In the summer of 2024, Jalen Bradford adopted local Utah influencer Jessi Ngatikaura’s dog. They exchanged numbers, and he followed her on social media, where she had an undoubtedly impressive audience of around 200,000 people.

Ngatikaura told Bradford to keep in touch. They maintained a regular back-and-forth, exchanging texts and photos of the dog. He became a devoted pet owner, and she became one of the core cast members of the hit Hulu series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

Almost exactly one year after Bradford, 21, adopted her dog, he learned that Ngatikaura was looking to hire a personal assistant. He’d recently moved to Salt Lake City, and after a recent breakup, Bradford was looking for a fresh start. The MomTok star’s open role felt like the perfect opportunity.

“I sent my resume, and I was a little scared,” Bradford admits to PEOPLE. “I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know if this is really my place, but I’m really interested in it.'”

Ngatikaura welcomed his application, and he started working for her in late September 2025. Even just a few weeks into the job, Bradford says the experience has been “amazing,” though he admits there was a certain level of “culture shock” at first.

“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a house that big in my life,” he says of his boss’s abode. “It’s a gorgeous house, and that was very different for me. I grew up in a very rural, low-income area. Growing up in a small town, you’re just not used to that.”

Bradford continues, “Going into Jessi’s house and everything and seeing her lifestyle, it’s very different. And it’s not just like you’re watching it for the screen anymore. It’s pretty cool.”

He’s also been glad to see that her family and network of people — including those involved with her hair care business, JZ Styles — are just as “amazing” as he guessed. “There’s such a good community that helps her run her life because she’s such a busy boss woman,” says Bradford.

Somewhere along the way, he caught the content creation bug as well. Recently, Bradford started sharing his own TikToks documenting his life as a personal assistant to one of the Mormon Wives stars. He tells PEOPLE that he was inspired to do so after coming across content from the assistant to Ngatikaura’s costar Mayci Neeley.

“One day, I just sent Jessi a little text, and I was like, ‘Hey, would you mind if I recorded what it’s like to work for you?’ And she was more than open to it,” Bradford recalls. “She shows every single part of her life, and she’s very open in that way.”

He doesn’t take Ngatikaura’s open-minded attitude for granted, and he pays it forward with a discerning eye for what he deems appropriate to share and what he considers off limits. For example, he avoids posting content that features any branded PR packages sent to Ngatikaura.

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“I’ve been trying to be very respectful about boundaries,” Bradford notes. “I kind of just use my own intuition on what I can and can’t do.”

Plus, he makes a point not to turn social media into a distraction; it’s certainly a fun perk of the job, but Bradford says his priorities are completely professional. “I’m part of this family to help her and her family succeed,” he says.