Keegan Acton is a full-time sophomore at Arizona State University. However, she’s not your typical college student. Along with her full course load, Keegan maintains a YouTube channel with almost 400,000 subscribers, as well as an Instagram account with 37,000 followers. She started uploading videos at only 13 years old and has continued to make weekly content to share with her followers. Keegan creates videos relating to beauty, fashion, lifestyle, traveling and of course — college. Her Campus got the chance to sit down with her (more like Facetime because internet friends, am I right?) and ask her a few questions about balancing the two-time demanding jobs.
Her Campus (HC): How and why did you get into YouTube?
Keegan Acton (KA): I started my YouTube channel when I was 13. I had just moved schools, and I only had made one friend because she had also just moved schools. I had so much free time so I just watched a lot of YouTube and was really inspired by people, so I just decided to make some videos for fun and it just kind of kept going from there.
HC: How does it feel to know that so many people look up to you?
KA: I really try not to think about how large my audience is because it scares me, and I feel very paralyzed by the impact I can have on people. I feel like I try to be the best role model I can be by just being myself. I am very aware that there are people watching me, but I try not to think of it too much to where it would stop me from being me by only thinking about the numbers.
HC: Describe a day in your life as a college student and YouTuber.
KA: I wake up and start doing some homework, check my email and respond to any emails as I’m getting ready to go to class. Then I come back home and do some homework and work on some emails and sponsored content and then I do some more homework. Depending on what time it is, I eat either lunch or dinner and then I work on some more homework and do some more emails. I text my manager and then I hang out with my friends and before I go to sleep, I make sure to have everything done with YouTube for the day and if not, I will finish it. I also film throughout the day daily vlogs. Whenever I have free time, I will just kind of show [what] is going on. I do most of my editing on the weekends so that’s not during the school day.
Courtesy: Keegan Acton
HC: Is it hard to balance between school and YouTube? How do you do it?
KA: It is very hard to find a balance. I feel like every single day I struggle with it because every day is a different kind of day. I really try to save YouTube for the weekend if I can. That’s sometimes hard because I look to do more social things during that time. It’s definitely not easy, but it’s a work in progress. I lose a lot of sleep, but it’s worth it because I love what I do.
HC: What is your favorite opportunity you’ve gotten because of YouTube?
KA: I worked with Amazon over the summer and ended up doing probably five sponsorships with them which was incredible. I was actually featured on their “off to college page.” I was able to have a section on Amazon and stuff that I loved and what I think was good to bring to college and it was just amazing being able to see my face on Amazon’s website. It was a very surreal moment.
HC: What’s your biggest accomplishment on YouTube so far?
KA: I think my biggest accomplishment is being able to be so vulnerable on camera. I feel like a lot of people kind of put on this façade of being perfect. I think as I get older, I am more real with my audience and my audience really seems to like that. I’ve gotten a lot of messages and have even had people come up to me saying I’ve helped them a lot when they’re going through things, whether it’s struggling with friendships or feeling like college isn’t right for them. I think that the best thing that I’ve done in my career is just being a real person and showing that on camera.
HC: Do you hope to continue YouTube for a long time?
KA: I hope to do YouTube for as long as I can. I know that one day I’m going to be old and be irrelevant and people aren’t going to want to watch my videos and I’m not going to want to film them. I want to be able to be a mom and show my kids online and be one of those family vlog channels and have a husband and show my whole life and be able to look back on time I was 13 to the time I was 30. But I do know that one day it’s going to end, so I’d like to start some kind of business as a back-up plan when one day it is no longer a big thing.
Courtesy: Emma Romano
I actually started watching Keegan around the start of her channel. I had already started my own personal channel and I really looked up to her for video ideas and just her as a person. I reached out to her on Twitter during my freshman year of high school (her sophomore year), and we actually started a friendship. I went from being a fan to calling her one of my best friends, although I’ll totally always be her biggest fan.
Courtesy: Emma Romano
We’ve gone on a few vacations together and I can truly say that she truly is one of the most genuine and real people I have ever met. Everything she says in her videos is nothing but true. She doesn’t put on a mask like some of the other YouTubers that lost who they truly were because of fame. I feel really honored to be able to look up to her and continue to grow up with her, all while calling her one of my best friends. Keegan is a force to be reckoned with, and everyone should check out her channel for weekly content from a real, down to earth girl-boss!
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