Haley Sharpe has more TikTok followers than Gwen Stefani and Rolling Stone magazine combined. At age 20, Sharpe, known for her comedy and dance videos as YodelingHaley, is followed by 3.5 million TikTok users. Her posts have been liked more than 230 million times on that youthful (and thus powerful) social media platform. By the time she was a high school senior in Huntsville, Alabama, Sharpe was clearing more money a year than many adults top out in salary during their lifetimes.

In addition to being star content-creator, Sharpe, who now resides in the Los Angeles area, is also a social-media influencer. She’s done branding deals with the likes of DreamWorks, Macy’s, American Eagle, Revlon, Loreal, Frito Lay and “Stranger Things.”

Sharpe is by far the most successful young adult I’ve met. She’s also the most genuinely nice young adult I’ve met.

You know the stereotype “olds” have of social media celebs being self-centered, superficial and vapid? Sharpe is the exact opposite of that. In fact, she’s far less “extra” than some grown-ups I’ve heard mock creators/influencers.

Sharpe is awesome at making fun stuff city-population-amounts of people want to watch. She also hit the DNA jackpot. Her mom Leslie Sharpe is a successful Huntsville attorney, while dad Antony Sharpe’s a legendary local musician.

Now, Haley’s stepping outside her natural talents to do something that left her bloody and bruised last time. On April 15, Sharpe will compete at Creator Clash 2, a boxing event pitting content creators against each other, at Tampa’s Amalie Arena. In the ring, she’ll face Marisha Ray, a popular voice actor and web series creator, known for her work on “Dungeons & Dragons” web series “Critical Role” and videogames series like “Persona,” “The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel” and “Metal Gear.”

Creator Clash is the digital-era equivalent of analog-era TV series “Battle of the Network Stars.” This isn’t the only time boxing and content creators have intersected, see Jake Paul.

At the first ever Creator Clash, held May of last year, Sharpe boxed JustaMinx, a popular YouTube creator. Although both women were new to boxing, it was a vigorous and competitive match, with both landing many hard blows. JustaMinx won by TKO in the fourth of five rounds. But Sharpe showed resilience and toughness to the end.

Although Sharpe’s used to her content being viewed by millions, and an accomplished dancer who’s performed in front of crowds her entire life, boxing before a sold-out Yuengling Center crowd of around 10,000 in Tampa was a new frontier for her.

“I didn’t think about walking out, how nervous I would be,” Sharpe recalls, during a recent interview at a downtown Huntsville conference room. “In the video I’m just smiling because I can’t believe there’s so many people here.”

While TikTok is a hot platform, YouTubers are the bigger stars. So Sharpe knew most people in the arena would be rooting for JustaMinx. But once she was in the ring, she “didn’t think about anybody else there.”

The first Creator Clash’s main event featured YouTubers known as Doctor Mike (who specializes in medical content) versus iDubbbz (who does comedy). Proceeds from Creator Clash were reportedly around $1.3 dollars and donated to nonprofits including American Heart Association, Alzheimer’s Association and Healing Horse Therapy Center.

A fan of iDubbbz’ content, Sharpe signed up for Creator Clash on a whim. Then iDubbbz, aka Ian Jane Jomha, actually responded and said there was room for her on the card. Although she was initially scared about stepping into the ring, after the grueling match, she says, “I was glad I did it.”

For the first Creator Clash, Sharpe only had about three months to train. “Before, I was blindly going into a boxing match,” she says. “So this time, it’s a little different. I know what it’s like to walk out, what it’s like to stand in the ring and I know what it’s like to get punched in the face.”

She’s been training for Creator Clash 2 since November. She’s been training six days a week – sparring Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, plus technical sessions where she gameplans boxing strategy, and two days of strength and conditioning. She also draws on the agility from her dance background.

The stage is even bigger for Creator Clash 2. The venue, Amalie Arena, has capacity of around 21,000, more than double that of the Yuengling Center. Pay-per-view tickets to watch the event, which starts at 4 p.m., are available via moment.co/creatorclash.

