Riley Rehl: Youtube Star at Southern Virginia University

If you know Riley Rehl, you know that she is one of the most kind-hearted students at Southern Virginia University. If you do not know Riley Rehl, let me give you a brief introduction. Riley is a sophomore from Marietta, Ohio majoring in business and minoring in graphic design. She is also on the Dance Team and is on the Institute Council. One unique thing about Riley is that she is a Youtuber! Riley started posting youtube videos in August of 2018, and her channel has grown since then to 269 thousand subscribers and over 17 million views. I was able to interview Riley and ask her about her experiences both as a student at Southern Virginia University and as a Youtuber.

Why did you choose to come to Southern Virginia University?

“I chose to visit Southern Virginia University because of the personalized education they have here and the strong influence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with the Institute program and Young Single Adult wards here. So I came and visited, felt the spirit, felt like I should come here, and it was a done deal.”

How have you enjoyed your experience at Southern Virginia University?

“I love Southern Virginia University! I am so glad I made the choice to come here. I know I could have had a good experience at the other colleges that I was thinking about going to, but I know that I am where the Lord wants me to be and around the people he wants me to be around. I am grateful for the testimony building experiences I have had here and I am excited for the rest of the time I have at Southern Virginia.”

What or who inspired you to do YouTube?

“Hannah Meloche-she’s the one who I really looked up to when I was starting my YouTube channel. She was creating the kind of videos that I really wanted to create. I would also say all of the Youtubers that I watched growing up, such as Alisha Marie and Bethany Mota, also influenced my decision to start a channel!”

What was the moment where you felt like this was actually happening?

“Well, I thought it was when I posted this hair cutting video where I cut my sister’s hair and it got 6,000 views. This was when I only had like 100 subscribers, and I thought “look at me go!! 6,000 views. I’m so awesome!”

Hair cutting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwSZmcWHPGQ

“When I actually started taking off was when I filmed an iPhone XS Max unboxing video. And it hit 1000 views in the first 24 hours. That was a crazy feeling! I had never experienced a video that got that many views so fast. And after a couple weeks it ended up getting 200,000 views, which was huge because I only had 300 subscribers when I posted it. That experience was inspiring and gave me the confidence that I can do this, and that I can make content people want to see.”

iPhone unboxing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q976yp8fsw

What is the most rewarding part about making YouTube videos?

“It is for sure the messages I get! Whenever I create content that is inspiring (which is my favorite kind of content to make), there are a few videos on my channel that I specifically put a lot of time and effort into trying to have an inspiring message. It makes me happy whenever those videos do really well, and in turn reach and touch a lot of people. That is what is most rewarding to me. I posted a video this summer, “What they dont tell you about Freshman year of college,” and a lot of people were telling me how much it helped them or how much it touched them because they had experienced similar things. And through that video I was able to connect with people from all over the world.”

What they dont tell you about Freshman year of college: https://youtu.be/XAzAnaF1zP8

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a youtube channel?

“Accept that it is going to take time, and don’t stop working towards the goals! It took me 5 months of posting every single week to gain 100 subscribers. For a lot of people, including me, success hits you after you have been working for a long time! So stay at it, stay consistent, don’t get discouraged, and make videos you love watching! If you work hard you will see success from that!”

Riley is truly an awesome person and I am glad that we are friends! In my opinion, what truly makes Riley so great is that she is a beacon of light to everyone that knows her, and I know that I am not the only person who thinks that. If you would like to know about Riley Rehl, you can subscribe to her Youtube Channel Here: https://youtube.com/c/RileyRehl