Montecito TikTok Grandma Goes Viral

Surprise Social Media Stardom for Sissy Taran

Montecito TikTok Grandma Goes Viral

Surprise Social Media Stardom for Sissy Taran

By Leslie Dinaberg | August 25, 2022

Sissy and Sammi sang their way from a minor fender-bender into major social media success. | Credit: @sammi.schaeff on TikTok
Read all of the stories in “Our 2022 Active Aging Guide” here.

Not very many grandmas have more TikTok likes than all of their children and grandchildren combined — but Sissy Taran’s entry into social media stardom is hardly typical.

It started, believe it or not, with a fender-bender. Driving on Alameda Padre Serra near the Mission at about 6 o’clock at night on her way to meet a friend for dinner, Taran came out of the intersection and collided with 16-year-old Sammi Schaeffer’s Jeep. Luckily neither Taran or the new driver, a San Marcos High School student, were hurt, and they pulled over to the nearby Mission parking lot to wait for help.

“We were waiting for the tow trucks and all of a sudden I heard this music, and I walked around and her phone was kind of attached to the mirror and she’s singing. … And  I said, ‘Sammi, what are you doing?’ And she said, ‘TikTok’,” said Taran. “I didn’t know anything about TikTok. But I said to her, ‘Would you like me to sing with you?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’ And that’s how it happened.”

Continue reading

Subscribe for Exclusive Content, Full Video Access, Premium Events, and More!

Subscribe

Login

Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription

Not a member? Sign up here.