Netty Cee is now a household name for the over 100,000 followers waiting for the next post from digital influencer Antonette Castro on Saipan. KUAM News sat down with her as she shares her mental health journey as she puts the islands on the social media map.

Netty Cee described her very unique online presence in three ways: rapper, foodie, and part-time comedian.

But when she's not busy behind the scenes preparing her next viral TikTok video, she's at Kagman High School where she's been a special education teacher. The 30-year-old has exploded on the Internet. She has a astronomical 138,000 followers on TikTok with over 2 million likes - and another 24,000 on Instagram alone. But the laughs and smiles she brings others, did not come so easily.

After working as a server and educator in Hawaii, she moved home in 2021. She recalled, "I came back home for vacation. And I sat in front of my grandma's house. I was broke. I was depressed and everything, but I was happy...I did not have everything that I wanted. I was not where I wanted to be in my life but I sat outside my grandma's house and I was just happy to be here."

Before she ultimately returned to Saipan she started posting videos on YouTube after meeting a vlogger while working in a Hawaii restaurant. She'd post covers of songs, but it was her online audience who noticed something was not right.

"I thought I did my best to hide it. I put on some lipstick, I put on a nice blouse, fix my hair, wipe my tears, whatever, and I thought that I was hiding it," she said. "If you watch my videos, it is not all rainbows and butterflies. That is really how it is sometimes. But I also try my very best not to bring any negativity to my channel."

It's a struggle she does not shy away from sharing. She says she turned to social media especially after mom passed away in 2017 for refuge, And perhaps its that candid approach to life that has attracted her thousands of online followers.

"It still feels a little unreal. but it is just a number," she said. "I try to not let it get to my head. But it is nice, you know do not get me wrong, I would be lying if I said it was not nice. But I really try not to think about it."

That mindset now manifesting into her well-known manta: "make it how you like it."

"When I started posting a lot of recipe videos, I would have lots of comments saying 'that is not how my grandpa makes it. That is not how my mom makes it.' Basically, I am not making it how they grew up eating it. And of course I am not going to make it how your mom makes it because I am not them, she said.

That unique approach resonating online on apps that are often criticized for their negative impacts on mental health. For Antonette, making it how she likes it also means making it for her family.

"I want to be able to make an impact, but also I want my videos to help me help my family," she said.