Dawit Assefa Wants You to Be Yourself on Social Media—And He’s Got the Followers to Prove It
By Faisale Shefawe
Published on 04/14/25
As Dawit Assefa sat down for this interview, he was just 500 followers away from reaching 300,000 on TikTok—a milestone he was confident he'd hit by the end of the week. In a social media world where people often go to extreme lengths to gain followers, Dawit has built his audience by simply sharing his everyday life: landscaping jobs, busboy shifts, Uber rides, and even mixing egg yolks with beer in front of surprised viewers.
Before Dawit moved to the U.S. from Ethiopia in 2006, he was a promising athlete who competed in grueling long-distance races across Asia and Europe. He originally came to the United States to represent Ethiopia in the Salt Lake Marathon.
Growing up, Dawit hustled to survive—selling shoes and cigarettes on the streets, like many kids from rural Ethiopia, just to afford food and shelter.
Life didn’t get easier right away after arriving in America. His first job was at an Ethiopian restaurant, where he made just $3.50 an hour for two years before landing a better-paying position at 7-Eleven.
Dawit’s first brush with virality came two years ago on Facebook. In a video, he was cutting spinach with a live lizard perched on his shoulder. The post exploded with likes and comments, and his phone buzzed nonstop. “I thought my account was hacked,” he recalled. “I called my friends right away, panicked.” They laughed at him, calling him an idiot and explaining he was going viral.
As people with large followings began to follow him, Dawit realized the power of viral moments. But even then, he took a break for a few months before returning to content creation.
About a year and a half ago, a friend encouraged him to start a TikTok account. Dawit—always outgoing and unafraid to speak his mind—took the advice. The rest, as they say, is history.
His first viral TikTok came on September 7, 2024: a video of him dancing to traditional Ethiopian music while wearing a burgundy wig. It racked up 441,000 views, 21,000 likes, and over 1,000 comments. Before that, he averaged just 20,000 views per post.
Then, on September 23, another video went viral. In it, Dawit stands in a pool he was hired to clean, talking about the dignity of hard work, no matter how messy or exhausting. The video received 488,000 views, 20,000 likes, and more than 1,000 comments. One viewer wrote: “It’s where money is—you’re making money, bro. Count your blessings. It’s my dream job.”
Scroll through his TikTok feed and you won’t find any flashy restaurant meals, exotic vacations, or business-class travel. What you will find is authenticity.
His most popular video—garnering over 3 million views, 146,000 likes, and 9,000+ comments—is pinned to his page. In it, Dawit sits on the edge of a river, feeding geese and talking about nature. He points out how the birds share food peacefully, saying, “They eat what they get. They don’t fight. They let the lucky ones eat…” He ends the video with a gentle, “God be with you,” encouraging viewers to seek peace and be patient for life’s rewards.
His second most-viewed video (2.7 million views, 85,000 likes, and 5,000+ comments) shows him cutting a massive tree that had fallen in a windstorm and blocked the road. With his own ax forgotten at home, he borrows one and manages to clear the debris by himself. Looking into the camera, he says proudly, “This is America. This is a job. God bless America.”
Dawit’s work ethic is unwavering. “As long as it pays, you work—no matter how dirty or hard it is,” he says. On most weekdays, he works seven days straight. He owns a landscaping business, works as a banquet houseman at a D.C. hotel, and drives for Uber in his spare time. He jokes that he gets mad when the sun goes down.
These days, his biggest source of joy is his family: his wife, and their two children—a 13-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl. He loves watching his son play baseball and his daughter play tennis. His son, he says, is becoming a standout athlete in high school, and he believes baseball could unlock major opportunities for his future.
Looking ahead, Dawit has big plans. He wants to grow his landscaping business by hiring more workers and investing in expansion. And when it comes to social media? He’s aiming for one million followers. He’s even promised his fans that when he hits that milestone, he’ll jump out of a plane—with a parachute—to celebrate.
