It was October 2022 when Xandra elected to take on TikTok–and suddenly the Internet was never the same. Navigating the platform has become essential viewing, and with it, billions of minute-long videos continue to infiltrate and redefine the pop culture scene as we know it. The ripple effects of TikTok’s latest trends are inescapable; from the music on our playlists to the current shade of blush selling out shelves, the app is everyone’s favorite routine companion. On an outlet that would otherwise be considered oversaturated with content, enter Xandra: the Internet’s ultimate girl’s girl. Unabashedly real and single-handedly shaking up the definition of “influencer,” her fearless nature perpetually allows her to dominate social media from all corners.
To her 1.1 million followers, Xandra is the epitome of a “best of both worlds” lifestyle. Serving photo-ready glamour at Miami’s hottest parties by night, the next morning you’ll uncover her all-natural, hilarious realness of daily living. Above all else, Xandra excels at holding creativity in the palm of her hands, molding every new follower into a friend. Perhaps that’s the very reason for her rapid speed to stardom; in an age of Internet influence, a scroll through the 22-year-old’s profile proves that purely being your authentic self is enough to be successful. It’s an easy feat for Xandra’s audience to recognize her relatability organically–and that’s a refreshing thought.
But let’s not get it twisted, part of Xandra’s allure is straightforward: she’s simply a cool-ass girl. Already mastering the beauty and fashion sectors with partnerships from A-level brands like YSL Beauty and Caudalie, it’s her obvious dedication to passion projects enabling her to shine brighter than the rest. Xandra’s main shtick? Bona fide DJ, and she’s damn good at it.
Looking retrospectively, Xandra’s life is a Gen-Z fairytale. Once upon a time, an everyday girl from Ohio took a chance on an app called TikTok and soon became a widely beloved internet sensation. Shortly after, newfound fans swooned over her universally adored DJ skills. Now, the world is completely her oyster.
Five years ago: Ohian teen, six months ago: Collegiate social media starlet, and today: Revered graduate and seasoned DJ. What’s on the roster for tomorrow? EUPHORIA. sits down with Xandra to unlock music maven’s next chapter.
Looking back, the domino effect of your success in the music space and beyond seems to have really kicked off during your high school years. What’s the story behind that?
I’ve always been super obsessed with music and everything that surrounds that, but I totally couldn’t sing, or dance, and I couldn’t play any instruments. One day I went to a Lollapalooza concert and saw Alison Wonderland performing. I was like, ‘I could do that. She’s not necessarily singing, dancing, or doing anything super crazy.’ So the day that I got home from [Lollapalooza], I went to my mom and told her, ‘Hey, I think I want to be a DJ.’ She said, ‘Okay,’ and the next day I went and bought a board. It was just hours and hours and hours on end of practicing. No matter how much you think you know music when you’re practicing DJing, what you think sounds amazing will actually be like nails on a chalkboard. I remember my mom coming into my room like, ‘Can you please turn that down?!’ So it definitely took a lot of time and was a journey.
Amazing, and you originally self-taught through YouTube?
Yes! I was watching how to mix, do the BPMs, do the keys–people don’t understand how much equipment is actually involved with DJing. There are so many things that I’d just never heard of, or even how to set up the actual computer and download the music. I probably should have paid more attention in school, but no, I was in my room teaching myself how to DJ.
It’s such a cool skill to have. Is that what made you want to minor in Music Business while you were in school at UMiami?
That was definitely one of the reasons. Before, I’d never really thought that I was going to go into social media, I just ended up here weirdly! It’s not something I was originally striving to be. Even when I was younger, my goal in life was to own a music festival, run a music festival, or do all the marketing for music festivals. So that’s where the minor in Music Business came from. But also my love for DJing was there, so I just knew I really wanted to do something with music.
I love that, and you ending up in social media really does make sense for that path. For Gen-Z in general, making a career out of being creative has never been more prevalent. What does it mean to you to be able to make a name for yourself entirely out of your passions?
Every single day I wake up and I’m just in awe that this is my job, that I’m able to live this life, and be myself for a living. I’m just so blessed and so grateful.
I have two other siblings, and ever since I was a little kid my older brother was the smartest, I was the most creative, and my little brother was the adrenaline junkie. So that was always ‘the thing.’ I’ve always been super interested in art and music. I’ve done acting and modeling–everything I could ever do to be creative and do something different. So the fact that I’m able to do this every day, I’m in awe.
That vibe definitely fits your brand and your content is there to prove it. I feel like your success is almost like ‘Marketing 101’ for today’s digital age. You’ve used all the tools you can on social media to market yourself, and in such a short time you’ve gained a huge following and worked with some of the most sought-after brands. In your eyes, what is it about the social media experience that makes it so special?
I feel like what has been so amazing is that, at least when I was growing up, I saw social media as idolizing perfection. Now, I feel like we’re moving more towards a time where it’s about idolizing realness and everyday life. Things happen, and nothing’s perfect. I feel like it’s really, really refreshing because growing up, when bad things happened to me or I had a bad day, I’d go scroll through social media and be like, ‘Oh, but these people are perfect. Why is my life not like that?’ What I’ve always wanted is for anyone to be able to come to my page and be able to feel relaxed, have a laugh, and know that life’s not going to be perfect. But that’s the most amazing thing about it, there are ups and downs and that’s the best part of life.
