Area of Study

Self-taught Influencers

Creators who built audiences and empires from a phone and a point of view.

Influencers Stories

The Cheat Code to their success

YouTube creator and entrepreneur / 01

MrBeast Turned YouTube Into His Own Research Lab

Jimmy Donaldson did not begin with a studio education. He began with years of uploads, obsessive analysis, and a willingness to make the next experiment bigger.

Creator, podcaster, and coffee entrepreneur / 02

Emma Chamberlain Made the Awkward Moments the Main Event

Her breakthrough was not a more glamorous life. It was a new way of making an ordinary life feel sharply, hilariously recognizable.

Illustration for the story of Emma Chamberlain

Physical comedian and short-form creator / 03

Khaby Lame Found a Global Audience by Saying Less

A ridiculous problem, an obvious solution, two open palms: his signature made the joke understandable almost anywhere.

Illustration for the story of Khaby Lame

Beauty creator and Huda Beauty founder / 04

Huda Kattan Built an Audience Before She Built a Beauty Brand

Her story is not one of avoiding every classroom. It is about combining makeup training with a digital publishing and business education earned on the job.

Illustration for the story of Huda Kattan

Beauty-video pioneer and cosmetics entrepreneur / 05

Michelle Phan Turned the Makeup Tutorial Into a New Career

She made a small screen feel like a patient lesson, then discovered that building a beauty business required another kind of education.

Illustration for the story of Michelle Phan