More than one billion views.
A companyvalued at $500 million.
Anet worthreaching $50 million.
Pretty amazing numbers, right?
At just 30 years old, Michelle Phan has achieved the ultimate success.
And to think, it all started with just herYouTube page, sharing beauty tips with viewers.
There is much to also learn when it comes to Michelle Phan and her success story.
However, her childhood was anything but easy.
He left when she was just six years old.
“One day, you have a father who’s always around,” she toldMashable.
“And then the next day, he’s gone.
I was too young to comprehend that.
I actually thought he was going to come back.”
Eventually, her mother met another man however, Phan says he was incredibly controlling.
“He ran the house like a dictator,” Phan said in an interview withNYLON.
“He didn’t want us to clean the house because he believed in his organized chaos.
It was disgustingly dirty.”
They eventually left, but didn’t have much money.
Phan promised she’d eventually become successful enough to retire her mother a promise she’s kept.
“She was someone who wore a smile and made people more beautiful,” Phan said.
This wasn’t something Phan was sharing with viewers when she began her YouTube videos.
In many interviews, Phan discusses her mother and how much she inspired her in life.
She started working as a beautician, and Phan often accompanied her to work after school.
This was when Phan began to find her passion.
She told theWall Street Journalshe would read all of the beauty magazines and absorb the information.
Her mother wanted more for her daughter, but Phan valued her mother’s work.
She went on to explain that success isn’t always what you think it should be.
Rather than give up, she decided to film her own makeup tutorials.
And that led me to YouTube."
That video got 40,000 views in just one week.
Phan toldCosmopolitan, that’s when she realized she may have a hit on her hands.
Instead, her mom put the money towards Phan’s tuition at Ringling College of Art and Design.
However, Ringling gave her an honorary doctorate degreein 2014.
She shared with theWall Street Journalthat she plays the piano and trumpet among other instruments.
She also has a passion for art and draws when she has the time.
And how else does Phan de-stress?
Not how you would expect.
She has a copper pyramid room in her Los Angeles apartment.
With Phan’s level of success, we’re not questioning this technique.
She wears less makeup than you might think
Phan said her one must-have item is concealer.
“Most days, I just wear a little concealer and that’s it.
I have nothing to hide.
My viewers have seen me without makeup, so it’s all good,” Phan toldRacked Los Angeles.
Here’a a hint: they don’t include makeup products.
Number two is sunscreen not just for wrinkles and brown spots, but health as well.
And her final tip is the simplest, just smile.
“If all else fails, when you smile… happiness is beauty,” she said.
Phan emphasized that these tips are not just for women, but men as well.
Phan described makeup toThe Huffington Postsaying, “It also gives you creative freedom.
You get to have that moment in front the mirror every morning and give yourself self-love.
You’re making yourself beautiful, which is essentially self-love.
And part of that inner beauty also has to do with following your dreams.
Phan constantly encourages her viewers and others to go for what they want.
This appears to the be the driving source behind,ipsy, Phan’s super-successful subscription cosmetic company.
She added to that initial success by launchingipsy Open Studios, which is located in Santa Monica.
And get this it’s free.
If a member lives in Los Angeles, they can set up a time to go in the studio.
If they don’t, they have access to special Q&A sessions and individual beauty mentoring online.
Sheencourages peopleto share their interests and invest in their futures.
Overall, Phan is humble about her success and wants to help others reach that same success.
“The taste of success was like a drug,” Phan detailed in a2017 videoon her YouTube channel.
In 2013, she launched a makeup line, Em, with L’Oreal.
The line did not do well at all.
“I had Reddit forums dedicated to hating on it.”
Phan and L’Oreal officially parted ways in 2015, according toWWD.
The bullying sent Phan into a cycle of self-diagnosed depression.
“I think I was going through depression,” she toldRacked.
She began retreating from her public life, posting less on social media.
“I wanted to be forgotten, so I began posting less online,” she wrote forTeen Vogue.
“It is really scary, because you’re able to become irrelevant.
However, her need for a break surpassed her need for relevance.
She visited Switzerland and Egypt, and revealed that being in nature helped her find peace.
