The Key to Establishing Your Brand with YouTube Veteran Stephanie Ledda AKA SMLX0: Beauty and the Vlog Podcast 86

What do you represent? One of the most difficult aspects of establishing yourself as an influencer is finding that thing that makes you unique and leveraging your ‘superpower’ to stand out in a crowded field of YouTubers. The platform has evolved into a lucrative business, and that means your channel is its own brand. And when your personality matches up with a beauty brand, collaborations follow. Today’s guest is a YouTube veteran with a unique brand identity who is ready to share how her individuality as an influencer has led to some awesome opportunities.

Stephanie Ledda is a 26-year-old New York native with a passion for beauty and a unique eye for fashion. Her channel, SMLx0, has over 900,000 subscribers who look to Stephanie for inspiring hair, makeup and styling tutorials. She was a college student when she started her channel in 2009. A business management and marketing major, Stephanie enjoyed watching YouTube videos and decided to try it out herself. Using the webcam on her MacBook to make videos in her dorm room, she created celebrity-inspired looks and gained a modest following.

Stephanie considered YouTube a fun hobby, but she didn’t realize its potential to become a career until StyleHaul and the YouTube Partner Program reached out to her in 2011. After graduating from college, she tried to balance a traditional job in marketing at a bridal boutique with her channel, but quickly recognized that she couldn’t do both – and she really missed YouTube! Certain she could support herself through the channel, Stephanie quit her marketing job to pursue YouTube full-time. She definitely made the right decision, considering that she’s partnered with major brands like Schwarzkopf, Maybelline, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, and Tarte. Today she chats about sharing your personal life with your followers, the value of a degree, and how she chooses brands for sponsored videos.