Madison Sarah on her faith, boyfriend and her first viral video | The Influencer Series

Ever wondered what influencers do all day? Every week we're going to be chatting to famous social media influencers to find out exactly what they do on an average day.

This week we spoke to YouTuber and Instagram star Madison Sarah. She's an absolute doll and she spilled the tea on starting her YouTube channel, her religion and the racist abuse she suffered following her first viral video.

Name: Madison Sarah

Age: 23 years old

Platforms: Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok

Madison Sarah on how she started her YouTube channel

When we caught up with Madison we had to ask about how she built her social platforms because FYI, she has 252k YouTube subscribers and 281k Instagram followers (and that's not even including her Twitter and TikTok accounts), she said "I loved YouTube from when I was 14 - that's when I started watching it."

"It was my friend that introduced me to make-up tutorials and stuff and from then I just became obsessed.

"Everyone that meets me will tell you I can talk the back legs off a donkey. So having that as a job always interested me.

"I was that person in school that never really knew what they wanted to do. All of my friends were like, 'I want to be a hairdresser. I want to be a lawyer. I want to do this', and I was like, 'I don't know'."

Before starting her YouTube channel, Madison had 2,000 Instagram followers but she admitted, "I was working my butt off promoting my YouTube and trying to get my name out there".

And with her friends helping to "promote every single video", the tactic worked because when Madison first started her YouTube channel she was getting 1,000 views on her videos.

However her social media job wasn't always easy and after her first video went viral that featured her now ex-boyfriend they both received a lot of racist abuse.

"I'd always spoken about my now ex-boyfriend and we decided to film a 'boyfriend tag' and it literally blew up.

"I think I got 10,000 views in a day which was completely out of the ordinary for me. It just kept growing and to this day, it's still my most viewed video.

"The only problem with that video was that we're both different races and that was the first time I saw the dark internet, because the amount of comments we had was disgusting.

"It was so bad and it kind of surprised me because that was the first time I saw that the internet is not always a happy positive place that I'd experienced."

She went on to explain that with trolling, "I've definitely been in situations where I've let myself go into a dark hole, because it's become that bad.

"But once you realise why people are doing it, and nine times out of 10 it's because of jealousy, I don't like saying that because it sounds like I'm tooting my own horn and I'm not doing that.

"I think sometimes you're almost like a punching bag for someone that's had a bad day, which is what I had to understand to move forward. There's definitely been times where I've thought I can't do this anymore because people have ripped apart my personality, if I've gained weight, if I've changed something about my appearance.

"But you've just got to remember and keep telling yourself that these people are just trolls and keyboard warriors. I've never had anyone ever come up to me and say something negative.

"So it literally is just that, and you just gotta keep reminding yourself why you're doing what you're doing. And it's because it's something you love. And it's something you've worked hard for."

Fast forward a few years and Madison has realised that her job as a social media content creator is "so perfect for me and my lifestyle".

"It's just everything that I love combined into one because I love photography, I love make-up. I love fashion. So everything that I do is basically everything that I love."

And it turns out that being her own boss works perfectly for Madison because "every day is different".

"I'm not someone that does well in a routine because I just get so bored easily. One day I'll be editing, one day I'll be filming, one day I'll be focusing on Instagram content and then I'll always set a day out to do the boring admin stuff.

"I don't really have a specific time I wake up or anything. I try to be up before nine just because if I'm any late than that then I just feel like a bum," she joked.

Now when it comes to creating content it seems that Madison isn't driven by sponsorship deals, in fact she likes to mix her content up.

"I always say to succeed in being an influencer or a YouTuber or having a big Instagram profile, you actually need to love what you're doing.

"So aside from all the sponsored stuff, I work on my own stuff, unsponsored things that I love. Whether it's a cool outfit I've put together or a video where I've thought I really want to film that not for any particular reason, but just because it's a fun video.

"I try to film twice a week and I always say I'd like to upload on Instagram four times a week, but sometimes it could be more sometimes it could be less.

"Sometimes it doesn't happen, because I think everyone has bad weeks. When I'm in a negative headspace, I never like to put that on anyone else."

Now if you've binged watched Madison's videos then you'll know that she recently spent some time in London with her BFFs (and fellow influencers) Hannah Renée and Rachel Leary.

However Madison's video wasn't a travel vlog – it was actually all about her outfits and it turns out it was her boyfriend that helped with the unique idea.

"My boyfriend is a fashion designer and since I've been with him, I feel like my whole outlook on fashion has been completely different.

"When I was putting my London outfits together, I was like hang on, these are actually so cool. I feel like people would appreciate these outfits. So that's what made me think of the video.

"But I get inspiration from everywhere. It's hard to kind of get inspiration without copying someone so I always like to do styling videos but try and make it a bit different.

"I have my videos planned out usually for eight weeks but sometimes I'll chop and change what I do on certain days, because I think of something better."

Funnily enough on the morning of our chat with Mads, she thought of an upcoming video idea - a morning routine of being that girl - so stay tuned for that.

And when it comes to finding inspiration sometimes Mads looks at what's trending on YouTube.

