Lexi Rivera Talks Content, Comedy, and Career Growth

Forbes

​ @AlexaRivera   has built a 55+ million follower empire across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—and she’s just getting started. In this episode of the Forbes Top Creators Show, Lexi opens up about growing up in a family of digital creators, quitting college after one day, and turning consistent posting into a global brand. She shares how she balances different styles across platforms and why staying authentic is key to both content and brand partnerships.   00:00 – Intro: Meet Lexi Rivera 01:00 – Growing Up in a Creator Family 02:30 – Early Vine Days With Brent Rivera 04:00 – Leaving College After One Day 05:30 – Starting Her Own YouTube Channel 07:30 – Pranks, Challenges, and Building Her Style 09:00 – Defining Her Comedy and Creative Voice 11:00 – Balancing Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok Audiences 13:00 – Lexi’s YouTube Formula: Planning and Production 15:00 – How She Thinks About Brand Deals 17:00 – The Business Behind Lexi’s Multi-Platform Strategy 19:00 – Working With Prada, Neutrogena, Snapchat 21:00 – Creative Freedom and Brand Collaborations 23:00 – Launching a Future Fashion Brand 25:00 – Thoughts on Acting and What’s Next 26:00 – Lexi’s Advice to Her Younger Self  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Don't get discouraged if something doesn't perform as you had hoped.

00:04It really is only a matter of time until consistency really pays off.

00:12Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Forbes Top Creator Show.

00:15I'm your host, Forbes editor Stephen Bertone.

00:17And today I'm here with creator, filmmaker, comedian, Lexi Rivera.

00:23Lexi, welcome.

00:24Hey, guys. Thank you for having me.

00:26Thanks for joining us.

00:27And thanks for live at the Forbes Top Creator Shoot.

00:29This is great to have you.

00:30Yeah. Well, thank you. I'm very excited.

00:32So you've been like you mentioned before that you've been doing this for a very long time, even though you're very young.

00:38Yes.

00:38First of all, tell me how did this all start to talk to me about your creator journey?

00:43OK, so technically, for getting technical, my creator career started when I was 11.

00:5111. OK.

00:51Because my older brother has been doing it for forever.

00:54And I was in his vines from like age 11 to whenever vine died.

01:00Whatever I want to say.

01:02But my career, like personally, I started my own YouTube channel when I was 18.

01:08So it's been a little while.

01:10So your brother, Brent Rivera, has been a top creator for Forbes.

01:13Yes.

01:14And he was like, was he like the OG in the family doing this?

01:16Oh, yeah. He was like the first one to do this.

01:20He was the reason why it was OK for me to not go to college.

01:23Because if my parents didn't see that there was some success there, then they probably would have been like, no, you got to go.

01:30Were you in your brother's films from like 11 onward?

01:33Yes.

01:34What were you doing?

01:35I hope you guys don't find this stuff.

01:39But I was doing like, I was just like in his little vine skits.

01:44Like vines were, what, eight seconds, I think.

01:47He would just do like impressions.

01:49I would like react.

01:50It was just, there's a lot going on.

01:52And when you started doing YouTube, kind of what was the motivation and what sort of things were you doing early on when you're on your own?

01:58Yeah.

01:58So when I first started my YouTube channel, I kind of did my research.

02:02I was like, what do I think is going to do well for me?

02:05And I think, I honestly think that my first YouTube video was like a, like get to know me, like a Q&A about myself.

02:13OK.

02:15Things have changed a lot from then.

02:17But that was like kind of what I started with.

02:19I did that.

02:20And then I would do content similar to like brands because obviously I knew that that worked and I knew how to do it.

02:25And I've been around it for so long.

02:28And then from there, you know, I would post consistently.

02:30And then I started to kind of, you know, get the swing of things and did my things my way.

02:36Yeah.

02:36Your brother was an early Vine star, right?

02:38Yes.

02:39Like with millions of followers.

02:40Yeah.

02:41And what was like, you know, you have, I met your other brother today.

02:44And like, it's a, it's a family affair.

02:46I love that.

02:46Oh, yeah, yeah.

