The fashion, beauty and lifestyle influencer is one of, if not the best known Black British women on YouTube, with over two million subscribers regularly tuning in to her videos. On the verge of releasing her first book, Patricia Bright tells Pride about her journey and the misconceptions of online fame
It’s no secret that when it comes to making money and a business for yourself, establishing an online brand is essential. And every year, thousands and thousands worldwide try to get themselves a piece of the pie by setting up YouTube channels, or social media blogs and boutiques. Unfortunately, only a few make it – without seeing immediate growth, or ‘going viral’ some get bored, or disheartened, and stop before a breakthrough comes.
However, for Patricia Bright, consistency has paid off, and has been key to her success. Since launching her YouTube channel out of boredom, more than a decade ago, the London-based content creator has kept viewers entertained with a range of YouTube videos, varying from hair and beauty tutorials, to fashion hauls, to ‘Get Ready With Me’ candid chats, and even the occasional day-in-the-life vlog, featuring husband Mike and their toddler daughter, Grace.
As one of the first Black British YouTubers to reach one million subscribers in January 2017 (a number that now sits at a cool 2.6million), her hard work and her impact is undeniable. As a result, she’s been able to collaborate with countless global brands, including releasing her very own MAC lipstick shade. To many, she’s made it – but she’d be the first to tell you that it’s been nowhere as easy and glamorous as her Instagram grid suggests.
Having originally worked full time in accounting and finance, Bright used to squeeze in creating regular videos with long office hours. Though YouTube and influencing is her full-time job now, and she is invited on international press trips and events, there is a lot of planning and hard work that happens behind the scenes that has given her the momentum she has now.
Bright has shared her childhood tales of watching her mum graft in cleaning jobs to keep a roof over her and her sister Maureen’s heads, eventually becoming a nurse and being able to purchase their home. She’s spoken on having insecurities in adolescence and young adulthood, in videos titled ‘Never Feeling Good Enough’ and ‘Perfection Is Overrated’ – and in 2018, she addressed speculation about a change in her body shape with a 17-minute, candid explanation stating that she’d undergone liposuction to eliminate fat from her stomach area.
But as lovable and open as she comes across in her videos, something that’s also made clear is the fact that she’s a no nonsense businesswoman – and you don’t get to two million followers without this sense of discipline. She’s worked hard to make her own way, and she’s confident in her decisions and her knowledge of her industry, and how she’s going to keep it moving to keep herself and her family well fed. Protective of her personal space and her life away from the camera – ‘Bright’ is her stage name, of sorts – she sticks to her boundaries against the outside world. And now, she’s written her first book as a means of education about the field in which she has a lot of expertise: how to combine following your heart and a hustling spirit to fashion a life and career that fulfils you.
In our conversation, she told Pride about her journey to the top of her game: from sacrificing her wants in order to grow, reacting to backlash from the public, and why she rarely watches fashion and beauty-based content, herself…
You started your channel as a way to kill your boredom at university. At the time, did you ever conceive that this could be a way that you could make a living?
Patricia Bright: No – there was no option to do that, it was just a platform that was used to share videos between people at that time. It wasn’t until about four years into making content that I realised that this could be something I could really build on, and that it could be something more.
Heart and Hustle is all about making it big in the world of YouTube and influencing; it really tells your story of how you’ve gotten to where you have. What was the motivation behind telling your story in this way?
PB: It’s something that a lot of people ask me about, and also something that had a lot of smoke and mirrors around it. And I found that the normal interviews I was doing, there was this preconception of who we were – but I knew differently. There are individuals who are successful off the back of it, and I should share with the majority of young people, who’d like to work in this space in the future. Why not provide an education on what it actually takes?
Do you think people underestimate how hard it is to make a living out of YouTube?
PB: 100% – I think people totally underestimate it, but that’s almost their mistake and to my benefit.
You write about establishing boundaries in the book; over the years you’ve shared so many amazing moments with the public, but more recently you’ve scaled back on family vlogs – is this intentional?
PB: Yeah, I think it was intentional, and personal. For me, I didn’t wanna share so much, and even from a timing perspective – I felt like the filming was getting in the way of me living. I wanted to live, and not film so much. I think it’s all based on how, as in, the individual, you feel comfortable. I shared my birth, because I watched so many videos that helped me understand what was gonna happen during birth, so I wanted to pay it forward because I know how much it helped me. And fundamentally when I create something, I’m thinking, “How is this gonna help someone’s life? How is this gonna entertain them? How is this gonna give them a moment that they remember?”
Most of your early supporters were Black British women who were excited to see a Black British woman break ground like you did. How have you seen your fanbase change over the years?
