"Is this a parody?"

That's what one TikTok commenter had to ask about Carolyn Hoover's viral TikTok, "Day in my life of as a 23-year-old investment banker, model, and athlete." 

The commenter was far from the only viewer to doubt the validity of an "average day" that featured a 3:30 am wakeup call, a full day of work, a half-marathon run, a photoshoot, and 2.5 hours of sleep. 

"I’m sorry this is not an average day. Physically impossible," Kb added.

But as far as we can tell, it's all true, at least in spirit. 

Hoover is a triathlete and has competed around the world with team USA all while working as an investment banking analyst for Rothschild & Co.

Now she claims that she "works for herself" and is spending her time in-between competitions traveling Europe. While we highly doubt that a successful triathlete or banker averages 2.5 hours of sleep on a normal night, her rise-and-grind lifestyle certainly seems more real than that of many influencers.

"Any decent investment banker in NYC does not have time to make TikToks," Liv D commented. 

So is Carolyn for real, or is she the product of TikTok smoke and mirrors like other young NYC social media big business influencers? As she says in another video,

"People get exhausted trying to figure me out... and I just let them."