More Girls Who Rocked the World

Bethany Mota

1995– YOUTUBE VLOGGER AND FASHION DESIGNER UNITED STATES

I do talk about beauty and fashion . . . Some people might see it as kind of superficial, but in the end, my main goal for what I do is to . . . promote self-love and self-confidence, and taking a bad situation and making it into something amazing.

—BETHANY MOTA

Bethany was super nervous. She didn’t have a tripod, so she set the video camera on a stack of boxes and books. It was a little wobbly, but it would have to do.

Do I really want to do this? Bethany wondered. What if everyone hates me? What if they write mean things in the comments?

Bethany had reason to worry. A group of seventh graders had been cyberbullying her—they had posted ugly pictures of her along with mean comments.

It was mortifying.

Bethany never wanted to go to school again. In fact, she didn’t want to do anything anymore, so she just stayed in her room all the time. At least she had the internet. She spent hours watching YouTube videos—mostly of girls doing makeup and fashion tutorials. Bethany loved how positive and happy these girls seemed. They posted nice comments on each other’s videos and were really supportive of each other.

Bethany was inspired: if those other girls could make videos, why not her? She didn’t even have to leave her room.

Bethany took a deep breath and switched on the camera. She leaned back in her chair, looked straight at the lens, and smiled.

“Hey guys . . . This is going to be my first video.”1

She felt unsure at the start. As she tried to remember what she wanted to say, she looked at the ceiling and walls and talked quietly. Old worries came back—the need to look perfect, sound perfect, be perfect.

Bethany took another deep breath and reminded herself, Hey, I’m alone in my bedroom. Probably no one will even watch this. Don’t be perfect, be yourself!

She looked at the camera again and smiled—big this time. “I’m going to be starting a lot of tutorials and hauls and reviews and things,” she said. “So if you guys have any requests, just let me know in a message or a comment. So . . . yeah . . . let’s get started.”²

For the next seven minutes, Bethany relaxed and smiled and laughed while showing makeup products she’d bought from MAC and Sephora.

It wasn’t the best video Bethany Mota would ever make, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that she’d done it—Bethany had put herself out there and tried to do something creative. Even so, the video would go on to be watched by four million viewers, launching shy Bethany into a career in the spotlight.³

Bethany made her first video in 2009, when she was just thirteen years old. By the time she was eighteen, she was a millionaire, with more YouTube subscribers than Lady Gaga and more Instagram followers than all the top fashion magazines combined! Bethany Mota is a certified social-media tycoon!

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Bethany was born in a small town in California to a family of Mexican and Portuguese descent. Her mom homeschooled her until third grade, and for a while, she loved going to school and being with other kids. Then middle school happened. Up until then, she had been outgoing; had a lot of friends; did school plays; and took dance, acting, and voice lessons. Middle school, however, was the worst experience of Bethany’s life.

Girls she thought were her friends began cyberbullying her. They set up a fake MySpace page in her name and filled it with pictures of Bethany, along with nasty comments. “The captions were written to sound like I was making fun of myself, like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so ugly.’ ”4 Bethany was hurt and humiliated. She didn’t know who to trust and lost most of her “friends.”

The bullying led to depression and anxiety. “It got to me,” she remembers. “I didn’t want to hang out with my friends or go anywhere. I wasn’t eating a lot, like, maybe one meal a day.”⁵ Bethany quit her dance and acting classes, and she went back to being homeschooled. But once her schoolwork was done, she stayed in bed the rest of the day, crying much of the time. Her parents were worried sick.

Then one day, Bethany discovered YouTube. She loved watching the beauty and style videos, especially those made by girls like her. “It was so cool seeing girls being positive and spreading happiness,” she said.⁶ In 2009, she filmed her very first haul video (a video of stuff she’d purchased) on her channel Macbarbie07. “[YouTube] was kind of an outlet for me to be myself and not really worry about what anyone thought.”⁷ She began making videos regularly to escape her stress and anxiety and launched a second channel, BethanysLife, in 2010. In her videos, Bethany shows off her hauls, models outfit ideas, gives makeup and hair lessons, tests recipes, makes do-it-yourself projects, and shows how to decorate your room (“room tours”). Teen fans flocked to her channel, and it quickly became one of the most popular YouTube channels in the world!

“At first . . . I’d try to act perfect,” Bethany remembered. “But then I realized it might be more fun if I was just myself. So I showed my silly side and kept in the bloopers.”8 The girls watching appreciated that Bethany seemed normal—like them—and not like some fashion superstar. As of 2016, Bethany had nearly ten million YouTube subscribers (plus six million followers on Instagram and three million on Twitter)!⁹

Bethany’s fans wanted even more of her style, so she started her own fashion and room décor lines for Aéropostale. She gets inspiration from her fans and hopes to inspire them as well: “So many of [my followers] have told me that my style gives them ideas, but they do just the same for me. I love being engaged with my audience because they are all so unique and creative. Whenever I need some help designing, I love just sending a tweet out, asking my viewers what they want.”¹⁰

The year 2014 was busy for Bethany. She launched a perfume, xoxo Beth, and she was a guest judge on Project Runway and a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. She was also honored with Teen Choice and Streamy Awards and was ranked sixth on Time magazine’s “The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014” list.¹¹ That year, she also branched into the music biz when she released her first single, “Need You Right Now,” which hit number four on the iTunes charts.¹²

But Bethany hasn’t forgotten how it all started. She speaks out against bullying everywhere she goes. In 2015, she joined with PACER, a national bullying prevention group that encourages kids to fight bullying in their schools and where they live. Her success on social media has given her a lot of wisdom on the topic of bullying: “I’ve really learned the importance of not worrying about other people’s opinions.”¹³

Bethany’s career shows no signs of slowing down. Her fan base just keeps growing, as do requests for her star power. When she’s not filming her videos, she’s traveling the world, talking to people about her story and inspiring girls. Recently, YouTube recruited her to interview President Barack Obama!

The lonely thirteen-year-old who was too anxious to leave her room has grown up into a successful business mogul with confidence to spare. “I’m my own boss,” she says. “My biggest thing to overcome has been not being afraid to be different. It’s safer to do what everyone else is doing, but it pays off way more to be yourself.”¹⁵ Bethany quit worrying about what the bullies thought and started being herself—and look where it got her!

Sometimes, the things that we’re afraid of are the things that can change our lives and make us stronger.

—BETHANY MOTA

HOW WILL YOU ROCK THE WORLD?

I am going to rock the world by being the first person in my family to own my very own business. I will make this happen not only to help create jobs for people but because I believe in and value myself. I will keep education first, keep volunteering in areas to help others, and learn as much as I can on my journey to becoming the best entrepreneur the world has ever seen.

DAPHNE VARMAH images AGE 13