DIARY directory recently caught up with Jodie Porteous, renowned for her fashion, beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel Just Jodes. Jodie has amassed a substantially dedicated following across her YouTube and social platforms and is loved for her down-to-earth, hardworking and particularly relatable demeanour. On her channel you are likely to find chatty make-up videos, hauls and lifestyle content that showcases the behind the scenes of a popular influencer and 22-year old woman. Jodie has recently been recognised and shortlisted in the We The Unicorns YouTuber Awards in the YouTuber of the Year category.  
 

UK YouTuber

Shortlisted in We The Unicorns YouTuber Awards 2016

"It’s all down to passion and hard work"

Listed in DIARY directory in the digital influencers subsection, along with 1000+ categorised influencers for PRs to work with, Jodie shares the story of her YouTube story; what an average day is like for her and tips for budding YouTubers; how being subscribed to DIARY directory is beneficial for influencers; and her opinion of how PRs can work better with digital talent.

When and why did you decide to start a YouTube channel?

I started my YouTube channel around two years ago now. I was actually at Performing Arts school in London and at the start of my second year I had a pretty bad back injury which resulted in dancing coming to an end for me for the foreseeable future as I had to defer my course. This left a huge creative shaped hole in my life - having watched YouTube myself I thought hmm why not just give it a go, thinking I would probably make a couple of videos and then move onto something else, so I put together a make shift tripod of books from around my room, propped up my phone and so it began haha, I haven’t looked back since!

 
When was the first time you realised that this could turn into a full time job?

I decided to give things a go full time this year, I decided it was ok to take risks in life and I was really passionate about making videos. It was around August time that I got what I would describe as my ‘big break’. I jumped from around 30k subscribers to 100k in a matter of weeks and have steadily been on the up ever since. This has resulted in my life changing pretty quickly over a few months and suddenly things got extremely busy. I was thrown in at the deep end but that’s just the way I like it!

What’s an average day like for you?

One of the things I love most about doing YouTube full time is that no two days are the same; one day I could be in London at events and the next day sat in my bedroom filming all day - it really does vary. As much as I absolutely love the press events, dinners and trips around the world, it’s the filming videos that I am super in love with so I try and manage my time wisely and prioritise making content above anything else. Creating great, consistent content for my viewers is always number one on my to do list - as after all, I wouldn’t actually be having any of these amazing experiences without my viewers and it almost feels like we’re a little family, I love them :)

Will you be re-starting your blog or is YouTube your core platform now?

YouTube will always be my number one as I feel that is the platform which I can express myself creatively on most. However I absolutely love reading other people’s blogs and I adore writing, so yes I will most definitely be re-launching my blog.

"As an influencer DIARY directory is great because you feel part of something and kept in the loop with events, contacts etc. It’s also good for PR’s to have your contact information to be able to reach out to you."

What have been your favourite sponsored collaborations to date?

This is such a difficult question as honestly every campaign I’ve worked on I feel so privileged to have been a part of. However, a highlight this year definitely has to be the HP campaign I worked on. We filmed in LA and it was the first time I’d visited, somewhere a year ago I never dreamed I would have the chance to visit - especially not for work!

Is there something else you’d like to branch into?

Yes, although I love YouTube and I see it now always being a big part of my life, there is definitely more to me that people haven’t seen yet. Having grown up in performing arts an ambition of mine would still be to go into TV acting, theatre, or even presenting and music is always in the back of my mind - something I’d love to start introducing on my channel. Behind the scenes of my beauty/lifestyle videos these things are starting to happen and I’ve had some pretty exciting meetings recently so I’m really excited for what next year holds. I love that YouTube is now such an amazing platform for these things and I definitely want to use my platform to it’s full potential.

How do you think brands/PRs can work better with influencers? Any pet peeves?

I would just say it’s always important to have great communication and allow for the influencer to have input / creative control. I’ve had times when a brand has come to me with an amazing product which I love but the brief just isn’t something I’ve seen working on my channel, so I guess it’s just about working in a positive way from both sides to create the best collaboration possible. Luckily so far for me brands have always been really supportive of this, I guess as influencers we know our viewers & what works for us best so it’s just having that trust in us really.
 

How does being subscribed to DIARY directory benefit you as an influencer?

As an influencer it’s great because you feel part of something and kept in the loop with events, contacts etc. It’s also good for PR’s to have your contact information to be able to reach out to you.

Have you thought about signing up to a management/influencer agency?

Yes I have definitely thought about it and I have some decisions to make! I always say don’t rush into any big decisions though.
 

If you ask teenagers what they want to be when they grow up, many will say ‘to be a YouTuber’’ - which wouldn’t have been a thing a few years ago - where do you think YouTube is headed?

I think YouTube is just going to get bigger and bigger, however I don’t really agree that it can be a valid job route. It isn’t really something I believe you can ‘learn’ and quite honestly it would be a huge risk to set your sights on becoming a YouTuber as your one career route as that’s just not really how it works. Some people seem to have this misconception that anyone can start a channel and start earning money from it, nope, it can take years to earn a penny and still never happen, and that is years of hard work and possibly even a sprinkle of luck. You have to be doing it because you really love it to have that dedication. Always keep your options open! Its one of those things I feel is a hobby and that’s the way you have to see it and then if it does happen to turn into a job then brilliant! I am a believer however that if you want something bad enough and you’re passionate enough then you will get it, so that’s not to say don’t make a channel! I have and still get so much more out of my channel than it being a career, it’s made me who I am today. I pinch myself every day that I have the opportunity to do this full time and I feel incredibly lucky.
 

Your YouTube channel grew tremendously in the space of just a couple of months, what is one piece of advice you would give to budding YouTubers?

As I said in the previous question, I honestly think it’s all down to passion and hard work/dedication of course. Viewers can see if you’re making videos for the right reasons, I feel like I’ve built up an amazing relationship with my viewers and we really get each other. I always say if you think you’re working hard, work harder haha :) but if you really love what you’re doing it won’t even really feel like work! Make the videos you want to make, don’t think you have to be doing what everyone else is doing. Don’t get into the downward spiral of thinking that it’s all been done before and there are too many people doing YouTube now - the Internet is a big enough space for all of us!
 

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Just Jodes in 'digital influencers'