Lauren Riihimaki, recognized to hundreds of thousands on-line as LaurDIY, has been a artistic pressure on YouTube for over a decade. Again in 2011, feeling creatively stifled by her college programs, she did what many people did: She began a weblog. That weblog shortly developed right into a YouTube channel, and 14 years later, Riihimaki has constructed a digital empire with over 8 million subscribers, plus hundreds of thousands extra following alongside on Instagram (4.3M) and TikTok (2.2M).
Over time, her content material has grown far past DIY tutorials on YouTube. In 2020, Riihimaki turned the host and govt producer of the HBO Max collection Craftopia, and right now she’s increasing her affect as each a content material creator and entrepreneur, with new model ventures, together with one launching later this yr. Nonetheless, she hasn’t misplaced contact along with her unique fanbase, utilizing rising platforms like TikTok to reintroduce her creativity to a brand new technology.
Forward of VidCon 2025 (July 19–21 in Anaheim, California), I sat down with LaurDIY to debate her decade of content material creation, what she’s discovered, and her recommendation for right now’s rising creators.
Credit score: Zooey Liao/ Picture Credit score: @LaurDIY
Mashable: Do you bear in mind your first viral video?
LaurDIY: There was this tremendous stylish DIY tutorial that concerned reducing a cranium face into the again of a T-shirt. It was one of many very first ones that actually obtained some traction. [Before that], I did not ever have a video that blew up in a single day, however that was the primary one which was the outlier in that.
You mentioned it wasn’t in a single day, however did that video change your strategy to creating content material?
Not essentially. I believe it undoubtedly simply affirmed that individuals have been in search of extra complete tutorials versus a weblog tutorial on DIY initiatives that I used to be doing.
It affirmed the consistency that I used to be placing into creating content material on a weekly foundation. However exterior of that, it was all so overseas that I wasn’t like, “Oh, now I know what to do in this next stage of this plan.” I used to be so early in [my] content material creation journey that I used to be similar to, “This is wild.”
You have been making movies for a very long time. How do you continue to discover inspiration to your movies?
Now, as a result of there are such a lot of creators and so many niches and codecs, I’d say truthfully that different creators are an enormous supply of inspiration. There are a handful of photographers that I observe as nicely. I’ve not too long ago gone on a little bit of a journey, studying somewhat bit extra about storytelling and content material from a cinematic perspective.
And it is like, what can I study from somebody who won’t be in my area of interest however has mastered one thing and shares their very own tutorials, like obtain a sure angle for a shot? Then I can embody [that] in my very own video. So, it is pulling the experience from different creators in quite a lot of genres throughout the web as a result of there actually is a nook for each curiosity.
Do you’ve gotten any favourite creators proper now who you are discovering inspiration from?
Gawx is somebody on YouTube, [and] every bit of content material he makes is so insanely mind-blowing. It actually impressed me. His filmmaking is from such a DIY perspective. I completely can push myself to supply one thing in a cooler, extra attention-grabbing, extra intense manner [like] he does.
[Other creators Riihimaki is inspired by at the moment include Jake Frew, Life of Riza, and Tammy (Uncomfy).]
How lengthy would you say it took to see vital progress in your channel?
I basically made content material persistently all through my college profession, [and] after three years, earlier than I graduated, I had been making a full-time earnings.
You recognize my dad and mom had helped [me] via college, and so I actually needed to see it via and end. So, technically, from a monetary perspective, I may have gone full-time after two years, however I had one final yr, and I’d say that I used to be in a great groove of balancing the total course load and likewise making content material. And so I might come this far all through my diploma, that I needed to complete it out. After I graduated, I used to be very very like, “OK, wow, I have so much time in the day to dedicate to full-time content creation.”
Was it in that senior yr that you simply realized you might flip it right into a full-time profession?
Yeah, undoubtedly. There have been a handful of brand name offers that I did in that senior yr of college the place I used to be like, “There’s no world where I’m going to go into an entry-level position in the job industry that I had gone to school for, where I would be making more than I am through content creation.”
It was so nice to be financially impartial a lot sooner than I anticipated in my life. I have been working since I used to be 15, so I really feel like my dad and mom have actually helped me perceive the worth of cash. I am very frugal, and I really like feeling very steady, so to be financially impartial a lot sooner than I anticipated was so liberating and likewise motivating. I used to be like, “I have the best job in the entire world. I am so lucky. Like, what would ever stop me from pursuing this full-time?”
I scooped ice cream. I used to be a server for years. I have been within the trenches in these starter jobs once you’re 15 and 16. So, having this be my full-time job now, I’ve all this beneficial perspective.
That really leads into my subsequent query, which was, how did you get your first model deal? And the way does it differ out of your model offers right now?
So, I am nonetheless with the identical administration from a decade in the past. Scott Fisher, earlier than it was referred to as Choose Administration, he and I have been working collectively once we have been each within the Toronto space.
Mashable Pattern Report
He secured me my first model deal. It was to advertise the film Divergent when the very, very first one got here out. And I used to be like, “So, you’re telling me that I’m just going to talk about how I loved the movie, and I had read all the books, too? ” After all, I’d do that at no cost.
And I’d say that, to be trustworthy, exterior of the size of the partnerships and the manufacturers that I have been in a position to work with, not that a lot has actually modified in that panorama. Clearly, I’d say issues have gone within the route of short-form model offers lately, however exterior of the particular transaction of what a model deal is, at its core, I’d say that issues are extremely related.
