Channeling Her Life

Photos by Audrey Kesler

“Hey guys it’s Riley, welcome back to my channel!” freshman Riley Atkinson says to the lone camera and ring light in her hot pink bedroom.

This week, she is shooting a fall night routine video for her lifestyle YouTube channel MissRileyGrace. After she finishes filming herself doing homework, going to dinner and the rest of her pre-bedtime routine, she will spend five hours sorting through footage, splicing together shots and setting them to music. Those five hours will only give her a 15.41 second intro, which Atkinson says is the most important part of the video since it’s the first thing the viewer sees. From brainstorming video ideas to hitting upload, the self-proclaimed perfectionist spends between 25 and 35 hours on each video so she can upload something she feels proud off.

Atkinson has been uploading videos for almost three years and is about to hit 4000 subscribers, with videos ranging from back to school outfit ideas to vlogs to DIY Christmas gifts. Her channel has propelled her past her awkward stage and transformed her into a 14-year-old who can talk to anyone, according to her mom Kellie Atkinson.

Her videos have been viewed over 100 thousand times in total, and this past summer she signed with BBTV network, which allows her to make money off ads that play before her videos This network deal officially makes her a 14-year-old business owner.

But at school, she prefers to keep her YouTube relatively quiet. According to Atkinson, it’s scary to be so vulnerable, especially since all of her life has been online for three years.

“Some people say, ‘you should totally tell everyone — I would be flaunting it!’” Atkinson said. “[But] I kind of like keeping it on the down-low and not being known at school as the girl with the YouTube channel.”

Atkinson’s involvement with Youtube started almost three years before she made her own channel. She spent hours watching lifestyle YouTubers Bethany Mota and Meredith Foster. Everytime she watched their videos she forgot about friend problems and homework, and her desire to make a channel of her own grew — she wanted to make her own “YouTube family,” just like the ones she was a part of with Mota and Foster. She wanted people to escape from the real world when they watched her videos. She wanted people to look up to her like she did to them.

So in 2014 Atkinson slowly convinced her parents to let her start a channel of her own. They were skeptical at first because she was 12 years old and asking to show her whole personality to the internet, but Atkinson’s clear passion for YouTube forced them to agree.

“It’s just the safety concerns,” Kellie said. “It’s kind of tricky making sure nobody knows exactly where she is. It’s something that I obviously didn’t have [growing up].”

After they agreed to let her make a channel, Atkinson spent eight hours setting up her account — she had to teach herself how to upload videos and and set up profile and cover photos. Finally, MissRileyGrace was taking shape.

She started out filming videos on her iPhone 5S for a year, and she saved up for a $50 purple camcorder — she wanted to be “more serious.” Then, she graduated to the a much higher resolution Canon Rebel t5i camera, which she uses now. The next step was using four months of babysitting money to buy a $500 Sigma 30mm f1.4 lense that blurs out her room in the background and focuses on her face.

Two box lights, one ring light and a Macbook later, Atkinson considers YouTube to be the biggest part of her life.

“I used to be very, very shy when I started [YouTube],” Atkinson said. “I would never be as comfortable as I am on camera,” Atkinson said. “YouTube has given me more confidence. My personality has grown because of it which is really cool. I can’t imagine not doing it.”

Now that she has a larger following, fans have left comments complimenting Atkinson on her videos or letting her know that she has inspired them to make a channel of her own.

One video entitled “Unbreakable Smile” is different from Atkinson’s usual happy and carefree videos, as it is a short film that discusses difficult times she has experienced and how she remains positive.

One comment reads, “I had a breakdown today and it wasn’t pretty … I couldn’t stop crying because of how unhappy I’ve been lately … thank you for this!”

But when added to honors homework, tennis and dancing, weekly uploads can start to feel like more of a job, Atkinson said.

None of her friends know what it’s like to run a channel, causing Atkinson to feel like the odd one out. Still, her subscribers are the reason she keeps uploading.

“When I started I thought [it] would be so cool for other people to look up to me, but I never thought it would happen,” Atkinson said. “I’ve had messages from lots of people saying when I post it makes them happy. That’s what motivates me to keep doing it.”

Atkinson has been approached by fans three times in public now — once at SPIN! Pizza, once at a carnival and once at a concert in Los Angeles. Each time, it feels just as weird. She sees herself as a normal girl.

“People are telling me ‘wow you could definitely go big places with this,’” Atkinson said. “[They] ask me if I want to do it as a job and I’d love to, but I don’t expect it. I’m going keep having fun and have it be my hobby and we’ll see where it goes.”

Atkinson dreams about acting, and she thinks that the only way she would be an actress is if she was a successful YouTuber.

“I feel like [YouTube] is becoming the new show business,” Atkinson said. “Since YouTubers already have a big audience, casting directors want to look at YouTubers so [their] followers would be like “oh they’re in this, so we should watch it.’ I think it would be fun to have my YouTube channel and also act in movies. But I’m not expecting that to happen.”

For now, Atkinson will keep making colorful and happy videos that offer her viewers a temporary escape from their problems. She ends every video the same way:

“Love you guys so so so so SO so much and I will talk to you next time with another video!”