Yolanda Renee Spotlight
Yolanda Renee
Yolanda Renee is a multi-talented brand influencer, YouTuber and content creator. Yolanda got her start in 2011, when she created her blog, Etcblogmag. Her blog featured fashion, style, and was centered around recreating celebrity fashion at affordable prices.
Since then, Yolanda’s content and creativity has allowed her to work with top brands such as Palmers, Cream of Nature, Eden Body Works, and Sally Beauty, just to name a few.
Yolanda has also been booked annually at major events such as the New Orleans Natural Hair Expo and Texture on the Runway at NY Fashion Week.
Her love for natural hair, fashion and art, has helped to grow her following to over 96.8K on Instagram, and well over 221K on YouTube. This beauty was also recently featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine , where she shared her natural hair styling tips!
Get to know more about Yolanda…
Q&A with Yolanda
What initially motivated you to start your blog and YouTube channel?
Facebook was popping and in full effect in 2011. At that time, people were still adjusting to find out what was appropriate to post, ya know?
As far as myself, I’ve always been a complicated introvert mixed with extrovert tendencies. That basically means I like to share a lot, but at the same time I’m a very private person.
On Facebook, I would more so share my interests such as hair, fashion and hobbies (basically girly stuff). Not my personal business or drama. At the time, because I was interested, I figured my friends and family would be too. Girl, I was so wrong. I think it was extremely annoying to people LOL.
My college friend, Heather Carmichael, suggested I start a blog. It was the best advice ever, and I listened. And that’s my advice for whoever is reading this article. You have to find your niche, and your audience and everything else will fall into place.
On the blog, I started off with fashion and style which caught the attention of Necole “Bitchie” Kane. She now owns xoNecole, which is very successful as well.
For a while, I wrote fashion and nail articles on NecoleBitchie.com, and linked them to my growing blog. Another gem for those just starting off is to always pitch your work to already established websites/blogs to grow your audience. This worked for me.
My next big break was starting a YouTube channel as an extension to my blog (another gem LOL). That was in 2012. That’s when I randomly did the BIG CHOP. I filmed this process and it went viral. A black girl cutting all her hair off...oh yeah...that definitely got people’s attention. From that I gained an entire new audience and niche.
From there my life was all about learning to care for my natural hair, and my audience was just as intrigued. Creating natural hair content just felt right. Through the creative and learning process, I was able to combine all my passions; my natural gift of art, creativity, teaching, and beauty. It just made sense.
My last gem for your readers is, if you want to start a blog or YouTube channel, you have to find your niche. Find that one thing your readers/viewers come just to you for.
Once you have that, you will have a committed following. From there you can branch out and try new things, but always remain true to that ONE THING YOU LOVE.
Was there ever a time during the process that you felt you had made the wrong decision with starting YouTube full time?
That time is NOW. It comes and goes though. At this stage of my career I feel like I’m burned out. Burned out because the most important advice I gave you so far, “find your niche”, is a gift and a curse. Once you have your niche and people expect to see that specific kind of content, you are somewhat put into a box.
As a strong Aquarius who lives a very laid back, carefree life without rules, it’s a hard thing to conform to that. I’ve tried to branch out and create content outside of just natural hair, such as make-up tutorials, vlogs, a sneaker series, OOTDs, thrifting, etc. These topics get some attention, but it somewhat annoys my core audience because all they want is hair related content.
That’s another obstacle content creators/influencers endure, and what I’m currently facing. This obstacle has really hindered my motivation to keep going as a influencer, and the reason why I feel burned out.
It's the worst feeling to create something you love and your audience not accept it and demand something else.
That feeling of being critiqued constantly is very ego shattering, but I’m figuring it out. I will continue to give my audience, as well as my creative spirit what it deserves in due time. I know it's all still a learning process. In this business you have to keep learning and evolving.
What keeps you motivated?
Constantly reminding myself that my creativity and unique vision is a gift from God
My daughters who think their Mommy is a famous artist
My audience who sends me messages daily explaining how I inspire them to be better Moms, while never losing sight of them as individuals who love hair, makeup, and looking good
My amazing relationships with multi-million/billion-dollar brands
and the list goes on…
My motivation is all of these things. The fact that I’m able to touch so many people, and still fulfill my personal goals is EVERYTHING!
What do you enjoy the most about what you do?
As a whole I love the FREEDOM. I’m literally a free spirit, and do not like to be limited to what I can do. Again, there’s a cap on that though, but still. It is the most freedom I can have as far as a career, and I’ll take it.
Other than that, specifically I love to edit. I like the creative process of piecing video footage together, figuring out new text overlays, animation, etc. I absolutely love when my viewers appreciate the final product; a great vlog or tutorial! They really love that about my content.
Nowadays, there are a lot of influencers who just do what they do for the money, and that’s a huge issue in our community. It's an issue because viewers feel like they are being played. So, when they see the genuine time and effort I put into my work, they are reassured that there are still creators out there that are authentic.