02:47What were people thinking?

02:47Like, what was your, what were your parents thinking?

02:49What were you guys thinking when he was doing all these Vines and getting famous and making money?

02:53Yeah.

02:54Well, I always was like, I mean, sorry, Brent, but I was always like, that's cringy.

03:01Like when Brent was doing it, I was kind of not really interested.

03:04I never really like had in my head like, oh, like I could maybe do this as a career too.

03:09That was never my thought.

03:10Okay.

03:10Um, but my parents were always super supportive.

03:14They were supportive of Brent.

03:15They're supportive of me.

03:16They're supportive of my whole family.

03:19Um, so that's nice to just like have, you know, your family there that is encouraging and, you know, you can do no wrong.

03:26And so that, that part's good.

03:29You said before you were, you finished high school and did you have a YouTube channel during high school or was this after high school?

03:35So technically I had a YouTube channel during high school.

03:39My, um, older brothers would post gymnastics videos of me on the channel.

03:44Okay.

03:45Um, those have since been archived, so don't try to find them.

03:51But I had the YouTube channel like throughout high school technically, but I didn't start really taking it seriously until like my senior year.

03:59What were you into in high school?

04:00Cause I know you said, were you a gymnast all the way through?

04:02So I was a gymnast until right before high school.

04:04Okay.

04:05And then I started to do dance.

04:06So I would do like ballet, contemporary, like that kind of dance style.

04:10And then I was also on the high school dance team.

04:14So I would dance at like the football games and things like that.

04:17And then you were saying before you applied to college, you went to college, but then something happened.

04:23Tell me about the change of trajectory.

04:26So, like I said, like this career was not really on my radar at all.

04:31I thought like, oh, this is, you know, my brother's thing.

04:34I, you know, have other things going on.

04:36But the, I also thought like that people maybe didn't care, you know?

04:41So I waited until I got a million followers on Instagram.

04:45And then I was like, if I get a million followers on Instagram, like I'll know that people care.

04:49And so it wasn't until then that I actually like started posting on YouTube.

04:53You went to college.

04:53Yeah.

04:54You said for a very short amount of time.

04:56Yeah.

04:57And then decided to go full into creator mode.

05:00Yeah.

05:00Tell me about that.

05:00So I knew that if I did college and tried to do, you know, social media as a career that I would be decent at both, you know, I get decent grades.

05:10I'd, you know, perform, I like produce decent videos, but I knew that if I really focused on one, it would probably, probably be better.

05:18And I ended up taking a chance on social media and I deferred from college.

05:23I can still go back to college if I want to.

05:26Where did you go to school?

05:27I committed to UC Santa Barbara.

05:28Okay.

05:29Um, I got in for school, for dance.

05:32So that would have been, it would have been fun.

05:34It would have been nice, but I'm really glad that I'm really glad that I didn't go.

05:40But you went to college for what, one day and then change your mind?

05:43Yes.

05:43I went for one day.

05:45I checked out the campus.

05:48Um, and then right after that, I was like, you know what?

05:51I think that we're going to try to do social media.

05:55And what did the family say?

05:57They were supportive.

05:57They knew that I was kind of iffy going into it.

06:01Um, the whole summer before the first day of college, I was, I didn't know what I was going to do.

06:06Like, I really didn't know until that first day.

06:09And then I was like, yeah, I'm going to, I'm not going to do this.

06:13Amazing.

06:13And you mentioned that you weren't going to start YouTube until you had a million followers on Instagram.

06:18Yeah.

06:18What year was this?

06:222018?

06:232018.

06:24So, but.

06:24I think so.

06:25But a million followers on Instagram, especially in 2018, was a big deal.

06:29Yeah.

06:30How did you, like, what were you posting and how did you kind of build that audience?

06:33Because a million in 2018 is a lot.

06:35Yeah.

06:35It still is a lot now, but it was a lot.

06:37Uh-huh.

06:38So Instagram used to have this thing.

06:40Well, they still have it, but it's kind of different now.

06:42But it was called the explore page.

06:44And if your post hit the explore page, you would, like, get a lot of followers.

