Sometimes in college, it is easy to get in a slump and lose motivation when being bombarded by school, work and friends. There are times when I just need some inspiration from others and to do that I often look to YouTube videos or other sources of media. There are tons of inspiring YouTubers who benefit others by advocating for different topics and actively try to make the world a better place (not @ Logan Paul). Here are 10 YouTubers that you can watch that can help inspire you in one way or another.
1. Jinti Fell
Jinti Fell is a YouTuber I recently stumbled across and I love her channel (I’m actually incredibly obsessed). She advocates for veganism, minimalism and for van living. Her partner, Chris, and their daughter, Ayana, just discontinued their van living but are now onto a new, exciting adventure. She travels often with her family and shows the viewers an interesting perspective of the world. She recommends books that inspire her and ways that visualization that have helped her get to where she wants to be in life. She is inspiring in her ability to keep the audience interested in what she is passionate about, and has inspired me to be a minimalist and vegan.
2. This Gathered Nest
This Gathered Nest is a family channel ran by the mom, Angie, and features her seven children. Two of her kids are her and her husband’s biological children (Shelby and Kennedy), one is from a domestic adoption (Jonah), one was adopted from China and she has Down’s Syndrome (Rosie), one is adopted from the Congo (Noah) and two are from IVF adoption (Ivy and Amelia). After watching her channel, I have become extremely passionate about adoption and want to adopt children in the future, thanks to the honest light Angie shows about the hardships and benefits of adoption. She is inspiring in that she juggles homeschooling, having an active YouTube channel, 7 children and pushes the societal standards of what makes a family.
3. Shane Dawson
Shane Dawson is a very well-known YouTuber who recently has went out on a limb and started creating videos that he is very passionate about, rather than what is trendy, which have made his videos inspiring. He makes videos about his struggle with mental health and details what it is like to be bisexual, groups that are often misunderstood. He is inspiring because he does what he loves and is honest with his audience about the struggles he has. He is able to engage the audience in a positive way and help them escape from the struggles of the world with his humor on the negative things in his life.
4. Manny MUA
Manny MUA is an artist who advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community as a gay man. He also struggles with vitiligo, helping those with the disease be able to accept that they are beautiful with or without makeup. He actively fights against those who hate on him by saying at the beginning of each video, “If you don’t like me or don’t like my channel, then don’t watch it.” Manny is able to teach the most makeup-challenged viewers (me) some basic abilities in order to help them feel more confident, while also helping his audience to embrace their flaws.
5. Jenna Marbles
If you have ever watched YouTube videos, odds are that you have watched a Jenna Marbles video at one point or another. Jenna is one of the funniest people I have ever watched and her videos in the past year have been honest, goofy and overall different from the content other people are putting on this platform. She incorporates her dogs, lack of cosmetic skills and random DIY ideas into her videos and deserves every bit of popularity she earns. Jenna and her boyfriend, Julien, have a podcast called Jenna and Julien, also worth checking out. Jenna’s ability to be herself and be honest about the talents or skills she lacks is refreshing when people on the internet are always trying to achieve perfection in one way or another.
6. Elle of The Mills
Elle of The Mills, otherwise known as Elle Mills, is a Canadian YouTuber who gained fame on Twitter. She is absolutely hilarious. She is bisexual and made a beautiful coming out video, which will make you laugh and cry. She does not consistently create content, but when she does it is well-made and extremely witty. She is inspiring in her honesty and how she lets the audience in on different aspects of her life, good and bad.
7. We’re the Kahlers
We’re the Kahlers is a family channel made up of the mom (Kelly), dad (Paul) and three children (Dree, Rowley and Pencey). They are a family that advocates for simple living and everyone but Paul is vegan. Kelly is a stay-at-home mom and homeschools the children, while Paul works as an independent filmmaker. The family makes vlogs showing their life with three small children and how they parent their children in an alternative way. They are inspiring in that they make a conscious effort to be adventurous and show how to be financially smart when traveling with children. Also their kids are super cute, so they are worth checking out.
8. Monami Frost
Monami Frost is a YouTuber who currently lives in the United Kingdom with her husband Andrijs and daughter Gabby. She is defying societal standards as a young mom who is untraditional in the sense that she is completely covered in tattoos. She’s made several videos about her tattoos, their meanings and what her young daughter thinks about them. She is also vegan and recently created a clothing line. Monami is inspiring because she has overcome many obstacles in her life and is not afraid to push societal norms if it means that she can be herself.
9. Safiya Nygaard
Safiya Nygaard was famous for her previous job making and editing videos at Buzzfeed, but after leaving and making her own channel, she has found great success. She is a huge trendsetter and has gained an audience of over 5 million in a over a year. Safiya creates the videos she wants to and her passion for the videos shows in her energy throughout the video. Her videos mix education with fun, and she is not afraid to be embarrassed in the process, which I think is pretty inspiring.
10. Gabbie Hanna
Gabbie Hanna, also known as TheGabbieShow, had her start on the video app Vine (RIP) and now has over 5 million subscribers on YouTube. She makes videos discussing her struggles with mental health and her recent struggle with weight and losing it. She is very unapologetic in her videos, which can be refreshing when many people on YouTube nowadays seem very fake. She is inspiring because she is able to discuss serious topics and her personal struggles with a very large following, but also let’s herself have fun and not get caught up in the bad times.
If you enjoy watching YouTube videos and are looking for some inspiration, I would recommend checking out any of these YouTubers. I hope they bring as much encouragement to you as they have to me.