, what videos are brand new with the audio. If a bunch of videos are coming up under Audio all of a sudden, do it and make it your own.
**That’s great advice.**
That's what I do. I always find an audio that's just started popping up, then I go directly on that one and make it my own.
**How does it feel to have so many followers on the app? Because that's a lot of people watching you.**
It's crazy. It's something I don't even think I can think about and fully process every day. That many people watching me is the coolest blessing ever. I'm so grateful.
**How much time and effort are you spending on TikTok?**
Oh my gosh, so much time and effort. It's really a full thing because I have to think about growing my other platform too, which is Instagram. I have to spend time on that, because Reels are part of that as well. The Cruella video did really well on TikTok, and I posted that one on Instagram too. It's a whole other dual thing. I spent the vast majority of my day doing it. There have definitely been looks or videos that have taken seven hours. Some videos take 15 minutes, some take the whole day. Some take multiple days of editing. It really depends, but it is a full-time gig.
**What's your passion for beauty?**
Beauty is such a cool community because literally everyone and anyone is a part of it. No pun intended - that’s the most beautiful aspect for me. Over the past few years, beauty standards have changed. The beauty community has been the coolest to watch in the entire world, and I’m blessed to be a part of it. For me, it's really fun pushing the limits with makeup and creating characters.
**How would you describe your fashion sense?**
Oh, all over the place. I always like to put an edge on my style. It's definitely developed and changed a lot over the past year, but I do like to add a lot of edgy touches to maybe softer things. It's usually on the darker side, but it really varies. That's the nice thing about style, you can stick to one thing that works for you for a very long time or if you're like me, you’re all over the grid. It depends on my mood on that particular day. Whatever I need for a confidence boost, that's my style.
**Talk about your philanthropy as well. That’s amazing you’ve worked with Charity Water to bring clean water to developing countries.**
I've done a couple things with them, but I really want to do a lot more. Charity Water provides safe, clean drinking water to millions of people all over the world. Even though we're living our own lives here in America or wherever you are in the world, you might have access to water and all of the basic necessities. It’s hard to think about “Oh, a lot of people don't have that luxury.” Because it is a luxury and a necessity. All of their funds go towards that, which is incredible. That's really important for charities to see where that money is going.
I also work with Lollipop Theater, I do a lot with their kids. I've done a couple talks with them, or I do virtual makeup tutorials with the kids in hospitals around the world. That's one of my favorites, those kids are so cute and so sweet. The best part about what I do is meeting people, for sure.
**I love that you worked with Brought to Reality which focuses on mental health and suicide prevention.**
I’m no longer in Colorado, so it's tricky. They’re a clothing brand that makes hoodies and things like that. They put their profits into getting kids therapy and the help they need. It is especially important after this pandemic, it has hit us all incredibly hard. It's okay to ask for help. I've certainly needed help in the past and will always be really upfront about that. Everyone needs help sometimes, that's a peaceful way to bring all that together.
**What do you do for self-care?**
I do a lot of things. Sometimes, my self-care looks very different than what other people might do. That could be going out on a really late night drive. That's super fun to get my mind in a different place. I also really like painting, that’s a huge part of self-care for me. That's always fun. Honestly anything that's creative that I can take my mind to a different place, that's always so much fun. Or even doing something like go-karting. Random silly and fun is the best self-care for me.
**I know you like soccer, hiking, skiing...**
I do a lot of different sports. Keeping really active is super fun for me.
**Do you still dance?**
I do, yeah. I honestly need to do more of it, I'm so busy with everything else that it gets hard to devote time to it. As much fun as it is to do TikTok dances, nothing’s better than being at the studio. Dance will forever be one of my passions.
**What’re you most excited for as the world opens back up?**
Everything! That's so hard to narrow it down. I'm personally most excited for concerts. That was such a sad thing for me when they were no longer a thing. That has always been one of my favorite things to do with my friends, is connect through music. I'm so excited for concerts and festivals to come back.
**Who are your favorite artists?**
I listen to so many artists. I really like Tyler, the Creator like fans. I like Ashnikko. I like Kanye West. I really like everything, it's so hard to say. The only type of music I don't really listen to this country. There’s country things that I like, but just a few.
**Any goals for yourself at this point in your career?**
I always have goals for myself, that's a huge part of my everyday honestly. My biggest thing always has been my passion for acting and for creating. I’m so passionate about so many different things, but that's been the primary thing. Being able to book something big in the future is definitely a big goal of mine.
**You were in the comedy short film, _Cattle Call_ right?**
Acting is my #1 passion, and I’ve done a ton of training in acting. The _Cattle Call_ film was an offshoot of my training. That experience encouraged me to step up my focus on developing my acting skills. In fact, I am going in to a class at Zak Barnett Studios right after this interview. I enjoy acting on my TikTok videos, and I want to do a lot more film and TV work in the weeks and months ahead. Over time, I also hope to expand my focus into writing and directing.
**Something that fans may not know about you?**
Ooh, I really try to bear it all. I used to ski and I still ski all the time. Skiing is one of my main things I do in the winter. I used to have a much more active background in sports.
**I'm totally an adrenaline junkie too.**
That’s what it is, I'm a massive adrenaline junkie. For better or worse, we won’t tell my mom that for her sake. But yes, that's a big part of my everyday life.
**Anything else you want to let the people know?**
At the end of any of my Lives, I always say this: wherever you guys are in the world, whether it be morning or evening, take care of yourself. Take care of those around you. It's really important to take a look at what's going on in the world. As much as I love being silly and making fun content for you guys, there are a lot of other important things happening right now in the world. Be good to yourself and those around you. Do something nice for the people you love, and have a beautiful rest of your day or evening.
Hair and Makeup: [Allison Noelle](https://instagram.com/allisonnoellemakeup)
Wardrobe: Gold sequin blazer [Kaftan Studio](https://instagram.com/kaftanstudio) provided by [Maison Privee PR](https://instagram.com/@maisonpriveepr_la)
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