Saffron Barker | Extraordinary Life Stories

0:11Saffron, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. We're looking forward to this. Tell me, who is Saffron Barker? Gosh, that's such a hard question. It's hard when you're answering it about yourself. I'm a daughter. I'm a lover. I love love. I'm fiercely loyal. I'm definitely a very, I'm very optimistic. Always have been. I'm definitely extroverted. Always been that way? Yes, I've always been that way. Yeah, absolutely. If you look at like, when I watch back my childhood videos, I'm always the loudest, most outgoing child. Singing with a hairbrush? A hundred percent. I put on performances to my parents every single night.

0:55And I've always been a businesswoman because I've made them pay for these performances too. Oh, that's brilliant. It was always like... Really? Knew your worth early. Yeah. That's entrepreneurial, right? Yeah. And they didn't want to watch it, but I'd make them come and watch me sing and perform and dance. And yeah, I've always, always been that way. That means there's an underlying confidence. Where does that come from? Because so much of what you've gone on to do needs confidence. So it feels like you built that early on from probably getting a reaction from people and realising there was ultimately a talent there.

1:23Where did that come from? I think probably having two brothers helped because I've always, my brothers, my family have always been, were very competitive with each other. And I think having two brothers, I always wanted to make a point that like, you know, I was the only daughter and I wanted to like find a way to somehow stick out. And I always wanted to be my parents' favourite. Always. So competitive. Yeah, always competitive. They're so competitive. And I think I just always wanted to prove a point with them. I think that's probably where it started from, honestly. And my brothers were both, well, not so much my younger brother, but my older brother was always very confident.

2:01And so I think I think I probably got that from him. But my mum also, my mum's always, my mum's a very confident woman and very outgoing. She's always told me anything I've wanted to do in life, I can do. And so I think because I've always had that mindset. Yeah, I think she's always been so big on self-belief. And I think that's probably where the confidence does come from. Yeah. And you started ultimately YouTubing really young, 13 years old. So that support ultimately from your parents feels like, you know, that was pioneering. That was also quite vulnerable, if you like. You were putting yourself out there.

2:45How supportive were your parents of that? Oh, massively. Brilliant. To be honest, I actually don't know how they were so supportive. Because like you said, when I first started out, I didn't even know that it could be a job. I honestly did it as a hobby. It wasn't, right? Well, it wasn't, no. Well, I mean, there was probably, I would say, a handful of YouTubers at the time who were a lot older than I was. Well, probably the age that I am now. So I'm now 24. And I think they're about 24, 25. And there was, like I said, a handful of YouTubers. But I didn't know at the time that they were earning money.

3:15So it wasn't a well-known thing that you could make money. And to be honest, it probably wasn't making that much money. So that's a relatively new thing, isn't it, actually? So, yeah, you've come through that journey. Yeah, definitely. I mean, to be honest, I started earning money pretty quickly when I did it. I think because it started to kind of grow and blow up the time that I started. So I got very lucky in that sense. But yeah, I mean, when my parents allowed me to, you know, reach for this goal, which was just to be a very successful YouTuber. I mean, because I didn't go to, I didn't really do the last year of school.

3:48I didn't go to college. And I think for my parents to allow me to do that, when I look back, I'm like, how? But I think it's because my mum always knew that I'm a very, I'm not very academic. I'm dyslexic. I didn't enjoy school. And the only thing I loved doing was performing and entertaining. So recognising the strengths was key, right? And so I think that's what, my mum was a bit like, you know, this is something she can be really successful in. So I'm just going to give her everything and push her to the extreme. And so, yeah, I guess that's what she did. Because even my mum's friends at the time said to her, are you really sure about not sending Saffron to college?

4:21My mum was like, well, she can go to college whenever she wants. Whereas, you know, she needs to, she's growing so fast at this and loves what she's doing. Why would she not just do it now? You've built momentum, right? You've built habits. You've built a following, which is, I mean, now is so important. You know, I mean, I think the stat is over 60 % now of Gen Zers when they're asked what they would like to do as a career, is to be a social media influencer. Which is crazy because I remember watching I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and years and years ago, it was like, what do children want to be nowadays?

