Digital Social Hour
TikTok: The Lifeline for Small Businesses in 2025 | Tiffany Cianci DSH #1138
Fri, 24 Jan
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TikTok: The Lifeline for Small Businesses in 2025! 🚀 Dive into an eye-opening conversation with Tiffany Cianci on the Digital Social Hour Podcast as we uncover how TikTok is empowering 7.1 million small businesses and reshaping the American Dream. 🇺🇸💡 Packed with valuable insights, this episode exposes the shocking truth about corporate greed, private equity exploitation, and the fight for economic fairness. Learn how TikTok is providing opportunities for small businesses in ways that platforms like Meta and Google have blocked. From data privacy in Project Texas to the resilience of small business owners against corporate monopolies, this is a must-watch for anyone passionate about entrepreneurship and economic justice. 🏆✨ Don't miss out—watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets! 📺 Join the conversation and stay tuned for more inspiring stories with Sean Kelly and incredible guests like Tiffany. Let’s empower the backbone of America’s economy together! 💼🔥 Hit that subscribe button and help us shine a light on the issues that matter. ✊ #DigitalSocialHour #SeanKelly #Podcast #TikTok #SmallBusiness #EconomicJustice #socialmediamarketing #howtoruntiktokads #tiktokbusinessaccount #tiktokadstutorial #digitalmarketing #tiktokshopaffiliate #tiktokcreativityprogram #tiktokbusinesscenter #tiktokbusinessaccount #affiliatemarketing CHAPTERS: 00:00 - TikTok Updates and Trends 00:32 - Video Introduction 05:02 - Prolon Overview 08:00 - Private Equity Firms' Predatory Tactics 10:28 - Exploitation of Small Businesses by Private Equity 12:35 - Urban Air Trampoline Park Scandal 16:16 - Uber's Arbitration Agreement Explained 19:33 - Understanding Capitalism 21:00 - FDA Regulations and Impacts 23:48 - Mark Zuckerberg's Influence 27:27 - TikTok Data Security Concerns 29:08 - Blackstone's Housing Market Impact 32:54 - Historical Economic Structures 37:14 - Government Regulation and BlackRock 43:30 - Tiffany's Stalker Revelation 46:17 - Tiffany's Contact Information 48:07 - Tiffany's Contact Information 48:12 - Video Outro APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Tiffany Cianci https://www.instagram.com/thevinomom SPONSORS: Prolon: http://prolonlife.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/
Chapter 1: How is TikTok empowering small businesses?
TikTok. Like I said, small businesses are growing and thriving there. People think that TikTok was shut down because of national security. Every single creator I know wanted an actual data privacy protection bill. Even TikTok advocated for a full data security protection bill because in Project Texas, they've already secured our data.
I challenge you to ask any friend, have you ever had a friend whose TikTok account was hacked? All right, guys. Tiffany Cianci here. We are in DC. About to be a busy two days for you, right? It's going to be an insane two days for me, but it's been an insane four days leading up to it too. You did like 50 interviews leading up to this?
I'm at, I think 46 right now. And I, no, no, I just had the AP in the car on the ride over. So 47. You did one on the way over? Yep. That is savage. So what's the story that everyone wants to hear about? Everybody wants to hear about saving TikTok. What's going to happen to TikTok if Trump's going to negotiate the deal to keep TikTok in the long term? That's all I've been working on.
Chapter 2: What are the predatory tactics of private equity firms?
Yeah. And you're feeling, we're filming this on Saturday, right? Or is it Sunday? Today is Sunday. Sunday the 19th. So for people watching this, it'll be after whatever happens. But what are your predictions for TikTok?
So we already know that Trump's going to turn it back on on Monday. He's asking the companies to turn it back on today. I don't think they'll be able to. I think Biden would have had to issue a statement, but we will be back on by tomorrow, I believe. And in addition to being back on by tomorrow, he made an announcement today that he wants to see a negotiating divestment where Americans hold 50%.
I probably should tell him we already do. So we're there, guys. Awesome. Wait, Americans already own 50%? I didn't know that. Because you've got guys like Mr. Beast and Kevin O'Leary trying to buy... Yeah, they're trying to buy it without the algorithm. They're trying to do like a full buy. And he's saying he only wants Americans to have to own 50%. He's not asking for a full divestment.
Interesting. In that case, I've always projected that we would probably end up with the Chinese owners giving up like 3% to 5% and a slightly larger ownership stake coming from Americans and that we could save it there with a sufficient divestment team. Because the US has to be one of their largest user bases, right?
We're actually not the largest user base, but we generate a lot of the income. TikTok shop here generates a lot of sales. 7.1 million small businesses in America generate all of their sales on TikTok. 700,000 employees in America rely on TikTok. So we are one of their largest money producers, but we're not the largest user base. Got it. Who is?
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Chapter 3: What impact did the pandemic have on small businesses?
