She used Facebook Marketplace to sell seafood in South Carolina. A viral review led to 300 orders overnight.
Natendrea Jones, a South Carolina-based cook, saw her seafood catering business explode after a viral TikTok review of her Facebook Marketplace listing. The sudden influx of 300 orders highlights the power of social media and digital platforms in scaling micro-businesses.
Why it matters
This story illustrates how digital marketplaces and influencer-driven content can rapidly transform side hustles into viable full-time businesses.
Natendrea Jones has been cooking seafood for more than a decade. In 2026, a viral food review brought her more than 300 orders overnight. Natendrea Jones Natendrea Jones used Facebook Marketplace to market her seafood-catering business. A viral TikTok review in May brought her more than 300 orders overnight. Jones now runs Red's Garlic Seafood from her home kitchen and hopes to expand into a food truck. When TikTok food reviewer Gabriel Rivera DMed Natendrea Jones about her seafood this spring, she assumed it was a prank. "I thought somebody was playing a joke," Jones, 36, told Business Insider. The South Carolina native had spent years trying to turn her cooking into a full-time business. She grew up surrounded by home cooking and began earning money young, first by preparing salads for neighbors and family cookouts, then by doing hair and nails.
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