4:54And it used to be like, I don't know, a fireman or something. And now I remember like not so long ago, it was a YouTuber. And it just blew my mind that that many children or that many, yeah, the Gen Z want to be YouTubers and want to be social media stars. I love that because actually you've reframed something there. so Kylie Minogue, Rihanna have become influencers through a career that's been successful following what they want to do as a passion your passion is to be an actress I believe so you could argue that you are actually having become a well-known influencer could actually now have a really good chance at that because you put yourself out there yeah definitely I mean I'm somebody who I see challenges as opportunities and so I think that's also where again like my confidence and stuff comes from because you never know what I don't know where something can lead you and like you said it's it's so amazing how many doors this career's opened for me and I've always wanted to be on stage like acting singing or dancing that's what I grew up doing so if it does end up opening that door of acting it is it's like it's done a full 360 but yeah ultimately you're manifesting it right you're probably you're thinking you know what you want to do and so you're heading in that direction whilst doing all the things you're doing how much now at 24 with this amazing kind of almost a veteran of it now at 24 how much of what you're doing every day is what you now want to do because I imagine at certain times and going back to you taking money off your parents and before there was an element of building a career out of it proving that it's a it's a it's a business but probably doing certain things that you might not have wanted to or been passionate about are you now in a position where the things you can do and the things you can associate with are really aligned?

6:35Yes, definitely. I think when I first started out, I mean, I loved it, don't get me wrong, but there was definitely a point where I hit burnout because I was filming my life every single day for two and a half years straight. And then on top of that, I had another channel, which I would upload two videos. So in total, I uploaded nine videos a week and I would edit them, film them, everything myself. I mean, I don't even know how I slept. I could not do that now. So I don't know how I did it. That's interesting because a lot of people looking in on what you do could say it looks really easy you're working massively long hours there as an entrepreneur and a content creator coming up with the ideas the concepts then actually filming it and then editing it and so on that's all you right yeah i mean my mum would definitely help me come up with ideas and stuff but it it took up all of my free time that was yeah when when people say it was easy my job might look easy now because now i'm in a position where I can choose what I do want to do.

7:31But yeah, I think lots of people didn't see when I was aged 14, 15, 16, I genuinely worked so, so hard. And I'm proud of myself to say that I did. And a lot of it I do owe to my mum as well, because when I was like 14, 15, I was, you know, I was in school and lots of kids had a lot of things to say. And there were some times where, you know, I really wanted to go to this like party after school. And my mum would say, well, you can go, but don't think I'm going to help you film all day tomorrow because that's your choice. You make the choice what you want to do. If you want this to be a career and not go to college, then you need to really put in the work.

8:09And so she was... She put a discipline in place. She definitely put a discipline in place. And I'm so grateful. Totally. And you're not going to learn that in school necessarily. No. No, absolutely not. I've got two kids, 13 and 15, and they're learning stuff at school that dare I say they're not going to be using in everyday life. you were learning stuff that you can now use forever and actually you pioneered so much and I'd love to talk to you about that because coming out of ideas with your mum and coming up with videos that then have built this following in this career how alone did you feel at that point and did you have a role model to look at there was no one else really doing it um yeah I mean there definitely was times where I felt alone for sure um especially when at that age you know it was so important to be popular in school and of course I wanted to be popular like the other kids and stuff and I couldn't go to the parties and stuff that they went to because I was always prioritising my work and my career and I also knew as well like my mum knew that this was what I was good at so I also wanted to make the most of it.