06:50And I just kind of, I would post, you know, different things.

06:54Mostly, it was weird.

06:56Actually, now that I think about it, it's like, I don't even know, like, what I was posting to get a million followers.

07:02But it was just, like, I think just pictures that would hit the explore page and then people would follow me from it.

07:08Okay.

07:09Also, like, as you know, Brent did this before me.

07:12So, like, things like that.

07:14If he, like, reposted my thing or he tied me in a picture, like, that would help as well.

07:20So it was a lot, I feel like it was a lot easier to grow on Instagram then than it is now.

07:24But, yeah.

07:26Very cool.

07:26And you made this big decision.

07:28You left UCSB.

07:30Yeah.

07:30You left.

07:30You're home now.

07:31Yeah.

07:31And you're going to create content.

07:33What did you start creating and, like, how did you find your voice?

07:36So I started out, I'm still in this group.

07:39It's called AMP.

07:40And Brent had it already going on when I, like, went to college.

07:45But, well, when I went to the first day of college.

07:48But when I came back.

07:49You went.

07:49You still went.

07:50I went.

07:50It counts.

07:51Yes.

07:52I technically have a degree at this point.

07:54But so I went back and there were a few creators that were already in the group.

07:59And we would do videos together.

08:01So collaborations.

08:03It was mostly challenges were the trend on YouTube back when I was starting.

08:08So I'm trying to think of one, for example.

08:12There's a video where it's like, I'm pregnant.

08:14And it's like, it's like things like that.

08:16Like pranks.

08:17Okay.

08:17Pranks were a thing.

08:18Challenges were a thing.

08:20And that was kind of the content that I started out with.

08:23And I wouldn't necessarily say that it did super well right off the bat.

08:27But I think I would post consistently every Saturday.

08:30And it took me about a year for things to kind of start doing well.

08:34And then during the week, were you filming, producing, writing the whole week?

08:39Yeah.

08:39So I would plan my video.

08:42I'd film my video.

08:43And then since I was in, like, a filming group, I'd help other people film their videos.

08:48So I'm in.

08:49If I'm not filming my video, I'm filming someone else's.

08:51Do you remember the first piece of content that really took off and made a difference for you?

08:56On YouTube?

08:57On YouTube or in general, yeah.

09:00It's hard to pinpoint something because, like I said, I was posting consistently for so long before things started to gradually pick up.

09:10So I feel like there wasn't one specific, like, video.

09:14But, I mean, I do know that my I'm pregnant video is my most, like, viewed video on YouTube.

09:19But that was five years ago.

09:21Um, but, yeah, I would say it was more of a gradual thing than, like, a one specific post that, like, blew me up.

09:28How do you describe your content now?

09:29Because it's a good mix of things.

09:30There's contests.

09:32There's kind of over-the-top experiences, tours.

09:34Yeah.

09:34And there's skits and comedy.

09:36Like, how would you describe it?

09:37I know.

09:37I, when people ask me this, I'm like, I don't know.

09:40Because when I get nominated for things, they put me under the lifestyle category.

09:44Okay.

09:45Um, which I'll take.

09:47I mean, if you, if you want to describe it as lifestyle, like, okay.

09:50But for me, it's just, it really is just, like, a mix of everything.

09:55Um, I would say it's probably most, not even challenge-based.

10:01Because I do, like, it really is everything.

10:05I would say, like, my Instagram is more lifestyle.

10:07My TikTok is more lifestyle.

10:09But my YouTube is just, like, a mash-up of everything and anything.

10:14Yeah, you do a lot of skits.

10:15And, like, how do you describe your comedy?

10:16And where'd you get the, kind of, your comic sense from?

10:19I would say my, my comedy's a little bit, like, dry, uh, I guess.

10:26It's kind of dry.

10:27It's kind of awkward, you know?

10:28Not a lot of people laugh when I say something funny.

10:31Um, but, I, I don't know.

10:35I don't really know who I got it from either.

10:36My dad's kind of funny.

10:38Okay.

10:38My mom's not super funny.

10:40I'm just kidding.

10:41Well, she's not.

10:42But, like, my, my dad is.

