Elizabeth Shaila Koshy, better known to the world as Liza Koshy, is an American actress, television host, comedian, and YouTuber. Koshy is a self-made star that started on Vine and is now a host of the game show "Double Dare" on Nickelodeon, starred in various television shows, partnered in successful campaigns with brands like Nike or Beats by Dr. Dre, executive producer and star of her own show Liza on Demand, and has even interviewed former President Obama in 2016.
Koshy began her career on Vine in high school positing six-second-long video clips. In 2015, she created a YouTube account where she expanded her platform. Later that year, she left the University of Houston, where she was studying marketing, to Los Angeles to pursue her career. At 19, she signed with the Creative Artists Agency to build her brand and "put some strategy behind the funny".
She describes that her work is "making content to make people feel content", extrinsically motivated to deliver content that would make people feel better. In 2018, Koshy took a 10-month break from YouTube. In January 2019, she uploaded a video on her second channel explaining why she decided to stop back. Koshy explained that she was dealing with mental health issues and creative burnout that were affecting the videos that she was making. She stated, "I don't care about the quantity of videos that I post, I care about the quality. That's why I stopped making them, because I wanted to ensure good content. I lost myself, and I didn't want to document the process."
Even though she never went into detail, she did state that she was faking her happiness a lot and it didn't feel right to keep posting at the time. She stated that she "Read things online that weren't the nicest things, I started being even more judgmental and not so nice in my head." She also said that she was proud of what work she had done on herself at the time and emphasizes the importance of self-love. As she was looking back at her career, Koshy admitted that she "fell out of love with that. And slightly with myself...I began to cater to what I thought people wanted to see from me." Now, she is doing what she loves no matter what others are saying. She is more intrinsically motivated to put out content that is related to what she wants to put out rather than what other people want to see.
Liza Koshy's unconventional yet inoffensive humor has made her a little c creative. Now with almost 45 million followers across her platforms, YouTube has 16.3 million subscribers and 2.5 billion views alone. Her success has placed her on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2019. She has the ability to help influence an entire generation of young individuals and has encouraged them to be more politically active. During her interview with former President Barack Obama, he stated that "young people are gonna be the people who make the biggest impact in this country, and this is the way to reach them, And you're doing a great job talking to them about some of the things you guys care about."
Images:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzNjMjhiN2UtZDJiYS00MjVjLThiOTgtOTAzMDZiZWI3NDI2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzk5NjY0MjI@._V1_.jpg
http://cdn.realscreen.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Headshot-Liza-Koshy.jpg?13c9b8
Sources:
https://www.caa.com/caaspeakers/liza-koshy
https://www.createcultivate.com/blog/cc-100-content-creator-liza-koshy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6oqS4_Qoww&t=4s
https://www.thelist.com/95198/untold-truth-liza-koshy/
https://www.eonline.com/news/1083389/how-youtuber-liza-koshy-learned-to-ignore-internet-pressures-and-be-her-true-self
I love Liza and have since her career began! Her stepping back from the space is very sad to hear. Do you think social media and the platforms that exacerbate short bursts of content (Vine, TikTok, Twitter) have decreased creativity? How should we address creative burnout?
ReplyDeleteI think Lisa is a really great example of someone who has revolutionized the youtube & comedy communities simply by virtue of being who she is. She deviates from mainstream but in ways that bring in so many ideas together. However, it's interesting to think about what can cause creative burnout, given her case.
ReplyDeleteLiza is someone I'm subscribed to on YouTube and I have to admit I religiously watch her newly uploaded videos. I admire her for being so vulnerable and open about her depression and just how deeply the cruel things people comment can affect you. By talking about her experiences, she helped to break the stigma around depression and proved to herself and her followers that it is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Her authenticity can be felt deeply in her videos and she deviated from the "norm" by using her channel to address real life issues and make those experiencing similar things in their lives feel valued and heard!
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