By Ed Diokno
Michelle Phan has become a living legend. She was one of the multitude of talented Asian Americans who turned to the new media for opportunity and one of the few to move from almost complete anonymity to accompanying First Lady Michelle Obama on a trip to Asia last year to launch the Let Girls Learn campaign.
To say she is a beauty consultant vlogger doesn’t do her justice. Phan, who was been on YouTube since July 2006, has more than 7.5 million subscribers to her channel where she not only teaches viewers beauty tips, she speaks personally about her own life and current events.
“I always had that yearning, that hunger, to one day be independent and be my own person and build my own world,” says the Vietnamese American. “The most fulfilling thing is to live a life where you have freedom.”
Success didn’t come overnight. Underlying her fancy clothes, perfect makeup and glamorous lifestyle, is a driven woman who has worked long and hard. That’s the real story for those who would follow in her footsteps. Its not enough to have a dream. Dreaming is OK, but it’s what comes next is what you’re willing to do to achieve that dream.
A preview of Phan’s new comic HELIOS:FEMINA can be downloaded. Chapter One starts in March.
(Ed Diokno writes a blog :Views From The Edge: news and analysis from an Asian American perspective.)
(AsAmNews is an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. You can show your support by liking our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/asamnews, following us on Twitter and sharing our stories.)
