MY STORY
Life before my YouTube channel and social media platforms, like Instagram and TikTok, became my career.
I was born in California, USA, to my wonderful Vietnamese immigrant parents. Two years later, my little sister, Amber, came into the world. I love my family so much and I am so grateful for all the sacrifices they made to provide me with the life I have today.
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I did not have the traditional school life as I actually attended 4 elementary schools and 3 middle schools; and here’s the kicker, I was living in the same, quaint home this entire time. I assume you’re asking - why did I transfer schools so much? There are many reasons why but a couple include my parents believing private schools = better education than public, and that I was bullied a lot and never fit in. Bouncing around schools a lot and never having solid, stable friendships forced me to be okay with my own company. I finally stayed at a middle school in 7th grade because it was clear moving around all of the time was not the right answer. This chapter of my life ends pretty fast since I uploaded my first YouTube video when I was only 13 years old.
Why I started my YouTube Channel
As mentioned previously, I was bullied a lot. Being the only Asian girl in a predominantly white school will garner that, unfortunately. I started to resent my ethnicity and hated who I was -- but we will get into that later. It’s clear I didn’t have many school friends, so I had to let my social energy out into the world by talking to my only friend at the time: my camera. I loved watching YouTube videos and since my dad was a photographer, I had access to amazing cameras, so, why not start my own channel? Under the name “JazzyLeBeauty”, I started by making silly American Girl doll stop motion videos and gradually made videos about makeup and other things a 13 year old likes.
Of course, I wasn’t making any money at the time and I was ecstatic to get 100 video views -- I kept making videos because I loved doing it. It didn’t take long for my peers to find my videos, though. I quickly became the laughing stock of the my middle and high school, with my peers making fun of my videos on the school projectors and my teachers laughing along or just sitting back and letting it happen. This was very tough on me, but I loved and was proud what I was making and I wasn’t going to quit something because the people thought I was weird. My parents were very supportive of me and that’s all the validation I needed. It wasn’t until I reached 100,000 YouTube subscribers that my peers actually tried to befriend me and not be super mean to me -- on the condition that I shout them out on my YouTube and Instagram, of course… *eye roll*
^ My YouTube Journey
College
I didn’t know a 4-year university was in the cards for me due to my family’s financial status and I didn’t particularly excel at school. I had to take the SAT with no prep and I somehow got into my top choices -- San Diego State University. I wanted to go to SDSU because it was far enough away from my childhood home in Orange County to move out, but wasn’t too far. I am so grateful to be attending this school because my parents didn’t continue their education after getting their associate’s degree.
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I am majoring in Business Marketing with an emphasis in Integrated Marketing Communications. I know not many influencers go through higher education, but I absolutely have no regrets getting my college degree because of the friends and experiences I have made along the way.
Where I am now
If you told me at 13 years old that I would be where I am at 21 years old, I would be shocked. I am so privileged and lucky to have the audience I have right now because I know it’s so hard for people to get where I am, especially Asian women and other POC. On my YouTube and socials, I talk about vulnerable and sensitive topics that many influencers wouldn’t. I have made a couple of videos talking about my background and how you are not alone if you feel “inferior” to your white peers because you don’t have the same privileges as them. I have actually received many messages and comments of people telling me how I helped them gain confidence in how they look and to be proud of their ethnicity. I hate how common it is for POC to feel bad themselves, though, but I am happy to be the friendly face on the screen to help them out.
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I now am constantly building my brand and channels to reach anyone who has the same interests as mine so we can build our little Internet family. I still love talking about fashion, makeup, and my everyday life (while most are mundane) and don't plan on quitting this anytime soon. I particalurly love geeking out about Disneyland, kittens, and film cameras. I have had to privilege to work with some of my favorite brands, like Sephora, Depop, and Quizlet. Also, I have the best management, Slash Management, and manager, Lucia, to guide and help me grow into the best content creator I can be. I am so appreciative for my life and my career and I can’t wait for the future.
My manager and I at a management party
