Fly-over state. Boring. Too small-town. They’re all adjectives non-Iowans have used to describe the Hawkeye State.
A small group of social media influencers have been challenging those perceptions.
Anna Hiserote and Kristen Falatea are among a wave of younger women moving, or returning to, Iowa and documenting their journey on social media.
The two have taken to TikTok and Instagram to share stories about their move, and how they’ve grown to love their state.
Anna Hiserote finds growth, excitement in returning to Iowa
For Hiserote, Iowa had been home before.
“I was very adamant I would never move back to Iowa,” she said.
The Iowa State graduate left the state in 2021 and returned in June 2025. After living in bigger cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, and marrying her husband, Sam, Hiserote said she knew living in Chicago wouldn’t be realistic forever.
“We also wanted space, and a yard, and a house. All the things,” Hiserote said.
All of which felt expensive and unattainable in Chicago. Hiserote felt that everyone cool was getting out of Iowa, which made it harder to want to move back.
But, her family made the leap and moved to Waukee this summer.
Since moving back to Iowa, Hiserote has begun sharing day-to-day content on TikTok, where she has more than 4,000 followers and 35,000 likes amassed from her profile. You can find her under the username @creativexanna. Recently, she’s highlighted coffee shops and workout studios she’s been trying in the Des Moines metro.
Hiserote was surprised to see how much the Des Moines metro has grown since she left. Places like downtown, Ingersoll Avenue, even the suburbs all have more events, restaurants and people than when she left.
“The more time we spent away, we realized how much we missed it and how great it really was,” Hiserote said. “So in coming back, I just wanted to share how many different and unique things there are in your home state if you just take the time to actually find them and get creative with it.”
Kristen Falatea moves to Des Moines, starts girls’ club and finds community
Des Moines is new for Falatea, 23, who moved to Des Moines with her husband, Tamatoa, in May.
The couple is originally from Hawaii, but lived in Utah before making the move to Iowa.
“Originally, we moved here for him to go to Drake. But when we came here, plans kind of changed,” Falatea said. “When we got here, we decided there’s a lot of opportunities for jobs and whatnot. So we kind of changed our route.”
As they started their move to Des Moines, Falatea said wasn’t too excited about it. She told herself she’d make the most of it and share on social media along the way.
“As I was posting here, I realized there’s so much traction in Des Moines and so many people were looking for friends and looking for connections,” she said.
She never felt like an outsider, Falatea said, and felt supported from the start by her new friends and followers in Iowa. She even started a club for women that had 500 sign ups in the first night.
Falatea emphasized that Des Moines has so many people, specifically women in their 20s, who want to meet people or find community. So, once a month, DSM Girls Club does just that.
“Me and my friends talk about how I don’t feel like I could have done that successfully in Utah,” Falatea said. “I couldn’t have done that anywhere else, and I feel like the Des Moines area is really unique in that way.”
Falatea said she’s enjoyed her time as a Des Moines resident and plans to continue to share her journey via social media.
Some of her favorite things she’s enjoyed so far are the accessibility of the metro area, farmers’ markets and coffee shops like Horizon Line.
On TikTok, her username is @kristenfits, where she has more than 8,5000 followers and over 219,000 likes, most of which were gained since moving to Iowa.
Falatea mostly shares daily vlogs and new restaurants, coffee shops and events in the Des Moines metro to try. Occasionally, she’ll make an Iowa joke or two.
Are other influencers moving to Iowa, too?
Is Des Moines becoming the new influencer hub?
Probably not. But Hiserote and Falatea aren’t the only accounts you’ll find on social media boasting their moves to Iowa.
There’s also Victoria Xayaphet who moved from Orlando at the beginning of the year. Or Filip Johansson, who moved here all the way from Sweden. Chantel Gray moved from Phoenix to Des Moines just before Christmas this year with her husband and children.
Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at vreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Is everyone on TikTok moving to Des Moines? Why new Iowans are sharing their moves online.
Reporting by Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
