Mother clears £13,000 debt by reviewing plus-size clothes on TikTok, now earns up to £5,000 a month

A Leicester mother who accumulated £13,000 of credit card debt said she cleared the balance and now earns as much as £5,000 a month by posting plus-size clothing reviews and other short-form content on TikTok.

Roxanne Freeman, 36, told the BBC she began filming a trial haul in February 2024 after discovering a dress on TikTok Shop while working as a Slimming World consultant. She said the clip, posted to an initial audience of about 1,000 followers, generated roughly £200 in commission within a week — she pockets about 10% of each sale made through her referral link — and revenue grew from there.

Freeman said her second month of monetisation yielded about £600 and that earnings have risen gradually. She now posts two to three hours a day and estimates monthly income can reach up to £5,000, though she told the BBC the figure varies with engagement and follower activity. Freeman has almost 50,000 followers and has since left her Slimming World role to focus on creating content full time.

The mother of two said the income helped her pay off the credit card debt accumulated after living beyond her means and making a caravan deposit. She said the money allowed her family to take a holiday abroad and described the shift as "life-changing," while acknowledging personal challenges such as occasional imposter syndrome and negative comments from trolls.

Freeman's content has expanded beyond clothing hauls to include personal reflections and lighter trend-driven clips. She told the BBC that building confidence online followed a long personal journey after years of bullying and low self-esteem.

The rise of creators like Freeman underlines broader shifts in digital commerce and the influencer economy. Ali Grant, founder of influencer agency The Digital Department, told viewers on YouTuber Susan Yara's channel that influencer incomes vary widely by engagement, platform and management. Grant said influencers with large, well-managed audiences can generate substantial sums, citing industry heuristics such as charging roughly $1,000 per post for every 10,000 followers and suggesting established creators with a million followers might earn about $500,000 a year under optimal conditions. She added that brands commonly pay tens of thousands of dollars for Reels and additional fees to amplify posts via Stories, but stressed that actual rates depend on analytics and audience engagement.

Media coverage has also highlighted growing interest in content creation among younger demographics: a recent survey cited in coverage suggested 57% of young people aspire to be influencers, reflecting the perceived earning potential.

Financial advisers and marketing specialists caution that individual creator incomes can be uneven and depend on platform algorithms, audience retention and diversification of revenue streams such as affiliate commissions, sponsorships and paid partnerships. Freeman's experience illustrates one path to monetisation through affiliate sales on in-app marketplaces, but experts say results are not guaranteed and can fluctuate.

Freeman described her route out of debt as a combination of clearer budgeting and consistently creating content that resonated with an engaged audience. She said she does not require formal qualifications for the role and that income depends largely on viewer response and sales generated through her links.