Hello! Right now you’re reading “The Creator Confidential”, a blog where famous and successful YouTubers share their stories and tips they have for growing a YouTube channel. Over the past week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Hana, and here is the finished result. Enjoy!
Hana Grace first started her YouTube channel making makeup and fashion videos. Two years ago, she completely redid her entire brand and started to make videos documenting her sustainable lifestyle and vegan recipes. Today, she has over 61,000 subscribers and 2.4 million views! This is her story, as well as her tips for aspiring small YouTubers.
What inspired you to create your channel? When did you start?
I started watching YouTube when I was about 10 and I specifically remember watching youtubers such as Alisha Marie, MyLifeAsEva, Bethany Mota, Makeup by Mandy, etc. I saw them making videos and I thought it could be a fun thing to do! That thought just lingered for a few years. I didn't create a channel until my freshman year of high school. When I first started YouTube I made makeup and fashion videos. It's crazy to think about how much things have changed in just 4 years. I started making vegan content about 11 months ago, when I first turned vegan! That is when I really saw exponential growth on my channel.
The first videos on your channel are INCREDIBLY well edited! Did you have another channel before "Hana Grace"? How did you learn to edit and film that well?
I did not have another channel but I did have many videos up before the ones that are shown on my channel. I did make all of the other videos private since they did not match the content that I make now. I taught myself how to edit on Adobe Premiere Pro before switching to Final Cut Pro. Anytime I wanted to learn a certain effect I would just look up a tutorial on Youtube. I also taught myself to film as well! It did take a lot of practice and time to get to where I am now. I guess it also helped that I have always been a creative and artistic person since I was just a kid! I loved to draw, paint, and create, so that really reflected in my filming and editing.
What's your favorite video on your channel? Why?
Hmmm this is a tough one! I'm gonna have to say my very first 'What I eat in a day' video is my favorite video on my channel. I say that because that video is basically what got me to where I am now. It blew up all of a sudden and inspired me to continue to document my vegan recipes and sustainable lifestyle on Youtube. It's funny because I filmed that on my very first day of being vegan too! I seriously think that if I did not post that video I would not be where I am now on Youtube, so I am very thankful that I decided to make it.
Top 3 tips you would give to small YouTubers trying to start a successful YouTube channel?
My number one tip that I utilize, and recommend to every YouTuber, and aspiring YouTuber, is to put quality over quantity! People would much rather subscribe to your channel if you put out one well edited and amazing quality video a week vs three sub par videos a week.
My second tip is to make your channel based on something you love and enjoy. Growth comes slowly for most. It took me about 4 years to get to where I am now. What kept me going was my passion for Youtube. I enjoyed what I was making, whether I was growing or not.
My third tip is to research SEO! I honestly have no clue where I would be if I didn't know about the importance of tags, titles, thumbnails, etc. I learned almost everything I know from Youtube!
Right now the oldest video on your channel has over 400k views! That's AMAZING! Did that success come overnight? Were you surprised/what was your reaction?
Surprisingly that video did do really well to start with! I saw that copyright free music videos were gaining popularity at the time, so I decided to hop on the bandwagon and make my own. That video definitely did the best out of my other videos in terms of views gained in the first few months. Since then the views have kept on climbing. I was definitely surprised because I had maybe 1,500 subscribers at the time and the video had hit 100k views not long after I posted it!
How do you find new opportunities with brands? Do you reach out to them or do they just email you? What is one of the best opportunities you've gotten from your YouTube channel?
I have never actually reached out to a brand, so any partnerships I have had with brands have been because they reached out to me! I think the best opportunity I have gotten was to work with this brand called 'Boodywear'. It is a sustainable fashion brand that makes their clothing out of bamboo! I loved their brand to begin with so I was definitely excited to work with them. I have not accepted many other brand deals as they haven't aligned with my values, I like to focus on many aspects when it comes to a brand. Some things I like to focus on are the sustainability of a brand, wastefulness (do they create a lot of waste?), the brand's values, and whether or not they match the type of content I make. I have had big brands like Daily Harvest reach out to me, but no matter how much they offered me I declined because I felt that they didn't align with my values, and their brand creates a lot of trash, which is the exact opposite of what I promote on my YouTube channel.
What motivates you to continue making videos?
Seeing people comment that I have motivated them to eat more plant based, become vegan, become more sustainable, make zero waste switches, etc is what keeps me going. Not only am I creating content for people to watch and enjoy, I am actually motivating people in a positive way through my videos. I continue to make videos so I can help spread the word of veganism and sustainable, low waste living.
Have you ever become unmotivated to post on your channel because of setbacks? If yes, what were they? How did you get past that?
Oh yes, I have definitely become very unmotivated at times. Roughly two years ago I quit for 6 months because I just wasn't motivated to post anymore. There weren't really any setbacks but myself. I guess I just wasn't happy with what I was posting anymore. I felt my videos weren't doing anything impactful. What got me out of my funk was finding a new passion to base my content on. Well, that new passion happened to be sustainability and veganism.
What is your experience with hate and how do you deal with it?
I'm kind of a defensive person, so me being defensive, I always felt the need to justify myself to every single hater at first. After a while though, I thought is this even worth it? Why should I care about what some stranger with no name or profile picture on the internet thinks about me? That is what I tell myself to get past hate now. Not everyone is going to like me and that's totally ok, especially if I have no clue who they are.
Thanks for reading! A huge thanks to Hana for taking the time to answer all the questions. Here are the links to all her socials:
Instagram: @hanagraced https://www.instagram.com/hanagraced/
YouTube: Hana Grace https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfHt_x-SBmv_Z91OFi77oIA
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