On Thursday, popular twin YouTubers Veronica and Vanessa Merrell came to speak about their careers as content creators for the Career Speaker Series at Calabasas High School. The Merrell twins are also the daughters of Wendy Merrell, one of the secretaries at CHS. Having amassed over 6 million followers on YouTube and nearly 3 million on TikTok, the twins discussed their steady journey to fame over the past 12 years. 

The Merrell twins first spoke about how they started on YouTube. Originally planning to be actresses, they had a contract with Disney and moved all the way from Kansas City, Missouri, to live in LA and do independent studies at Oak Park. 

“We thought we were gonna be Disney stars, and unfortunately, that didn’t work. It didn’t happen, which is okay,” said Vanessa Merrell. 

Throughout all of their time booking auditions and trying to land roles, they made videos at home to post on FaceBook, and with the help of their dad who has experience in the film industry, they posted their first Youtube video. It gained about 10,000 views, and the twins realized it would help give them experience, and be an online resume of sorts. While they did end up booking a role on Jane the Virgin and a couple of other movies, they realized that the better field for them was in pursuing YouTube. 

“It just kind of ended up taking off, and we started getting more subscribers and more viewers, and then eventually we made more money than our mom does at her normal job, and we were like, can we make this a career?” said Vanessa Merrell. 

After sharing their inspiring story about building an audience, the twins introduced the five major points that they believe helped them get where they are today; and those are consistency, adaptability, sticking to your brand, having the skills, and professionalism. 

The twins have posted a YouTube video every single Tuesday for 12 years, are constantly looking out for new trends to keep up with, post family-friendly content, know editing and the algorithm, and constantly meet with big brands to discuss sponsorships. 

“We’ve gotten to speak at Google headquarters, just to share our journey on YouTube, to talk to top executives at Amazon and Walmart; they want to hear what we have to say about being on YouTube because social media is important to pretty much every big brand out there, and they’re trying to figure out their place in it,” said Veronica Merrell. 

They talked about how there are plenty of jobs within the social media industry, and it doesn’t always have to involve becoming famous and performing for the camera nonstop. 

“We’re not talking about just being an influencer, social media can bring so much opportunity for what you want to do, and you don’t have to be just a makeup guru or a gamer. You can do so many different things,” said Vanessa Merrell. 

Prior to the presentation, the twins discussed the impact that they hoped to leave on their audience, which was that everyone understood what it meant to truly work in social media. 

“I think there’s a preconceived notion that most people have that it’s super easy and everyone can do it, and I just kind of disagree. I think you have to have a certain set of skills and a specific attitude and knowledge to do it all successfully,” said Vanessa Merrell. 

One major thing that has become apparent in recent years is the instability of social media. For people who have built their lives on social media, like Vanessa and Veronica Merrell, that can be scary. Just recently, TikTok was temporarily banned, threatening the livelihoods of many creators who were desperately trying to move their following to other platforms. 

“I think TikTok is a great way to introduce people to who you are and get seen really quickly. But I think the challenge is getting people to follow you and actually stay with you. You have to do the work to get people across platforms, then there’s more stability,” said Vanessa Merrell. 

Of the small group in the audience, it seems that the Merrell twins’ message left an impact on the students, many of whom had grown up watching them on YouTube. 

“I remember watching their videos growing up. I really liked their presentation, and I really respected and admired their approach to social media, especially them talking about wanting to keep their integrity and trust of the viewers,” said Ava Paradari, a junior at CHS.