YouTube Sensation Ellie Thumann’s Top Tips for Aspiring Creators

The SI Swimsuit rookie has more than two million subscribers on the platform.

Ellie Thumann.SI Staff

SI Swimsuit’s newest 2023 rookie, Ellie Thumann, is best known for her YouTube channel. She first began posting on the platform in 2014, and the 21-year-old now has two million subscribers who regularly tune in for her fashion, beauty, lifestyle and advice content.

“Making the world my oyster,” reads the description on Thumann’s YouTube channel, @ElliexoxoFashion, which she named at the age of 12 and has never looked back. She has built her Instagram to be an aesthetic feed filled with fun outfits, vacation inspiration and sweet photos with her girlfriends. 

Throughout her almost-decade-long journey of sharing bits and pieces of her personal life with the internet, Thumann has gone viral for her quarantine hot girl walks—she was even gifted “therapy headphones” from Beats by Dre to accompany her during her daily three-mile strolls—“Week In My Life” videos, travel vlogs and relatable content with her best friend, sister Erin.

She credits her YouTube success to beginning her channel right when the platform was rising in popularity, staying consistent with her posting and always being true to herself.

Thumann isn’t afraid to be vulnerable on her YouTube channel—she’s no stranger to speaking through tears about heartbreak and sharing snippets of days when she’s struggling to love herself.

“I think I attribute my success to starting at a young age and when it wasn’t a very common thing or something that was as normalized as it is now,” she says about being a YouTube content creator. “Sticking through it and working with my family—that really helped support me.”

Thumann adds that she feels as if she has grown up with her audience and has done her best to show the good, bad and the awkward stages of getting older.

“I’ve always tried to keep it that way,” she continues. “It’s always been very important to me.”

For anyone looking to start up a YouTube channel of their own, Thumann advises that they grow a thick skin and not give up.

“Block out any noise on the outside,” she explains. “Do it for yourself and show up as yourself because it reads so much better. [Do] what you want to do and people will love that and you’ll find your people that support and appreciate you for doing that.”

Thumann admits that she has tried to hide certain parts and “run away” from showing certain aspects of her life in the past, but not anymore.

“At the end of the day, this is Ellie and this is all she can be,” she says.

Meet Ellie Thumann—read the 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie’s full feature profile here.