It's actually like a amalgamation of a lot of Asian countries and some of Europe, but we represent like 10 to 16%. Oh, that's it? Yeah. Wow. I assumed it was way higher than that. Yeah. Interesting. That's why there's no reason for them to sell to us. Yeah. And why do you choose to use it? Because I know you get a ton of viewers on TikTok, right?
I do. I do. I don't have like a million followers. I have 250,000 followers, but my videos average, you know, six to 10 million views on my big videos, my educational videos and my live streams are 500,000, 700,000 people. That's insane. Well, I focus on content that's all about exposing corporate capture of our government, corruption, monopolies, destroying small businesses.
It's not fun content, but it's really important content. It's needed, right? Yeah, it really is. Someone like you, someone that can give that information uncensored.
Because if you did that on other platforms, let's be honest, a lot of that would get censored other than X. Ian Carroll does a lot of content that early on was very similar to some of what I do. And he's suffered a lot of censorship on all of the other platforms. He and I are really good friends. And when we talk about the censorship on other platforms, it's just off the charts.
That's why we focus on, I know he likes X a lot. I do some on X, but really I focus on TikTok and he loves TikTok. He just had the biggest ratio of all time. He really did. I was in there. I was doing the work. What was it? Two million likes on that one reply? On that one reply to Elon, yeah. That's crazy. And Elon didn't address the reply, right?
No, but I really hope it opens a conversation that's really needed in our government right now. Yeah. I mean, he seems very logical. So I'm sure if he actually dives into stuff, he'll change some of his distances. And a lot of people assume that Ian is some kind of a, just a know-it-all or a conspiracy theorist. Ian's a history teacher. Oh, wow.
He's a U.S. history teacher. And he taught children history classes in a very nonpartisan way. I've seen his lesson planning. It was really amazing. He gave up teaching to do this because he said he needed to teach everyone. And he's amazing. You get labeled that a lot, like a conspiracy theorist. No, no. I, uh, I get told a lot that I'll never have any sponsors.
Yeah. Cause you go after the big companies. Well, people offer me brand deals all the time and I send them over like a three page questionnaire on who their investors are, whether they've taken investments from private equity, whether they're still founder operated, if they have any offers out right now, uh, trying to seek more investment and very few ever send those back.
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Chapter 4: What are the dangers of arbitration clauses?
I could. So from an entrepreneur business point of view, I could see why. Yeah. You know, that's a lot of information. It really is. But I can't put my name to something that's destroying small business. Small businesses in America are 99.9% of all businesses. They also create 99.9%.
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It's because big corporations are really good at finding efficiency to make money and amazingly good at exploiting labor to do it with less and less people. And so over the last 20 years, big business has eliminated jobs and increased their profitability while small businesses have created all the jobs, literally all of them.
But they're the ones that get no play in Congress because they can't afford to fight there. Yeah, but you are not a fan of H-1B visas.
Well, you know, honestly, if they're coming over to serve in small businesses and not just to go into the big corporate entities, I wouldn't be as opposed. But if they're just coming over to help monopolists not give jobs to Americans, then that would be a problem for me. It's a really nuanced conversation.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm all about small businesses. I mean, the pandemic was probably the biggest destruction of small businesses. 551. While at the same time, millions of small businesses went out of business permanently. And you know where most of those small businesses went to rebuild new businesses? TikTok.
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Chapter 5: How does corporate greed affect the American dream?
Really? And now they're being closed down. That's a shame. They're suffering twice. That's a shame. So 551 new billionaires. I wonder what industries a majority of them are.
So many of them were exploiting PPP loans to grow user bases by offering products people didn't need, offering services to help people survive the pandemic. We saw tons of billionaires created for the pop-up drive-through clinics and testing facilities. We saw a lot of exploitative childcare centers that weren't actually serving children, but were getting lots of money.
Chapter 6: What can TikTok do that other platforms can't?
We saw so many different mechanisms that were created to just extract revenue, wealth, and taxpayer dollars from our economy. And none of it went where we needed it. Absolutely. Now, as someone who I'm getting pitched to like raise money now for the podcast, can you expose some of these private equity firms, like their tactics, their predatory tactics that they use to small businesses?
Yeah, I'll give you an example because a podcast kind of maybe more closely aligns with name image likeness in sports. So many young athletes that are like NCAA athletes are right now for the first time getting access to name image likeness brand deals.
And on day one, when they turn 18, because they're not allowed to be approached before that without a parent present, they're getting sent over offers for like a million dollars. They're like, just sign here. And these are kids that come from the streets, kids that come from at-risk neighborhoods that have fought, scrounged, fought to get out.
and build something for their families to build something for their communities. And that looks like more money than they'll ever see in their life. But in those offers they're getting, they are so exploitative.
It basically creates indentured servitude for the rest of their life because it basically says that they get to keep sometimes 60, 70% of every dollar they make for the rest of their careers. And they're handing those over on day one. Private equity firms are going in and buying up small businesses in mass. They did this especially during the pandemic when they were suffering.