That’s so important to me.
What would you say is the hardest part about being an influencer?
The hardest part about being an influencer is the unwanted feedback and critiques. We all know trolls and cyber bullying is a huge topic when it comes to social media. This is similar to what I was explaining before about questioning if I made a mistake by taking this on full time.
When you work so hard on content, and then it's not received with open arms, its heart shattering. I will never understand how viewers can watch a 5-10 minute video with so much information, creativity, and love, and still have the nerve to write a comment off subject and state things like…
” Why was there a product placement in this video? That’s so weird.”
“You need to stick to just hair videos.”
“You seem off today.”
“You need to do more…”
These may seem so harmless to some, but as a creator it’s like you aren’t enough, your work isn’t enough, and it makes you question if what you are doing is even worth it. That’s a hard pill to swallow.
What role do you feel your natural hair has played in your success as an influencer?
My natural hair is the root to it all. I will never forget that. Natural hair has grown my channel tremendously with over 221,000 subscribers and millions of views. I’ve been able to create relationships with multi-million/billion-dollar brands, and it’s allowed me to travel all around the world.
Natural hair gets me booked at the most amazing events, and I’m able to raise a family off my income. I’m legit an entrepreneur through NATURAL HAIR, and that is mind blowing!
With two beautiful girls and one on the way, how do you find balance between being a mom, and creating the amazing content that you bring to your audience?
Awwww! This is the best job for that very reason. With the creative freedom I have, I am able to include my girls. I never force them, hence why they only have a few cameos. Lol! But when they are demanding, and work needs to be done, I am able to include them.
Also, when doing everyday Mommy things that halt my work, I am at least able to document my day via Instagram stories, Snap Chat, etc. Even with these tools, I am able to be creative in a less complicated way and in real time.
My audience loves when I post stories because it's almost the same quality as a vlog or YouTube video. It still inspires them in the same way too! Even posting in this way becomes a business tool that helps promote my work and channel.
Even with this pregnancy, I am able to create content around it. I’ve landed some great partnerships with Palmer’s and some baby brands! Yay! Basically, I create content around my real life. I wouldn’t call it balance but it definitely works out.
What is something about you that people would be surprised to know?
Ummm, I think I mentioned this at the beginning of our interview, but I think people would be surprised or confused to know that I’m an introvert, and that I’m a very private person.
As an influencer, it may seem like I’m an extrovert and I tell all my business. That is so far from the truth. It is possible to share bits and pieces to INSPIRE others, while remaining a private person; that will always be ME. Never over share.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps as a YouTuber?
I think I dropped a few gems thus far! What I didn’t mention yet is,
BE YOURSELF!
I absolutely love this quote to sum it up…
“Take a walk down the bread aisle. There are so many! All bread, but each it’s own uniqueness! That’s you!”
It’s so true, the bread aisle is massive (similar to YouTube). There are so many content creators with the same subject matter. But what sets you apart is YOU. No one can deliver the message like you.
When I go down the bread aisle, I don’t see any bread except SUNBEAM (the sandwich slices) in that yellow bag. I go straight for it! Ha ha! Every time. I don’t know why, but it just speaks to me.
That’s exactly how your audience will be too if you remain your TRUE SELF and create quality content.
How has your faith and relationship with God, played a role in where you are today?
God is where it all started. Girl you are about to make me cry just thinking about it. I thank God everyday and literally all day for my gift, my vision, and my abilities to do what I do.
The best compliment anyone can ever give me is making me realize that the way I see things in life is so unique to me, and they appreciate how I capture it to share it with them. We can all be looking at a plain white surface with a bright red apple sitting in the center, but what I see, and how I capture it, will be unique from the “eyes” God gave me.
How I capture it will be able to deliver a message, and inspiration to those who see the final product. That is truly a gift from God.
It is because of him that this is my life. In those moments I can’t handle the trolls and cyberbullies, it's through God that I am able to refocus and tune out the negativity. When I’m not motivated to create, its God that grabs my attention and lets me know its ok to UNPLUG and focus on Him.
When I feel like I’m lost and not walking in my purpose, its God that reminds me I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. Listen, I’m living in a world of faith, abundance, love, light, and positivity all because of God. And having a confident view on those aspects of life is what keeps me going in this business and beyond.
So, what’s next?
What’s next? Next is Yolanda getting out of her comfort zone and giving my curlfriends what they want. Thus far I’ve been cruising, just living my carefree life. It's time to get down to business.
Right now, I do what I do out of passion, and I don’t really have that hustler spirit. It’s time to get serious, and create a legacy for my girls from what I’ve built thus far. I want to properly brand my Sip X Paint and have it available online to purchase (not just an event).
I want to take the Sip X Paint on tour, I want to start my own wallpaper brand, properly introduce my CURLIES dolls and merchandise, and so much more! Stay tuned...you’ll see! Lol!