Here’s how I decompress most nights after work: I scroll TikTok for about ten minutes. I’m a Realtor in Hattiesburg, four generations deep, and I still learn things about this town I didn’t know.
These are the five accounts I keep coming back to.
1. Jody’s Bakery — @jodysbakeryhattiesburg
Yes, it’s a bakery’s TikTok account. No, that doesn’t make it less worth following.
Jody’s is a Hattiesburg institution. The king cakes are extraordinary. Everyone in town loves receiving one of her assorted cookie boxes. The custom cakes look incredible and taste as good as they look — which, if you’ve ordered enough bakery cakes in your life, you know is a much rarer combination than it should be. She usually has casseroles available too, which has saved more than a few of my weeknights.
I stumbled onto her TikTok and now I’m hooked. Watching her decorate cakes is honestly relaxing.
Follow her and you’ll figure out what to bring to your next office party, baby shower, or “I need to bring something nice and I have 24 hours” emergency.
Also on Instagram: @jodysbakeryhattiesburg
2. Mikia Rich — @itsmikiarich
Mikia’s a friend, which only makes me more biased about her food reviews — and her food reviews are excellent.
She covers Boston’s Fish N Wings, Ed’s Burger Joint, the Hattiesburgers, the whole local fast-casual scene. Somehow, she keeps finding places I didn’t know existed — and I grew up here. That alone makes her worth following.
If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in the “I don’t know, what do you want for dinner” loop, Mikia’s videos are basically the cheat code.
3. Ashley Sentya — @ashleysentya
Ashley is doing something I genuinely respect: she’s covering Hattiesburg the way Hattiesburg needs to be covered.
When Big Chicken closed unexpectedly, she had it. When Pyro’s Fire Fresh Pizza announced its last day, she had it. When Super Target opened, when Krispy Krunchy hit the food court, when there’s a marching band performance worth watching — she has it. Some of her videos pull 30,000+ views, which in a market our size is real reach.
What sets her apart is the range. She’s not a food account, not a news account, not a lifestyle account — she’s a Hattiesburg account. If something’s worth knowing about in this town, she’s usually one of the first to post it.
She’s even touched on the local real estate market, which I appreciated. (Hub City is a buyer’s market right now. She’s right.)
4. Storied Bookery — @storiedbookery
Opening an independent bookstore in 2026 takes guts. Mandie McKenzie did it anyway, and Hattiesburg is better for it.
Mandie is a former librarian who finally opened the bookshop she’d dreamed about — thoughtfully curated, with a children’s section built around a storybook castle that has no business being as charming as it is. The shop also runs book clubs and bookish events that turn it into something more than retail. Honestly, every time one of those events shows up on my feed I wish I could go — they look genuinely fun.
Bonus: she’s right next door to Mulukakao — a Nicaraguan-American family business making fairly-traded artisan coffee and chocolate — which means a Saturday at Storied Bookery basically plans itself. Books, espresso, and small-batch chocolate within ten feet of each other is a frankly unfair combination, and I am not complaining.
If you read, follow her. If you have kids, follow her. If there’s a reader in your life and you don’t know what to pick for them — follow her and you will.
Also on Instagram: @storiedbookery
5. Steve Pahlman — @stevepahlmanrealtor
Steve is a fellow Realtor and a friend, and he’s quietly become one of the better Hattiesburg storytellers on TikTok.
His series, Hattiesburg Local Legends, features the businesses, events, and people who help make the Hub City what it is. New episodes drop regularly and I genuinely look forward to them — they’re the kind of videos that make you appreciate where you live.
He’s also on YouTube as South MS Real Estate Authority — same Local Legends content, longer-form, in case TikTok isn’t your thing.
That’s five. There are more I almost included, and probably more I haven’t found yet. If you know a Pine Belt creator worth following, send me their handle. I’m building a list and I plan to keep doing this.
Following any of them costs you nothing. Sharing this post with someone who just moved to Hattiesburg might save them six months of trial and error.
Beth Scharwath is a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Real Estate Partners in Hattiesburg, MS. She’s been selling homes in the Pine Belt for 30 years and writes occasionally about the place she’s spent four generations calling home. bethscharwath.com