In the last few months, an interesting and quite unexpected phenomenon has taken place in the world of Tanya Lochridge Jewelry. You might want to sit down for this...I have become infatuated with YouTube. I know...I said it would never happen, but you know what they say "never say never."
YouTube is a bit like doughnuts...in my book, you can never have just one. So, I discovered fleurdeforce, tanyaburr, zoella and Sprinkleofglitter -- lovely and quite witty girls from England who are equally enchanting. YouTube is a prime example of the old snowball effect -- through the girls I discovered lukeconard a talented young quirky musician and a bunch of his talented and unique friends along with Jim Chapman who does fun styling, life and grooming videos for men. Most of those I follow also do vlogs, which are a much less formal format, sharing snippets of their daily lives while being quite entertaining. It sure beats watching much of the programming on TV these days...but that's best left at that...for now.
I know, you're asking yourself why would an old lady be sitting around watching these youngsters on YouTube. I think it has to do with a few things; but primarily the fact that in every office in which I have worked I was always older than most of the other employees. I actually loved that fact...I fell into a much, much older sister, aunt, mom and even grandma role with many of the "youngsters" with whom I shared my day. Sometimes as a mentor; but in most cases it seems that we became friends, too. Living in this isolated little part of the world and working independently in most part from my own studio and office, the attachment to these "kids" on YouTube somehow replicates my earlier in-office experiences. I look at the snippets of their lives as a coworker walking down the hall in an office and popping their head in to say "hi" or sit and talk for a bit. So, I once again feel connected -- yet in a very disconnected way. At this point in my life, silly as it might sound, I feel like a proud grandma with this bunch.
Weird? Yes, maybe...no? All I know is I see these kids in their very early 20s working very hard at something they love and it gives me hope for the future. There is so much negative "news" today about the "disenfranchised generation" a label that these kids are choosing to ignore. It's fun for me to watch them build their brands from scratch at such a young age. It is overwhelming at times when this old lady considers the amount of technology they use as easily as I struggle to use 10% (yes, that is a somewhat exaggerated guess) of the capacity on a computer, iPad and an iPhone! Maybe it's the fact that they figured out a way to make the world of a geek be cool. After all, it takes a lot of techno-savvy to do what they do day in and day out. I don't really know the answer to it all -- but I do know that I am thankful that Laura Geller mentioned missglamorazzi on that tweet or facebook post -- it opened a whole new world to me.
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