People just want to watch people live their authentic lives and share the good and the bad. You can have fun and be a positive influence and have a good impact. And it can still be entertaining.
My one guilty pleasure is, every airport, I will drop everything to get an airport massage at those kiosks.
In middle school, I was really into the 'Redwall' series, about anthropomorphic rodents in medieval times. I had a bowl cut, too, if you need the full imagery.
Since the beginning, I have always tried to just be me. There have been moments in my career as a YouTuber where I've recognized that I'm trying to emulate something else, or I'm being heavily influenced by a YouTuber or something like that, and I realize that's not what I want to be putting out.
I remember a distinct moment when it was my junior year of college, and the content I was making was changing and not really myself, and I tried to switch back to just putting me out there. I'm happy that happened really early in my career, because that was before I started doing podcasts or writing.
YouTube has always been a diary for me. I'm here to share what I do, share my life, and if people want to watch, more power to them. But regardless of my intention, if people are looking at what I do and am treating it like I'm a role model, it doesn't matter whether or not I want to be.
When I graduated from college, I got a 9-to-5 traditional job doing social media for a company, and I'd spend all day long fighting with the system of getting things approved and the fact that social media has such a quick turnaround. Things had to be very reactive and instant.
When I was first offered the book deal, I was like, 'I am not a writer. I haven't practiced this.' My approach has been completely stream-of-consciousness, and then edit down, because that's been YouTube for me forever.
With everything that I've done with YouTube and podcasts for so many years, it's been: you can record it, edit, and then upload that day. With the book and documentary, it's been such a longer process.
Being misunderstood - that's the thing that scares me. Because my life is about oversharing.
Nowadays, if somebody in America is feeling alone and wants to find a coming out story, they just search 'coming out,' and they'll find millions of first-person examples of people telling their story.
I think social media has amplified a lot of voices that maybe traditional media hasn't perfectly portrayed.
I feel like everybody, whether you have one follower or a million followers, has an opportunity to either positively or negatively affect people.
I initially thought I was going to be a teacher. Maybe like an elementary teacher or something like that, which would be fun. Maybe someday.
I think that it's really important to step back and to take breaks as a digital creator because every other kind of platform is kind of set up to have seasons or time off or at least a barrier between creator and consumer. You have these set-up boundaries.
There are so many voices on YouTube, and there are incredible creators that are popular for a reason. And although it's great to be inspired by them, nobody is going to subscribe to a second-rate version of them. It's really important to put your best foot forward and be your best self because you will always be the number one version of you.
2015 was, like, packed from January. 2016 is simultaneously open and packed - but I'm trying to keep 2016 open as possible so I can do weird, crazy, kooky stuff.
I feel so lucky to partner with Awesomeness to bring my story to the big screen. I started out making videos as a way to connect and am thrilled by the opportunity to share one of the most exhilarating years of my life.
On YouTube, if anything, coming out as gay or bi or trans explodes someone's popularity.
Prior to 2015, I had kind of approached every year like, 'Let's hope for the best.' I always made these year-end videos with 100 things I did, and it would kind of build itself up throughout the year. When this year started, it was like I knew the 100 things before I even got to do them.
