top of page
Jun 14, 20207 min read

How Maya Summers Grew Her YouTube Channel - The Creator Confidential

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. I had the pleasure of interviewing Maya, and here is the finished result. Enjoy!


Maya Summers started her YouTube channel when she was in middle school. Today, she is in college and her channel has over 97,000 subscribers and 8.2 million views. Along the way, she made countless Internet friends, traveled the world, and worked with mainstream brands like Bed Bath and Beyond, American Eagle, and more.

"When you’re honest and vulnerable with your subscribers, that is what is going to build the connection with them."

What inspired you to create your channel?

I started making YouTube videos when I was really young. Back then, I watched YouTube videos by so many other creators like Bethany Mota or Amanda Steele. I was so fascinated by seeing all these other girls; seeing these videos that were so cool to watch, I just started doing it. I had Photobooth and was just creating videos. I would sit there in front of the camera for hours filming random stuff. I would figure out on my own how to upload it onto YouTube. That’s when I got more into iMovie and editing. Honestly, it’s crazy because I was so young when I started so I really just grew up around YouTube.


When you first started did you tell anyone at school about your channel?

No, I only told a few of my close friends about it because we would make videos together. One of my best friends at the time also had a channel and we were both uploading on them. But, kids talk and at the time I went to school one day and I saw a bunch of little boys watching my videos in class. It was one of the worst experiences I had. After that, I was like “I can never do this again, I need to delete the videos” but for some odd reason, I kept going. It really is hard having the influence of other people and thinking about what they might think or say about your channel. It can be hard to put yourself out there; but for some reason I stuck with it and I’m really glad that I did!


Is it hard to balance college with your YouTube channel? How do you handle it?

The thing I love about YouTube is the different topics you can talk about on your channel are endless. You can talk about whatever you want! Your subscribers are subscribing for a reason! They either like travel videos, or food videos, or working out. But I think what I like the best about my channel is my subscribers really like what I like to post. For example, if I want to make a DIY video (like the other day I customized some college clothes) they’ll watch it! I can make videos on whatever, so the main reason I am able to balance college and YouTube is because a lot of my videos have been focused on college vlogs, move in vlogs, dorm tours, etc. I don’t feel pressured to film stuff that I don’t have time to because I genuinely like filming my college related videos.


Do you think your family or background or where you grew up influenced your content? Can you talk about how your parents affected your YouTube channel?

When I first started, my parents didn’t really understand because it was just becoming a thing at the time. Our generation has grown up with social media and YouTube, but my parents' generation didn’t. At first, they were sort of uncomfortable about it. But when they saw the potential it could have and everything that comes with it (going to meet my internet friends, working with brands, etc.) they become very supportive. I’m from Virginia Beach, Virginia and a lot of my family is in Panama but they’re all so supportive. My grandma is my number one fan!


What are the tips you would give to small YouTubers trying to start a successful YouTube channel?

  1. Vulnerability is a huge thing. When you’re honest and vulnerable with your subscribers, that is what is going to build the connection with them. If you’re not putting up a front and being completely yourself, that is the biggest thing. People are trying to look for girls or boys they relate to that aren’t putting up a front and making their life unrealistically amazing because not everyone has a perfect life. It’s good to have YouTubers that you can trust and see that life isn’t always perfect.

  2. Consistency! I know so many people who will get super into starting a channel then not post for a few weeks or months. And your subscribers won’t be happy with that since they subscribed for a reason! They want you to post every week.


One of the first videos you posted on your channel went semi-viral and got around 60k views! Was that overnight? Do you remember your reaction?

I had no idea or intention for that to go viral! It got more views than normal and I wasn’t expecting it at all. Looking back now, I feel like I was crazy in that video! But obviously, I was really young. It was so cool seeing the engagement go up so quickly.


How do you find new opportunities with brands? Do you reach out to them or do they just email you?

YouTubers can do a little bit of both. I recently just partnered with a management company and I absolutely love them! They filter all the business emails and reach out to me like “Hey! This brand wants to work with you! Would you be interested in working with them?” They have really helped me with balancing YouTube and schoolwork and my everyday life.


For the first 5-6 years on my channel however, I was handling stuff on my own and I would get emails from so many different companies every week. I only try to go through the emails that I really genuinely like. I want to promote brands that I believe in because that’s how you build trust with your subscribers. If they’re smaller brands I might DM them on Instagram. I’m still learning so much about YouTube today, but there are platforms offered for influencers to sign up on that will connect the brand with the influencer and match their interests (for example: Magic Links). Usually there’s a third party. I’ve worked with Bed Bath and Beyond, American Eagle has reached out to me, and I'm getting to work with Casetify. It’s really cool!

Magic Links Website

What is one of the best opportunities you've gotten from your YouTube channel?

As much as I love working with brands, I personally think my favorite experience is making Internet friends. Some of my best friends today are made through the internet (like Anabelle Ham and Teagan Litten). I’ve been able to go on trips with them. For example, we went to a hotel that offered us to stay there for the weekend in Miami. Building friendships through YouTube is so cool and it makes the world a smaller place! It’s cool to meet girls from around the world that have the same interests as you.


What is your experience with hate and do you have any advice on how to deal with it?

I have gotten hate before (it happens more often on videos that are more popular or get more views) and thankfully I haven’t really had something happen that a ton of people give backlash on. I’m really careful about what I say on the Internet. You can’t make everyone happy though; a lot of times in college I want to be honest to my subscribers about what college is actually like. Some people don’t like that and they’ll have something to say about it. But, at the end of the day, I’m filming my life and I’m doing this for myself and to entertain others. A few hate comments shouldn’t determine whether you’re going to continue making videos. Everyone gets hate!


Was there ever a moment when you felt like you wanted to quit your YouTube channel because of setbacks?

I went through so many different periods in my life where sometimes I would put my full attention on YouTube and post multiple times a week; then there were times where I was in highschool and that’s not what I wanted to focus on. Back then, vlogs weren’t as big as a thing that they are now. Creative wise, it was a lot harder for me back then because I had to balance going to school then coming home and coming up with creative concepts. School vlogs back then weren’t really a thing.


I went through periods where I wasn’t able to upload as many times and when you’re not uploading you’re not being consistent and you lose interest in it quickly. Then I would think “No one is subscribing, this isn’t going anywhere, why do I want to keep doing this?” But at the end of the day, I have so much of my life documented and it’s so cool because a lot of people don’t have that. They don’t have the videos to look back on.


Have you ever met your subscribers in real life?

I have met a few; I meet a lot at school actually. I’ve seen so many subscribers at game day, tailgates, while walking to class. It doesn’t happen crazy often but when I do meet someone it’s really reassuring because I’m like “Wow, they’re actually real people”!


Thanks for reading! A huge thanks to Maya for taking the time to answer all the questions. Here are the links to all her socials:

Please subscribe to be notified whenever a new post goes up! If you want to contact me you can email me at thecreaterconfidential@gmail.com or scroll down and send a message :)


Comments

bottom of page