Lights, Camera, Action!

Student influencer freshman Laura Darwish shares her success

A forthcoming influencer, freshman Laura Darwish, has garnered over eight thousand followers on her TikTok and YouTube together. Darwish began posting vlogs in 2021, but she has always had a fondness for creating videos. 

“I was making videos all the time, I was just never posting them,” Darwish said. “I just found it fun to produce and work for myself so I decided I might as well start posting them, even if it was not consistent just because that’s always been something I’ve wanted to do.” 

Darwish’s YouTube features lifestyle videos with a lot of variety; however, some videos tend to do better than others.

 “My most popular videos are my get ready with me’s or any school-related content,” Darwish said. “I did a homecoming vlog, a get ready with me for the first day of school, I did a picture day kind of vlog. All of those tend to do the best because people like to see what other people’s school days look like and how they live their lives.” 

Darwish has a unique personality that caters to many different people and keeps them engaged in her content. 

“Right now, on YouTube, I can see who my audience is and it’s usually people from the ages of 14-24,” Darwish said. “It’s a lot of lifestyle and content creators or just people who like to watch lifestyle, routines, and content to get them motivated.”

When editing her videos, Darwish enjoys showcasing her distinctive style which is what entices many of her viewers. 

“A lot of people I know in real life want to see what I’m producing and stay up to date but also I think people are really interested in the thumbnails and the way I edit them,” Darwish said. 

Despite her success, Darwish has also faced difficulty keeping up with her channel.

“Staying motivated is difficult for me,” Darwish said. “Especially with YouTube because those videos take hours to edit. Every video takes usually five to six hours to edit and if it’s a travel video it takes over ten hours.” 

Though she faces these challenges, Darwish continues to make videos on her accounts for a feeling of accomplishment and something to look back on. 

“I get to look back on my own memories that are edited how I imagined them in my head,” Darwish said. “That’s probably the main reason I even pushed to do videos in the first place.”

One of Darwish’s good friends, freshman Joanna Suku, has experienced firsthand the impact of Darwish’s channel and its growth in success. 

“One thing I’ve gained from Laura’s YouTube channel is being able to see her process and content,” Suku said. “She’s literally one of my friends from Blue Valley Southwest and to think she started from nothing but is already gaining a platform when she isn’t that old is kind of inspiring to watch.”

Though they may seem to be aesthetic and appealing, Darwish’s videos offer more than just entertainment. 

“[Darwish] talks a lot about mental health a little bit more than other YouTube creators so I feel like it just makes it that much more relatable,” Suku said. 

Being an influencer can be difficult especially when continuing to feel inspired and motivated to create. Darwish struggles with this too, however, she gets her inspiration from someone close to her. 

“I would say my grandpa inspires me the most,” Darwish said. “He produced a lot of his own artwork in his career and he also helped direct and produce movies so I just get a lot of inspiration and motivation from him and his determination.”

Darwish has gained many partnerships throughout her experience with social media, but she doesn’t have an interest in collaborating with anyone. 

“I feel like the whole like collaborating thing is just geared more towards the views,” Darwish said. “I feel like if I ever meet an influencer whose personality I enjoy then maybe we’ll make a video together or something but as of right now, I kinda want to stay away from that.”

As for Darwish’s upcoming plans, she has already brainstormed ideas for her next YouTube videos.

“This summer, I plan on filming a lot of travel content and things relating to summer in general,” Darwish said.

Social media allows for many opportunities and for possible success. These platforms can be influential now more than ever. 

“I think that it is so rewarding to be able to put my creativity into something so common and important in today’s world,” Darwish said. “To me, that is really cool.”