This month’s Urban Mom is Rachel Cooper, creator and star of the YouTube channels RachhLoves and RachhLovesLife.
Occupation: YouTuber, beauty guru
Hometown: Toronto
Current town: Toronto
It’s hard to picture yourself in a career that doesn’t exist. But Rachel Cooper from the hit YouTube channel RachhLoves did just that when she made the move from marketing to beauty vlogging.
“‘Beauty vlogger’ isn’t really something that was a thing long before I started doing it,” says Cooper. “I didn’t know anyone who made videos full time until Michelle Phan really went big, but by then I knew I wanted to devote my efforts to making it a career.”
And that is what it took: devotion, dedication and an amazing ability to show us how to do the perfect cat eye! Cooper’s channel RachhLoves has over 777,000 subscribers and an average of 2.7 million views a month. She is undoubtedly one of Canada’s biggest YouTubers. She shares her love of beauty, fashion and some pretty great DIYs.
After graduating from university, Cooper was working in marketing at a consumer packaged goods company. Living in away from her friends and family, she was looking for an outlet to keep her busy on weeknights. Cooper would come home after work and instead of binge watching the latest Netflix craze, she would watch beauty vlogs on YouTube. And then, in May 2009, RachhLoves life was born.
“I started getting into watching [this] blossoming YouTube beauty community as a hobby and eventually started uploading my own videos. I’m very lucky that my channel grew from there!”
Her second channel, RachhLovesLife was born in December 2012 has over 102,000 subscribers and features more vlogs with a focus on her personal life.
“I found that a segment of my audience really wanted to know more about my life, aside from the beauty and fashion and lifestyle content. It seemed to me to be a good way to upload content that’s a bit more personal and quirky while staying true to the feel of my main channel.”While her YouTube popularity was blowing up, her personal life was, too: Cooper married her husband Chris in May 2012. And from there, the next step was a no-brainer.
“I’ve always seen myself as becoming a mom, a family has always been something that I’ve wanted.”
In September 2013, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named Julia. (If you do the math, Cooper started her second channel around the time she found out she was expecting and the channel now focuses heavily on being a mom!)
Even though Cooper works from home (“I know I am very blessed”), balancing a family along with an entrepreneurial YouTube career is no small feat. Cooper uploads at least two videos a week on her main channel, has a toddler to take care of and four months ago, Cooper and her husband announced that they were expecting again. The couple is expecting a boy in January 2016.
Spending time together as a family is very important to Cooper and she does her best to juggle everything life is throwing her way. But above all else, Cooper makes time for her daughter: “I think that… you will never regret spending too much time with your children.”
With everything going on in her life, how does Cooper manage to spend time with her kids?
“My husband’s grandmother used to say ‘the floors will never thank you for scrubbing them, but your kids will thank you for reading to them,’ and I think that’s good advice.”
She also credits her ability to schedule as having helped her maintain the oh-so important work-life balance.
“It’s easy to get caught up in working all day when there’s lots to be done. It’s important for us to schedule time in advance to spend as a family and stick to it.”
It’s a tough question to ask someone in the late twenties, but Cooper says she wouldn’t change a thing about her journey. Although that’s not to say she didn’t have doubts along the way.
“Looking back, I wouldn’t change anything, though in the moment at various times I would have changed everything if I could. I think it’s important to keep a big picture view and have faith that everything will work out if you work hard and keep your priorities right.”
Lightening Round
What is your favourite moment during the day? Getting ready in the morning, before everything starts.
Would you rather cook or do the dishes? Cook.
Lipstick or lip gloss? Lip gloss.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Cookies!
What is your proudest moment? Giving birth to my daughter.
What is your one must-have beauty item? Mascara.
What three things are always in your purse? Phone, wallet, lip gloss.
What’s the last book you read? Does Dr. Seuss’s “The Sleep Book” count?
You can find Rachel on her YouTube channels RachhLoves and RachhLovesLife as well as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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