Colette Goldspink never expected a quick TikTok video she shot with her team at Wagga Marketplace Woolworths to land her in the headlines, but with hundreds of thousands of views and counting the long-time employee has become a viral sensation.
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One week ago, the assistant store manager decided to get the team together to show their support for stores and shoppers impacted by the current COVID lockdown with a short video to be uploaded to TikTok.
In the video, Ms Goldspink and other team members hold up hand-drawn signs that in combination read: "We are here for you from Wagga Wagga".
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Ms Goldspink thought the video, her first ever TikTok post, would only be seen by other stores and maybe a few customers.
"I had never used TikTok before, I created a profile on Saturday," she said. "A couple of the team members were a bit shy about doing it and I said, 'Don't worry no one will see it, it will just be a few of the stores and customers.'"
She added: "I think we're over 600,000 views now."
That is 640,000 to be precise, as well as 72,000 likes and over 1000 comments. Ms Goldspink didn't realise the video had exploded in popularity online until she was alerted to the fact by her son.
"I was a little bit in shock because I didn't quite understand how far the message had gone until my teenage son had told me I had more followers than he did in a few hours," she said.
The comments on the video were overwhelmingly positive, one even calling it "more inspiring than the Olympics Opening ceremony" others sharing that they were moved to tears by the message and had taken comfort in it while observing harsh lockdowns in Greater Sydney and other parts of the state.
"So many people commented and reached out," Ms Goldspink said. "It has really boosted morale, the team have been really positive and had a skip in their step. We've had customers come in asking 'Was it here?', 'Was it this shop?', 'Was it you guys on the TikTok?'"
Store manager David Butt said the entire team was blown away by the reaction.
"We just think it is such a simple thing to do just to say we're thinking of you," he said.