They'd offer them a cash infusion and say, we'll take a minority stake. And they would quietly on the back end also offer money to one other investor saying they were taking a minority stake that would accumulatively allow for like a hostile takeover. And then they would force everyone out and exploit the small businesses.
Yeah, that is a fear of mine because I do want to do like what Rogan did kind of and sell one day. But at the same time, like you said, it's got to be the right person because there is a show called Hot Ones. Do you know that show? Yeah. And they sold to their St. George Soros' group. Yeah. So...
It's really important that when you're negotiating, you consider your intellectual property and the value of what your name means for the rest of your life. When you're thinking about who's going to own it, you have to think about what their ultimate goals are.
And when you negotiate for every podcaster out there that's looking to you to set an example for them, when you're negotiating to sell your name, You're not negotiating with the person sitting across from you. They could be your brother. They could be the person you feel like the most kindred spirit you've ever negotiated with in your life.
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Chapter 7: How does capitalism function in today's market?
13 to 60. And that's because there are certain franchises you can't squeeze as much and certain franchises you can squeeze everywhere. But 60% after that, the FTC will come down on you. That is so scary because you think they just make money off the sale and you think it's like a fee or whatever, but you're saying 13 ways they're making money off you.
So a lot of people don't know that I started my TikTok channel because I owned a franchise and a private equity firm took us over and I was the president of our union when it happened. And what's happened to that franchise since then is that they are currently in litigation with hundreds of their franchisees. Wow.
They're being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for exploiting and retaliating against their franchisees. The DOJ has subpoenaed documents in their dealings with their franchisees. They have bankrupted dozens of veterans that bought franchisees under them with fraudulent paperwork. That's terrible.
They manipulated all of their federal filing documents so people thought that their finances were better than they were and that their sales of new franchises were better than they were. And these people took out loans from the government to buy those franchises. Private equity firms are destroying small businesses in America. Have you gone public with that company or no?
Yeah, it's Unleashed Brands. Unleashed brands. Unleashed brands. I am currently testifying against them in several cases across the United States. One of them is really horrifying. It's a case that is not even with a franchisee. It's with one of their customers, a seven-year-old girl named Mia, who fell off of a zip line at their Urban Air trampoline parks in Ahwatukee, Arizona.
She thought she was the only one, but she didn't know dozens of people were falling off their zip lines all across the United States. Well, during my case, a whistleblower came to me and he said, hey, I want you to know we fought to try to save you, but we failed. And he sent me all of these documents that were from a second legal case that had been sealed.
And they'd spent millions of dollars to seal it so no one see the documents from it. In those documents, there was a letter that said that the safety company for Urban Air franchises had gone to the CEO and said, you cannot pull the harness checkers on these zip lines because kids will get injured. They will die. And the CEO or their team at the CEO headquarters overruled them.
And just weeks later, Mia fell. But it was happening in trampoline parks all over the United States, right? And what happens is when you go to a trampoline park for a birthday party, you sign your kid in at the front, right? You do the iPad. You don't realize there's 90 pages of legal documents under that.
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of government regulations?
And they included a forced arbitration clause where they can include a non-disparagement agreement or an NDA and a confidentiality agreement. So if kids are falling off trampoline parks all across the United States, One, they're not allowed to go public because they can get sued. Two, they are forced into a secret arbitration. So there's no court documents anyone can find.
Three, they can't work with each other. So they can't unify to sue these companies. And in arbitrations, their damages are capped. So a child's life is maybe worth $250,000. Whereas in a courtroom, it might be a hundred million. And all these kids are falling off trampoline, like falling off these zip lines. A mom was internally decapitated at her son's seventh birthday.
at one of these trampoline parks. Oh my God.
And when they were producing documents in these cases, none of them produced the documents that showed that the CEO knew it was going to happen. But I got them and I turned them over to all the lawyers. Well, that's the difference between simple negligence and one disregard for human life. That's the difference between a bankrupt company and something that's the cost of doing business.
And so all of these tactics, these private equity companies employ are designed to ensure the free market never sees the bad behavior. The public never responds. They can continue to exploit the American population and the small business owners. And so they're not just exploiting small business owners. They're also exploiting the customer base.
They're also exploiting the American population that believes that there's safety in these institutions. because they don't see anything on the news. That is so nuts. I am learning so much. I did not know secret arbitration was a thing. So a lot of big companies probably use that. You have a phone that's not an iPhone? Yeah. How many apps would you say you have on your iPhone right now?
Gotta be a hundred because I have like five pages. Do you have Uber Eats? I have Postmates, yeah.
Postmates. Okay. So one of my biggest videos I've had on every platform was a video where a woman was in the back of an Uber with her family and the Uber driver ran a red light. They got T-boned. Their livelihood was destroyed. Doctors, lawyers in the car. They gave up their jobs for years trying to recover, get their bones repaired.
And they went and they tried to sue Uber because the driver wasn't properly vetted. Uber argued in court.
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