MKE Influencers: Kwik Trip employee spreads joy on TikTok, gaining 850K followers

 

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Wisconsin native has built a huge platform on social media, simply by spreading joy.

Landen Alft has gained hundreds of thousands of followers through dance moves, food reviews, and sharing the Dairyland's common love for a certain gas station convenience store.

"I just love Kwik Trip. I love the food, I love the people, I love everything about it," Alft said.

Landen Alft, known as @PhatBoyLandy on TikTok, lives in Stevens Point, where he graduated college and spent the last six years working at Kwik Trip.

"I've learned it all, I've been trained in everything," Alft said.

He's made his love for the store public. CBS 58's Jenna Wells caught up with Alft halfway between Milwaukee and Stevens Point, at a Kwik Trip in Fond du Lac.

Alft said, "2020 I think, when we were all locked in our homes, I joined TikTok," 

His first video about Kwik Trip was in December 2021.

"We got our annual Christmas gift from Kwik Trip, and I l unboxed it," Alft said. "That one kind of got me at least a few thousand followers."

With tens of thousands of views, Alft took his videos a step further.

"I was like, oh, people like me reviewing things. So, then I did some food reviews of Kwik Trip food," Alft said. "Then I did my fit check of my work uniform, and that one kind of took off."

That video from May of '22 received more than 7.5 million views.

"Just me being me, and I guess people like that," Alft laughed.

Soon after that video, his TikTok account took a new shape.

"I love to dance. I got my musical theatre degree, so I was like, let's do these dances now, and people really like those," Alft said.

Much of his videos now feature him dancing just outside of his Kwik Trip store.

"You don't have to speak or have a conversation. You can just dance, and people understand that no matter what," Alft said.

His moves now draw millions of views, and comments like, "this made my morning."

"People say it's cause it's funny, but I'm being fully sincere," Alft said.

While fans are obsessed, Alft's coworkers give mixed reviews.

"My managers, they love it," Alft said. "Now I get a lot more people in the store that recognize me and say something, and my coworkers will be like, ugh."

His TikTok account really took off this summer, gaining thousands of new followers weekly.

"It just kept going, like monthly I would hit a new milestone, and I'd be like, how is this happening?" Alft said. "I have 850,000 followers now, which is wild, I don't even know how that happened."

Alft says the best part is meeting those who have shared his joy.

"People will stop me and be like, 'oh my gosh, are you the Kwik Trip TikTok guy,' and I'll be like, 'yes, that's me,' and they'll ask me for a picture, and I'll be like, okay, I guess," Alft said. "It's still a little unbelievable in my mind."

With more popularity, he's now trying to branch out, appealing to more than just Wisconsinites.

"I'm maybe doing food reviews of other places. So, I think it's now not just local Midwest," Alft explained.

Soon, he might have to make a big shift, hoping his success on the phone screen will translate to the stage.

"I'm planning to move to Chicago soon, so, not many Kwik Trips around there," Alft said. "I'm going to have to figure something else out, I guess."

Despite likely leaving the Dairyland to pursue musical theater, Kwik Trip will always be home to Alft.

"It makes me happy. I love it," he said.