Being Real
With
Emma Chamberlain
In the increasingly crowded digital landscape, EMMA CHAMBERLAIN stands out as a true disruptor. Not only has her unfiltered candidness struck a chord with Gen Z and catapulted her to global stardom, fashion’s most prestigious brands are now queuing up to work with her. OLIVIA PEREZ meets the content creator and podcast host to talk about culture shifts, dealing with the wrath of the internet, and how she’s leading the revolution of being yourself
“At this point, my mind and body are sort of aligned, in a way. I feel locked in and checked in,” says Emma Chamberlain, sitting in the sun-drenched Los Angeles home she purchased last year. These aren’t necessarily words you would expect to hear from a 21-year-old who just returned from a hectic month abroad, which included an appearance at the Venice Film Festival and the release of her first Vogue cover, for Vogue Australia. When we speak, on one of her few days off before hitting the road again, Chamberlain is at her desk, glasses on, makeup off, exuding the disarming genuineness that her career has been built on.
With an explosive rise to fame, Chamberlain has become one of the world’s most famous YouTubers. Her various endeavors include hosting a hugely successful podcast, Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain, launching a cult coffee brand (Chamberlain Coffee), working with brands such as Cartier and Loewe, and – most notably – amassing a global digital community of more than 27 million followers. The extent of her impact has landed her spots on Time’s 2019 list of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet, and Forbes’ Top Creators of 2022.
She is one of the few content creators to successfully grow beyond internet fame and reach bona fide global stardom. But, at home, she considers herself something of a loner, keeping close to her family and a tight circle of friends that includes much of her professional team. Living in LA, she says, feels “incredibly normal” – she’s never thought of herself as a celebrity. She’s gotten the hang of fame, her way. She takes her dad on work trips (with carry-on luggage only, these days, for fewer frills) and she counts her grandma as her biggest fan.
“NOBODY should look at their career, or number of FOLLOWERS, and have it CHANGE their view of themselves”
“I see myself as the same human being I was the first day I started,” Chamberlain shares with a chuckle. “Nobody should look at their career, or number of followers, and have it change their view of themselves. I still feel like I live a pretty normal life.”
Chamberlain grew up in San Bruno, California, a small town south of San Francisco. As a middle schooler, Instagram was the norm and everyone had an iPhone. This was also when she started YouTubing, getting together with her cousins after school to make videos of their everyday lives. She recalls watching YouTube instead of TV, and digital creators became her celebrities. “I’ve always loved creating entertaining videos. That’s forever been my passion. It’s creating something out of nothing.”
Content creation became a safe space amid a tumultuous time at high school, where Chamberlain just never found her clique – a feeling that bled into her perception of the digital world. Her career took off after a life-changing, lightbulb moment: she was tired of seeing hyper-curated videos and trying to follow suit with her own content. It was all too peachy for the drama of teenage life.
“Everybody seemed like they had their shit together,” she reflects. “I now know that that was part of the illusion, and that’s an art of its own. Nothing is wrong with that, but when there’s room for vulnerability, that’s what I want to do. I wanted to share what I didn’t have when I was growing up to look up to: a vulnerable, honest young woman.” When her grandma asked, “So, what’s your plan with this, Emma?”, she was armed with the answer – to do things differently and show a more authentic side of life. If someone’s going to do it, she remembers thinking, it might as well be her.
“When you’re on social media a lot, it’s almost like you start to train yourself to just believe what you’re seeing is what’s popular,” says Chamberlain. “It takes discipline and mindfulness to remove yourself and start questioning everything. Do I think that trend is cool? Do I think this is stupid? Do I think this is fair? Do I think this is OK?”
That vulnerability has become the capstone of her brand. She’s made being yourself online a revolutionary concept in the age of social media, where everything about everyone is easily accessible and up for debate. Her YouTube is widely revered for its vignette-style glimpses into her life – her wardrobe of thrifted pieces, low-fi travel diaries, and a video of her making soup. Even at the Met Gala, the most curated of places, she lifts the veil of exclusivity and defies the standards of ‘cool’. When she attended for the first time in 2021, she hosted the red carpet for American Vogue’s YouTube channel. After interviewing celebrities for hours at the top of the steps, Chamberlain recalls being so uncomfortable standing in heels that she had to take them off, put on sandals, and stand on a soap box to compensate for the height difference.
“I’m not in this to be the coolest person in the room because, to be honest, who cares?” she says. “I feel that what I have to offer as a person is being a good person.”
As she crosses into adulthood, Chamberlain is already diving head-first into her second act. “When you get to a certain point, you want to explore more things and keep evolving your career as you grow up.” She’s busier than ever and throwing herself into the business side of her ventures, running her coffee brand, which just finished raising a $7 million Series A funding round to create new products and expand its retail footprint.
Chamberlain sent waves through the media industry last year when she announced she would pause uploading videos to her YouTube channel, a choice informed by feeling the overwhelming demand for output as a content creator today. After a six-month hiatus, she returned to the platform in June with a new style. Her videos are more event-driven and less invasive of her everyday life. She’s ditched weekly vlogging in favor of posting once a month. And she’s changing her boundaries. Despite having millions of eyes on her, there aren’t many things Chamberlain feels uncomfortable sharing, she says, unless it includes her family or personal relationships, which she’d rather spare from “the wrath of the internet”.
“There have been periods in my career where I’ve been lost and confused and not sure what to do next,” she says. “I’ve tried things that haven’t worked, and I’m grateful that people have given me enough of a chance to work it out. Things will continue to evolve for me, but as long as it’s coming from my heart and I’m excited about it, it doesn’t matter who’s watching or if it gets picked up in the algorithm. That’s the best way to avoid burnout.”
Earlier this year, Chamberlain released a podcast episode called There Is a Culture Shift Coming, a three-part analysis of the current social-media landscape. She addressed her fatigue with YouTube – the platform that built her career but also became an all-consuming, 24/7 presence in her life.
“The speed that content creators can create and share is unlike any other medium prior. There are so many people who have so much to offer but never had an opportunity before, because there wasn’t a medium. Now, the world is everyone’s oyster, and I think that’s a beautiful thing. But I do wonder what’s going to happen. It feels like we’re at a place where we’re just running out. What’s next?”
Chamberlain lights up while talking about becoming a podcaster. Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain started as a running joke among her friends, who all said she needed to blow off some steam – but, to her surprise, it quickly become her favorite platform. Each week, she shares whatever is on her mind, from existential crises to female friendships. It’s a place where she allows herself to think freely with no judgment. “Part of doing creative things is making time to think. I spend a lot of my time literally staring at a wall, thinking; I let my mind be free. I consider it a part of my job because, whether they’re mundane or deep, my thoughts will probably end up on the podcast somewhere.”
“I feel the most harmonious when I have a lot of things to do,” she concludes, on what fulfils her today. “I’m not on my phone as much, scrolling through the ‘junk food’ of the internet. It keeps me in alignment and allows me to just think about my own shit – and not everyone else’s shit.”
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