When it comes to self-made YouTube celebrities, Bethany Mota ranks near the top. With 4.8 million YouTube subscribers, she doesn’t have nearly the fanbase of video game commentator PewDiePie — the reigning champion with 20.8 million subs — but she’s pulled ahead of gun nut FPSRussia (4.7 million subs) and violinist Lindsey Sterling (4.07 million subs) without having to master a musical instrument or blow things up.
Meet Bethany Mota, the teen who turned YouTube shopping sprees into a fashion career
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
No, what propelled the 18-year-old Mota to internet stardom was her desire to shop, and to share her purchases with the world. She's one of the many teens who document their shopping on YouTube in "haul videos," a teen trend identified just a few years ago. Only now, Mota doesn't just shop: she has her own clothing line at Aeropostale and has made appearances in Seventeen and Teen Vogue, in addition to doing deals with Forever 21 and JC Penney. Like Michelle Phan, the video make-up artist who rose to fame on YouTube and then went into business with cosmetics group L'Oreal, Mota appears to have been able to leverage her internet celebrity into a fashion career.
Business Insider has the story of how she managed to scale social media to get there.
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