She’s an internet sensation you’ve probably never heard of before.
Meet Wengie – the social media influencer, from Sydney, who has nearly nine million YouTube subscribers and one million Instagram followers.
The 31-year-old has turned her life on social media into a lucrative career by sharing advice on beauty, fashion, do-it-yourself tutorials, life hacks and even ‘edible school supplies’ recipes.
With almost nine million YouTube fans and one million Instagram followers, Wengie shares love life advice, back to school tips and easy to follow recipes
The vlogger was born in China under the legal name of Wendy Ayche and moved to Australia when she was a child.
She was working in marketing while playing around with social media on the side, when she decided to quit her job and take up fashion and beauty blogging full time.
Fast forward seven years, she has launched her YouTube channel and is now an online sensation, with devoted fans dubbing her ‘Wengiecorns’.
Wengie has become the most subscribed ‘Asian Beauty Channel in Australia’ – and has up to 185,000 people visiting her website every month.
‘One day people could love you, one day people hate you, it’s a roller coaster ride of emotions,’ she previously told 60 Minutes.
‘I love what I do creatively, I’m not in it for the fame, the fame is a bonus, I don’t see fame as the thing I want.
‘A fan comes up to me and says “you’ve made a difference in my life”, that to me is the best moment I could take from this whole experience.’
It has been seven years since she launched her YouTube channel and she is now an online sensation, with her devoted fans dubbed the name ‘Wengiecorns’
She now splits her time between Sydney and Los Angeles – and while her video uploads attracts millions of hits each, she considers herself a ‘normal girl’.
‘I have lived on instant noodles to buy hand bags, spent over 10k in shoes in one month and wore $2 dresses. You can say I’ve tried many things and learnt from it,’ she wrote on her website.
‘Fast forward a few years later… and I currently have the most subscribed Asian Beauty Channel in Australia.’
Wengie told Newscorp the reason she thinks she stands out from the crowd online is because she keeps it ‘quirky’, ‘loose’ and authentic.
With a generation of YouTube subscribers that want authenticity online, you can see why people flock to her channel.
The YouTuber is based in both Sydney and Los Angeles and while her video uploads garner millions of views each, she considers herself a ‘normal girl’
Here, the beauty guru shares her top tips for starting a successful YouTube channel.
Speaking to Vogue recently, she explained ‘start with something that you are already doing well and love to do’.
Wengie said she found her passion for vlogging after seeing her friends turned to her for fashion and beauty advice.
Her next tip is to be ‘consistent’. She said it was ‘better to delay starting a channel and collect content than to go out with one video’.
‘People only subscribe to channels where they know will be consistently updated,’ she said.
She said another trait to have is to be ‘patient’ because she spent up to eight years growing her brand.
‘You can do a lot in a decade and sometimes you need to stick it out and keep going because you never know when one piece of content is going to viral and change your life,’ she said.
And her final tip is ‘know why you’re doing it and it shouldn’t be about fame and fortune’.
Wengie said the reason she thinks she stands out online is because she keeps it ‘quirky’, ‘loose’ and authentic
And it’s this overall appeal that has seen her become the voice of the new Powerpuff Girl, named Bliss, who is the secret fourth sister of the original trio.
Before Professor Utonium created the three Powerpuff Girls, he created a little girl who mysteriously disappeared but returned to Townsville as a teenager.
‘The Powerpuff Girls have been together for such a long time, they know what they’re doing. Bliss is more vulnerable and insecure compared to the other girls,’ she said.
‘I think that creates a cool dynamic because you can be any age and feel that kind of insecurity thrown into a world where everyone expects her to be powerful and an amazing superhero. But she’s freaking out and that’s really relatable.’