Influencers Over 50 You Should Know

Connect with these older social media stars

19-minute read

Maisy Fernandez, Amy Carlson Gustafson, Bill Hangley Jr., Mabel Lui, Whitney Matheson and Rob Tannenbaum,

AARP

Published September 24, 2026

a photo combines images of Denise Austin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carla Rockmore, Vera Wang, Ereka Vetrini and Dwayne Johnson.

From foodies to movie stars, these over 50 influencers are the ones to watch.

AARP (Getty 2, Getty Contour, Courtesy Denise Austin, Cullen Blanchfield)

The world of influencers is so vast that a top 10 list can’t capture all the insight, wisdom and sense of community that content creators over 50 provide. AARP worked with marketing agency Influential to develop the ultimate list of older influencers. In this story, we’ll also introduce you to a few more creators over 50 worth knowing about. It’s a feature full of people who hope to entertain and enlighten you — and who may even answer when you comment.

HEALTH

Denise Austin has been ruling the fitness world for decades with no signs of slowing down.

Courtesy of Denise Austin

Denise Austin, 69

Facebook: 972k followers

Instagram: 608k followers

Bright, buoyant and relentlessly optimistic, Austin, 69, has spent a career sharing short, simple workouts designed to trim, tone and strengthen. In the ’80s and ’90s, she reached millions through TV, videotapes and DVDs. But she and her viewers have migrated to Facebook and Instagram, where Austin delights in the instant feedback.

“I feel very close to my Facebook followers,” she says. “We have this bond. We’ve aged together.”

Visitors to Austin’s social media will find a large supply of simple, low-impact exercise routines along with tips about nutrition, hydration and weight management. Her most popular posts these days are 10-minute workouts targeting legs, arms and abs, all delivered with her trademark good cheer. “Don’t beat yourself up,” she says in one Instagram post. “If you can’t get a little exercise in each day, try to wake up the next morning and get in a little more. That’s what I do. And remember, don’t eat late at night, because that’s not good for us women.”

An aging audience has meant some changes to her content. Where Austin once showed women how to tone up after pregnancy, she now helps them stay fit through menopause and beyond. But she’s also reaching a younger generation, creating Instagram posts with her daughter Katie, also a fitness instructor. “The mother-daughter events we do always sell out,” Austin says.

Dr. Ian K. Smith, 57

Facebook: 294k followers

Instagram: 170k followers

Dr. Ian K. Smith didn’t build his career with Facebook or TikTok. He did it with books, TV appearances (like on Good Morning America) and broadcast radio. He still shares his lessons about health and fitness those ways, but now you can find him on Instagram and Facebook. And on podcasts too, including his newest effort, Black Health Unfiltered, where he promises to cover a range of topics, from heart disease and diabetes to mental health.

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Smith’s appeal? Accessible, fact-based knowledge. No hype but, rather, measured advice about health and nutrition, based on science.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 79

Instagram: 26.7m followers

Facebook: 24m followers

YouTube: 1.58m followers

X: 5m followers

The Terminator has come full circle. He’s been a movie star. He’s been a governor. He’s been an advocate for social causes. But if you follow Schwarzenegger on social media today, you’ll usually find him right where his career began: in the gym.

“I have never accepted that aging means a smaller and slower life,” he recently wrote in Newsweek. “I train so I can keep doing the things that matter.”

Schwarzenegger is still an entertainer, playing roles in comedies and action flicks, including an in-development feature film, King Conan.

But fitness remains the core of the Schwarzenegger brand, and he promotes it every day to tens of millions of followers on social media. He’s got the Arnold Sports Festival, a four-day event that includes bodybuilding. He’s got Arnold’s Ultimate Stack, a new line of performance supplements. And he’s got an app (and podcast, and newsletter) called “Pump Club,” offering coaching and workout guides for anyone from aspiring bodybuilders to those who just want to play with their grandkids.

“Our oldest member turned 100,” Schwarzenegger said. “Movement is maintenance for life. It is how we keep doing what we love.”

MONEY

Jean Chatzky, 61

LinkedIn: 267k followers

Jean Chatzky has learned that women seeking money guidance need a safe space.

“I do a lot of public speaking in rooms with men and women, and when it comes to time for questions, women are often hesitant,” she says. “But when they’re in a room with all women, they’re not hesitant.”

Chatzky is a cofounder of HerMoney, a multimedia company, including a podcast offering compassionate, practical advice, much of it from women with long experience in finance and investing.

