Meet the Belfast photographer that has taken TikTok by storm and turned his life around from being homeless as a teen to one of the biggest names in NI content creation.
Gerard Armstrong, aka Ged, has gained a massive following online through his stunning visuals, open and honest mindset and determination to follow his passion.
The 24-year-old content creator went from delivering pizzas to working with huge brands simply by believing in his ability and refusing to let life get in the way of his potential.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Ged said: "I first picked up a camera when I was in school doing my GCSEs - I was never really a great painter or drawer but I picked up a camera one night and messed up the settings and the photo came out really bright and I thought it looked class.
"I said to myself I wanted one of these so I sold my Pokemon collection, bought a camera and then was really big into filmmaking at A-Level.
"My teachers were telling me that I needed to go to uni but I always felt that what I was creating was different from what traditional filmmaking is.
"During that time, I was homeless for a number of months."
Ged was grateful for his uncle who gave him a place to stay during "the darkest moment" of his life.
"I felt insanely depressed and the only way I could find my way through it was finding my purpose," he explained.
"I've always said that I was to treat my brothers and sister so that money would never be a problem and the way I saw through it was creatively so I always had my camera with me."
Landing a job as a delivery driver, Ged saved up enough money to get his own place. After losing this job on Boxing Day one Christmas, he made a promise to himself that he would never go back to working for someone else and that he was going "make something of himself".
After paying the bills through his wedding photography business, Ged landed a freelance gig with a new emerging clothing brand which would become the start of his climb to the top.
He continued: "At the time, there were only like two employees because it was a brand new venture and that went on to be OutsideIn. I resonated with their mission of changing the perspective around homelessness.
"It then turned into a full-time position and I worked there for three years as the creative lead and was heading up all their social content, all the online ads and photoshoots."
Going from strength to strength, Ged decided to download TikTok in early 2020 to learn some new skills and leverage a new platform for OutsideIn. Ged now has over 100k followers and millions of views across his two separate TikTok accounts.
"I started posting on my own account just to try and gain an understanding of it and I had a couple of videos go viral and started gaining followers.
"After a couple of months it kind of hit me that time has always been my most important goal and I wanted to have as much time to work on myself so I felt it was the right time to move on from OutsideIn," he said.
"It's really been since the beginning of this year that everything has really been blowing up - I have tonnes of new clients and now I am building an academy that is going to teach content creators how to become high-quality creators.
"My passion is helping creatives and young people who were in my position and felt like they don't have much going for them because of where they grew up.
"I want to let them know that the most important thing is the mindset and how that leads to success."
Launching at the end of September, the academy will focus on the individual rather than big companies and teach those who are interested in following in his footsteps how to create a personal brand online.
TikTok is quickly becoming one of the most widely used apps across the world and Ged believes its success comes down to the authenticity that the video-sharing app lends itself to.
Ged added: "People have gotten fed up with Instagram and that perfect feed and lifestyle but people can definitely be more genuine through TikTok and I think that's what helps people become a success because it has an entirely different vibe where you can share more about yourself and be more story driven.
"The reason I keep telling my story online is that I feel like I would be doing it a disservice if I didn't because there have been a lot of kids who have messaged me to say they feel like they aren't going to accomplish anything because of where they grew up but my videos make them feel they can do more.
"My purpose has always been about helping people and providing value when I can."
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