Starting her channel at 14 years old, Jazzy Anne said she began vlogging her daily life and interests, attracting 1 million subscribers by her junior year of high school. 

After reflecting on her usual style of content, Jazzy Anne said she knew her channel held the potential to go beyond what people expected from her as a vlogger. Now, Jazzy Anne explores more serious topics with her content, making more documentary-leaning videos.

“I would have burned out and not continued my channel if I didn’t change,” she said. “I did get to a point where I (hated) every video I was making, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do about it. I’m really glad I didn’t give up, and I figured out something else.” 

Managing a YouTube channel of 1.59 million subscribers, Jazzy Anne garnered a worldwide audience with her relatable, casual content. Now, the radio-television-film junior shifted her channel in a direction that focuses on social commentary with an intent to implement skills she’s learned through her radio-television-film studies and the lessons acquired along the way.

“I’m just some girl, but it’s really cool that I can make a difference in some people’s lives,” she said. “Yes, (my videos) make people laugh, but now I have more serious content, and they make people seen and heard.”

Jazzy Anne said she feels most fulfilled seeing her impact on people offline. She said while on campus, students come up to her and say she inspires them to come to UT and study film.

Longtime viewer Rama Hamoudah, who first started watching Anne’s content as a junior in high school, said she always appreciated how she could relate to Jazzy Anne’s videos.

“She’s not afraid to talk about different subjects that can be difficult to talk about. It’s her openness and willingness to learn,” government junior Hamoudah said.

As a longtime friend of Anne, Miranda Laible said Jazzy Anne’s change in content — such as making social commentary videos — reflects her maturity and devotion to creating meaningful content.

“Sometimes she’ll leave the apartment at 2 p.m. and not come back until 2 a.m. because she’s been editing,” Laible, a psychology junior, said.  

Throughout the duration of her time on YouTube, Jazzy Anne said making videos had provided her with the chance to grow as a person, and to learn to have grace with herself during the creative process.

“There have been times where I have been in the middle of making a video, and I’ll think, ‘This is garbage.’ I have to remind myself that those are just insecurities,” she said. “I’ve done this for a long time, but I still get insecure.”

As Jazzy Anne works to evolve her creative identity through YouTube, she said she’s learning to embrace her change in direction.

“If you feel something changing, lean into it,” Jazzy Anne said. “You are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t allow that change to happen.”