9:11Yeah so there definitely were times where I felt lonely but I'm also very family orientated and my family very quickly started doing what I was doing so everyone in my family is like a youtuber now yeah my brother my older brother has a family yeah yeah yeah completely i mean they really had no choice but to be in it because i was fooling my life every day so they didn't particularly want to be in it but they did it because it meant a lot to me yeah i mean my younger brother he hated it because when i tell you every day there were comments in school and we was in high school at the same time as two years below me even like the back of his head he would start crying if it was in my video because because everyone would talk about us in school and he didn't like it and it wasn't good things because now it probably would be a good thing if somebody had hundreds of thousands of followers because you know most kids nowadays want that but at the time it was someone doing something new that a lot of people couldn't understand and people don't like things that they can't understand resistant to change you've opened up something that is really important to you that I wanted to ask you and again going back to my own daughters one daughter in particular who would probably love to do what you're doing but isn't brave enough to that judgment that bullying you know and a lot of that probably comes from jealousy you know you just have one thing she is and so but actually one you're following your passion and two you've got the confidence and the conviction to do it but how did you deal with the negatives you know your own brother going stop it and so on and not been happy clearly you were dedicated to the kind of cause but how did it affect you in any way the negative comments you know anything that was sort of trying to derail you um i think having the support that i had definitely helped i think having parents that were so behind me definitely helped um because i i know for a fact i wouldn't be where I was if it wasn't for them even yes my younger brother hated it but he was I knew he was proud of me for doing it he just didn't want the limelight himself and my older brother was so behind and so for me and I had really great friends who it's weird actually because my friends wouldn't speak about it in school but outside of school they would speak about it was why do you think that was again because it didn't look very cool and I understood that that's the thing like it was hard for me because I was thinking well you're my best friend so why does no one ever asked me oh how's it going even though they know that you know I'd missed my dance exam because I was going to the Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards in LA but no one would ask me about it in school it was like it was just never spoken about and I think yeah it came down to it just drew a lot of attention and just it got to a point where no one wanted to talk about it um did you ever have a moment where you thought you know something happened or something was said and you questioned yourself or were you always that focused on just you built a habit of doing it every day definitely moments i mean yeah my family were like my support system and i definitely couldn't have done it without them but i mean of course the negative i mean you could have a thousand nice comments and one negative comment will always stick out it always will um and there definitely were times where i thought to myself what am i doing or you know i think especially i mean i do it still now to this you'll still have that now what so what's your coping mechanism with that you've got a thousand comments of love this amazing and then someone says something just you know what's your process of dealing with that honestly i think the most powerful thing you can do is just to ignore it because these people do it for attention and i think i learned that pretty early on i mean i remember my mum my mum would react to negative comments and i wouldn't because i didn't want people to see it but my mum would react and there was never a positive outcome that would come from her reacting that's protection of you yeah of course it was it was to protect me and you know she felt all the feelings i feel you know as a parent you feel that what your child feels and so whenever somebody would say something nasty to me my mum would want to protect me and would react to it and very early on we learned reacting to it does absolutely nothing you're giving giving them exactly what they want putting your energy into it as well right yeah exactly

13:27and I don't really think there is anything else you can do other than ignoring it but that doesn't make it any easier because it will always affect you I think as long as you're as long as you believe in what you're doing and it makes you happy I think you're able to stick to it and realize that that person behind a computer screen clearly isn't very happy because I know even if I wasn't doing this job I know for a fact I would never write something negative about somebody online I just wouldn't I wouldn't feel the need to do that well you've got the empathy to know what it feels like and again you're happy in what you're doing there's there's a lot of people that aren't and I guess that's a way of you framing that and back to that kind of mixing up the confidence that you've got from what you're doing the support that you've got from your family if someone was watching and listening to this now whether they're a young version of yourself or someone that's maybe pivoting in life as an adult and I'd love to do what she's doing but I don't have the confidence I don't have the support network I'm not brave enough to put myself out and film myself to camera what advice would you give them I would probably say well first of all I would say I think I've always said in life if you want to do something badly enough just go for it because what is the worst that can happen following your passion right Following your passion and what is the worst that can happen?

14:49The worst thing, even asking a question, the worst thing somebody could say is no. That is literally the worst thing that can happen. And with you uploading something online, the worst thing that can happen is it probably doesn't get as many views as you want it to in your head. I mean, that's something that takes time anyways. And the negative comments, they're going to be there whether or not you have 10 million views or 100 views. It's going to be there either way. So I think if you're passionate about it, you should just go for it. I think it is definitely easier said than done. Just saying to somebody, just go and do it because...

15:21What I love is there's no regrets, right? So there's probably people that, dare I say, are locking themselves up to then be like, I wish I'd done that. And particularly, if you look at what you're doing, you're getting to have the most amazing life experiences now. Just come back from a cruise. How many people want to do that, but they pay for it? You ultimately are allowed to do that as a job. And to actually say how much you're enjoying it and put it out there, that benefits the cruise company and you get to have an amazing experience. It's a win-win. So a slightly different way of asking a question I might have kind of touched already, but coming from a parenting point of view.

