Behind the Influence

Pokimane attributes her epic rise to the #1 female gamer on Twitch to two things - her genuine passion and love for gaming, and her incredible community of fans. Poki's followers adore her, and when she arrived at the studio, it was instantly clear why. Not only is Pokimane a skilled and talented gamer, she is bright, kind, and well-spoken. After meeting her, I would wait in line for 3 hours at Twitchcon for a glimpse of Poki too. With over 79 MILLION total views on the streaming platform, a Shorty Award under her belt, and her own documentary on Amazon, Imane is changing the game. Poki shares how she's overcome stereotypes, navigated the industry, and leaned on her Twitch community during hard times. Of course we also talked #trolls.

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Food Industry Trailblazer Roy Choi forever changed the culinary world with his legendary Kogi food truck, and hasn’t stopped since. He's successfully launched restaurants, wrote a NY Times Best Selling book, and is the star of "Broken Bread." But it wasn't always like that for the innovative Chef. There were challenges along the way, which he candidly discussed. What you'll get from this podcast: How Twitter played a massive role in his rise to success, details on his new show Breaking Bread, and what's next for his growing empire.

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When Baby Ariel started creating lip-sync videos for fun at her Grandma's house, she had no idea she would build an empire of 30 Million fans a long the way. Ariel has achieved her success through mindful authenticity, and she was just as down to earth and real during our interview. Ariel discusses her rise on Musical.ly (now TikTok), her latest single Wildside, and how being unapologetically herself allowed her to pursue her other passions, like writing a book and fulfilling her bucket list dream of directing.

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After touring the world and selling millions of records as a K-pop artist with her group Girls' Generation, Tiffany Young has returned to Los Angeles to go solo. Interviewing Tiffany was beyond refreshing. Despite her undeniable success, the ground-breaking performer couldn't have been more warm and genuine. It is clear that Tiffany highly values integrity - she didn't hesitate to open up about both the highs and lows of her journey. On this episode, Tiffany tells all about learning Korean for her career, what it's really like working in the K-pop industry, her rigorous training schedule, her transition girl group to a solo artist, and what she is working on next. Stick around until the end of the interview to hear her new single, "Run For Your Life."

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Whether you were first introduced to him on Vine where he was literally the most followed personality on the platform (17M followers and 6B loops to be exact), or you've laughed hysterically watching the infamous comedy sketches on his instagram page that boasts another 18M followers - its safe to say that Andrew Bachelor AKA King Bach is indeed, King. King of comedy? King of acting? King of music? King of the bitches? Check, check, check...check. On this episode, he breaks it all down: from his hilarious sketches on Instagram, to his latest film projects, to his history-making comedy album, Medicine...and of course, he dished on the ladies. In his words, Bach's Bitches. (How can you not love this guy?) I now also have a Bach signed pregnancy test that I plan to sell for 5 million dollars when he wins his first Oscar.

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With over 15M subscribers across its various Youtube channels and billions of views (yes billions) to date- Clevver Media paved the way for so many in the world of digital media. But those 15M subs and billions of views didn’t come easy – it took a team of badasses with insane talent, hard work and creativity to stay on top in a world where channel popularity and trends were constantly changing. Two of those badasses happen to be my dear friends, so I couldn’t wait to have them on my show and talk all of things. From the early days of shooting in a garage, to the mega success that followed them finding their niche, to eventually starting their own company.

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Jake Paul. Love him or hate him, you’ve heard the name. I have to admit, after chatting with him, I fall into the “love him” category. We all know the stats: 20M subscribers on YouTube, over 12M followers on Instagram…and that’s not including the countless other influencers he built from the ground up. But this interview was about more than just the views – Jake was open, honest, and genuinely fun. You don’t get to the top without extraordinary insights, and Jake shared those thoughts and plans for the future. Here’s what you’ll get from this interview: why Jake doesn’t want to be called a YouTuber, why he is “ex-controversial now,” details on who he plans to fight next (in the boxing ring), and the big moves he’s making in the music industry. After talking for more than an hour, we still barely scratched the surface of what he has in the works as a trailblazer, an entrepreneur, and an entertainer. Whatever words you could use to describe Jake, I assure you this - he’s just getting started. In his own words…he’s not going anywhere.  

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Gabbie Hanna, formally known as “The Gabbie Show,” is a YouTube OG. With almost 7M subscribers on YouTube and 4M followers on Instagram, she is undeniably a person of influence...but a “show” was the furthest thing I experienced when chatting with her. Gabbie was raw, real, and had such an interesting and evolved perspective on the digital world that she lives in. Some takeaways you’ll get from this podcast: why she’s no longer “The Gabbie Show,” but Gabbie Hanna, her thoughts on cancel culture and the sometimes toxic YouTube, what inspired her EP (the story is kinda crazy - I didn’t even believe at first), and how her platform has enabled her to transition into the world of her true passion: music.

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As one of the very first official YouTube partners, the word pioneer is an understatement when describing the impact that Ian Hecox of Smosh has had on creators everywhere. With almost 25M subscribers to date, Smosh has consistently been one of the top performing channels on YouTube since it launched over 15 years ago. For obvious reasons, I was very much looking forward to interviewing Ian: he’s a part of YouTube history. But also, because so many of my friends have worked with him over the years and had nothing but stellar things to say about him as a creator and a person. What you’ll get from this interview: the backstory of Smosh and how it became the #1 most subscribed to channel on Youtube (with stories of hurdles along the way), Ian’s take on why Smosh has had staying power on YouTube, why he chose to continue on with the channel after his partner Anthony decided to depart, where the behemoth of a brand stands today, and of course, some advice for all you creators out there.

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