For 22-year-old Michelle Reed Gauthier, issuing out the inner-workings of her life to her YouTube audience of about 380,000 subscribers is innate. Viewers from every corner of the globe gravitate to her joy-filled and minimalism-natured videos, feeling a sense of warmth and coziness from the Texas born-and-raised creative who shares sweet moments in Dallas with her DSLR camera. And, for an influencer community that typically dishes out designer must-haves with a surplus of shopping videos, Reed’s channel is a refreshing breath of fresh air.
“Whenever I talk to my viewers and see comments, people are never liking my content because it’s the stuff I’m recommending or the clothes I’m wearing,” Reed said in a Zoom call. “It’s very much ‘your videos make me feel XYZ’ – your videos make me feel more calm, your videos make me feel more cozy or appreciative of things in my life, and that’s what I try to focus on.”
“Whenever I talk to my viewers and see comments, people are never liking my content because it’s the stuff I’m recommending or the clothes I’m wearing,” Reed said in a Zoom call. “It’s very much ‘your videos make me feel XYZ’ – your videos make me feel more calm, your videos make me feel more cozy or appreciative of things in my life, and that’s what I try to focus on.”
As an influencer who has been posting content for nearly seven years, Reed’s viewers traveled alongside her for milestones in her life: moving from Texas to NYC to graduate with her business degree from the King’s College, working a 9-to-5 job at a marketing agency, getting engaged to her now-husband Aidan last year, living out her little-girl dreams of going wedding dress shopping at bridal boutiques, and now navigating newlywed terrain while working from home and decorating their apartment with delicate and subtle fixtures.
“When I was in New York City and making those kinds of videos, it was very much about the city and the things I was doing, and when I worked full-time it was about balancing work and doing this as a job too, but it wasn’t much about my life -- the things I’m going through, the things I’m learning,” Reed said. “Life is just slower in Texas, it’s not nearly the same as New York City, so I think my channel naturally evolved to where it is now.” Reed, who posts week-in-my-life vlogs centered on ‘enjoying slowness’ and ‘keeping it real,’ produces a peaceful atmosphere for her viewers in each of her videos. From starting her videos by pouring fresh-brewed coffee in a mug and pulling back her beautifully-woven curtains to see the sunlight, she finds solace in the little things and aims to share her gratitude for those moments that some may take for granted. |
“The season of life I’m in almost made my videos less materialistic as they would be, and that prompted changes in my own life,” Reed said. “I started to adapt to not getting as much PR in the mail, not shopping as much – not having as much stuff – especially with our long-term goal of buying a house. With the pandemic, it’s a similar thing to what a lot of people have been going through. You just realize life is not about traveling and going places – the things we can’t really do anymore – and it’s more about staying home with the people you love.”
The heart of Reed’s channel is, of course, to spread positivity and relatability. Her channel is a far cry from the consumerism-centered creators who flash new Tory Burch totes or Chanel cross-body bags, topping off their promotions with an encyclopedia of affiliate links in their videos’ description box. And even though Reed goes against the grain of the typical influencer marketing mold, she doesn’t dismiss the go-getter attitude the industry demands.
The heart of Reed’s channel is, of course, to spread positivity and relatability. Her channel is a far cry from the consumerism-centered creators who flash new Tory Burch totes or Chanel cross-body bags, topping off their promotions with an encyclopedia of affiliate links in their videos’ description box. And even though Reed goes against the grain of the typical influencer marketing mold, she doesn’t dismiss the go-getter attitude the industry demands.
According to the Digital Marketing Institute, 49% of consumers depend on influencers’ recommendations, while 40% had purchased an item after seeing it on Twitter, YouTube or Instagram. The holiday season has been a particularly difficult month to achieve a healthy balance of establishing a ‘less is more’ attitude amid the hundreds of thousands of shopping gift guides circulating social media platforms right now, but Reed continues to stay authentic to herself, and most importantly, to her viewers.
“I see all my friends posting ‘vlogmas’ videos [vlogging for 25 days straight, from Dec. 1 to Christmas Day] and because I downsized the amount of stuff I have, I want to create content that is either helpful or beneficial,” Reed said. “It’s hard because you can make a lot of money by posting a lot, especially in December on YouTube, because the CPM is so much higher. Though last year had a lot of hype around everything with getting engaged, I’ve realized that my growth isn’t dependent on how much I’m growing online but how my viewers are receiving my content, so that’s what I focus on.” Because content creation is the new branch of marketing that companies are consistently pulling, brands shimmy their budgets around influencers who can partner with them for paid promotions, integrating sponsorships and certain ad deals. But unlike other influencers, Reed only accepts partnerships if she feels it is parallel to the values and goals of her digital voice.
