Spotlight on beauty and lifestyle vlogger Michelle Phan
Beauty and lifestyle vlogger Michelle Phan is a mogul to watch
‘I had a hard time making friends because I was always the new girl, but the internet was there for me to express how I felt,' said Michelle Phan
Born Boston, 1987. The pixyish beauty vlogging sensation came from humble beginnings. Her Vietnamese father gambled away the rent money and the family was moved on repeatedly. ‘I had a hard time making friends because I was always the new girl, but the internet was there for me to express how I felt.’
First steps At 16 she started a blog and was asked for make-up tips. ‘I decided to create a video tutorial instead, and it’s been a hit ever since.’ Hit being an understatement – her videos have clocked up more than a billion views.
Big break BuzzFeed picked up her Lady Gaga get-the-look tutorial in 2009, sending it viral (34 million views and counting). TV companies flocked with offers to sign her. But convinced that the internet was the future, Michelle turned down the big bucks to grow her online channel.
Mogul in the making In 2012 she launched online business Ipsy, which has 700,000 monthly subscribers for its $10 (£6.37) Glam Bags of curated beauty samples. This year the company is expected to yield £76.5 million. Now with her own L’Oréal make-up line and a bestselling book, Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style and Success, she was an obvious choice for Forbes magazine’s prestigious ‘30 under 30’ list of young entrepreneurs.
Catch her now curating the Icon Network, a new lifestyle content hub featuring vloggers who’ve become tastemakers in fitness, food, DIY and wellness and who are being mentored by Michelle into power brands.
She says ‘Money hasn’t changed me – it has inspired me to build more beautiful things.’
See Michelle and co on young women’s YouTube channel Icon Network UK
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