15:53So if 60 plus percent of Gen Zers want to come through now and be influencers, there's parents that could turn around and say, that's not a job. You know, that's not a thing. Make sure you finish your exams and so on. This is almost a message from you to parents that are looking at it going, well actually look how well I've done it's probably there's probably going to be some lessons on it in the future hard to imagine but literally because you learned it on the job right yeah so what would be the sort of uh conversation you'd have with someone where they're a parent of a child that wants to go into it and they are really obstructive they don't see the value I would probably say if you're whatever it is in life if it's this job or anything else if it's that they want to be a footballer or whatever I think if if you're passionate about something I think anyone can be successful in something they're passionate about whether or not you end up going down the exact route you plan to in your head in some way you can lean into that and I think you just have to be passionate about it so I think if I was telling somebody's parents yeah if somebody wanted to be a YouTuber and their parents weren't for it I would say to them just watch what happens when somebody's passionate about something that they love and you will see the success I think yeah it's really easy to say it's not a proper job I mean I got told that it actually wasn't really a proper job to be fair when I first started out and my teachers that was the exact thing my teachers would say to me was but that's not a proper job that's never gonna last that's not going to be a thing how are you going to get paid for that I got told that constantly how do you feel about that now for flourishing and thriving you know yeah I mean it feels great now because I'm like I proved a point which I love proving a point um so yeah now it feels great but yeah I mean I got told that a lot I think if I was a parent whatever my child wanted to be and I think it's because I've experienced it firsthand I think I would support them in every single way that I could to do whatever they wanted to do because yeah I think it all just goes down to if you're passionate about it you can be successful at it and yeah it's probably not like the normal path to go down but it doesn't mean that it's not the correct path to go down yeah there's there's so much there at to unravel and I think from a confidence point of view and a self-belief that's what I'm really picking up on and if you can find that in yourself let alone if you can bring your family and you've ultimately proven that we sort of touched on success there you know you have been successful in what you've done and you've got a whole life ahead of you as well sitting here now how would you define success um i would define success as just being happy um i think for me right now i probably feel the happiest i've ever felt and i think i've learned the balance of my career you know the time i spend with my family my friends my boyfriend i think yeah I think it's all of those things I think success is happiness that's what it is and it's having balance yeah and at times because I can feel that radiating from you now right there's a glow without any arrogance just like you're you're in a place you're here because you want to be you're doing what you're doing afterwards because you want to going back to almost that sort of advice side of things you probably had to experience quite a few things because you pioneered so much and then why don't people in front of you do that is there any kind of real lesson is there anything that you'd be like you must look out for this for example i imagine that you are almost a target for these huge amount of people that want to come into that space now so you get built up you become popular but there's countless people who probably love to knock you off your perch bring you down is there anything you can advise to look out for that you know you've gone through that you would advise someone coming in yeah i think one thing i learn is there was definitely when I go going back to the point where I hit burnout and I was uploading far too much how old are you at this point 17 so you were sort of four years in four years in yeah and uploading yeah like I said every single day religiously I think when I hit that point I I realized I was just uploading for the sake of uploading and I think with this career it's about consistency.

20:13I don't think anyone can grow on this platform without being consistent. I really don't because the problem is it's so oversaturated that everyone's doing it nowadays. I mean, even if you're not called an influencer, you probably, if you upload on Instagram in some way, you are an influencer. Personal brand? Yeah, exactly. I'm probably guilty of that. And I feel a bit of a pressure to post as well. I mean, you were doing it every day. So is there almost a dopamine hit addiction that goes with that? 100 % and I think you've definitely got to be consistent to be successful at this job but I think the biggest thing I learned was again it goes back to finding a balance it's being consistent but not just uploading content for the sake of uploading it like it is obviously quality over quantity but to a certain degree because I do think with this career it's so fast paced that you stop uploading somebody will find somebody else to watch like it's that easy it's not you You don't have to go looking for somebody else to watch.

21:07It's really easy to go and find somebody else to watch. There's hundreds of thousands of people doing it every day. So I think the thing that I learned was to have balance and to upload when I want to upload. And that does mean that I still need to push myself. Yeah, but it means that also take a step back and realise why you started doing this and what you want people to get from your content. And I think that's something it took me quite a while to learn because I started just uploading for the sake of uploading. And then you would say things that you don't even mean or you would... Yeah, I think a lot of that, you know, because people really read into everything you say.

