By Siena Small
Juggling school, a social life and extracurricular activities can be a challenge.
Imagine running a successful YouTube channel along with everything else.
Junior Vivian Li has managed just that, starting a fashion and makeup YouTube channel last January.
Li had never been taught anything about makeup, learning all she now knows from other YouTube channels.
She thinks of YouTube as “a community of big brothers and sisters who can help guide you if you know where to look,” she said.
While she has watched many other channels for inspiration, Li said she always keeps her channel original and ahead of the upcoming trends.
Last year Li took Fashion and Clothing Design, and, she said, something clicked within her; she completely fell in love with it and felt as though it is what she was meant to do.
She describes her sense of style as most likely coming from her mother, “who is always trying to push the boundaries and sometimes sews her own creations,” Li said.
According to Li, managing a YouTube channel takes a lot of hard work. A large amount of time and effort has to go into planning and filming, not to mention staying on top of new trends and creating trends of one’s own.
“Li often thinks of nail tutorials or outfit ideas that other popular youtube gurus haven’t thought of,” Li’s friend and fellow junior Carli Andres said.
Li’s friends have also said that she is very organized, committed, and loyal to her fans, constantly trying to make the experience of her channel better for the viewers, and always striving for perfection.
Online comments describe Li as “very genuine” and “humble, but not afraid of stating her opinions.”
Her strong character is built from her background and the struggles she had to go through to reach where she is today; her parents were not entirely impressed with the idea of her becoming a stylist, so she created the channel as another way to prove her her creativity to them.
The ultimate goal she has for her channel is for her viewers to know that though she struggles with her own insecurities, a little self-confidence can go a long way, and that this self-confidence can come from wearing makeup or nice clothing.
“I feel that a sense of fashion and style and flawless makeup doesn’t make a person, but they make him or her confident and confidence is what makes a person,” Li said.
Vivian Li’s channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/vivlikestotalk