"If someone with a big YouTube platform has done, for example, hot seat questions and then you've also done one, usually it will come up in the recommendations.

"So I think looking at trends really helps with getting views definitely," she added.

Now when you're watching one of Madison's videos it may only be 15 minutes but it turns out that they can take any time between 20 minutes and three hours to film.

"If I've had a negative week or I've just thought of something that might help someone, then I like to sit down and have a chat which could literally take 20 minutes, and it will just be me sat talking to the camera as if I'm talking to all of my friends.

"But then I could plan a video that would take a week, like the London video, for example," she added.

Madison Sarah opens up about her religion

If you're subscribed to Madison you'll know that she's openly spoken out about her religion and faith - most recently in her religion, living alone and single life' video.

And during our chat Mads opened up about her beliefs and her subscribers.

"I think it's a topic that not a lot of influencers talk about and I'm very religious, I was brought up a Jehovah's Witness.

"I'm still a Christian and I go to church every Sunday and it's something that I talk about on my channel and I think that's probably what sets me apart.

"I get a lot of comments asking me about religion and that kind of surprised me, because I don't really have many religious friends and I don't really know many people that still go to church or anything.

"So having that community of people that have the same interests and faith as me was nice to see."

When we asked Madison about the advice she'd give to anyone who wants to become a YouTube, she admitted that she "hates" when people say the industry is oversaturated.

"I think everyone's constantly looking for new YouTubers to watch and fresh content and if I was to give any advice it would be very cliché but - be yourself because no one is you and that is your power.

"I think if you're unapologetically yourself, it's so refreshing to see because no one is you and it can't be an oversaturated industry with so many different people."

"Don't let anyone stop you from doing what you're doing. I've been a victim of online trolling, and it's not nice, but you've just got to remember why you're doing it - for yourself."

As well as having her own community thanks to her job, Madison has "made life long friends". And one of the highlights for Madison has been "how people see you as a friend".

"I want people to see me like that but when I first got stopped and they were like, 'Oh, my God, I watch your videos', that to me was the craziest thing.

"Even now, I've probably shown three or four pictures of my boyfriend on Instagram and people now stop him in the street.

"That's probably the most surprising thing because when you work on your own and you're just sat in a room with a camera, you're not actually thinking about the fact that you're speaking to however many people that you have following you."

Madison has over 200k Instagram followers and during our chat she explained that she's changed her approach on shooting content for the platform.

"I used to do it if I was going out and it just made the whole night so much more stressful, because I'd be thinking everyone needs to hurry up because I need to go get my Instagram content.

"Then I'd spend the whole night looking for somewhere to shoot it and it just kind of ruin the night for me. So I've decided that I'd rather just go out and enjoy my nights out and not have to think about taking content.

"And then for example, I went out on Saturday, and I didn't get any pictures but then on Sunday, put my outfit back on shot it, done. So I definitely say that I prefer to have content days over just taking outfit pictures."

And Mads, who posted a refreshing lingerie haul titled 'Instagram vs Reality' admitted that editing Instagram photos can become "so addictive" and that she's "definitely a victim of it".

However it turns out she only uses fours apps; Lightroom that helps "turning a gloomy day to a better beautiful day", FaceTune that she uses to "patch things out in the background and get little creases out of clothes" and she switches between VSCO and Dazz Cam for filters.

Madison has had her YouTube channel for four years now but it turns out before signing with her current management team [The Blogger Agent] she was being "massively under charged" with her content.

"Getting advice is honestly the best thing I ever did and signing with them [her management team] was the best thing I ever did."

However she did add that she actually enjoyed working alone at the very beginning of her career.

"I feel like I grew personal relationships with brands and I also liked that I saw how everything works behind the scenes, like speaking with brands.

"Having that little bit of time by myself to understand taxes and to understand how to approach brands and how brands approach you really helped with my journey as well."

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As for social media regrets Madison admitted if she could go back in time she'd "not share as much".

"I do love to share my life, I'm a very open person and I was showing my ex-boyfriend but when that broke off, it wasn't great.

"We'd broken up and then a month later I had to do a whole YouTube video and feel like I was going through another break-up. So I'd definitely keep some things private."

She went on to say, "The one thing that I've learned this year more than anything is I wish that I'd acknowledged how powerful having a platform is.

"[My subscribers] trust me and they respect me. So I think I wish I had acknowledged that it's such an important role, because you're almost people's role model. Again not to toot my own horn but people look up to you, so I wish I'd thought about that a little bit more. And it's taken this year for me to realise that and make better decisions."

And as for the rest of 2021 it seems that Madison has some exciting things ahead.

"I have something that I'm working on that is pretty much nearly done and I'm so excited about it. I don't think I've seen anyone do anything like this but it definitely works well with my own self love journey.

"And that's what I would love my channel to be a positive place where someone can watch my videos and feel really confident afterwards. And that's my main goal so if I can do something to help with that, then I'm doing my job."

She teased that she'd love to bring out her own brand of clothes before adding, "I can't believe where I am right now. So I can't even say where I'll be this time next year.

"Because every year I'm like, 'Wow'. I'm really doing myself proud."