“Work hard and be nice to people.” This simple advice was given to artist and YouTuber Amanda Lee, and it has taken her farther than she could have ever imagined. Amanda started her channel as a high school freshman and six years later, she has grown to over 1 million subscribers who love her creative videos on doodling, journaling, and calligraphy.

Aileen and Amanda chat about what it's like to see yourself growing up on YouTube, how comparison almost trapped Amanda from even starting her career, and the struggle of having to be creative on a schedule.

In this episode we explore:

• 2:20 – Starting a YouTube career out of boredom as a high school freshman
• 5:00 – What Amanda would be doing if she wasn't an artist on YouTube
• 8:49 – Taking YouTube full time – What Amanda's peers and traditional family thought about her channel
• 13:33 – The biggest challenge in her journey: Churning out creativity
• 14:45 – Burnout + Balancing creation with consuming
• 21:06 – Amanda's “aha” moment – How she discovered her YouTube niche
• 26:08 – The impact of Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I've Loved Before
• 29:21 – How Amanda imagines social media and YouTube evolving
• 32:42 – Rapid Q&A: Amanda's dream life, recommendations, life-changing habit, best received advice, and favorite part about life
• 35:13 – Aileen's personal takeaways and reflections

Links:

• YouTube
• Instagram

Show notes:

• Crazy Rich Asians
• Crazy Rich Asians, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Why Its So Meaningful to Me
• Awkwafina on SNL
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before
• Away | awaytravel.com/lavendaire20 (Promo code: LAVENDAIRE20)

Quotes:

• Creativity is not on a schedule.
• Work hard and be nice to people.

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