Phylicia Hooper: Giving Advice and Sharing God through Humor on Social Media

phylicia hoo per

GIVING ADVICE AND SHARING GOD THROUGH HUMOR ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Story by Denise DuBois

Phylicia Hooper is a 34-year-old social media personality who brings life lessons for women, including a powerful gospel message, in a fun, oftentimes hilarious, way. She was born and raised in Texas and loves to sing country music. She is also determined to overcome stereotypes about her childhood. Phylicia’s mother was a drug user and involved in prostitution. Her father has been in prison her entire life. She was raised by her grandmother, who Phylicia said did the best she could. She knew from an early age that she would break generational curses. “I did not want to follow in the footsteps of my mother and father,” she said. “I made a conscious decision at a young age that I would just be diff erent and do the best I can in life and use the gifts God has given me to break the cycle.” As a Christian woman, she has a positive outlook on her life and wants to use the doors God has opened for her to spread His word and make people laugh at the same time. She has more than 8,000 followers on Instagram and more than 286,000 followers on Tiktok. Find her across social media platforms @phyliciadshea. Her Top Five Thanksgiving Rules in the Southern Household video went viral. Now, she talks to Magnolia and Moonshine about her social media life and the content she releases.

Q: What made you begin to release content on social media platforms?

A: When Covid started, it forced a lot of us to sit with ourselves. I know I had all these diff erent talents, and I wanted to utilize all of them. TikTok became such a great outlet for that. I think it’s a wonderful platform for creators. It allowed me to showcase everything I had – to be brave and put myself out there. I literally use it as a virtual resume for myself and pray that one day God is going to open the door from those videos, from me singing, or whatever it is. A lot of people tell me or have told me “You should just pick something.” I can sing. I can act. I can speak. I do makeup. People try to tell me to pick something and focus on that. I told my pastor if God gave me all of these gifts, He wants me to use every last one of them. So, whatever I can do with each and every gift I have, I want to do that. You don’t have to pick. God created each of us unique. Some people may have one or two talents. Some people may have fi fteen. Use them all. God says in His word your gifts will make room for you, so I started to believe that. I put myself out there. I’ve gone viral several times now and have been posted on diff erent celebrity pages. It’s such a blessing to me because all of my life I’ve never really felt seen or heard. Sometimes I still feel that way because I’m still waiting for God to open the door that will lead to success in what I truly desire to do. Those desires have changed. I used to just want to be famous and be a household name. I would still love that because I have a lot of things I want to do for people, but now I want to do it for the Lord. I no longer desire to be the next Beyoncé. I just desire to be a great Christian infl uencer who does all these things in the name of Jesus. My joy is literally to make people laugh. If I can make people laugh, that is the joy of my heart. People will message me and say they were having a horrible day. “I saw this video, and I’ve been laughing for 10 minutes.” That is a privilege and an honor for me to put that out and pour into people in that way. I’m so grateful and cannot let anyone stop me from continuing to do that. I think it’s great to laugh. I think there are too many uptight Christians, and laughter is good. I feel like Jesus laughs at a lot of things I do.

Phylicia Hooper has more than 8,000 followers on Instagram and more than 286,000 followers on Tiktok. She shares advice through humor.

Q: You address Christian girls in a humorous way. How do you come up with that content and is it from daily life or conversations with friends?

A: Sometimes I literally sit down, cut the camera on, and see what I come up with. I rarely have something planned and thought out. I get an

“I’VE GONE VIRAL SEVERAL TIMES NOW AND HAVE BEEN POSTED ON DIFFERENT CELEBRITY PAGES. IT’S SUCH A BLESSING TO ME BECAUSE ALL OF MY LIFE I’VE NEVER REALLY FELT SEEN OR HEARD.” - PHYLICIA HOOPER

idea and start talking and see what happens. I’m trying to get better at laying things out in writing and then filming. It makes my life a lot easier. But most of the time it’s an idea that comes to me, and one that I think would be a great topic. A lot of the skits I do are real life situations and conversations I’ve had with God. I’ve had conversations with God about my love life, or lack thereof, weight loss, and different things. I literally just try to bring humor to it. One thing I love is when I put out a video and someone says, “this is hilarious, but I am convicted.” That’s the goal. The goal is to let you know there is a message, and I want you to laugh. I want there to be laughter in the midst of the message. Conviction and laughter, those are the goals. I’ve never had a boyfriend. I’ve been on one date in my life (at the beginning of 2022). I’m not one who people tend to listen to for relationship advice because I’ve never been in one, but what I tell people is that God used a donkey in the Bible to send the message. He can use whoever He wants. Some things in relationships are common sense. I don’t have to have ever been in a relationship to know that the Lord doesn’t want me abused. He doesn’t want me mistreated. He doesn’t want me used. He doesn’t want me out of His will. If anyone is trying to take me outside of His will through sex, money, or anything else not like Him, I know that’s not a relationship for me. That doesn’t require experience. It requires knowledge of the word of God.

