Beaches and boats, college parties and a spontaneous road trip. No, this is not the plot to a movie, but just some of the content you’ll see on junior Tamara Avinami’s YouTube channel. With over 150,000 subscribers, Avinami has been creating content for over six years with the goal of inspiring others.

Growing up watching other YouTubers such as Alisha Marie and MyLifeAsEva inspired Avinami to start her own channel. After her competitive gymnastics career was cut short due to a back injury, Avinami turned to YouTube as an opportunity to implement that same creativity and competitiveness in her videos. She primarily films vlogs (video blogs), where she records her day from start to finish, bringing viewers into her everyday experiences, both crazy and mundane. 

“I love documenting real moments in my life,” Avinami said, “not only to inspire and motivate others to live their lives to the fullest, but also so I can cherish and look back on the experiences and memories in the future.”

Avinami likes to have a variety of videos on her channel, so in between vlogs she also uploads fashion and health videos. Videos such as “What I Eat in a Day as a High School Student” and “15 Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas” have grossed almost 70,000 views combined. Her most popular video, “Asking High School Boys Questions Girls are too Afraid to Ask… (part 2)” has over 1.5 million views.

In the past year and a half, Avinami’s channel has nearly doubled in size. Beginning in 2019 with about 83,000 subscribers, Avinami now has over 152,000. She has since received YouTube’s Silver Creator Award, an award given to YouTubers who reach 100,000 subscribers. Avinami also became verified, which aside from receiving the coveted grey checkmark next to her name, indicates that she is an established creator.

“[Getting verified] really just gave me a sense of pride and showed me that my dedication and hard work has paid off,” Avinami said. “Gaining so many subscribers has also given me the opportunity to sign with my own management and work with new companies on sponsorships.”

Avinami typically works with one to three companies a month, featuring brands such as Curology, Princess Polly and DollsKill in her YouTube uploads and Instagram posts. She notes that sponsorships can be a long and time consuming process, requiring signed contracts and mutual agreements, as well as multiple refilmings and edits in order to achieve the desired final video. 

Between channel uploads and attending YouTuber conventions such as Playlist Live, Avinami also juggles being a full-time student. However, she says that this is not a particularly difficult task as she has always had a good sense of balance. 

“School is my top priority, so if I have time I try to post a video every four days, but if that doesn’t happen I don’t stress and just create content when possible,” Avinami said.

Avinami attributes her success to being real and genuine in her videos, recording and talking about content that viewers can relate to, making them more likely to subscribe and share her videos. In the future, Avinami will continue to upload videos, and is also interested in creating merchandise, but wants to make the designs less about her, and more of a general clothing item. 

While running her channel is also her job, Avinami feels fortunate that it is one she loves. Documenting her life has given her the opportunity to not only earn a living, but establish networking relationships as well as meet and inspire countless others.

“There have been a lot of points where I’ve reached great frustration, but in the end I’m glad I’ve never given up and will continue because I love making videos,” Avinami said. “I want to keep growing as much as I can and see where it takes me.”