An AARP The Magazine columnist (with a new book called The Forever Paycheck in collaboration with AARP Books), Chatzky built her career at Money magazine and NBC’s Today, and she still maintains an old-school reporter’s disciplined approach. But she’s learned that an online audience likes dinner party chatter too, such as social media posts about conversations with friends about their spending habits. “When I get personal, I get more engagement,” Chatzky says.

Lynn Richardson, 55

Facebook: 624k followers

TikTok: 370k followers

Instagram: 317k followers

Years before she became a financial influencer with a combined social media following of almost 1.5 million, Lynn Richardson was a fresh Loyola University graduate who was in debt and getting by with rental furniture. She went on to build a career helping people from underserved communities achieve financial freedom.

Richardson found her calling as an educator — “a change agent,” she calls it — after a 2009 speaking engagement where she talked about her own financial struggles. “I literally talked about making a lot of money and having no money,” she says.

Her honesty resonated with listeners, and Richardson has since harnessed that same frank approach to share financial literacy advice at conferences, on TV, on podcasts (she hosted the iHeart show The Millionaire’s Roundtable) and, of course, on social media. She started posting videos about wealth in 2015, but her following grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, when viewers discovered her home-based business content. She believes that anyone can build wealth, at any time. “It doesn’t matter what your age is,” she says. “If you’re 50 or 60 and you plan to live to 80 or 90, you’ve got 30 or 40 more years.”

Daymond John is a pioneer of hip-hop apparel. Now he encourages others to find their success.

Disney/Christopher Willard/Getty Images

Daymond John, 57

Instagram: 1.4m followers

Facebook: 1.1m followers

TikTok: 314k followers

If you think the only way to make money is to have money, Daymond John is here to say you’re wrong. “If money worked for everybody, Blockbuster and BlackBerry would still be in business,” he recently told podcaster Ed Mylett. “It’s not money, it’s putting in the work.”

Raised in a modest home in Queens, New York, John became a millionaire as the founder of FUBU, the pioneering 1990s hip-hop apparel company. Today, when he’s not cohosting ABC’s Shark Tank, he’s probably on the road, traveling 250 days a year for speaking gigs and workshops. As the face of an almost-endless array of books, videos and online business tools, John is relentless about promoting himself and his brand. But his million-plus audience on Instagram who follow his life lessons know he’s learned to put life and health before money.

“I’m not a billionaire, by choice,” he said in a recent online interview. “The worst time in my life was when I had seven or eight homes. I have a 9-year-old, and she’ll never see me again if I go back to doing that. Why would I do that?”

BIG WITH YOUNG AUDIENCES

Mel Robbins, 57

Instagram: 12.7m followers

Facebook: 6.4m followers

TikTok: 6m followers

YouTube: 6.2m subscribers

“You are one decision away from a completely different life,” Mel Robbins likes to remind her millions of readers, podcast listeners and social media followers. Robbins exemplifies the kinds of career- and life-changing choices she advocates: The mother of three worked as a public defender, life coach and radio host before going global as a motivational speaker and author. Her popular 2011 TEDx talk, “How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over,” leapfrogged her into the motivational stratosphere; it has been viewed more than 34 million times.

Today The Mel Robbins Podcast is a consistently top-listened-to show, with guests espousing the power of healthy habits and positive thinking. Her 2024 book, The Let Them Theory , which sold more than 10 million copies in its first year, advises readers to stop basing their personal decisions on other people’s actions and opinions.

“I am so grateful all this happened late in life,” Robbins has said of her success. “I think we’re living in a moment in time where people feel very lonely … and they feel disconnected from things that bring their life meaning. And so, to have created something that’s making a positive global impact one person at a time, that is humbling.”

Find Robbins on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube @melrobbins or at facebook.com/melrobbins

Bethenny Frankel, 55

Instagram: 4m followers

TikTok: 3.4m followers

Facebook: 1.4m followers

Before social media took off, there was reality TV to provide looks into people’s lives. Bethenny Frankel was something of a pioneer in that medium, as an original cast member on The Real Housewives of New York City starting in 2008. She leveraged that fame into successful business ventures and best-selling books — and a seven-figure following on Instagram. “It’s just a micro reality show where I can share something that is absurd, helpful or possibly insightful,” Frankel says.

As an example, her posted views on romance: “Now, I’m no expert on relationships, mine or others, but here’s some unsolicited advice: Find someone who calms your nervous system and protects your peace.... Always remember: If you don’t love it, you don’t like it. If it’s not yes, it’s no.”

