And the best part is, that anyone can do it if they really put their mind to it. I’m not sure how long this wave will last, but no shame in riding it out as long as you can.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
My name is Sharon Cancio and I’m a 24-year-old content creator known as “Just
Sharon.” I’ve amassed over 700,000+ followers across all my social media platforms. At my core, I’m a YouTuber that is most known for my menstrual health videos and revealing secrets videos. I’m also active on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
My content has gone through many phases and many changes, but to summarize, my content is a mix of my personality: an independent, confident woman with a witty sense of humor. YouTube is my main platform and on there, I’m best known for my text pranks (circa 2017), reading subscribers’ stories, and menstrual health videos. On TikTok, I’m best known for my “Dinner and a Movie Theme Nights,” including themes like Marvel and Disney.
My content has been featured on Buzzfeed, Huffpost, MTV, iHeartRadio, BBC, HBO’s “And Just Like That…” and the French television show, “Quotidien.” I do strive to give my viewer a safe space and make them feel loved, inspired, and confident.
My name is Sharon Cancio and I’m a 24-year-old content creator known as “Just
Sharon.” I’ve amassed over 700,000+ followers across all my social media platforms. At my core, I’m a YouTuber that is most known for my menstrual health videos and revealing secrets videos. I’m also active on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
My content has gone through many phases and many changes, but to summarize, my content is a mix of my personality: an independent, confident woman with a witty sense of humor. YouTube is my main platform and on there, I’m best known for my text pranks (circa 2017), reading subscribers’ stories, and menstrual health videos. On TikTok, I’m best known for my “Dinner and a Movie Theme Nights,” including themes like Marvel and Disney.
My content has been featured on Buzzfeed, Huffpost, MTV, iHeartRadio, BBC, HBO’s “And Just Like That…” and the French television show, “Quotidien.” I do strive to give my viewer a safe space and make them feel loved, inspired, and confident.
That being said, a lot of my content is submission-based, so my followers share their stories or confessions within a given theme and I share them. This can be anything from embarrassing first-date stories, secrets you’re keeping from your parents, and more.
2. When did you first decide that you wanted to create content and how did you start?
I got into making YouTube videos when my older cousin showed me parody videos as a preteen. I immediately fell in love with the idea of creating content to make people happy, laugh, and share with others. So I asked my cousin to sign me up for YouTube and teach me how to make YouTube videos on Windows Movie Maker.
My first ever video was a Jonas Brothers picture slideshow with random images I pulled from Google. I really just did this for fun, didn’t take it too seriously until I was 15 and YouTubers were starting to become a source of entertainment amongst my friends and people our age.
My best friend at the time and I enjoyed watching a collab channel together. We thought they were so cool and we wanted to be just as cool as them so we started making our own YouTube videos.
Our first videos were challenges that were popular at the time like the cinnamon challenge, hot sauce challenge, and more. As we got older, we began to have different interests. I still cared about making YouTube videos, so I took on the YouTube channel as my own — hence the beginning of my brand, “Just Sharon.”
3. Is vlogging and YouTube content creation a financially sustainable career?
Not always, this depends on the content creator. It’s not a promise that your content will earn you a living. It takes a lot of hard work, determination, and failure. You have to learn from your failures and your mistakes constantly. You also can’t just expect to post one YouTube video and become a millionaire overnight. Good things take time!
Currently, I’m able to live off of making YouTube videos but that could change at any given moment. YouTube could be deleted tomorrow and there goes my career. I do think there is something special and powerful about content creation though. In the last few years, I believe people have learned that social media isn’t a joke. Making content online could truly be a full-time job. It brought to light that the traditional mindset of “go to school, get a degree, get a great paying job and you’ll be set” isn’t the only way to live anymore.
I went to school, I got my degree (Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications with a focus in Public Relations and minor in Communications) and I didn’t have to get a job working for someone else.
I work for myself setting my schedule, making what I want and love to make, and it earns me a living. Most importantly, I’m happy doing it! And the best part is, that anyone can do it if they really put their mind to it. I’m not sure how long this wave will last, but no shame in riding it out as long as you can.
4. Who is your favorite creator and why?
This is a tough question because I don’t think I truly have one. My taste is very sporadic, so I like to find content that aligns with my taste, not necessarily just one content creator per se. I do gravitate towards content creators that promote self-love, self-care, sustainability, and overall positive content. I do believe what you surround yourself with affects you and your mood, so I like uplifting content and creators!
