Sínann Fetherston speaks with content creator Marius Monaghan about carving out an alternative career in TikTok posts and epic adventures.
"I started first by exploring outside and the content creation came aftward," Marius Monaghan tells me over Zoom.
The 26-year-old, who recently signed with the Collaborations Agency, has made a successful career of documenting his adventures in the great outdoors, with an incredible 223k followers on TikTok and 90.5k on Instagram.
"I was always into the outdoors, exploring, climbing mountains, and then I just started to take photos and post them. I gradually got better and better and it built more traction, but the root of it is from having a genuine passion for the outdoors."
"Mum would say I was outdoors a lot," he laughs, reflecting on his childhood spent in nature. "We would always try and catch frogs in the field, and Mum was always trying to grab us by the back of the t-shirt to take us in, so we were probably always outside doing something we weren't allowed to."
Having originally pursued accountancy, the Donegal-based creator says his social media following began to take off in his second year of university thanks to an unusually active lifestyle.
"Every time I could skip a class that wasn't compulsory, I would drive nearly two hours to the beach from Belfast, and that's kind of when people were noticing that I was doing something a bit different. I wasn't just going out all the time and normal student stuff, I was climbing mountains and going to beaches."
"It actually all happened in quite a short space of time," he continued. "I grew quite quickly on TikTok and I got approached for brand deals but in the first year, TikTok was so new, I wasn't getting offered a lot of money.
"But I didn't know it wasn't a lot of money," he adds, laughing, "I thought it was amazing."
The problem with being self-employed, but dependent on global companies like TikTok and Instagram, is that it can be tricky to find transparency when it comes to finance, particularly in an industry where the algorithm for success changes by the day.
Figuring out a reasonable rate for hours, days, or even weeks of work is tricky when it all boils down to a three-minute video, especially when talking about money can still feel somewhat taboo.
"That is something that I'm actually really passionate about," he explains. "Trying to get other creators and other people in this sphere to open up about their rates because I know, when I first started, I was severely under-selling myself."
"I had to spend a year chancing my arm, pretty much," he adds. "Six months ago I joined the Collaboration Agency and that reaffirmed the figures that I had learned, but I had to go through the trial and error phase of not knowing what to ask for."
Thankfully, many of Ireland's outdoor creators have banded together (via a WhatsApp group) to share notes of their experiences and help one another figure out agreeable terms and conditions.
"We use it to keep a fair rate between us all so that one person isn't getting paid three times more than the other," he explains.
From documenting basking sharks in Kerry to capturing breathtaking views from the peak of Diamond Hill in Connemara, Monaghan's exploits are a scenic celebration of everything Ireland has to offer.
Despite his modeling background, the natural world is often the foreground of the Tyrone man's work, giving viewers insight into the country's jagged coast, eroded sea stacks, underground waterfalls, spectacular mountains, sandy beaches, and wild surf spots.
"I sunk my teeth into going outdoors and climbing mountains and that's where it started," he says, noting that one of his all-time favourite places to visit is the cliffs of Slieve League in Donegal.
"It looks almost like CGI, how massive it is," he marvels. "The cliffs are over 600 metres tall, and once you come over the top of the viewing point and it slowly reveals itself, it is a jaw-dropping moment. I'll always remember Slieve League as my first 'wow' moment."
Although Monaghan has made a career of documenting his travels with the public, inspiring many to pull on their hiking boots, he says he is careful to avoid posting about areas that won't be able to handle a sudden surge in footfall.
"I love finding hidden gems," he agrees, "but I once highlighted a waterfall as a lovely unknown spot and the footfall just went through the roof, and the landowner was worried that people were going to get hurt trying to access it, so that was the last time I shared somewhere that wasn't crowd friendly.
"I try to stay conscious of that because I don't want to be the reason a nice quiet spot has become inundated with tourists."
For the most part, though, the TikTok star says he has a really "symbiotic" relationship with business owners looking to attract tourists to lesser-known areas of Ireland.
"It's great for me to explore those places and it's great for those places to be highlighted," he says.
You can follow Marius's next great adventure on Instagram and TikTok.
Following this interview, Marius joined Jennifer Zamparelli on RTÉ 2FM to discuss his outdoor adventures. Listen back above.