10:44Yeah.

10:44And the skits are a lot of, like, you putting yourself in, like, embarrassing situations.

10:48Yeah.

10:48So, it's very, you know, self-deprecating in a way.

10:51Like, tell me how you, like, think of a comedy sketch.

10:53So, the videos kind of, the jokes kind of write themselves when I do specific videos.

11:00Um, for example, like, my last video, there was, like, I did, like, a hotel room video.

11:05And there was, like, a bartender in there.

11:07And she was, like, cracking jokes.

11:09And everyone was, like, laughing at her jokes.

11:11And then I would be, like, um, oh, um, make this one good.

11:15You only get one shot.

11:18Do you get it?

11:19Yeah, I get it.

11:19Yep.

11:19Yeah.

11:20It's that kind of thing.

11:21And everyone was, like, groaning.

11:22And everyone was, like, eh.

11:23Yeah.

11:24So, that, I mean, the jokes write themselves, you know.

11:27Yeah.

11:28It's interesting.

11:28Because you have, like, most, a lot of creators, like, you're on, you have, how many followers

11:32do you have now?

11:33Total?

11:34Yeah.

11:3517.5 on YouTube.

11:3729.1 on TikTok.

11:39And 8 million on Instagram.

11:41You have over 55 million followers right now.

11:42Okay.

11:43I like the math.

11:44Over 55 million followers.

11:45And across, you know, you're huge on TikTok.

11:48You're huge on Instagram.

11:49You're huge on YouTube.

11:51I mean, your subscribers on YouTube, what you said, 16 million subscribers?

11:5417.

11:55Sorry.

11:56That's amazing.

11:57And a lot of creators, I mean, you know, they do similar things on all the platforms.

12:01Yeah.

12:02But your platforms are very different.

12:03Yeah.

12:03You know, your YouTube is, it's comedy, it's skits, it's, you know, life, not lifestyle,

12:09but, you know.

12:09Yeah.

12:10And then your Instagram is almost like luxury travel and, you know, fashion model.

12:14You're like a fashion model on your Instagram page.

12:17Yeah.

12:17Tell me about, like, those two different sides of life you have.

12:20So I think when I started YouTube, like, I knew what people wanted to watch.

12:24I knew the videos that do well.

12:26I still do.

12:27I still know what kind of videos do well for my audience on YouTube.

12:31And I think the content there is very different from, like, my Instagram content because my

12:37Instagram, you know, I could actually post, like, you know, stories of, like, yeah, like

12:42my travels and, like, what I'm doing.

12:43And it's a little more natural.

12:45It's a little more my vibe.

12:46But when it comes to YouTube, like, I just think my audiences are a little different

12:52as well.

12:52So I kind of like to, like, I tend to my audience on YouTube as more of a, it's more of a kid

13:01friendly vibe on YouTube.

13:02And I, yeah, it's just like that type of content that does better for me on YouTube.

13:08Um, and then Instagram, I feel like I can kind of just be myself and, you know, show

13:12like my clothes, my shoes, like things that I like.

13:16And it, it still does well.

13:17I just have like a, I just have two different audiences.

13:20Gotcha.

13:20So like the YouTube is more young, younger kid friendly audience and the Instagram and

13:25TikTok is more like your peers.

13:27I would say so.

13:28Okay.

13:28And that's just my opinion.

13:29But I would say it's kind of like that.

13:32Cool.

13:32You said before that, you know, you kind of had this formula for what like Alexi Rivera video

13:37works on YouTube, break it down.

13:39Like when you make a YouTube video, what are the kind of things you make sure you do for

13:42the formula?

13:43It's a whole Lexi formula, like break it down for me.

13:46Okay.

13:46So it starts with thinking of an idea and this part, I, I have yet to perfect this part because

13:52I'm very, um, indecisive.

13:55So it takes me a while to commit to an idea.

13:58Um, but once I do commit to it, then the planning begins.

14:03So say there's travel involved.

14:05You make sure that, you know, we could have like a nice travel route.

14:09And then from there, we'll do an outline.

14:12The outline takes like a day to do.

