Michelle Phan - a Youtuber, Entrepreneur, Influencer, and Creator

Michelle Phan is a well-known beauty Youtuber with over 8.9 million subscribers, who’s turned her passion into a successful career, including co-founded Ipsy, launched her own company - EM Cosmetics, and has made her way into many other entertainment fields.

Early Life

Michelle Phan was born on April 11, 1987, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. Her parents were Vietnamese immigrants. Phan’s mom was a beautician who did nails. Phan’s dad left the family when she was six. Phan’s mom became the breadwinner of the family and an inspiration for her growing up.

Education

Going against her mom’s wish for her to become a doctor, Phan followed her heart and attended Ringling College of Art and Design. She graduated in March 2014 with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts Degree.

Career

In 2005, Phan started a personal blog where she discussed makeup. In May 2007, she posted her first Youtube video and quickly gained popularity with her makeup tutorials. Her two “How To Get Lady Gaga’s Eyes” makeup tutorials were featured on Buzzfeed, which made Phan went viral.

In 2011, Phan co-founded Ipsy - a personalized monthly makeup and beauty sample subscription. The company is now worth over $500 million. In 2012, Phan became a Youtube advertising partner and Lancome’s first global video makeup representative. Phan launched EM Cosmetics with L’Oreal in 2013. In 2014, she launched Shift Music Group - a global platform for independent artists - and a book called “Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success - Online and Off”.

Current Life

In the middle of 2016, Phan decided to take a break and disappeared from the Internet. After coming back, she took full ownership of EM Cosmetics and relaunched it in April 2017. She has stopped posting on Youtube to focus entirely on the company.

Thoughts

Michelle Phan is a great example of someone who knows how to take advantages of social media and self-PR. Her entire career was built on social media platforms and became successful once she started enhancing her personal brand among her followers and related people. Phan manages the way she contacts people in the digital and professional worlds very well. She first started with blogging and moved on to Youtube once she saw a demand and opportunity to grow bigger. She believes that her actions bring good costs and genuinely wants to influence people as well as giving back to her community. She recently created Open Studio, which provides creators with tools, space and any additional needs for them to create content. She constantly meets up with her followers and inspires them on various topics through online and offline channels. When Phan faced trouble, she silently fixed it before making a strong comeback. From her example, I’ve learned that it’s important to make yourself visible and well-known. To find success in PR, we have to be flexible and always ready to move forward, not afraid to take on opportunities when they appear. Not only that, to build long-valuable relationships with people, the most important thing is to make them believe in us and what we do.

- Written by Lidaily