“I’ve realized that life isn’t better when you have an abundance of things,” she said. “I’ve trained myself to not be that affected by ads, but at the other end of things my job is selling stuff, my job is promoting stuff that I like, so I’ve really had to strike a balance. In November, I had way too many sponsorships and realized it was too much, so this month I pulled back by not doing as many, only promoting stuff I truly use a lot and working with other types of companies. Reed recently partnered with the Prison Fellowship, a company that donates gifts to kids whose parents are in prison. She was a strong advocate for the cause on Giving Tuesday, the day after Cyber Monday when other influencers were still posting purchased products from Urban Outfitters, Target and Revolve. The content creator says humble-minded partnerships like this ‘do good’ and that’s exactly what she wants to mass communicate. |
“I think it’s hard, but I’ve trained myself not to be influenced by ads,” Reed said. “It’s also good for me because it makes me realize ‘I’m affected by these ads, and so are my viewers, so I’m conscious how I’m doing them.’”
Dedicated to giving back, Reed also partnered with Little Words Project, a Hoboken-based jewelry company, to design her three-bracelet collection. Handpicking the words grace, serenity and be gentle entwines her values and virtues in the backstory of the collaboration ever so well, and she was able to raise about $900 for The Bowery Mission, a nonprofit that helps homeless populations.
Serving others is something that is stitched to her heartstrings as a believer of the Christian faith, who has the intrinsic goal to integrate the principles of ‘love, joy, peace and patience’ into her content and especially on her podcast, ‘But, What’s Next? with Michelle Reed.’
Dedicated to giving back, Reed also partnered with Little Words Project, a Hoboken-based jewelry company, to design her three-bracelet collection. Handpicking the words grace, serenity and be gentle entwines her values and virtues in the backstory of the collaboration ever so well, and she was able to raise about $900 for The Bowery Mission, a nonprofit that helps homeless populations.
Serving others is something that is stitched to her heartstrings as a believer of the Christian faith, who has the intrinsic goal to integrate the principles of ‘love, joy, peace and patience’ into her content and especially on her podcast, ‘But, What’s Next? with Michelle Reed.’
“There’s a Bible verse in 1 Thessalonians I always talk about – it’s about working with your hands and minding your own business – and it inspired this principle of living more simply,” she explained. “On YouTube, there’s so much promotion of living a very noisy life of always doing something and clickbait videos trying to get attention. It’s not as trendy, but the things that shape my character are small, everyday tasks I do.”
Tumbling out of the traffic-trodden belt of NYC was a way for Reed to eradicate any trace of noisy life. Ever since leaving her creative agency (ironically focusing on an influencer marketing clientele), she has worked her way in achieving a happy balance of productivity and peace-minded living.
“People were confused when I quit my job to focus on YouTube full-time because they think it’s something that doesn’t take a lot of time or isn’t a ‘real job.’” Reed said. “Sometimes, when people ask about what I do, I kind of talk it down or am too scared to say what I do, but it is really cool that anyone who has a camera can pick it up and start a business, but it takes a lot of time.”
Tumbling out of the traffic-trodden belt of NYC was a way for Reed to eradicate any trace of noisy life. Ever since leaving her creative agency (ironically focusing on an influencer marketing clientele), she has worked her way in achieving a happy balance of productivity and peace-minded living.
“People were confused when I quit my job to focus on YouTube full-time because they think it’s something that doesn’t take a lot of time or isn’t a ‘real job.’” Reed said. “Sometimes, when people ask about what I do, I kind of talk it down or am too scared to say what I do, but it is really cool that anyone who has a camera can pick it up and start a business, but it takes a lot of time.”
Reed works about 30 to 40 hours as a self-employed influencer, even editing her videos and podcast without hiring for assistance. She says it’s because she’s a “control freak,” but it is evident in all of her creations that she has a full heart for what she does, and it only cultivates more ideations for capturing those cozy, joy-filled moments of her life, on-camera or a podcast microphone.
“I know a lot of people say, ‘oh, I love my viewers,’ but I truly feel like all of my viewers are like my friends,” Reed noted, nodding to the devout subscriber on a Zoom call, anticipating writing the profile for her digital portfolio. “It warms my heart because, at the end of the day, I couldn’t have done this without them.” |