14:16Um, and then like the filming starts typically filming nowadays is kind of all over the place.

14:23It used to take in my beginning years, it would take like one day for like all the filming

14:29to be done for a YouTube video.

14:31So it's not the case anymore, unfortunately.

14:34Now it takes me, I've had this one video going on for two weeks now, but it's just because

14:39it requires me to travel.

14:40There's just a lot more going on and things like that.

14:44Do you have a whole film crew?

14:45Like what's your production crew like?

14:46So I have a pretty small crew compared to most people or what you may think.

14:52So I have a filmer and then a manager and then a production assistant.

14:59Okay.

14:59So I don't have like too many people, but I kind of like it that way because it's more

15:05intimate and you're really getting people's like ideas and people are, you know, speaking

15:10out and saying what they think.

15:12So I kind of like the smaller crew better.

15:15Very cool.

15:16And then how do you come up with your Instagram ideas?

15:18Because your Instagram shoots are almost like fashion shoots.

15:21Tell me about how those go down and how that works.

15:23Yeah.

15:23So when I, cause I travel a lot for YouTube, for brands, for all kinds of things.

15:32And I like to take pictures when I'm traveling because it's just the most natural thing for

15:36me.

15:37Whenever I'm home, I'm like, what, like, what can I take a picture of?

15:40Like myself, just like a selfie or something.

15:42But I would say that most of my photo shoots happen when I'm like on trips because it's

15:47just natural and it's easy.

15:48I'm dressed up anyways.

15:50And, um, yeah, that's kind of, there's not too much planning that goes into my Instagram,

15:55but yeah, I would say it's, I try to keep it real.

16:01Nice.

16:01And you live, you live down in Orange County.

16:03Yes.

16:03Okay.

16:03And you do a lot of your shooting down there.

16:05Um, for film, like for YouTube.

16:07Yeah.

16:08Like most of my, like my intros are at like my house normally.

16:12Um, a lot of clips, like if I do a product video, for example, I'll film it like all

16:16at my house.

16:17So yeah.

16:18What is kind of, tell me about the business of Lexi Rivera.

16:21Like you work with a lot of brands and you have all different audiences.

16:24Like how do you make money?

16:25So I, I would say I make most of my revenue from YouTube.

16:31Um, that's just, you know, from posting consistently and for, from doing it for so long.

16:36And lots of, you have billions of views, right?

16:37Yeah.

16:38So AdSense is a big part of that.

16:39Yeah, for sure.

16:40Um, other than that, brand deals are super important.

16:44Um, I do a decent amount of brand deals, but it's kind of hard for me because I really

16:49only like to work with brands that I actually use or brands that like I feel would be natural

16:55in my content.

16:57Um, so brand deals is a thing.

17:00I, that's kind of, I don't make, I turned off my AdSense for TikTok.

17:07I don't make money on Instagram unless it's a brand deal.

17:10So I would say I mostly make it from YouTube and brand deals.

17:14It's interesting.

17:15So you, you turned off the TikTok AdSense and, and Instagram, how do you kind of use, if

17:22you look at, if you think of Instagram, YouTube and TikTok as three different tools, how do you

17:27use each one?

17:27Like what is the, your kind of goal when you post on TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube?

17:32So Instagram is kind of like for the friends.

17:39Instagram is like.

17:40You're millions of, you're millions of friends.

17:41Yeah.

17:42My millions of friends, my millions of besties.

17:44Instagram is kind of just like updates, you know, um, like pictures when like, I feel like

17:51I have, you know, a bunch of good photos, I'll put them out there.

17:53Or, um, and then obviously like brands to like collaborate with, they sometimes want

17:59like, you know, a reel on Instagram or things like that.

18:03Um, but actually apps have also like Instagram and Snapchat, like when they have new features,

18:10they'll reach out to me to like post and use their new features.

18:14Okay.

18:14Um, and that also, you know, pays.

18:17Nice.

18:17Okay.

18:18Um, you want to like test drive it and promote new, new things.

18:21Yeah.

18:21Which is cool.

18:23Um, but I would say Instagram is more for like, you know, popping out.

