Meet Bria Dickerson, better known as YouTube personality, Bria DéShaun (don’t forget the accent mark)! Bria is a sophomore Journalism major and Leadership Studies minor from Bear, Delaware. She is in the William R. Harvey Leadership Institute and a member of the Greer Dawson Wilson Student Leadership Program. Keep reading to learn more about Bria and why she loves being a videographer!
HC: Give me three fun facts about yourself!
BD: I like to sing. My favorite food is spaghetti. I have a black belt in martial arts.
HC: What inspired you to make YouTube videos?
BD: It started my senior year of high school. I was enrolled in an audio/visual class and there I learned camera work and how to edit. I would always joke around with my friends and pretend that we were Youtube stars. We would vlog at class events and I would do videos for sports games and I just fell in love with the camera. My mom encouraged me to start a YouTube channel because she noticed that I was good at filming/editing and had a personality to be in front of the camera. At first, I didn’t want to do it but with some thought and the constant nagging of my mom, I started one at the end of my senior year.
It was perfect timing because I was making the transition from high school to college, so it was a good starting point for me to vlog and do videos documenting my time in college.
HC: What is your favorite video and why?
BD: This is hard. I love all my videos just because of the different memories each one holds. But if I had to choose one it would be my QT11 Reaction video. That was my first college-related video and the video that put my name out there on campus.
I shot the video back at home before I left for precollege. It was just something I thought I should do because QTX did the welcome video and it is customary for YouTubers to do reaction videos.
I remember posting that video. I was in precollege in my room talking with my roommate, Casi, and I just decided to put a snippet of the video on twitter. Next thing you know people were retweeting and commenting on it. I got back to school in the fall, and I am known as the “YouTuber”.
You could say that that was the video that was my starting point at HU.
HC: Did you expect your HBCU video to be featured on Beyoncé’s story?
BD: To be honest yes. Kelsii, the brains behind it all, knew what she wanted and how she wanted the video to look. And as I was editing it I knew that it would only be a matter of time that the video was going to be featured on her story just because the video was just that DOPE. Everything from the brand, to the dancing, to the editing it was perfect. It was only right for the video to be on the story. I was super stoked when I saw it on her page. I was just so happy for Kelsii and for the people who participated in the video because to say that you made an appearance on Beyoncé’s story is AMAZING!
HC: Who is your favorite celebrity girl boss and why?
BD: Jemele Hill, easily. I have been looking up to this woman since she was on Numbers Never Lie with Michael Smith. She is a keep it real, does not take no for an answer type of girl. She says what is on her mind and is unapologetic. As a black woman in the sports entertainment industry, it is hard to please everyone, especially when the demographic is white males. But the way she moved up on ESPN was crazy. And even now, after being a couple of years removed from the company, she is still doing great things. Truly truly inspiring considering that I want to work for ESPN one day.
HC: Any advice to future content creators?
BD: Sheesh. I would say never downplay your creativity and your ability. With me, I was and I still am scared to share videos or new ideas with my peers because I am afraid of possible negative feedback. But once you believe, like TRULY believe that your work and your talent are good then no one can not tell you anything. I still have to constantly remind myself of that.
Make sure you follow Bria on Instagram @briadeshaun and subscribe to her channel on YouTube youtube.com/channel/UCJBjJIRcteiV2sKfRNpBOIw