Before She Was on 'The Mole,' Avori Was a Miss America Contestant (EXCLUSIVE)

In 2020, more women flocked to gaming than they had in previous years, with Facebook reporting that the platform saw a 195 percent increase in female-identifying members in its gaming groups.

Streamers like Avori have found a home on the platform for their content. Avori has been challenging the typical image of a female streamer, managing a modeling career while paving the way for more women to find space in the gaming world. She's also a contestant on Netflix's The Mole revival!

In 2019, Avori made history by hosting the first ever all-female PlayerUnknown's Battleground tournament, raising more than $10,000 in charity donations for organizations like Fred Hutch and the Children's Miracle Network.

Between managing all of her content, Avori took the time to talk with Distractify about her platform and what it means to create space for others online.

Avori says she started streaming while she was in college, pursuing her degree in business with the intent to open her own fitness marketing company. She would participate in Miss America pageants on the side and stream in her free time to alleviate the stress, but she says that eventually, streaming was bringing in enough money to support her.

"I was like if this is paying for my rent, then maybe I can grow it into something really amazing," she says. "I actually dropped everything I was doing — I dropped out of the Miss America pageant. I did finish my degree just to have it on the back burner, but I pretty much dropped everything and just really dove into it, and the rewards were way greater than I ever could have expected."

Now, Avori streams to more than 400,000 followers on Facebook Gaming daily while managing her growing YouTube channel, creating TikTok content, and posting her modeling shots on Instagram. She says she tries to keep the content as distinct to each platform as possible, though her brand is still very much gaming-centric.

While Avori previously used to stream on Twitch, she says she really prefers the home her content has found on Facebook Gaming.

"I feel like there are more women [on Facebook Gaming] than there are on Twitch," Avori says. "Facebook is more global, it's more universal. It's more inclusive for everyone. So, with my fan base on Facebook, I feel like there's a lot of women, and I absolutely love that because I can really connect with people in a new way."

She says the platform makes her feel "valued" as a creator, which helps her create such consistent content for her followers. Despite streaming typically being considered a very male-dominated industry, Avori says she loves being a role model for other women gamers out there, even if the internet can feel a little harsh.

"I love being a role model — I love standing up for what I believe," she says. "But it's because I do take that time to really reflect on why I do what I do, and how I want to be a role model for other people, that drives me to do the things that I've done in my career."

"I'm thankful for the position and I'm thankful for the women who have supported me in this journey," she continues. "And I'm also thankful to be in the position to be able to influence other people, because it's really outdated at this point to have male-dominated industries and for women to feel pressured to prove themselves [in these industries]."

As if Avori wasn't busy enough, she has now added another role to her resume: She appears as a contestant on Netflix's revival of The Mole. In fact, there's a chance that she is the actual Mole herself (we'll have to wait until the finale to find out for sure)! She has already done a fair bit of sabotaging in the series, although she claims that that's just a strategy to mislead her fellow contestants and get them eliminated. Some viewers aren't convinced, though:

Whether it's actual Mole behavior or just a little bit of classic misdirection remains to be seen, but we'll definitely be keeping a close eye on Avori throughout the season.

You can watch Episodes 1–5 of The Mole on Netflix now. New eps drop on Oct. 14 and Oct. 21.