18:26Okay.

18:27So I would say TikTok is kind of like all about trends.

18:32Yeah.

18:32So someone that, you know, has zero followers could have a video that has 20 million views.

18:39And I really like that about TikTok because it's kind of just like, you know, a trend

18:43is a trend and it doesn't matter.

18:45Like anyone can get viral from TikTok, which I think is really cool.

18:49So yeah, TikTok is mostly for me and like posting trends and dances and like fun little

18:55videos like that.

18:55Cause it's obviously much shorter content than YouTube.

18:59So for YouTube, it's my videos nowadays are like 14 to 20 minutes long.

19:04And it actually like shows you, um, like what devices people are watching them on.

19:10And a lot of, a lot of my audience are watching it on their TVs.

19:13So I would say I post on YouTube for like the more laid back content where people can

19:17just like sit and relax and hang out for like 20 minutes.

19:20And, um, it's still obviously, hopefully entertaining.

19:23And, um, yeah.

19:24On YouTube, do you feel like, are you playing a character or like a fictional version of yourself

19:29versus the other, um, other platforms?

19:32I try to, um, incorporate my personality and my YouTube videos as much as I can.

19:38Um, like my humor, it's, I'm, I'm pretty much the same, like in my videos that I am in real

19:45life.

19:45Okay.

19:45Um, which is good.

19:46Cause I would, I would hate to like, you know, go to work every day and pretend to be somebody

19:49else.

19:50Like that would suck.

19:51So, um, yeah, I would say I'm pretty much in my videos.

19:55I'm kind of like how I would be right now.

19:57You mentioned before you try to work with brands of products and companies that you would

20:01use anyway and that you like and support.

20:03Tell me about some of those brands.

20:04Um, for example, I did a brand deal with Prada and that one was really fun and really natural

20:10for me because I love fashion and, um, and I love Prada.

20:15So things like that.

20:17Also, um, I've done a few brand deals for like makeup brands.

20:21I've done like Neutrogena and things like that.

20:23And those are also super natural for me cause I wear makeup.

20:27Um, but yeah, I really only, I prefer to collaborate with brands that I actually use because, you

20:33know, it's like, I care about my audience and I, I don't want them buying something that

20:37I'm like, Oh, I've never used this before.

20:39And then like collaborating with the actual platforms on like their new features, like,

20:45um, Snapchat, when they first introduced spotlight or like Instagram, when they first came out

20:49with reels, cause those are obviously so natural on posting anyways.

20:54Um, so yeah.

20:56Were you surprised by reels in the sense of when it first came out and just how big it's

20:59gotten?

21:00Uh, yeah, because it's just, it's so crazy.

21:04Cause it went from, there was actually, do you remember IGTV?

21:07Like that was a thing and then, and then it wasn't, um, but reels are, are super cool.

21:14And then I think they also have like a thing where some creators can get paid from reels.

21:21It's like a revenue thing going on, but I like reels and I think that they help you gain

21:26followers and they also have like a new thing called trials, which is also cool.

21:30Um, but yeah, I mean, I love when they come out with new things that I can try.

21:34Yeah.

21:34You can test drive it.

21:35Yeah.

21:36In terms of, um, you mentioned when you work with brands, like how do you like to work?

21:40What's like the best way to collaborate with brands in terms of creating a piece of content,

21:44like product, for example, take me through that.

21:45Like they've reached out to you, like I'm a huge fan and then take it from there.

21:49Yeah.

21:50So pretty much they asked for two TikToks and then I also got invited to their fashion show

21:57in Milan, which was so exciting.

21:58And, um, honestly I would have done that brand deal for free, but I, I'm like, I'm like, I

22:04love Prada.

22:05Just like, give me some clothes.

22:07Yeah.

22:07Don't put that.

22:08Yeah.

22:08No, okay.

22:09Barter, barter deal.

22:10I'll trade you for clothes.

22:11Yeah.

22:12Um, but they, they asked for two tech talks.

22:14Um, one of them, actually they both were transitions.

22:18They'll give me audios to use typically.

22:21Okay.