That is so good that your first model deal was so pure somewhat than forcing your self via an ad-read.
I have been actually fortunate to work with some unbelievable manufacturers and to additionally be capable of have my say through which manufacturers I work with. I’ve at all times been aligned with the content material that I am making and the model that I’ve constructed for myself.
And alongside these traces, what does monetization seem like for you right now?
I’d say model offers are the bulk [of my income] proper now. I do some angel investing in startups on the facet as nicely. Possibly ultimately, if all issues go nicely, these will transfer into the bulk class, however clearly, these are high-risk investments.
Model offers have gone up, and AdSense has gone down, sadly. That is simply the fact of the platform because it’s grown. I’d say that the creator accomplice program with TikTok has additionally gone up.
I am additionally launching a canine model within the fall. In order that’s been extra of a “spend the money now and hopefully grow the brand later” technique, but it surely’s additionally one other class of potential income for the longer term.
Throughout your whole platforms, do you’ve gotten one which’s been essentially the most essential in rising your viewers?
As a result of I have been a creator for thus lengthy, the algorithm on TikTok has been extremely useful for me by way of resurfacing my content material and model to individuals and an viewers who could have been acquainted with my content material previously.
Possibly [the audience] aged out as a result of I additionally had an enormous content material pivot, possibly 5 – 6 years in the past, the place I stepped away from being so family-friendly and have become extra authentically myself. You would not catch me cursing 10 years in the past on YouTube, and so now issues are simply extra genuine. A big chunk of my viewers in all probability aged out of my content material and has now reconnected. We’re in completely completely different phases of our lives now. I deliberate a marriage, I obtained married, I went on a honeymoon, and now we’re speaking about fertility. So, it is only a completely completely different period of our lives.
I believe TikTok has been actually essential for me by way of resurfacing my content material, and it has been wonderful to see individuals say, “Wow, I used to watch you when I was so much younger, and I love your content now, too.” It is a very nice, full-circle second.
I’ve encountered that as a viewer, too. I misplaced contact with the creators I adopted on YouTube in highschool, however rediscovered them via different platforms a decade later.
To your level, even the period of time that individuals have to present to a 25-minute vlog versus a 90-second TikTok helps you to nonetheless really feel very linked to that creator. From a creator’s perspective, I wish to make it possible for I am providing each of these codecs.
I do know that some individuals like to take heed to a 25-minute vlog whereas they’re folding their laundry or driving to work, but when I’ve obtained 5 minutes, I am simply scrolling TikTok, and I am not going to open a full vlog. So I perceive there are completely different wants from an viewers member now by way of the time they’re in a position to allocate to a creator.
Talking of the fan relationship, VidCon is nearly right here. I might like to know your expertise with VidCon previously and what you are wanting ahead to this yr.
VidCon is an unbelievable weekend. As a result of a lot of the creator and viewers relationship is digital, it’s at all times unbelievable to have the ability to see and meet individuals at such a big in-person occasion.
If somebody have been to have 10,000 subscribers, and say you find yourself assembly 100 of these 10,000 subscribers at VidCon, the size feels a lot extra actual. If you’re in that bodily state of assembly somebody, the connection is simply completely different, and it is extremely beneficial. If somebody says, “I love your videos,” and also you get to really thank them in particular person, [it’s] actually, actually beneficial from a creator perspective.
I have never been to VidCon since pre-COVID, so I am excited to see the way it’s modified. This yr, with a brand new model launching, I am additionally eager about the B2B [business-to-business] play as a result of, as , the creator business has develop into extra beneficial and has proven that there is actual promoting energy behind creator manufacturers.
Has there ever been a second once you actually felt like, “Oh, I’ve made it as a content creator?”
There are a handful of various ranges that you simply hit. I believe for the early generations of creators, there wasn’t a path paved for what this was going to seem like as a profession. And so each time I felt like I leveled up, I used to be like “Oh my god, this is it. How much better could this get? This is the dream job.”
Being financially impartial and having somewhat group round you to assist you, whether or not that be an leisure lawyer, a supervisor, or an assistant, and having individuals serving to you to make content material, you are feeling like somewhat mini manufacturing firm. These are the very first steps of being like, “Wow, I feel like an established creator with a content business.”
From a extra private perspective, after I obtained the chance to host two seasons of the HBO Max present Craftopia, it felt like the whole lot that I had completed on-line, on YouTube, on social media had led me to that chance. That felt like a type of moments the place I used to be like, “Wow, this is such a wild integration crossover of digital and traditional media.” It simply felt so validating that what I had constructed as a DIY creator and social media content material creator had come to fruition to this degree of alternative.
Do you’ve gotten any recommendation for somebody who’s beginning out with content material creation?
The primary factor, and truthfully, it is a query that I pose to myself on a regular basis, is, “What am I offering?”
So, whether or not it’s leisure, relatability, consolation, or instructional data, it is about what you’re providing along with your content material. If you’re within the creation or brainstorm course of, having that query on the forefront of your course of is so useful to present you function and assist form even simply the hook and the supply. It could actually assist provide you with some guardrails as a result of it is so nice that there are such a lot of corners and so many niches. You can also make [any] content material, and there is going to be an viewers for actually something that you simply wish to make. Utilizing that query on the forefront of your course of will be actually useful and provide you with that guiding mild.
And that is to not say that you need to keep in a single lane of content material. It is nearly what you are providing.