PB: I think it’s definitely changed over the years, especially because I’ve changed over the years. The content I’ve made has changed over the years. We live in a global world and the reason I’ve got so many followers is because people follow me everywhere. I’ve gone to Singapore and met people who follow me. I’ve been in Malaysia and met people who follow me. It’s not just because people think I look like them; there has to be more than that, and I feel very lucky that people connect with me because of multiple things.
I want to ask a bit about backlash. You were upfront in addressing your body changes last year and while you had some support, there were some spikier comments made online. Do you think some fans might put you on a pedestal, or expect more from you, so get disappointed when you reveal your insecurities?
PB: (A pause.) Yes, and no. Everyone’s an individual, and everyone has their own opinion. People just have strong opinions about cosmetic treatments, and then they project that on me, but I don’t have to live in their opinion. And they’d probably have that opinion of anyone that had a treatment that they weren’t happy with. But even saying that, it seems weird to be bothered by what someone else has had done to themselves. They have a voice to share their opinion, and because I’m in the public domain, they’re able to share their opinions towards me; they’re entitled to.
Does it hurt to see people commenting negatively on personal things?
PB: No: my skin is as hard as a crocodile’s at this stage. I understand that everyone has a voice, and an alternative opinion is okay. There’s a lot of criticism that I’ve actually taken on board in a way that is actually quite valuable to me, and used that as fuel to improve. Obviously there’s just the negativity; some people are just negative and that’s fine for them. But it doesn’t bother me so much. I have a tendency to block out the haters.
It’s clear that you love what you do, and you’ve stayed so consistent over the years. But even with jobs that you really like, so many people drag their feet – does that happen for you? Do you ever get lethargic?
PB: Oh, I definitely get lethargic, and I definitely take breaks. But when you’re self employed, which is what this is, there’s almost this push to consistently create. And then, there’s this trend of individuals suffering from burnout, but they just keep going – because the system requires them to keep going. But I think for your own wellbeing, it’s valuable to just take a break. I have moments when I turn everything off on the weekend; I don’t check socials, I don’t go on my phone, and I come back refreshed. But it’s never that long, to be honest. I mean, I did a video four days after giving birth, so that says something.
With so many people emerging as content creators in recent years, is there still as much of a YouTube community as there has been in the past?
PB: I have some close people on WhatsApp, who I talk to about deals, or some work coming in… It’s funny – nowadays I don’t like to view as much videos as other girls who do the same thing as me, because I do it all day long. Usually when I’m on YouTube, it’s to break free and enjoy something else. The stupid stuff that everyone’s watching – cat videos, or videos of slime, or unboxing videos of like, tech gear. Actually, the biggest views are on videos like that.
Do you think this separation from being ‘in’ with all the things going on in the content creator space is a result of having put in the time already? You’ve put in the time and the work in this field, so you don’t have to connect as much?
PB: Yeah, definitely. Following 900 people on Instagram, it’s almost like I’m liking most of the pictures just because I want everyone to do well, but I don’t really consume it as much. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit older. I’m a mum, I’m busy, I actually can’t just enjoy it as much as I would love to. I’m working, like everybody else.
‘YouTube can’t make me big or small – I make me big or small.’
We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘you have to work twice as hard, to get half as far’ – and some argue that for Black women in media and creative industries, you have to work even harder than that. Do you think this has rung true for you?
PB: It depends on the definition of ‘work harder’. We’re in a position where the market decides what they want. No-one can dictate it. YouTube can’t make me big or small – I make me big or small. Because people seem to like me, I grew big and I got work; brands work with the biggest people and they want whoever’s got the biggest audience. But yes, I feel like I’ve had to work hard because growing to two million followers isn’t just a walk in the park, you know? It takes strategy. As a black woman, it’s not that I’ve had to work harder, it’s that I’ve had to work smart. I had to broaden my niche to get a bigger audience. I could just do hair videos, but I’ve got natural hair – so I can only get the natural hair following. If I wanted to work with MAC, doing natural hair videos isn’t gonna get me that. So I had to talk about the products that everybody was talking about.
The online world moves so fast. How do you find the balance between creating the stuff you want, and making sure you’re on – or ahead of – the curve?
PB: It’s literally part of my strategy. I do videos that hopefully will trend, I do videos that I know that my audience will want, and then I do videos that I want to do. So if I do eight videos a month, four will be trying to hit the trend, three will be what people definitely want to see, and one will be a shot in the dark that feels good to me. That’s exactly how TV and media companies work: at the end of the day, we can all create passion projects, but passion projects don’t always connect. This isn’t about me anymore; it’s more like a service to the two million people who watch me.
And finally, imagine you’re Patricia, back in your uni bedroom, about to record your first video; the first step in this incredible journey. What would you tell her?
PB: Be yourself earlier.
Heart and Hustle by Patricia Bright is out now