Her honest opinions on social media have led to partnerships with major companies including Uber, Verizon and L’Oréal.

In 2011, Frankel sold her Skinnygirl Cocktails brand for a reported $100 million. Now she has expanded the Skinnygirl brand into food and apparel, serves as chief brand officer of hair color company dpHUE and has launched the dating platform The Core. Her charity BStrong has generated more than $400 million for global disaster relief.

Frankel’s admirers, many of whom were young when she first appeared on TV, appreciate her no-nonsense attitude and advice. “I hadn’t seen my girlfriend’s four daughters in a while — they range from middle school to college — and they said, ‘We are obsessed with you,’ ” Frankel says.

Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, 54

Instagram: 381m followers

TikTok: 79.7m followers

With 381 million followers on Instagram, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson’s popularity is record-breaking.

Ben Trivett/Contour RA by Getty Images

Facebook: 66m followers

YouTube: 7.1m subscribers

X: 16m followers

Actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson is so influential that he holds a couple of Guinness World Records for it ( “Most Followers on Instagram for an Actor, Male” and “Most Followers on TikTok for an Actor”). Beyond Hollywood, Johnson’s ever-expanding business portfolio includes a tequila brand, a men’s skin care company, sports apparel, energy drinks and being an owner of the United Football League — all of which he hypes with a wink and a grin.

“I’ve always tried to fly above it and not get pulled down into the sludge — and use my social influence/power for the good stuff, the stuff that makes a real positive impact in people’s lives,” Johnson wrote on X.

Johnson’s philanthropic initiatives include decades of work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He has said he wouldn’t rule out a presidential run.

Meanwhile, his social media tips read like life advice: “Speak directly and shoot from the hip,” he posted on X. “Be real and be authentic. Be kind and be good to people. Share the lessons you’ve learned — good and bad. Laugh at yourself. And always remember the golden rule: It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”

Grandma Droniak, 96

TikTok: 15.1m followers

Instagram: 4.2m followers

Facebook: 207k followers

Lillian “Grandma” Droniak records videos at her Connecticut nursing home as she gets ready for events (“I’m 96 today, but I feel 26!” she declared on her birthday), gossips about other residents, drinks a giant glass of wine and shares memories of those she loved.

It all started in 2012, when her then-teen grandson Kevin shot clips of her and posted them on YouTube. Viewers loved her personality. “She has no filter and can be very sassy, but then also she has a loving spirit,” says Kevin, now 29.

An example of her witty posts, after a date with a new nursing home resident: “It was flirty. I just had dinner with him, and he said he would pay for the bill. He didn’t know all of the food is included here.”

Lillian doesn’t let her grandson forget that she’s “not like the other grandmas,” he says — which is clear when she goes out and meets fans of all ages. “It’s fun for her, and it makes her life more exciting,” Kevin says. “They see her as their internet grandma.” And there’s another possible benefit for Droniak: Kevin says her doctor believes being an influencer has made her “more mentally spry.”

Grandma Droniak has gone viral numerous times, beginning in 2022 with her “rules at my funeral” video (the rules include “Cry but not too much,” “Bertha is not invited,” and “Get drunk afterward”). At press time, the video had racked up 51.5 million views on TikTok. In 2023, she had another viral hit with her GRWM (get ready with me) video “My first date in 25 years” (72 million views on TikTok). And in June of this year, when her retirement home threatened eviction because of her late-night parties, Droniak went viral again with “Getting kicked out of my nursing home” (5.9 million views on TikTok). She’s still living there, or as she puts it, “still partying but trying to not get evicted.”

Questlove, 55

Instagram: 3.1m followers

X: 2.8m followers

Questlove is the king of the side hustle. The drummer and producer, who was born Ahmir Thompson, has been growing in visibility since 1993 and the debut album of the Roots, his Philadelphia-based hip-hop group.

In the years since, Questlove has directed documentaries on Sly Stone and Earth, Wind & Fire, launched a podcast, worked with musicians including Elvis Costello and Jay-Z, led the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and authored nine books, on topics ranging from pop music history to cooking. Despite a beyond-busy schedule, he’s still managed to post almost 20,000 times on Instagram and Twitter.

Questlove uses his voluminous cultural knowledge to provide context on recent music news or celebrate the culture’s lost pioneers. “I have accounts on all the platforms,” he said in a 2024 interview at Vidcon Anaheim. But he called Instagram “my safe haven, where all my friends are,” and added that his social media posts are “less about promoting me as a brand and more about me interacting with my music nerds.”