And your profile is 100% representative of that realness. So many of your videos literally feel like a FaceTime call. It’s so special that your authenticity is the thing that really feeds your success, so I’m curious to know what’s something you’ve learned as a social media presence that helps you as a DJ and vice versa.
That’s a good one–if you just looked at me on the side of the road, I feel like the last thing you’d ever think is, ‘Oh, that girl’s a DJ.’ Later in high school and into college, I would be performing at clubs and people would actually look at me like I had five eyeballs. They were like, ‘You’re joking,’ and would try to turn me away. So I feel like the most amazing thing about social media, at least for DJing, is to be able to tell the younger generation that anyone can do anything if you just put your mind to it. You don’t have to be a certain thing and you don’t have to look a certain way, you can just be yourself and do what you love. And that’s perfectly okay.
[On how being a DJ helps her social media] It’s cool because I think it differentiates me. I’m a sister, I’m a daughter, I was a student, I’m a girlfriend, but I’m more than that. I’m a DJ and I have passions. I feel like that’s something that social media has really helped with. It shows the multiple dimensions of a person. People can see what I go through in my everyday life and that’s really important because you don’t just have to be one thing. You can be whatever you want to be.
You being a DJ is honestly iconic in so many ways–it’s new and it’s fun. Sometimes social media can feel like it’s all about being trendy, but allowing your brand to fall into a category all its own is like a breath of fresh air. So let’s get into what it’s like to work the booth. People will often go to a DJ set or EDM show to let loose and get excited. As the person on the other side, what gets you excited to go into a set?
People always ask me, ‘What type of music do you DJ?’ And all I say is, ‘The stuff that is going to make the girls dance.’ I’m not playing the music I want to hear. I’m playing the music that the people want to hear, the music that’s going to get them hyped. Especially with the Sports Illustrated show that I just did, I was talking to the girls beforehand asking what they wanted to hear. They had to walk down the runway. They had to feel hyped up.
I want everyone to have the most amazing time. That’s the biggest thing, just making sure that everyone’s having the best time possible. If the girls are dancing and having a good time, then the boys are going to have a good time.
No doubt. if the girls are dancing, everyone is dancing. So if you’re booked for an event or festival where everyone is obviously around for a good time, what is it that would differentiate your set from someone else’s on the roster?
I’d like to think that the energy that I bring is something different. DJing just so happens to be such a male-dominated industry these days, and thank God that in probably the last five years, there’s been a ton of breakout female artists that I’m so excited about. When I started this, there was literally just Alison Wonderland. I swear, it was literally just her, so being able to see a girl up there being a girl boss, running the party, and setting the vibe? It’s amazing. You’d be amazed when I DJ these places how girls react when they see another girl up there. The energy is just insane, and I’d say that’s what differentiates me from another set: the energy and, like, ‘girl boss.’
What I think is so amazing is that you’re literally redefining what it means to be a businessperson. If you ask someone from a different generation to describe a stereotypical worker, they’d probably say a ‘suit and tie in the office’ is the vibe. For newer generations, that can be different altogether. People are building brands representative of who they are, and you’re really the perfect person to showcase that. How does it feel to essentially be a modern model for success?
It honestly feels crazy. There are just no words for it. I just never thought that I’d be in a position like this. I’ve always worked hard and I’ve always been passionate in whatever I’ve done, but the fact that I can be a role model to people in the Gen-Z community, or to people in general, that’s such an amazing feeling. I just hope that while having fun, while being real, and while being creative, I’m always focusing on growing my brand and creating a business–and I’m really, really business-driven. It may not come off like that in my content and people may never know, but I really do care about every single thing that I’m building. Every single thing that I’m putting out there is very, very, very important to me.
I think your work ethic is totally obvious, and what’s interesting to me is how you’re so often in tightly rooted community-driven spaces. Whether you’re DJing a show where people go for musical community, you’re with your friends, or physically building an online community on your profile. Would you describe yourself as a natural leader?
I’ve always had this very strong, outgoing personality. Everybody can probably tell from my content! I feel like I was just born with that. I’ve always wanted to lead. I’ve always wanted to be a trendsetter. Especially now that I’m older and looking back I’m like, ‘Oh okay, I was definitely given clues about my life that show where I was going to end up.’
I’m a Scorpio, and we’re known to be very fierce, outgoing, and crazy. I’m very much a leader in that way.
I think that’s accurate all the way! I asked that question knowing full well you’d say ‘Yes, I’m a leader,” because it’s such an obvious element of your content.
And to wrap things up, I want to take a peek into the future, namely with your DJ career because that’s your baby. Where do you see the music taking you? Maybe into producing? Headlining shows? Writing music?
I’ve put a lot of time and effort into thinking about this, especially after graduating. Being in college I was like, ‘I’m going to keep doing shows, but once I graduate I’m going to really get into it and hopefully put some stuff out.’ [I want to] put a lot of effort into that project.
We’ll have some really cool things coming soon. I’ve been working on some stuff and we’ve got some things in the books! Hopefully, there’s going to be a lot of concerts and some songs. I’m just going with the vibe right now. I’m not going to put anything out there that all of my mind, heart, and soul isn’t into. I don’t know when it’s going to be, but if it comes out I know it’ll be really good.
You’ve met her, now ride the wave. Follow Xandra on TikTok to watch the wild, sparkling life of the self-proclaimed “crazy blonde Miami DJ” unfold.
