and the haters ‘gonna hate, hate hate…
ever seen a larger-than-life version of yourself at exactly the moment you didn’t want to?
long, long ago and far before i founded Frilliance, i was just another kid having a good time on YouTube.
i shared my makeup hauls, dupes, and DIY finds — and quickly discovered that lots of other people liked what i was sharing…except for the ones who didn’t, and made it known.
my bullies at teen hangouts would frequently take my videos and play them on full-size TVs for all to see, taunting me as i desperately searched for the remote and my sanity.
example below!
as everybody laughed and pointed, i would try not to show emotion — but more often than not, i’d end up crying in a bathroom, wondering if i was making a fool of myself.
i was, after all, putting myself out there for the whole world to analyze, pick apart, and make fun of.
but even though there were countless times that i considered pulling the plug on my channel and hiding in a metaphorical cave of internet obscurity, something inside me told me that the noise didn’t matter, and i should keep going.
i put on a brave face and ignored the taunts and troll comments. i put my head down and studied what i needed to know about content creation, social media marketing, and most importantly — the beauty industry.
video by video, brick by brick, i built a community, and eventually, a brand made for fellow outsiders who wanted to cut through the fluff and find the best products out there to make them feel confident and ready to take on everything — which is exactly what i was looking for on youtube nearly 10 years ago.
if i had stopped then, if i had listened to the bullies — there would be no Frilliance, which i consider to be my life’s passion.
if you’re building something other people want to tear down, keep building.
if being yourself gets you labeled as “weird,” don’t change a thing.
if you’re doing something out of the ordinary (or i would argue, extraordinary!), there will always be dissenting opinions and people trying to embarrass you into giving up.
don’t give them the satisfaction, and don’t bother giving them the energy needed to snap back.
keep being you, keep building your dream, and see what happens — i bet it will surprise you.
xoxo,
fiona
p.s. i can never thank you all enough for your support. a small gesture is a giveaway i'm doing right now. win some airpods and Frilliance products.
