Gemma Atkinson

Gemma Atkinson is one of the most popular and highest-earning vloggers on YouTube, having accrued over 500 million views during her time on the platform. She currently has over 160 million subscribers, putting her at number 19 on the YouTube ranking board.

Atkinson grew up in Kirkby, England, and began recording her thoughts and travels on her YouTube channel, Atkin’s Travels, at the age of 17. She soon became a full-time vlogger, focusing on food, fashion and travel inspiration, and in 2018, she was named as one of the 100 inspiring women to watch on YouTube by Time magazine. She is also a regular contributor to Heat magazine, HuffPost and Teen Vogue.

The Influences That Led To Greatness

Atkinson credits her meteoric rise to YouTube with being born at the right time and into the right family. She cites the early 2000s as the golden era of YouTube, when the platform was still relatively new and less crowded. The videos were shorter, the channels simpler, and the content less complicated. “I just sort of fell into it,” she told Business Insider in 2018. “I didn’t really know what I was doing, to be honest. I just kind of launched a blog on my own with no clue as to how to make money from it.”

The following year, she partnered with Nomad Capital to launch a YouTube network aimed at Gen Z, titled NextFab. She also launched a brand new blog, Atkin’s Style, and continued to grow her social media channels.

The Biggest Disappointment Of Her Career So Far

So far, the biggest disappointment of her career has come in the form of an unscripted TV project that she starred in alongside her young son. Titled Gemma Atkinson: The Business of being a Mother, the one-off reality show chronicled her life as a working mother, and was watched by over 4.5 million people.

In the show, she faced challenges such as juggling a career and a family, as well as financial insecurity and anxiety. It also featured interviews with some of the biggest stars of the YouTube generation, such as Lilly Singh and Grace Helbig. However, Atkinson says that it was not what she intended to put on her CV. “I had to write the show to put it on my resumé,” she told Business Insider. “I didn’t really want to do that, but for the sake of my career.”

While the show was an unmitigated disaster, it did provide her with some valuable career tips and opportunities. She had initially planned to leave the series after its premiere, but then decided to remain on for a second season. “I thought I could perhaps help other mothers, and show them that it’s possible to have a successful career while being a mother,” she told Business Insider at the time. “But then I got to the end of the second season, and the truth is it was hard work, and I missed being with my family.”

A Role Model For Mummy YouTube

As well as being a role model to countless young women on YouTube, Atkinson is also incredibly influential to her own daughter, Violet. “I hope I’m an example to her of a working mother who is still ambitious and driven,” she said. “Also, I hope she’s learned from my mistakes. As a parent, you just never know what type of influence you’re having on your kid.”

A Woman Of Many Gifts

While Gemma Atkinson is undoubtedly one of the most successful and influential women on YouTube, the platform is also home to some pretty wonderful creators who have risen to fame through no merit of their own. Creators like Megan Jayne Crabbe and Anna Puri, to name just two, have accrued millions of followers and millions of dollars in revenue thanks to their unique beauty and fashion content.

Atkinson is undoubtedly a talented woman, but all of this has come about because she is a product of her time and place. She was born in 1993, the same year as the millennial generation, and grew up in a part of England that voted overwhelmingly to leave the European Union. Having been raised in a country that voted overwhelmingly to remain part of the EU and surrounded by people of all cultures, it is perhaps not so surprising that she has emerged as one of the most prominent women on YouTube.