Skip to main content Skip to navigation

influencer

Kaitlyn Thornton in baseball cap, flannel shirt and jeans in front of crates of pears
Fall 2023

Kaitlyn Thornton

Agriculture looks pretty fun in Kaitlyn Thornton’s hands.

Big trucks, small trucks, pears and apples, belt buckles and boots, and lots of music.

Thornton, who’ll graduate from the Carson College of Business in December 2023, is an ag influencer on TikTok and Instagram with hundreds of thousands of followers.

Through videos and photos she educates her followers on what it takes to operate a more than 400-acre orchard in north-central Washington. For example, that “dust” on apples in the family orchards? It’s natural clay sprayed on the fruit to prevent sun damage. And imperfect fruit tastes … » More …

Dean Janikowski wearing cowboy hat at high school football game with his mom Heather.
Fall 2023

More than a kick

Dean Janikowski is the kicker for Washington State University’s football team, a 2022 graduate and currently an MBA student at WSU. He also has a great time on Instagram and other social media with photos and videos playing football for the Cougs, riding dirt bikes, and kicking spicy Chicken McNuggets.

In this episode, Dean talks with Washington State Magazine writer Becky Kramer about raising money for the Heather Janikowski Foundation, a charity named for his mom, who died of cancer.

Dean also talks about how he started his sports career in soccer, NIL (name, image, and likeness), and his … » More …