22:22Um, so that's like the only thing with the, like they weren't super specific, which

22:28I love.

22:29I love when a brand isn't like, you know, don't do this, don't do that, you know, because

22:33then it's not as natural.

22:34And I like when they're more laid back and I can send them something and they like, they

22:38love it because it's, it's just hard when like you send them something and it's like,

22:43Oh, can you go back and change this or change that?

22:47Prada was fun because they gave me a lot of creative freedom.

22:49Um, and I did like two transition tech talks.

22:53I, you know, I sent them over.

22:55They loved it.

22:55It was super easy, easy going.

22:58And most of my brand deals nowadays are that way because like I said, I only like to commit

23:03to ones that like, I feel are going to be authentic.

23:06So yeah.

23:07Is there a difference between how you film and create a brand deal piece of content versus

23:11just one, an organic one for yourself?

23:13Um, the goal is that there's not much of a difference.

23:17Um, obviously for YouTube, if there's like an integration, you do have to take a second,

23:22like a, say a 30 second integration, right?

23:24You do have to take that 30 seconds and talk about the brand.

23:28But normally it's, it's pretty natural and it flows smoothly and it normally works out.

23:34But I wouldn't say that my brand deals are like too different from like my actual content.

23:38So you're 23 years old right now.

23:40You have 55 million plus followers.

23:42Yeah.

23:43Like, where are we going?

23:44Like, what are you excited about?

23:45If we're going to sit down here in a year or two, like, what are you going to be excited

23:49about doing?

23:50Um, I would love to kind of start my own brand thing going on.

23:56Um, my brother released like a chip brand that he's super excited about.

24:01Yeah, he teased that last time we were here.

24:02He was teasing the brand.

24:03Yeah, the chips.

24:04So they're, they're going to be out.

24:07And I think for me, I like, I love fashion so much.

24:10They'd be cool to just have kind of like a clothing line and clothing brand that, you

24:16know, I think that'd be cool.

24:17What kind of clothing, what style would you, would you do?

24:20What kind of fashion?

24:21Well, that's hard because I, I would say bikinis cause I, I'm very particular about my, like

24:30the bikinis that I wear.

24:31So I would say that, but I also just love like leisure wear, like sweats and like sweatsuits

24:38and things like that.

24:39So that would also be like basics.

24:41Sweats and bikinis.

24:41That's perfect.

24:42Okay.

24:43We'll put it together.

24:43And in terms of, you know, you do a lot of, you know, your, your YouTube is their full blown

24:49productions.

24:50They're full blown episodes of shows, if you will.

24:53And then your Instagram is, is more photo shoots.

24:55And then TikTok is all over the place.

24:57Do you see yourself doing more traditional acting or directing or producing in the future?

25:03Tell me about that.

25:03Yeah.

25:04I think in the future, like I could see myself doing some acting, like that would be so fun

25:09for me.

25:10Like I've done, I'm actually not even going to bring up what I've done.

25:14You got to tease it.

25:15What have you done?

25:16No, no, no.

25:17Um, I think in the future, like acting would be cool, but for me right now, I kind of want

25:25to like ride this wave of like my YouTube, Instagram, TikTok until the wheels fall off.

25:31Cause I love it so much.

25:32And I'm in such like a, a pattern, like a, like every week is like, it's fun and it's

25:38different for me.

25:39And like, I really love what I'm doing right now, but I think in the future, like when

25:43I have more time, like it would be kind of nice to transition into maybe acting or something

25:49different.

25:50Speaking about time, last question, if you could go back in time and give like the 18

25:55year old you one piece of advice before you dove full time into becoming a creator, like

26:00what advice would you give your younger self?

26:02I would say don't get discouraged if something doesn't perform as you had hoped.

26:08Um, it really is only a matter of time until, you know, consistency like really pays off.

26:14And I would say, you know, just keep going.

26:17Don't get down on yourself.

26:18Like it's going to be fine.

26:20And it's a good thing you didn't go to college.

26:23Perfect.

26:24Well, Lexi Rivera, thanks so much for joining the Top Creator Show.

26:26Thank you for having me.

26:27This is so much fun.

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