Jenn McAllister is well-known in the YouTube sphere as JennXPenn and at only 18 has already worked with the likes of Hulu Plus, Sears and Old Navy, doing brand integrations on YouTube. “For me it’s not really about the brand as much as its about the video,” said Jenn to [a]listdaily. “I only do brand integrations I actually like or things I actually use or would tell other people to use. I want it to be more genuine.”
Jenn doesn’t just only have over 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, she’s also got a sizeable following on her Instagram as well, with 1.2 million followers there. We talked to Jenn about her recent campaign with OurTime.org, what’s great about being a YouTuber and what’s brewing in her future.
What is the most fun thing about being a YouTuber?
Well for me, I think , obviously the most fun thing is making the videos. I like being in front of the camera as much as I like editing the videos. Something that came out of this that I didn’t even realize is the events that we get to go to like Vidcon and Playlist— those are always so much fun even though there’s not many events throughout the year, but when we get the chance to do them, they’re really fun to go to.
What is it like meeting your fans in real life How crazy is it?
It’s so crazy because on the Internet it’s hard to realize that behind the number, there’s actually a real person there. When you go to to these kind of events, it kind of just puts a face to the number and it makes everything so real. It’s really cool and everyone is so nice and supportive and you get to meet them and see what they have to say.
So you got to work on a really great cause recently, which is encouraging people to vote. How was that?
It was really fun. I like being able to entertain people, but at the same time, it’s good to talk about more serious issues. I’ve talked about things on my channel like bullying, anxiety and loving yourself for who you are. Getting to with with Our Time and talk about voting which is also really important was a really fun thing to do.
If you could work with anyone — a brand, person or other YouTubers — what would be your dream team?
I like Vitamin Water a lot, I think it would be cool to work with them, but it just depends on who’s in the space and who’s willing to work with YouTubers. Since it’s such a new thing, it’s all just coming into place right now.
What’s next for you?
We’re working on a lot of things right now so everything’s in talks or in the works. Some projects that are close to being finished or being announced are that I am working on a [gaming] app which is going to be really exciting and also a podcast.
