It all started with a viral video … Alison “Ali” Bridge, a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism, is a YouTuber on campus. Her channel has amounted to over 2,000 subscribers, but she has not always had such a substantial following.
Bridge said that the idea of starting a channel was actually sparked by her dad, making a video of their family’s trip to Disney World that later went viral.
Bridge then decided she wanted to make videos such as the Disney video and continued creating content through starting her own channel.
“I just want people to smile when they watch my channel because I smile thinking about how much I love doing this,” Bridge says.
Bridge said since the creation of her channel she’s really been trying to focus on entertainment.
Since her first video, an Elsa and Anna makeup tutorial, Bridge has gained over 2,000 subscribers, and her top video has over 46,000 views. She has uploaded 101 videos to her channel over the past three years.
“Looking back at old videos is really funny because they’re different than my videos now. But, I would never take them down because they show progress and my improvements,” Bridge says.
Ali Bridge’s brother, Ryan Bridge has made an appearance in one of her videos as well.
The Bridge siblings collaborated and made a “doing my brother’s makeup” video. The video had over 100,000 views, but Ali Bridge deleted it because her brother received a lot of backlash and bullying in high school.
“I enjoyed making the video, but once the kids from school starting seeing it I got embarrassed and it just caused a lot of anxiety,” Ryan Bridge says.
Bridge also inspired her roommate to start a channel as well.
Callaway Turner, a freshman in the division of undergraduate studies, talked about how starting a YouTube channel has always been something she has wanted to do. “It’s something I’ve always talked about, but Ali finally gave me the courage to do so. I’ve learned so much from her about the YouTube community,” Turner says.
Turner admires Bridge for being able to balance a channel and college at the same time. “She really knows how to dedicate her time and still have a following that loves her,” says Turner.
Bridge stresses the importance of being genuine on-and-off-camera. “Viewers can tell when something is genuine and when it’s not. I always want to be genuine and honest with my supporters because they mean the world to me,” Bridge says.
Turner also talked about how Bridge’s channel is something that she aspires to have. “I think Ali’s channel is really something a lot of people hope to have one day. The greatest thing is [that] she isn’t doing it for the money or for the followers, she really just loves what she does, and I think that is really important,” Turner says.
Bridge encourages everyone who wants to start a channel to just give in and make one. “My advice to anyone is to just keep going. Keep it real and it will get you ahead in the YouTube community,” Bridge says.
Bridge doesn’t see herself stopping her YouTube channel any time soon. This summer she hopes to make a lot of travel vlogs and get even more creative with it. She believes this is only the beginning of her channel and she can’t wait to keep building it into something bigger.
“I never thought I would continue this hobby into college, but then I discovered that’s what my viewers wanted the most,” Bridge says.
Watch Ali Bridge’s latest YouTube video about a weekend in her life below.
