PEI
Jillian Vessey, or Pixielocks as she's known online, has reached a huge personal and business milestone — she now has more than 100,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel.
'Whatever people need, I'm here to be your big sis'
Sara Fraser · CBC News
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Jillian Vessey, or Pixielocks as she's known online, has a baby-pink room that is a shrine to pastel and sparkly clothing, decor and makeup. She crosses her legs on her bed, sets up her camera on a tripod and tapes for anywhere from a couple of minutes to half an hour, editing on her laptop before uploading her videos to YouTube.
Vessey recently reached a huge personal and business milestone — she now has more than 100,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel.
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The 19-year-old runs her online empire from her basem*nt bedroom in her parents' Charlottetown home. After graduating from Charlottetown Rural High School in 2016, Vessey decided to take a gap year and more fully develop her YouTube presence.
If you're only in it to gain more subscribers, you're going to crash and burn.— JillianVessey
"I used to think that 10,000 was my ultimate, lifetime dream goal," she said. "I never thought I would have this many. And when you reach 100,000 subscribers, they do actually mail you a plaque with your name on it, which I'm hyped for," she said.
"It feels like a birthday that you work really hard for."
The next level that YouTube recognizes is a million subscribers.
"I'm happy with my 100,000 plaque for now," she said. "I think I'm just gonna kind of keep on truckin'. It'd be cool to eventually hit 500,000."
'Kept snowballing'
After uploading her first video three years ago, she enjoyed it and got good feedback.
"You really just kind of have to jump in," she said. "It just kind of kept snowballing and it was a ton of fun."
"I try to interact with my audience as much as I can … whatever people need, I'm here to be your big sis."
'It's really wonderful'
Pixielocks posts to her followers — whom she calls the Confetti Club — twice a week, on subjects from body confidence to menstruation to putting together an outfit in her style, which she calls "party-kei."
"I'm really into Japanese street fashion which is a very exuberant, super-colourful fashion," she explains of her look.
The Confetti Club is from all over the world including the U.S., Japan and the U.K. She's received fan mail from Finland, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.
"It's really wonderful to have an international community that just comes together over fashion," she said.
Tokyo dreams
Vessey recently took a trip to Tokyo, immersing herself in the culture she admires.
"It was amazing, seeing everything that I've talked about and worked for for years, in the flesh — I dream about it every other night!" she said,
Vessey plans to go to college for fashion design in the future.
There will be haters
Vessey remembers when she started posting to YouTube, which brought her first taste of hate.
"It can be hard when you're not prepared for it —I mean, I started YouTube when I was 16 and like, a fragile little baby flower," she said.
She reminds herself that criticism happens to everyone online, and she tries to ignore it.
"You develop a thicker skin the longer you do it," she said. "You get used to it."
How is this a job?
All those clicks have begun to pay off for Vessey.
"It's all in the ads," people have to watch before the videos, Vessey explains. YouTube also now has livestreaming, she said, during which viewers can donate directly.
"I'm currently able to live full time off of it, I could pay my rent just off of YouTube," she said, adding she does work part-time at a jewelry shop in a mall nearby to get her out of the house.
"You start to feel like a hermit when you're just working in your bedroom for that long," she laughs.
'It is a form of art'
Pixielocks's secret to YouTube success?
"Do what you want to do and make what you want to make — if you're only in it to gain more subscribers, you're going to crash and burn. And if you're only in it for the money, you're in it for the wrong reason."
Post frequently, love your audience, and "put your all into it. It is a form of art," she advised.
She plans to continue her YouTube channel as long as it's profitable and fun.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sara Fraser
Web Journalist
Sara has worked with CBC News in P.E.I. since 1988, starting with television and radio before moving to the digital news team. She grew up on the Island and has a journalism degree from the University of King's College in Halifax. Reach her by email at sara.fraser@cbc.ca.
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