For Creator Clash 2, Sharpe got to pick one of the nonprofits that proceeds will go to. She picked Huntsville’s Merrimack Hall, which provides special needs children and adults with visual and performing arts training and cultural activities.

Merrimack’s been a priority for the Sharpe family for years. Her dad Antony Sharpe is a music therapist at Merrimack and Haley grew up volunteering at summer camps and dance classes.

Antony, a U.K. who speaks in a charming accent, says the potential impact on Merrimack Hall of funds raised by Haley at Creator Clash 2 is huge. “That could be one of the biggest donations we’ve ever had. We’re a nonprofit, so we hurt for money.”

Antony adds that even though Haley’s long been been involved with Merrimack Hall, “she’s never exploited it. Like, ‘Oh, look what a do-gooder I am.’ She really is a good person.”

In addition to being proud of Haley that way, Antony, as a musician, is jazzed to see her be successful as a creative person, in her own way. Next, she’s getting into the family business of music.

Working with Antony and Ant’s brother Andrew Sharpe — they’re bandmates in popular long-running Huntsville rock band Toy Shop — Haley’s prepping a handful of tracks for release soon. The music is impressive. Haley has a lovely voice, and the songs mix contemporary vibes with classic.

“She has very good instincts,” Antony says of his daughter’s music, “and she’s not afraid to make suggestions. She works her ass off.”

Musically, she’s drawing from influences like Lana Del Rey, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Steely Dan and disco. Given Haley’s gifts as a dancer – she’s previously appeared in rapper/singer Doja Cat’s “Say So” music video – her musical commercial potential is vast.

Getting into music is just another way Haley Sharpe’s grown as a creative person. During the pandemic, she got heavier into the Twitch social media platform, and was part of the popular 4Freakshow livestream. She licensed one of her TikTok dances for use in the massively successful “Fortnight” videogame.

Asked about a potential U.S. ban on TikTok, due to national security concerns as TikTok is owned by a company in China, Haley says, “I think all social media platforms have their own lifespan. Vine kind of ended, Tumblr ended, Myspace … or they grew out of style. So if Tik Tok gets banned, I guess it’s kind of inevitable because all social media platforms tend to move to something else.”

Just as Antony’s a creative influence for Haley – the title of one of his band’s albums is tattooed on her forearm – attorney mom Leslie Sharpe’s influence is there in how centered and professional Haley is. After a semester of college, Haley decided to focus on her career for now.

Leslie says, “Part of me, I’m always kind of like, ‘What’s your five-year plan?’ But I try to reel that in because I have confidence she’s going to do well, whatever she decides to do. This is an amazing period of time for her, and if she decides to do something completely different in a few years, I’m glad she’s having this experience now. Most of us do not get to do all this fun stuff.”

But first thing’s first. Saturday night she’s got that boxing match in front of 20,000 people. For the first Creator Clash, her dad was leading a special needs concert at Huntsville’s Orion Amphitheater and was unable to attend, but her mom was ringside, as was her boyfriend, fashion model Luke Sadler.

During Haley’s boxing debut, Leslie says, “I actually had to stop watching because I was so nervous about it.” Creator Clash was actually Haley and Luke’s first ever in-person date. They’d met online and had had many FaceTime calls. “And all of a sudden,” Sadler says, “she’s getting punched in the face. It was pretty rough to watch.” Like Haley — Luke, who’s modeled for the likes of Gucci, Zara, PacSun and Yves Saint Laurent– is tall, beautiful and chill. And like Haley, he’s way more likeable than crusty cynics might expect from a young successful person. Considerate, thoughtful, kind.

Since Creator Clash, Haley and Luke have gotten to go to cool Los Angeles parties together. They also attended a recent premiere for the latest “Scream” horror film.

On her downtime, Haley likes to play the videogame “Mario Kart.” When she’s home in Huntsville, she loves to hang with her younger siblings Julia and Ian and go eat with the fam at restaurants like Salsarita’s, Tenders and Newk’s.

Alas, during this time home she had to abstain from another family fave. “Last night we went to Waffle House, but I can’t eat that right now. I’m training.”

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