Get Ready With Her (GRWH): Kristyn Alexis YouTubes, 64,000+ Follow
Photos: Kristyn Alexis at her home studio
Written and Photographed by William Bryant Rozier
YouTuber Kristyn Alexis has now tightened her video production and content game. When Alexis launched her channel (KristynAlexis) two years ago, she used by-the-window lighting and an adequate camera.
Her first video about resume and interviewing was admittedly “corny,” and compared to her current weekly output, imbued with professional lights and an impressive camera, “it now feels like I’m talking to a friend,” Alexis said.
The Internet can be treacherous (Alexis is not Kristyn’s real surname.) But it can also be very embracing, like when Alexis began accruing subscribers.
“I thought it was cool that people care enough to want to see what you do next,” Alexis said. With 64,000+ YouTube subscribers (as of 3/19/18), Alexis now “has enough followers to fill up a stadium.” Most of her subscribers come from California and Florida. She has global followers too, from Africa, Brazil, etc. “You can tell by the way they compose their sentences [in the comments] that English is not their first language,” Alexis said. “Even though they know I’m speaking a different in language, they still want to follow me.”
Alexis’s “best of both worlds” style is a combo of “girly talk” and professional business advice. Her dual identity is exemplified by her video categories: Be Girly (e.g. “What To Wear On A Date”) and Be A Boss (e.g. “Save Money Versus Paying off Debt”).
Her reoccurring segments and motifs vary. For example, Her CHIT CHAT GRWM (Get Ready With Me) segments show Alexis applying make-up while discussing a topic or modeling different outfits. (Her fiancée, Bryan, cameos often.)
Sometimes, Alexis’s “girly talk” veers into the confessional, like her GRWM video about her divorce, honestly and unabashedly titled, “Why My Husband Left Me.”
She applies make-up while telling the very relatable story about a couple (newly-christened parents) who married too young, told by a 35-year-old corporate professional (by day) with perspective.
Alexis was drawn to YouTube out of curiosity (“I wanted to see if I could do it without knowing anything about it and master it.”) and also wanting to produce material like the previously mentioned GRWM.
“I wanted to reach girls who were like me when I was younger. I was a teen mom, and I didn’t have anyone helping me navigate higher education and [later] corporate America,” Alexis said. “I wanted people to get to the same place that I am with my career and my life, but in a shorter amount of time.”
Alexis, born and raised in Lansing, Michigan, proudly asserted that she graduated from Everett High School. “It’s known as the Magic Johnson High School.”
She became pregnant with her son Aries at Everett; her 18-year-old, who also cameos in the videos, is set to graduate and attend college himself. (Alexis also has twin boys.)
Alexis studied advertising then marketing as an under grad and at graduate school, respectively, both at Michigan State.
She became obsessed with marketing at age 9. “I had fascination with Robin Givens in that movie [“Boomerang” (1992)] where she played a marketing executive.” Robin Givens owned the role of Jacqueline.
Since graduate school, however, Alexis has worked in every function of corporate America. She’s a project manager now. “But I never really made it back to marketing with the exception of my social media.”
YouTube Explained
“Everything I’ve done in my life, I’ve checked these boxes. Once you do this, you can do that.” For Kristyn Alexis, the next box to check is the very getable 100,000-subscriber milestone.
YouTube’s subscriber milestones determine when a content provider can start earning money and how accessible their channel is. When a provider hits 100 subscribers, a provider gets a unique, custom URL.
Once 1,000 subscribers are hit, a provider can monetize their channel.
“Everything I make on YouTube I invest on my channel,” Alexis said. When she needs to upgrade her visuals, she contracts local professional filmmakers. The attention to detail, from the videos themselves to the picture thumbnails, is done to make her channel advertising friendly, according to Alexis.
Companies now offer free products to sample for her videos; some products pitched aren’t selected.
“I turned down an offer to review phone cases. My audience would [think] I was crazy if I started talking about phone cases. I’ve never talked about them.”
Kristyn Alexis’s audience knows Kristyn Alexis.
Click to visit Kristyn's Youtube Page
I run Scrambled Egg(s) Design and Productions, based out of Northeast Indiana. In addition to producing in-house company projects, I also create advertising materials for companies and organizations, with an emphasis on interactivity.