On December 13th, Her Campus at UCLA had the pleasure of attending the 9th Annual Streamy Awards, held at The Beverly Hilton! As a show dedicated to celebrating the best in online video, the Streamy Awards was a night of festivity, honoring all online creators! We were able to speak with all our favorite YouTube stars, and many shared their thoughts about female empowerment, practicing self-care and their favorite Girl Bosses. Check out all our highlights below!
Hannah Stocking, nominated for Comedy, shared that if she could go back 10 years, she would encourage her 2010 self to embrace her weirdness: “In high school I was really hard on myself, and I didn’t really fit in. I would tell that scruffy kid to embrace it because it will help your career in the future.”
Kalen Allen commented on the fashion trends of 2019. He listed “Chaps” as the best and bougie sweat clothes as the worst! Kalen is famous for his personal commentary on topics including online recipe videos and fashion, teaming with Ellen Degeneres for segments of OMKalen.
Sierra Schultzzie, one of the nominees for Fashion, shared what makes her feel most empowered: “Being around other empowering people, around people who lift me up and make me feel like I can just be myself, makes it so much easier to break out of those insecurities.
Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej from Buzzfeed Unsolved gave us the inside scoop about their scariest encounters on the show! Ryan shared how in the season finale they caught a ghost on camera, “In that episode I had to explore an entire prison by myself, and I lost a part of my mind. I think a part of my brain is still left there, in Charleston’s city jail. Shane considers the episode with the Winchester Mansion to be the scariest experience, sleeping alone in a room in the mansion!
Patrick Starr told us that his favorite part about 2019 was the relationships he has been able to build. He hopes that for 2020, creators are able to take more digital detoxes, advocating for mental health and authenticity. He advised finding people and making relationships offline, talking to people outside of the online world.
Zach Kornfeld and Ned Fulmer from The Try Guys both gushed about their partners when we asked them about the inspirational women in their lives! They also shared about how hurtful it can be for one’s mentality to read negative comments on YouTube: “Remind yourself that one negative comment has the emotional weight in your mind as one thousand positive comments. You should be creating content for fun and enjoying it. If it gets to the point where it’s making you feel more bad than good, that’s a problem.”
On what makes her feel most empowered, Ashley aka bestdressed shared: “There is nobody on YouTube that is telling you what to do. I’m my own writer, my own actor, my own producer. And I’ve learned that especially in Hollywood, those have been traditionally male roles, which is why I think it’s taken much longer in Hollywood for women to have roles. YouTube is a great space.”
To stay updated on all the latest news, make sure to follow Streamy Awards on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat! Thanks so much for having us!