Lillian Wong

Sumedha Chakraborty (9) steps on a crunchy leaf, recording the moment Oct. 6. She recently went viral on TikTok for her leaf-stomping videos.

Sumedha Chakraborty (9) set foot on school grounds at 8 a.m. and immediately began to search the campus. She weaved in and out of the hallways, and after approximately 10 minutes of foraging, she stopped in place, her gaze fixated on the ground beneath her. Chakraborty bent down and picked up a dark mahogany leaf, inspecting it before she gently set it back down onto the concrete. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned on the camera. Her foot hovered over the leaf, and slowly began to step down upon it. Crunch. The satisfying, crisp sound echoed in the quiet morning air.

Chakraborty’s TikTok account, “Leafeveryday,” has gained a massive following on the platform for its relaxing content. She creates short daily ASMR videos that focus on the satisfying crunching sounds of dry leaves beneath her feet.

“Leafeveryday blew up overnight. Chakraborty said. “I gained millions of views and about a million likes; it just kept growing,” 

She said the account had been a big hit from the start. As of Oct. 6, she has posted 26 videos, and her account has now accumulated 54,300 followers and 5,000,000 likes across all of her posts, with her most popular video having amassed 16.6 million views. Leafeveryday’s success has even led to partnerships with major companies, including Yahoo and Footlocker.

Chakraborty’s account revolves around an ongoing series where she posts a video every day in search of the “crunchiest leaf.” After each video, she then rates the satisfaction of the crunch out of 10 points. She said this rating is determined by many different factors, all of which are crucial to the process.

“First, I would measure the crunch, then the crisp,” Chakraborty said. “Next is the sound quality. The bass and treble must balance out. Size-to-crunch ratio is another big thing. Small leaves with big sounds make a good impact, and finally, video sound quality.”

Chakraborty revealed that the idea behind the account came to her on an ordinary day. 

“It was an idea that came to me while I was taking a walk in my neighborhood to cool off from loads of homework,” she said. “I stepped on a leaf, and the crunch was immaculate. I was like, ‘What if I started recording this?’”

Despite the overwhelming success surrounding the account, there are still people online who criticize her work. Dozens of people decide to leave harsh and negative comments on her page, expressing unkind opinions about her shoes. For example, people online have said things such as calling her shoes too old, too loose, too dirty, and “crunchy.” Some even go as far as saying her feet look weird. Despite the harsh comments, Chakraborty said she has a way of making sure they don’t get to her.

“I have haters that hate on my shoes and leaf crunching methods,” she said. “I ignore them and focus on my 45,000 followers who love it. My Air Forces may be crunchy, but my leaves are crunchier.”

According to Chakraborty, much of her inspiration comes directly from the people who interact with her videos. She said the input from her audience has influenced how she creates and improves her content.

“I’m inspired by my followers,” Chakraborty said. “They keep me going and give me lots of tips and feedback. I’m also inspired by my [own] creative liberty, and I hope to inspire others to use their creative minds as well. My end goal is to inspire other people to have fun with the simple things in life. I would encourage them to come up with their own creative ideas. A small idea can get you a long way.”