Her Mom Saved Almost Every Item from Childhood. Now She Uses It All to Film Viral Nostalgic TikToks (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Kate Steinberg as a kid, and now.Photo:Kate Steinberg; Ryan Sides

Kate Steinberg; Ryan Sides

Kate Steinberg’s mom saved about 85% of her childhood belongings — everything from her middle school report cards and Hollister outfits to North Face jackets and even an old Razr flip phone.

One day, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Steinberg’s mom pulled out an old version of the American Girl bookThe Care & Keeping of Youthat she’d kept, and Steinberg decided to film a video about it and post it on TikTok. While the Chicago native, who now lives in West Hollywood, Calif. with her fiancé, had posted videos on TikTok since 2019, nothing had really stuck. Then this one went viral.

“From there, I was like, ‘Wait, there are more props,’ " Steinberg, 33, recalls to PEOPLE. “We actually call our basement back home ‘the museum.’ My brother’s a bookkeeper, and we take inventory. It’s insane how much we have.”

“While I knew she saved stuff, I didn’t know to what extent she kept things,” Steinberg adds. “I remember always saying, ‘Throw it out, throw it out, throw it out.’ And now I’m so grateful that she kept everything. It’s almost like it’s bonded us as a family, because my mom will find something and remember an item, then be like, ‘Oh, do you want me to mail it to you?’ "

Kate Steinberg as a kid wearing a Spice Girls shirt.Kate Steinberg

Kate Steinberg

As Steinberg continued to use the props to film more videos, she quickly noticed her audience growing. Since then, she’s amassed more than 847,000Instagramfollowers and 2.6 million followers onTikTok, and left her job in advertising to pursue social media full-time.

Her videos range from takes on nostalgic pop culture moments and 2000s fashion hauls to reenactments of mall outings or dates that take you on a trip down memory lane. They’ve also captured attention from 2000s stars including the Jonas Brothers, Ashley Tisdale and Kristin Cavallari.

Kate Steinberg holding up a teen magazine.Ryan Sides

Ryan Sides

“One of my favorite parts about posting is just relating to people and finding how many universal experiences there are,” Steinberg says. “And I think I just love seeing people be like, ‘Oh, I had a tanning sticker too,’ or, ‘Oh, I had swim class too.’ It’s really cool. That’s kind of how I get my adrenaline and high.”

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Along with using the old items her mom saved for many of her videos, Steinberg has also turned to Poshmark, eBay, ThredUp and Depop to source specific props. She’ll spend hours hunting for items but she says that with the revival of Y2K fashion, the props are getting more expensive.

A box of old items Kate Steinberg’s mom saved.Kate Steinberg

Another way Steinberg gets ideas for her content is from her followers.

“People will comment and be like, ‘I have this prop, do you want me to ship it to you?’ " she says. “Which is so nice. I got this red cheetah dress I have from somebody, other people have sent me scarves.”

Some of Sterinberg’s favorite videos to film are the mall videos, which resonate with her because she was the kid who, after school, would get dropped off at the mall with her friends, armed with $5 to walk around, grab a Starbucks and then wait for her mom to pick her up.

But, if you had asked her three years ago, she says it would’ve been painful for her to take these skits outside or for people to see her in all the ’00s makeup. Now, she says making videos and putting herself out there has built her confidence.

“I think I was really awkward in high school, so in some situations, I play on that awkwardness,” she says. “But there are also times when I’ll make myself cooler than I was in high school. I have fun with the scenarios.”

“I’ve realized it doesn’t matter,” she adds. “I think the hardest part of being on the Internet is just getting over that fear. If it makes you happy, just do it. I do get stares and some side-eye looks here and there, but for the most part, people are just like, ‘Oh, I like your Uggs.’ Maybe because Y2K has come back so much, I don’t know if people even recognize that I’m a character, besides maybe the blue eyeshadow.”

But while Steinberg’s whole social media presence is rooted in nostalgia, she’s realized that it might not just be her persona online.

“As much as I try to have my own style, I think subconsciously I dress like I’m in the 2000s,” she says. “I’ll wear an outfit, and then somebody will be like, ‘You look like Regina George,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, I see it.’ "

“I think there will always be a part of me that has an undertone of the 2000s, and I’m okay with it,” she adds. “I wore these jeans too, and someone was like, ‘Oh, those are Lizzie McGuire-style shacket.’ I’m like, ‘You’re right.’ So I think it’s definitely sprinkled into my day-to-day life, and I don’t know if there’s anything I could do about it.”

source: people.com