FOOD

Sam the Cooking Guy, 67

YouTube: 3.9m subscribers

Instagram: 324k followers

Facebook: 279k followers

Sam Zien didn’t set out to be a chef. He was a burned-out biotech exec in San Diego. But after watching a chef on a local news segment make a butternut squash soup needlessly complicated, he figured he could do it simpler. He’d never been to culinary school. That, he says, was the point.

Twenty-five years and several cookbooks later, Sam the Cooking Guy is a YouTube powerhouse with millions of subscribers. His online audience skews mostly male, eating up creative content like World Cup–inspired burritos and rotisserie chicken shortcuts. Nothing’s precious; bloopers and mistakes stay in.

But Zien’s sense of responsibility doesn’t stop at recipes. He has taken to using Instagram for civic nudges — commentary on customer service, basic courtesy, putting the phone down at checkout — the kind of everyday decency he thinks is slipping. It’s the same instinct, he says, that drives everything else he does. “I care about teaching. I want people to get it. I want them to finish watching and say, ‘OK, that was really fun. I think I can make that.’ ”

Ereka Vetrini, 50

Facebook: 1.7m followers

Instagram: 1.2m followers

TikTok: 1m followers

Ereka Vetrini joined TikTok because her daughter, then 12, talked her into it. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and social media provided a new do-it-yourself outlet for the food influencer, who had appeared on The Apprentice and HGTV and served as the sidekick on Tony Danza’s daytime talk show. Vetrini remembers cooking pastina, a humble, childhood staple of Italian kitchens, in TikTok videos. The messages came flooding in. Followers told her they finally learned how to prepare the dish their mothers, some no longer living, used to make.

Even though she had name recognition from her time on TV, that wasn’t what led to her explosion of followers. Credit goes to Vetrini’s relatability, starting with those healthy, family-friendly meals she whipped up during the pandemic, when folks were cooking at home more. Also key was her ability to connect with her audience beyond the kitchen. Whether it’s her humorous take on being a perimenopausal Gen X influencer, celebrating her 50th birthday with friends or making her daughter’s favorite recipes before she leaves the nest for college, Vetrini is skilled at capturing the heart of the moment.

And doing new things keeps the creative juices flowing, she says. “Write a cookbook.… Start a YouTube [channel].… Whatever it is, you’re just like, I’ve never done this before, but I’m gonna give it a shot.… You’re always constantly doing and trying new things. I guess that’s what helps keep me feeling younger than I am.”

Nonna Pia, 89

TikTok: 4.2m followers

Instagram: 1m followers

Facebook: 612k followers

YouTube: 518k subscribers

You’ll think this Italian grandma is cooking up a pot of mouthwatering red sauce just for you. In social media videos, watch Pia Quaglieri — known as Nonna Pia to her millions of followers — whip up homemade classics, including fresh bread and pasta, meatballs and jars of tomato sauce made from her homegrown tomatoes. There’s no fancy kitchen, no state-of-the-art equipment, no glamour lighting. Just familiar ingredients, a well-loved gas stove and hands doing the work, the same way you might remember your grandmother doing it.

Real life gets sprinkled in too: a visit to the cemetery to lay flowers on a loved one’s grave, grocery store runs, a birthday caught on camera. Her grandson Antonio Nigro films it all, often opening with the same question: “Hey, Nonna P, what are you making today?” No doubt, it’s buonissimo!

Delicious dishes, tasty cocktails, and so many cookbooks and videos — what’s not to love about celebrity chef Ina Garten.

Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

Ina Garten, 78

Instagram: 5m followers

Facebook: 2.3m followers

Ina “Barefoot Contessa” Garten is culinary royalty. A former nuclear budget analyst in the Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter administrations, Garten made an unlikely switch to food, eventually becoming one of America’s most beloved celebrity chefs.

She has turned that into a thriving presence on social media. On Instagram, her followers are treated to lots of food and cocktail ideas. In her trademark casual, button-up shirts, Garten posts videos in which she offers tours of her kitchen, library, gardens and even a look inside her refrigerator. As one person said in the comments on a recent post, “My bucket list is to have dinner @inagarten house and have the best meal and conversation ever!” Sign us up!

