S3 E.12 How a Single TikTok led to Thousands of Friendships | A Chat with Marissa Meizz of No More Lonely Friends
In this EpisodeIn this episode, Adriana and Mariah welcome Marissa Meizz, founder of No More Lonely Friends. Adriana discovered Marissa on Instagram and fell in love with her story, so it was a no-brainer to invite her on the podcast!
The origin story of No More Lonely Friends is fascinating. Marissa recalls that she was on a road trip, and a few days later, her phone was blowing up with family and friends sending her a link to a TikTok video. The thumbnail was “Marissa from NYC”. While out to dinner with a friend, Marissa watched the video. An NYC local named Drew posted that he overheard a conversation between a few girls in regards to purposefully throwing a birthday party while “Marissa from NYC'' was out of town so they didn’t have to invite her. It started out really innocent – nobody knew for sure if the video was referencing the Marissa they knew, or if it was a coincidence.
Turns out, it was not a coincidence. This “Marissa from NYC” was, in fact, Marissa. The girls referenced in the video were her co-workers and some of the first friends she ever met in NYC. This wasn’t surprising – there was a sense of competitive cruelty at her workplace. Marissa says that the whole thing was really overwhelming. Of course, it is natural to be disappointed about this situation. Simultaneously, the media was blowing up: Drew’s video had millions and millions of views and truly invested people.
Soon after, Marissa approached Drew. They met at a local park and talked about the video. They notified the invested people that they had met in real life, and within days, Marissa’s TikTok grew to 100K followers. Crazy, right?! Marissa notes that this made her realize that this could be something big. She created a separate social media page called “Marissa’s Friend Club,” went live, and the official @tiktok page joined! A hashtag was created: #nomorelonelyfriends. From there, No More Lonely Friends was born.
Marissa organized the first No More Lonely Friends meetup in an NYC park. There was no formal RSVP, she just hoped for the best. The collective response was crazy – 200 people showed up! Marissa created a video of the meetup, it went viral, and people were requesting meetups in their own cities. Before she knew it, Buzzfeed and The New York Times were getting ahold of the story and her mission!
Marissa became well-known on her personal social media accounts. She compares herself to Hannah Montana – one day she is just Marissa, the next she is considered a talent on talk shows with personal drivers. Currently, all of the No More Lonely Friends events are funded with Marissa’s own money. She is not profiting off of them, and brand deals make everything possible.
While Marissa has not had any contact with the girls that started it all, she commends her current friends. She recognizes that they continuously volunteer to fund the events and ask how they can best show up for her. Marissa is the only one who attends the No More Lonely Friends events—and she is traveling to different cities until the end of the year!
Marissa closes off this episode with some valuable bullying advice. Even though it can be hard to let go of toxic friends, you will feel better without them. Being alone is better than being surrounded with people who do not supplement your life positively. Move on, unfollow them, do whatever you have to do. Supportive friends are SO important and they truly change lives!
This episode instills that you don’t have to come from money, be an “influencer,” or have extensive business experience to be successful. At the end of the day, Marissa is a normal girl who had an idea and went for it. She’s beyond committed, and we are so confident that she will continue to do incredible things.
We hope you enjoyed this episode – go give Marissa some love, and we’ll catch you next time!
Important Times0:50 - Welcome back!
3:03 - Marissa’s story
11:48 - What made Marissa want to do something about it
17:10 - First Meetup
18:21 - Press
20:10 - Business
26:10 - Original “friends”
29:55 - Being normal but making a difference
36:35 - Bullying
39:33 - Winter
41:26 - The future
42:58 - Advice for lonely friends
Can't get enough?;)Tune In
 | Apple Podcast |
 | Spotify |
 | Youtube |
dive in deeper
Welcome bestie.
We’re so glad you’re here.
We’re Adriana and Mariah. Co-hosts, entrepreneurs, BFFs, and girls just like you trying to figure it out as we go.
