Beauty: Andrea Brooks
Inspiring confidence through commonality.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with Dove, you can view the full Beauty List Here.
Inspiring confidence through commonality.
Andrea Brooks, the beauty blogger known as AndreasChoice with almost 5 million followers between her IG and YouTube platforms, has always had a love for "beauty, art, and computers." Which, sounds like a match made in digital video heaven.
In 2008 Andrea decided to start a YouTube channel as a creative outlet while working as a teacher for disabled adults. But the load of working during the day and uploading videos at night, became too much and Andrea had to make her first major choice. She says, "Leaving a job I loved to pursue YouTube full time," was a difficult but highly important step in her career.
Her vlogging and makeup skills have catapulted her career; "here we are!" she exclaims about her rise to YouTube fame, but it's Andrea's down-to-earth approach (like her "how to hack" series which includes: hacking smelly shoes, body odor, and a messy home-- see how she uses a Dove soap bar in this one) that capture the essence of the video platform is all about. It's not about unattainability. It's about reliability. "I try to make women feel confident and beautiful and liberated in a world that makes it difficult to feel that way," shares the vlogger who worked to find her own voice and confidence.
More from Andrea below.
What are some of the challenges you've encountered along the way?
Sometimes you go into moments where you're uninspired but you still have to try and keep a schedule.
Who are the people you consider your mentors or influences and why?
My audience influences a lot of what I do. I can tell by their comments and messages what they want to see or are going to have coming up soon (Valentine's Day, Halloween, back-to-school, etc.) I love helping then out.
What is the best piece of "real talk" advice you've received?
To only give attention to the supporters.
What is your favorite life advice?
Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself.
"Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself."
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What is a time in your life when you thought, 'I can't do this anymore?'
I have those moments regularly, but I always find a new path that I CAN do ;)
International Women’s Day is coming up. A global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. If you could steer the conversation around International Women’s Day, what would that dialogue be about?
How, as women today we can have the confidence level to achieve what we want, while ignoring the media pressures of what women should be.
How has your relationship to yourself changed in the last five years?
I have been able to overcome challenges that I never thought were possible before. I have grown more confident.
What does female empowerment mean to you?
We have less power than men and still deal with oppression. Women have a more difficult time achieving goals than men do so we need to empower each and stand together to show everyone that when given the chance, we have so much to contribute to this world.
Beauty: ItsMyRayeRaye
A million followers and rising.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with Dove, you can view the full Beauty List Here.
A million followers and rising.
As one of the first successful black female beauty YouTubers, hitting over one million subscribers, Raye Boyce knows something about breaking down barriers.
A native of Boston, the 26-year-old vlogging maven, ItsMyRayeRaye, got her start on YouTube after requests via Tumblr and Instagram kept pouring in. The social media world has been good to Raye. She met her husband and manager, Eric, via MySpace. The two were married in 2012 when Raye was 21.
Fear of failure and being accepted topped her list of challenges. “I wasn't sure anyone would understand what I was doing, but I always had the support from my friends and family,” she shares.
Before trying her steady hand in the beauty business, Raye was most interested in fashion, looking to attend the fashion merchandising program at FIT in New York. But her aspirations “quickly changed,” as the makeup world took over completely. “I instantly fell in love,” she shares.
While the beauty queen on the YouTube scene loves spending time with her family and bowling, the self-professed adventurer has a bit of a daredevil side. Yes, she has a taste for skydiving and likes to hit up an amusement park or two. But the rollercoaster of her career keeps her from looking too far to the future. Preferring, says Raye, to “take life one step at a time.”
As with most influencers on the internet those steps have included haters. “There was a time when I began receiving negativity on my videos that I had never received before. I didn't understand why it was happening but that was really difficult for me and I wanted to quit.” She didn’t. And is happy that she never gave up, remaining true to herself instead. “For the most part,” shares Raye, “my relationship with myself hasn't changed much because I have always been true to me. I can say that each and every day I am growing and I find ways to better myself.”
Raye is wearing Keds' Champion Originals.
Growth and goals for the social media darling includes starting her own company and doing anything she puts her mind to. “Female empowerment is knowing that you can do anything, even if it might be in a field dominated by the opposite sex.”
“Female empowerment is knowing that you can do anything."
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She’s on deck to help other women succeed as well, even those in her own industry. There’s no jealous vibes with Raye. “I always try to find ways to share the knowledge that I have in hopes that I could help someone. I think we all need to stick together because we would be so much more powerful as a whole.”
Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.
What Success & Authenticity Mean to YouTube Star Ingrid Nilsen
Living in her truth, every damn day.
In the world of YouTube there are those considered to be “top of their game.” Beauty blogger Ingrid Nilsen is one such name. Her charm and smile are infectious. As is her honesty. "First of all," she says in a recent "July Favorites" upload, "I just have to say that I am on my period."
“I don’t see myself at the top as much as I see myself as successful,” she tells us when we chat a few weeks later. “Those are two different things for me. I think that my success is rooted in the intention of helping other people and moving in the direction of love. Everything that I do in my life revolves around those two intentions.”
Ingrid has followed that intention from the very beginning of her jump into YouTube. Now 27, she uploaded her first video over seven years ago. It hasn’t always been smooth vlogging. The wwwaves are rough and first videos can be choppy. Ingrid’s first upload has been described as painfully awkward, something that makes her laugh now, but in and of itself is a success, having started video blogging as a way to get over a fear of public speaking.
