Rory O’Connor, better known as Rory’s Stories, is a content creator, best-selling author, and stand-up comedian. The 34-year-old didn’t accomplish that status overnight. In this article, O’Connor reveals his struggles with gambling and anxiety and his journey to overcome them, leading him to a full-time career as “Rory’s Stories.”  

O’Connor’s social media journey started in 2013 with a blog called ‘Rory’s Stories’ with content about day-to-day life and O’Connor’s own life experiences. In 2014, he began posting videos on Facebook, mainly GAA sketches, before starting a Facebook page specifically for his content.  

The Rory’s Stories Facebook page immediately took off, with the page getting over 100k likes in 6 months. O’Connor recalled the fond memory, saying his first reaction was “That’s more people than can fit in Croke Park!” 

O’Connor revealed that although he always had a passion for creativity and is a natural storyteller, what led him to lean into his social media career in the beginning was a gambling addiction; social media became his getaway. “I got help. I remember my counsellor at the time talking about channeling your addiction in a different direction, so this [social media] became my coping mechanism,” he said.  

Although O’Connor’s content is usually lighthearted and on the comedic side, he has also been a huge advocate for mental health and really tapped into his emotions online. He also admits a lot about his own struggles in his book ‘Rory’s Story.’  

O’Connor described himself as an “open book” and shared that his content around his mental health wasn’t overly challenging for him to post. “I think people don’t want to play the ‘poor me’ card and look for sympathy, but I always say, it’s a sign of strength to be able to admit you’re struggling and talk about it”. He also acknowledged the positive reaction he was met with. “I actually had so many people say ‘fair play’ and relate to it and telling me they read the book and what it meant to them so we’re changing the stigma and it’s definitely getting easier to talk about.”  

O’Connor explained that he finds it easy to achieve that balance between lighthearted and deep within his content, as he feels it reflects him as a person. “I think I just am that way. I’m a man for the craic but I can be emotional and deep, and I can lean into that side of myself. I think most of my content and work is balanced like that and that’s way it works. My books, my talks, my content. Half of it will make you cry but the other half would make you laugh.”  

In the most recent half of his career, O’Connor has been extremely open about his son’s autism diagnosis. O’Connor explained that although it’s a personal family matter, he felt it was important to share online in a positive light in order to encourage other parents to encourage kids to be themselves and support kids struggling with autism and similar diagnoses. “More and more parents are becoming aware of it and I know people aren’t willing to talk about it and don’t want to admit their kids are anything out of the norm. But I think there’s so much stigma around it because even our generation were told you had to be a certain way and fit into a certain line and that had an effect on a lot of our mental health. So, what I’m trying to do is just let them be who they are and embrace that.”  

O’Connor’s ability to be relatable in both a lighthearted, funny way while also being relatable through real-life challenges and experiences has undoubtedly been the key to his success. Not to mention his bravery to kick start his career as a content creator before there was such a thing. If he continues to put himself out there in such a creative and inspiring way, he will no doubt continue to prosper.