CHASING HONESTY: CLAUDIA SULEWSKI ON VLOGGING, ACTING, AND A DECADE OF YOUTUBE
Streaming from her home in Los Angeles, California, Claudia Sulewski described what an honor it was to be speaking at Brown Fashion Week. In a conversation with Alexandra Vitkin, a member of Fashion at Brown’s Industry Programming team, Sulewski talked about vlogging, brand deals, and her transition to acting.
Claudia Sulewski started making YouTube videos in 2009, when she was only 13. Flash forward to March 12, 2022, her newest film I Love My Dad will be screened at SXSW. The journey between those points has been a long one, moving Sulewski across the country and through many different roles as a content creator. She described her YouTube channel as a “little escape” in the beginning. As the youngest of three children, she felt unseen and misunderstood at times, but making videos gave her a voice to express herself. Beauty tutorials started as a hobby, but she soon felt a need to continue making them. YouTube finally gave her a space where she was in control. Inspired by Michelle Phan, iJustine, and Blair Fowler, Sulewski felt like the online beauty community was a group of friends. The growth of her own channel matched that of the community, and it felt very gradual and natural.
Sulewski’s channel today, which shares vlogs of her life in Los Angeles, has about 2.5 million subscribers. She expressed shock at the way she used to have personal conversations with her followers every day, and now with such a large audience, she has to work hard to balance her private life with what she shows the camera. Sulewski talked about how she used to maintain a strict film and upload schedule, but that it became draining to repeat that cycle every week. She went on to describe how YouTube is a unique platform where you’re expected to create something completely new every week, and sometimes that doesn’t have to maintain a rigid schedule. Her goal now with her vlogs is to “capture life in a subtle way.” In her weekly videos, Sulewski always feels authentic, which she attributes to her goal of “just chasing honesty.” Her motto for vlogging was to “Turn on the camera to create a memory, or set up the camera and don’t acknowledge it. Don’t let the camera interfere with the moment.”
As the discussion shifted to Sulewski’s upcoming acting career, she reflected on her first show, T@gged. The web-series aired on AwesomenessTV from 2016-2018 for three seasons. She described the cast’s super close bond, and how they still look back and joke that “nothing will ever compare to T@gged.” Since the show’s inception, Sulewski’s acting roles have significantly grown, as she is starring in I Love My Dad, directed by James Morosini.
Throughout Sulewski’s career, she has worked with brands ranging from Teen Vogue to Prada. When asked how she chose brands to collaborate with, Sulewski said that the first gut reaction was the most important. She works with brands that excite her, but also ensures they share the same morals. “Our dollar is our vote,” she said. Looking forward, she described some dream future partnerships as Pat McGrath and Nest.
The conversation closed with a few final questions. “Is Youtube forever?” Sulewski responded that she’ll be on YouTube as long as it’s there, but that the format and style of her content will shift to match the platform and her acting career as she gets older. Vitkin then asked questions submitted by audience members, with one coming from Elizabeth L. at Durham School of the Arts. Elizabeth asked about Sulewski’s current style inspiration. “90’s runway, very 90’s vibes,” she answered, later adding, “I kinda just ask myself ‘Would Carrie Bradshaw wear this?’” I wrote the final question, read by Vitkin, “Having been an influencer for so long, you’ve seen so many changes in the industry. What’s the most positive part of that experience?” Sulewski easily chose the people as a highlight of the experience, saying that “the people you meet are always the best part.”