“That,” she says, “has kept me rooted and has made me feel truly successful. You can have millions of subscribers, you can, numbers wise be at the top, but you can also feel really unhappy being there too. That’s why I don’t equate being at the top with my success. I felt really successful from the beginning.”
“Reflecting on that, recognizing and accepting that,” she says of the initial video, “will carry you through difficult times you’re bound to encounter.”
She’s had her share. She first got into makeup to deal with the passing of her father. It became a way to express what was happening inside of her. “Experimenting with makeup was a way for me to navigate my grief from losing my father when I was a teenager,” she says. It’s also why she doesn’t agree with the idea that you can’t be a makeup blogger and authentic. “I think behind every person wearing mascara, lipstick, foundation… is a story that’s waiting to be told.”
"I don’t equate being at the top with my success. I felt really successful from the beginning.”
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“I talk a lot about being comfortable with yourself,” she says when we talk beauty standards and authenticity. She comes up against a fairly standard argument, those who say that the two are mutually exclusive. “I think beauty standards in general are harsh and I wish our standards were simply acceptance and love-- the world would look very different, but people think makeup is used as a mask,” she says, “and it can be. But for so many makeup is used as a tool to navigate something internal. And if this is the tool that helps someone navigate something inside of themselves, let them have it. Let them have this outlet. It’s so important.”
She does acknowledge that there is much more pressure for young girls. "There is definitely a lot more," she says, "because there’s more information and access,”
"When you become completely consumed by these images-- which, is not to put anyone consuming the content at fault because there is just so much and you come across it without even trying to look for it-- it has an effect on young people. It makes them feel like life is a competition and love is a competition, and that beauty is a competition. It’s not. I think that digging into and trying to find a deeper awareness of yourself is really important to navigate this world we live in. This stuff,” she adds, “isn’t going to go away.”
Though she's a "beauty" blogger, dishing on winged eyeliner and lipstick hacks, Ingrid feels "the most beautiful when I’m crying." She tells us. "I may not feel that way the entire time, but I'll remind myself, this is the moment when I feel the most beautiful because I’m completely exposed.”
“Everyday, whether it’s a good day or a bad day I look in the mirror and see myself. I’m not always thrilled, but I see myself , I'm grateful for that. That has not always been the case.”
Still from "Something I Want You to Know."
In her coming out video titled, “Something I Want You to Know,” Ingrid told her subscribers the she was gay. The video has over 15 million views to date. "I'm gay," she tells the camera, laughing and crying, "it feels so good to say that."
Though it felt “natural and important" to her, it was also "a big step in bringing my audience closer and letting them in. I didn’t want to hide. I didn’t want to shut them out."
"YouTube has been a space where people can be themselves, and be themselves in whatever light that is that day and receive acceptance," she says. "I think that’s why it’s why it’s so accepting of the LGBQT community. It’s rooted in authenticity and acceptance at its core."
Receiving acceptance is a huge part of why she keeps doing the work and sharing herself with the world. “I give a lot, but I also receive so much from the people I meet and the comments I receive online. I am fueled by the people in my community who care and accept me.”
Even with success she’s not immune to impostor syndrome. “I’ve felt this so many times, but those feelings are coming from a place of fear. Everything I have and love in my life right now are all things that once completely terrified me. So I think the way I work through those feelings of, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing’ or ‘why are people following me?’ stems from my willingness to surrender to my mediocrity. I’m not going to be good at everything. Getting to that level of humility takes work."
“A lot of times of what you really want is on the other side of fear,” she notes. You have to go straight through, there’s no shortcut.
"I am fueled by the people in my community who care and accept me.”
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When it comes to her work, she's found, not a shortcut, but a bit more balance. In the beginning she was shooting, editing, and posting the same day-- a grind that wore her fine. “When you’re doing that for years,” she says, “it can really take a toll on your general well being.” Now she does a quarterly brainstorm with Eileen, who manages her day-today. They "brain dump" ideas and then really hone in on the forthcoming season, events, and holidays. When possible she likes to shoot a month in advance.
“I think that there is always a balance,” she says about creating content. “Content that your audience wants but doesn’t require you to lose your authenticity. There’s always a sweet spot and I try to find that sweet spot."
She was “a lot more stressed out,” in the beginning. “I was pumping out as much content as I could, whenever I could, and the turnaround was much faster.” But she knows that the work she put in at the start, what she calls an “I will not stop mentality,” is what got her where she is today. “Having the experience of a one-day turnaround was essential to my growth.”
Today she is committed to being her most authentic self. "You have to know where you stand and what you feel comfortable with." So how does Ingrid know what she’s comfortable with? “Sometimes what I’m comfortable with is being uncomfortable," she says, "especially if it means that I’m moving in the direction of emotional bravery."
She doesn’t know exactly what’s in her future, but she does know that "it will be exciting." She credits this to moving "in the direction of truth and helping other people. I would love to figure out a way to make something that’s tangible-- a product, book, or something that I can put into people’s hands and have them feel the energy that I put into my work and my life every single day.”
Ingrid will be joining us on panel at #CreateCultivateATL-- there are just a couple of ticket left!
