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  • - What a YouTube following that is, huh?

  • - Yeah. - So how did you get started?

  • - Well, I--it kind of happened almost by accident.

  • I really didn't expect

  • so many people to want to watch my videos.

  • So I was actually going through a bullying experience

  • when I was about 12 years old.

  • - Bullying at school or cyberbullying?

  • - It was cyberbullying, which is kind of funny,

  • 'cause then I decided to, like, stay online for so long.

  • I've been doing it for six years.

  • So it was a form of bullying where

  • it was people that I actually knew.

  • And they made this, like, Facebook page about me,

  • Myspace page about me, and it was basically, like,

  • my face, my name,

  • but it was almost like I was kind of making fun of myself,

  • and, like, all the captions were about my physical appearance

  • and just me making fun of who I was.

  • So seeing this when I was 12, I was, like, so hurt by it.

  • And I had never experienced anything like it before,

  • so naturally, I let it affect

  • my self-confidence and my happiness about life

  • and kind of went into a form of depression and anxiety

  • and all of these things that lasted for maybe a year.

  • And there was a point in that time period

  • that I felt like, "This is how my life is gonna be.

  • "Like, I just have to accept it.

  • "I'm never gonna be happy,

  • and I'm never gonna love myself."

  • And then I started watching YouTube videos,

  • and I was like, "This is cool."

  • And I just started watching more and more,

  • and it kind of became a distraction.

  • And then I decided to make my first video,

  • which was a lot, because going from

  • feeling so insecure and then literally

  • putting myself out there for the world to see

  • was a huge step.

  • And I did it,

  • and then after that first video--

  • - What was the first video?

  • - It was--it was, like, me talking about

  • different makeup products, which is funny

  • 'cause I was never really much of a girly girl,

  • but I kind of just found it fun.

  • And I kind of got into the beauty and fashion world

  • through YouTube, so I was just talking--

  • - So you're talking about makeup,

  • and then did you have a lot of views,

  • like, right off the bat?

  • - No, actually, the first video that I posted--

  • it's so hard, because so many people

  • are uploading videos every second

  • that it's really hard to get noticed.

  • And I remember the first video I uploaded,

  • I watched it over and over to see if people were,

  • you know, checking it out.

  • And I saw the view count going up.

  • I'm like, "Oh, my gosh.

  • I'm getting views, like, every second."

  • And then I realized that they were from me.

  • [laughter]

  • So that answered that question.

  • So it was definitely, you know, a slow start, yeah.

  • I was like, "Oh, that's me. And that's my mom right there.

  • Those two views. Thanks, Mom."

  • - That's amazing.

  • Well, then it makes other people think

  • you're getting a lot of views, even if it's yourself.

  • - Yeah, no, then I was like, "Maybe if I just watch this,

  • like, 200 times, then people will be like,

  • 'Wow, 200 people liked this. I should check it out.'"

  • - So what is now-- so it's all fashion and beauty.

  • And what's--what is your main goal with this?

  • What do you want to do?

  • - Well, it kind of evolved into more of a lifestyle channel.

  • And even though--you know, I do talk about beauty and fashion.

  • Some people might see it as kind of superficial.

  • But in the end, my main goal for what I do

  • is to kind of just promote self-love and self-confidence

  • and taking a bad situation

  • and making it into something amazing.

  • 'Cause you can see the process.

  • I've been doing videos for six years.

  • I haven't deleted any.

  • You can see me when I was making my first video.

  • I was really shy and really closed off.

  • And I grew, and I, you know,

  • really learned so much about myself,

  • and I've really learned the importance of

  • not worrying about other people's opinions.

  • Because even now, I still experience the bullying online.

  • You know, people leave hate comments.

  • It's something that so many people experience.

  • And I've really allowed it to not affect me anymore,

  • so that's what I want to push for my audience,

  • and that's what I want to inspire them to do.

  • And just recently, I partnered up with

  • PACER'S national anti-bullying organization,

  • and I'm really excited.

  • We're still in the beginning stages,

  • but just any way that I can really inspire

  • my viewers to love themselves is my main goal.

  • - Well, good for you for getting out of that

  • and turning it around like that.

  • That's pretty amazing.

  • - Thank you.

- What a YouTube following that is, huh?

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