5. How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content?
I get inspiration from my everyday life! Whether it’s something I’m experiencing, or something I saw on TikTok or Twitter. Luckily a lot of my content is subscriber based and I have a very active relationship with my followers. As mentioned, I have a series on my channel where I read secrets or stories from my subscribers anonymously. I’ll give them a topic and they’ll submit their stories and I’ll share them. With that, comes a lot of video ideas and video requests.
That also gives me the ability to post multiple parts of the same topic, but with different submissions. If it’s a slow time, I’ll pull a “fan favorite” and ask for submissions! Some are so successful that I upload the same topic every month, once a month - specifically my Period Horror Stories series.
6. What does your typical day look like?
My typical day depends if it’s an editing, planning, or creating day. For the most part, I start my mornings off the same. I go for a walk, mentally prepare myself for everything I need to get done, and sort of create my mental to-do list. Once home, I shower, eat my meal-prepped breakfast, then physically write out my to-do list. Sometimes I spend all day creating content, editing content I’ve banked, or just planning content. Overall: lots of dealing with content.
2. When did you first decide that you wanted to create content and how did you start?
I got into making YouTube videos when my older cousin showed me parody videos as a preteen. I immediately fell in love with the idea of creating content to make people happy, laugh, and share with others. So I asked my cousin to sign me up for YouTube and teach me how to make YouTube videos on Windows Movie Maker.
My first ever video was a Jonas Brothers picture slideshow with random images I pulled from Google. I really just did this for fun, didn’t take it too seriously until I was 15 and YouTubers were starting to become a source of entertainment amongst my friends and people our age.
My best friend at the time and I enjoyed watching a collab channel together. We thought they were so cool and we wanted to be just as cool as them so we started making our own YouTube videos.
Our first videos were challenges that were popular at the time like the cinnamon challenge, hot sauce challenge, and more. As we got older, we began to have different interests. I still cared about making YouTube videos, so I took on the YouTube channel as my own — hence the beginning of my brand, “Just Sharon.”
3. Is vlogging and YouTube content creation a financially sustainable career?
Not always, this depends on the content creator. It’s not a promise that your content will earn you a living. It takes a lot of hard work, determination, and failure. You have to learn from your failures and your mistakes constantly. You also can’t just expect to post one YouTube video and become a millionaire overnight. Good things take time!
Currently, I’m able to live off of making YouTube videos but that could change at any given moment. YouTube could be deleted tomorrow and there goes my career. I do think there is something special and powerful about content creation though. In the last few years, I believe people have learned that social media isn’t a joke. Making content online could truly be a full-time job. It brought to light that the traditional mindset of “go to school, get a degree, get a great paying job and you’ll be set” isn’t the only way to live anymore.
I went to school, I got my degree (Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications with a focus in Public Relations and minor in Communications) and I didn’t have to get a job working for someone else.
I work for myself setting my schedule, making what I want and love to make, and it earns me a living. Most importantly, I’m happy doing it! And the best part is, that anyone can do it if they really put their mind to it. I’m not sure how long this wave will last, but no shame in riding it out as long as you can.
4. Who is your favorite creator and why?
This is a tough question because I don’t think I truly have one. My taste is very sporadic, so I like to find content that aligns with my taste, not necessarily just one content creator per se. I do gravitate towards content creators that promote self-love, self-care, sustainability, and overall positive content. I do believe what you surround yourself with affects you and your mood, so I like uplifting content and creators!
5. How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content?
I get inspiration from my everyday life! Whether it’s something I’m experiencing, or something I saw on TikTok or Twitter. Luckily a lot of my content is subscriber based and I have a very active relationship with my followers. As mentioned, I have a series on my channel where I read secrets or stories from my subscribers anonymously. I’ll give them a topic and they’ll submit their stories and I’ll share them. With that, comes a lot of video ideas and video requests.
That also gives me the ability to post multiple parts of the same topic, but with different submissions. If it’s a slow time, I’ll pull a “fan favorite” and ask for submissions! Some are so successful that I upload the same topic every month, once a month - specifically my Period Horror Stories series.
6. What does your typical day look like?
My typical day depends if it’s an editing, planning, or creating day. For the most part, I start my mornings off the same. I go for a walk, mentally prepare myself for everything I need to get done, and sort of create my mental to-do list. Once home, I shower, eat my meal-prepped breakfast, then physically write out my to-do list. Sometimes I spend all day creating content, editing content I’ve banked, or just planning content. Overall: lots of dealing with content.
- Sharon Cancio (Instagram)
- Interviewed by Varnika Sharma
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