Many YouTube stars are more popular these days than mainstream celebrities, thanks to outrageous videos they post online, but a Boca Raton middle schooler is proving you can gain a massive following without bad behavior.
Mariah, 12, started a YouTube channel three years ago called MariahsReborns1 featuring her reborn baby dolls.
With her grandma behind the camera, the duo gives viewers glimpses into their everyday life with Mariah’s 25 lifelike, extremely realistic dolls.
“We take them everywhere,” said Mariah. “We take them to Target, to the water park, to Buy Buy Baby.”
So far the channel has racked up more than 35 million views with more than 130,000 subscribers.
“I never thought it would get this big,” Mariah said. “I like making people happy and I want to share every one of my experiences of having dolls and collecting reborns.”
Even with hundreds of videos and regular posts, viewers can’t get enough.
“I want them to be brave about their hobby,” said Mariah. “Having a whole collection of dolls people are like, ‘that’s so creepy, why do you do that?’ Well because that’s what I like to do and if you don’t like it then tough.”
But these sweet interactions between a girl and her dolls aren’t always the norm. Many other YouTube stars have shot to fame for all the wrong reasons like fellow South Floridian Danielle Bregoli, the 14-year-old infamous for her spot on Dr. Phil coining the phrase “Cash me ousside.”
“Being negative and not appropriate it just confuses me,” said Mariah. “Other people just pretend to be funny or different than who they really are and I feel like if I’m myself more people will like me for what I really am.”
And, like her, they do; proving a young girl and her perfectly painted dolls can shine online.
YouTube does compensate Mariah for clicks and views. According to her grandma, the money is saved and placed into Mariah’s college fund.