FASHION

Beth Djalali, 68

Instagram: 343k followers

YouTube: 284k followers

Beth Djalali thought what she was wearing was interesting. It was to her, anyway. So the stay-at-home mom, then 56, started posting her outfit-of-the-day pics. One day it was a spring outfit; another day, a date-night ensemble. “I had gray hair and wasn’t as slender as I had been, but who cares? All the 20-somethings were doing it, so why shouldn’t I?” says Djalali, who lives in Athens, Georgia.

That was 12 years ago. Djalali soon launched her blog, Style at a Certain Age.

Her online fashion presence took off over the years, not because she was trying to emulate younger looks — in fact, the opposite. “I don’t need to look like I am 40 anymore. I am happy to be 68,” she says. “But I want it to be my best 68. I want to live a vibrant, full life.”

She hopes her fashion photos help her followers do that too. “We all have to get dressed every day,” she says. “So why not make it a great outfit?”

Carla Rockmore

Cullen Blanchfield

Carla Rockmore, 59

TikTok: 1.3m followers

Instagram: 760k followers

YouTube: 512k subscribers

Carla Rockmore had about 90 followers on YouTube for about a year until her kids encouraged her to use TikTok. “I was talking about fashion from my own perspective, a bit eccentric and with my own sense of humor,” she says. It took only five videos for Vogue to dub Carla Rockmore “the Carrie Bradshaw of TikTok.”

A big part of Rockmore’s appeal is that she encourages followers to embrace their stage in life. “For my older followers, it’s time to trust your gut. You will sit in your own skin more comfortably if you listen to yourself rather than the exterior noise. I want young people to take away that you don’t have to worry about getting older. As you age, your anxiety about what other people think decreases and your personal style increases.”

Her advice for older women: “You have a good sense of your own style and what makes you feel like yourself. Embrace what you like.”

Nikol Johnson, 50

YouTube: 1.2m subscribers

Instagram: 632k followers

TikTok: 826k followers

Nikol Johnson went gray before she was 40. She is against fillers and Botox. This may seem odd for someone who spent a career in the beauty and fashion industries, starting as a Ford model at age 15, and then working as a makeup artist and aesthetician before launching the Nikol Beauty skin care and cosmetics brand, aimed at older customers. Perhaps because of that background, her take on natural beauty made people take notice.

“So many women have been sold that you have to keep changing things” through cosmetic procedures, she says. “I think it’s beautiful to see people age.” In her YouTube series, Fierce Aging, Johnson discusses embracing your aging self, in addition to tackling other life changes, including health issues and career pivots. Her prime following is women over 50. “I encourage women not to give up. The mental health part is important. Don’t get depressed and go into a dark hole. I am encouraging them to get up and brush their hair or put on mascara — I need them to do something.”

Irvin Randle, 64

Instagram: 1.1m followers

TikTok: 1.7m followers

He went from elementary school teacher to social media sensation. Irvin Randle’s life changed in 2016, when one of his posts went viral. A Facebook follower had reposted some of his fashion photos on his own social media account that centered on fitness for older men.

The instant fame took some adjustment, but Randle quickly embraced his purpose: “To inspire men from diverse backgrounds, particularly men of color, across all ages, to embrace the wisdom that comes with maturity and to exemplify responsible living in their later years.” The focus of his videos centers around attire, where he is often seen walking in slow motion while he highlights a watch or buttons up his sharp-looking jacket.

But to Randle, clothes are only part of what makes the man. He also strives to inspire men of all generations to prioritize inner substance. “For me, being a gentleman isn’t just about clothes; it’s about inner integrity, mindful interactions and effortless grace.”

Vera Wang, 77

Instagram: 1.1m followers

Facebook: 1.2m followers

X: 726k followers

Fashion designer Vera Wang, famous for a casual approach to design and luxury, is still making headlines for her personal style. Her June birthday this year was occasion to debut her blond do, which garnered headlines across celebrity news and fashion magazines. A few weeks before that, she donned a cone bra, drop-waist maxi skirt and two ponytails at the Fragrance Foundation Awards.

“I never dress to try and be young,” Wang told the BBC in a 2025 interview. She reflected on different times: “We didn’t have social media, and everybody didn’t age right before your very eyes, and everybody wasn’t critical,” Wang said. “It was really more about finding your way in what you wanted to do.… Whatever life you chose, I didn’t see that obsession with aging that I have felt the last two decades.”

Scrolling through her social media shows she never squanders an opportunity to showcase her style. “I don’t feel I should stop being creative in how I dress myself,” she says. “It’s not about age, it’s about style.”

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