Social media has an astonishing amount of power that is continuing to grow day by day. With social media, we are able to connect with one another at a speed that is often too great to fathom. YouTube in particular is a social media platform that allows people to connect in a unique way: through videos. With over 1 billion active users each month, according to Huffington Post, it has increasingly become harder to stand out and make a name for yourself. For Reese Regan, a freshman here at Temple University, she was able to defy the odds by reaching a following of over 380,000 subscribers and uses her platform to promote nothing but positive vibes.
Reese, a freshman advertising major from South Jersey, has had her Youtube channel for around 3 years.
At 12 years old, she discovered the beauty side of YouTube and was fascinated at how girls who weren’t much older than her were able to express their creativity in an exclusive way. Regan wanted to give it a try.
Around two years later, Reese started up her channel and taught herself both the processes of editing and filming.
“Google helps with everything. I started editing on Movie Maker, then eventually got a Mac and edited with iMovie, and then I worked my way up to Final Cut Pro.” she said.
Today, her channel consists of beauty and lifestyle videos, with each video receiving thousands of views per upload.
Regan’s most popular video has nearly 4 million views. “I never really look at the numbers. I don’t care about how many subscribers or views I have. I just see myself as a normal girl with a YouTube channel,” Regan said.
Regardless of the numbers, Regan believes that every step she takes with her channel is significant to her. In terms of her clever uploads, Regan posts content that is relatable to her viewers. On her channel, you can find beauty tutorials, morning/night routines, workout routines, vlogs, vegan recipe ideas, and an abundance of more obsession-worthy content.
“I do videos I would personally watch. I don’t want to put myself above anyone; I want to put myself at the same level as any other high school or college girl,” she said.
It is without a question that a large following allows more people to access her content, and that comes with both pros and cons. Regan tries to follow a schedule by uploading once a week, but as with any creative outlet, we can all relate to feeling uninspired from time to time. For Regan, she feels more pressure when she goes through periods where she is uninspired because it makes it harder for her to upload and meet the expectations of her viewers.
However, it is obvious that for Regan, the pros outweigh the cons.
Other social media platforms that Regan uses such as Instagram and Twitter allow her to interact with her fans on a day-to-day basis. “Having a large following allows me to reach out to people and inspire them,” she said.
Being in a new urban environment for college has also sparked more inspiration for Regan herself. As far as her time at Temple, she has been enjoying life in the city very much.
“Honestly, I love it. I toured here four times and fell in love,” Regan said.
Regan is an advertising major, and also wants to go more into the artistic side of things with graphics. Aside from Youtube, Regan loves to be crafty and create art. She enjoys cooking and has been a vegan for two years. In the future, Regan has goals to work in the advertising business, but no matter what she does, she hopes to continue to ignite inspiration and creativity in other people.
As for advice she would give to those who want to someday start a YouTube channel, her answer was clear and simple: be creative.
“You have to do things that are creative. If you put things out that aren’t creative, you won’t go anywhere,” she said.
“Even if it’s small, it’ll start you somewhere.”
With Reese’s hard work and her admirable consideration of others, we know she’ll go very far in whatever she chooses to do. To check out Reese’s channel, click here!