Q: Priscilla Shirer commented on one of your posts where you were imitating her. How did that feel?

A: I love Priscilla so much. In my head, she is my other mentor. I have the greatest mentor in the entire world. She is my entire heart, and I love her. But Priscilla Shirer is my imaginary mentor in addition to the real one. The real one, I don’t tell people who she is. There’s no greater human on earth that God could have given me. But I love to imitate Priscilla. I started doing it one day randomly at church. People were like, “you sound just like her.” I made a video, and she saw it. Her sons actually commented on it, and the oldest said “you literally sound just like her.” After that, I said let’s do this. I started imitating her. I was so happy when she loved it and laughed. She’s shared me on her page a couple of times. It’s an honor to imitate someone like her.

Q: How did you come up with your Thanksgiving Rules video?

A: So, Mother Hooper is a beloved character of mine. I was thinking of something for her to talk about. Those are my actual real rules. If I had to make Thanksgiving rules for my house, those are the rules. Like the pumpkin pie is silly, but I don’t eat it. I prefer sweet potato. They apply to me, my life, and how I grew up. Surely, I’m not the only one. At first, I was going to call it rules for the Black southern family. Every culture has their thing. I can tell you for most Black people, those are the rules. I was going to label it that. But then I thought it was more of a Southern thing as well. I thought it would be much better if I did it as my character because it adds playfulness to it. I always have the intent to be playful, lighthearted, and non-offensive, but some people are just itching to be offended these days.

Q: What is it like putting yourself out on social media?

A: I could not have handled going viral two or three years ago. I was not spiritually mature enough, for one, but I didn’t love myself enough, as well. I was very insecure. Now, I still struggle with insecurity from time to time, just like I’m sure everyone does. But I am light years ahead of where I was three years ago. Trolls would have run me off the Internet because of my weight and other things. People are evil (and boldly evil) behind a keyboard. I’ve had very vicious comments about weight and skin tone. But the difference that sustains me is my close relationship with the Lord and a wonderful support family, church, and mentor. My relationship with God has gotten so much better to where now I don’t let the few negative comments affect me over the thousands of comments of people telling me I’ve made their day. The devil wins if I let those negative comments get in my spirit and sit there. I used to focus on the

A CHEERFUL HEART IS GOOD MEDICINE, BUT A CRUSHED SPIRIT DRIES UP THE BONES. PROVERB 17:22

negative ones and they would really bring me down. Then I started to pray about that, and my attitude got better and better every single day. I realized when you have dreams and goals, this is what comes with it. When you put yourself out there on the Internet, this is exactly what you’re gonna get. You have to either suck it up and bare it, or you let it break you. If I have this much talent gifted to me, and I put it out to the world, I have to be ready for things like that to come. But when you’re rooted in the word, when you have a great support system, when you have a strong mind and thick skin that comes over time, then you can deal with it. You can handle it. I was created for this. Also, one thing my pastor said is that we’re not here to be celebrated. I understand there will be those negative comments. There will be people who don’t celebrate me - who make fun of me, but they have no power. That’s what I choose to remember: I’m called. I’m chosen, I’m covered in the blood. I’m gifted these things by God, and no devil in hell can stop that. I am reminded daily of Isaiah 54:17 … that no weapon formed against me will prosper.

Q: Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?

A: One thing I want people to know, especially when it comes to social media and you following me is that I’m not just here to make you laugh. I’m also here to very much give you the word of God. If you’re here to just laugh and that’s it, I’m probably not the person you should follow because I’m also called to give a word. There will be times when that supersedes me posting a video to make you laugh. If something is on my heart to give you, and it’s a serious matter, I have to give it to you in a serious way. I’m not just here to entertain you. Also, I feel like I’m a walking billboard for people to know that you don’t have to be what you came from. You are not your circumstances. You are not your mom. You are not your dad. You are not your family. You are not your past. You are not the circumstances that came against you. So, whatever it is that God has brought you through in your life, He brought you through it as a testimony. He brought you through it to make you stronger and to be able use your real-life trials, tribulations, and sufferings to help and bless other people. Whatever your story is, use that for the glory of God. I am not a statistic. I don’t have to be a statistic. I made a choice, and I am not an advocate for people who walk around using their current or previous circumstances as an excuse for their current situations. We are in a free country. This is the greatest country in the world. We have so many opportunities. You wake up every day to be who you want to be. You can choose to allow your circumstances to bring you down, or you can choose to rise above them, be an example to show people that no matter what you have dealt with, God can and will bring you through.