Lillian Droniak, a 96-year-old Connecticut resident known to 15 million followers as "Grandma Droniak," has turned a viral eviction threat into a business lucrative enough to cover her $12,000-a-month nursing home bill.
Droniak went viral in June after her retirement home threatened to evict her for throwing parties; the home later confirmed the threat but settled on allowing her to keep partying, minus the alcohol. Her grandson began filming her videos in 2020 "out of boredom," she said, and the account has since grown into sponsored partnerships with food and beauty brands. "I always knew I had it in me to be famous, I just didn't think it would happen in my 90s," Droniak said, adding that her fame feels different inside the retirement home itself: "They don't get it as they don't go on TikTok."
She is part of a wider wave of women in their 80s and 90s building online followings, often among audiences young enough to be their grandchildren. Viv Truran, an 82-year-old from Cardiff with more than 800,000 Instagram followers, began posting outfit videos after her husband died; she now records two videos a day and keeps a notebook — on volume five — tracking her follower growth. "I get up in the morning, I never come downstairs until I've done my morning video," she said, adding she turns down big brand deals that don't fit her values.
Naomi Baker of influencer marketing agency We Are Social said older creators appeal to brands because they tend to have "deeply established, highly loyal" audiences with real purchasing power. Grace Geramita, 85, a creator known as "Nonna Gracie" who posts recipes she has cooked for decades, said the response still moves her: "I always cry when people send me messages from all around the world."