MY FIRST BIG MOVE TO NEW YORK
“I originally started my channel right after I had graduated high school. I was living in Colorado at the time, and I was very bummed that I couldn’t make it to New York for financial reasons. Throughout high school, I was very into fashion. I have a chronic illness, so a big thing for me was fashion because it made me feel good on the outside, even though I felt not great on the inside. That was my biggest catalyst: If I can’t be in New York—which, to me, was the hub of where all my dreams were—there’s an online community that I can create for myself. And at that time it was super, super small.
“I did that for a year while I was still in Colorado, working and figuring out how I can make that reality. Then the next year I ended up transferring and going to school at FIT. Moving to New York that first year was hitting a big goal of mine.
“The biggest difference for me was the pace. I think that a lot of people have to learn to roll with the punches and be more active. I can live in my head, so it’s really easy for me to not put things into action. But I had to adjust to New York, the ‘go, go, go’ mentality. I gained a lot of independence.”