LOS ANGELES – Lilly Singh is one of the biggest Youtube stars in the world. Hailing from Toronto, she started her channel as a university student, making funny skits and relatable videos that have connected her with audiences around the globe. She sat down for a one-on-one with Brandon where they discussed everything from her new book, to her rise to fame.
Singh is a New York Times bestselling author. Her first book “How to Be a Bawse” was released in 2017 and is “the definitive guide to conquering life” according to bookseller Indigo. She recently released her second book, titled “Be A Triangle” and explained to Brandon the meaning behind the title.
“I honestly didn’t know the advice and lessons in this book before writing it,” Singh explained, adding that she knew she wanted to write a book about mindfulness, spirituality, and happiness but she didn’t know the answers to the questions she was asking in her book.
“I had to go on this journey to write the book, so when I was going on that journey I was like ‘what am I actually trying to say, what is my problem?’” Singh explained.
“The problem was that I feel like I’ve never really had a solid foundation in life. What I mean by that, because I know that can sound kinda fluffy, is like in this industry where there are highs and lows, I’m doing different things and this career is such a whirlwind, I feel like I never have something to come back home to,” she explained.
“Like a belief system to come back home to. Whether I have a good day or a bad day my life would just kinda teeter in whatever direction and I never had a solid belief system. When I started to Google ‘solid foundation’ the triangle came up because structurally it’s the strongest shape,” Singh continued.
She decided then and there that she wanted to “be a triangle” herself!
Working in the creative industry isn’t easy and comes with a lot of attention, as Singh knows all too well. She’s been at the centre of controversy before, but she has had to learn how to cope with the attention while working in creative spaces like Youtube and TikTok.
“I don’t want to sit here and pretend that it’s not a huge privilege to be in my position,” Singh said, adding that she thinks it is naive of people to think her job is easy.
“At the end of the day celebrities are still humans. They still have feelings, they still have mental health they need to worry about. People in the public eye are probably at the top of the list of people who are torn apart, who are criticized,” Singh explained, adding that no matter how successful you are, criticism still hurts.
Singh revealed that as she has gotten older and faced more criticism, she has actually become more sensitive to other people’s opinions. She told Brandon that when she was younger she felt as though she had something to prove, but now she’s ten years in the game, things have changed.
“I feel like I’ve done a lot of really great things that help a lot of people, so I think I’ve developed a little bit of helplessness where when I do things to really help people, like great things with positive energy, to then still have people be like ‘what about this?’ I think that is what makes it burn a little bit more,” Singh explained.
She said that there comes a point when you realize that other people’s opinions and comments are only distractions from your true purpose.
Lilly found a lot of success making short, funny skits on Youtube. Many of her original videos centred around her family life and her parents. Well, she told Brandon what her family is REALLY like and revealed everything from her favourite travel destinations to her celebrity crush on this episode of News You Can Use.