21:48And if I'd just spent the time just to edit it and watch it back and take some time with it, yeah, quality, you would have... I love that because there's a purpose now to everything you do, whereas you were a machine before because it's all you knew, it's all you created. So I guess if you've got a purpose that aligns with what you're doing, then that also affects and benefits your mental health because social media gets a really bad rep from causing mental health and doom scrolling and algorithms based on addiction is not healthy but you're a force for good with social media you're putting out positive messages you're a super positive person and now everything you're putting out is purposeful and giving positivity you've mentioned burnout how have you ultimately managed your mental health and what do you do you know do you spend time meditating you know there's so many things we can now do for both our mental and physical health what works for you in such a fast pace and giving you sort of perspective if you like i think for me what works is honestly just having a couple of days off so making time just making time for myself um what do you do what would you do certain things i go for a walk in nature or just have time out I love I love working out I think the endorphins I get from working out make me feel unbelievable and I think it's probably I'm not good at switching off I've tried meditating I've tried all of these different things and I I would love and one day I'm going to say that I can do it but I can't do it I cannot do it my mind is always 100 miles an hour and I'm always thinking about what I'm doing next which is not great because I'm not very great at being in present because I am always thinking about the future and what step I'm going to do I mean even if I'm laying on a sunbed all I'm doing is overthinking what I'm going to do tomorrow what I'm going to do later you've taken the time to lie there which helps process it because it's making the time hence those two days out you take you take time out and then actually I'm the same I'll take time out I'll go to the spa but I'm not sitting in the hydrophobia pool not thinking about anything no it's like a jigsaw puzzle yeah putting all that together well that's why I like the gym because you have to actually physically do something where you can't think about something else you know when I'm thinking about I've got to hit 12 reps I'm thinking about just making it through the 12 reps it's probably the only time in my life where I'm not thinking about something else I think that's why personally I love the gym so much but yeah I think it's just making time for myself and spending time with those who I love who I thrive off connection of other people and I love having people in my life who are positive and motivational and I'm very big into manifestation I mean if somebody heard myself and my friendship group in a room together they probably think we're nuts because all we talk about is our goals and our future and how we're going to make this happen well they're very far-fetched but I mean I'm all here for it well let's talk about that so you want to be an actress so what's the north star because your journey is already you know from such a young age successful so many things you've done what have you not done that you'd like to do maybe a brand you want to work with or something you'd love to do in in your role and then from an acting point of view what would be your north star well I think from the acting point of view it would my dream is marvel I am the biggest marvel fan which a lot of people wouldn't know about me and so I think to play some sort of like Marvel character, some sort of like boss woman...

25:16You've got the energy for it, 100%. ...would be my dream. I think it's because in another universe, I'm like, that's what I'd be. That would be like my dream. Also, I love singing and performing and dancing. So I mean, to even just do a... Like to even just do, but to be in the West End or Broadway, I would have the absolute time of my life and I think it would feel like my childhood dreams have come true because that's all I ever wanted to do growing up. So I think that's probably my biggest goal acting-wise. For the career that I'm in now, it's actually a really hard question to answer and I'm going to be better at answering it now than I would have a year ago because maybe two years ago or a year ago, if somebody asked me that, I really would have had no answer whatsoever because I felt like I had accomplished everything that I wanted to and I didn't really know what was next and that was really scary for me because growing up I always knew what I wanted to do I know that YouTube wasn't a job but before I wanted to be a YouTuber I was in a girl band and I wanted to be a singer and I was adamant that's what I was going to be a singer and then when we split up which I know we was only like 13 but it was my whole life I mean even my parents cried because I traveled to London every day to the recording studio.

26:36I was going to be a singer. That was that. When that happened, I was like, what am I going to do with myself? Two days later, I started YouTube. So I always had something that I wanted to do. And you don't wallow either. You don't sit around because a lot of that could have crushed, especially at 13, like dreams, because that involved big names as well. That was a big deal. Yeah, definitely. And then it's gone. And then it's gone, yeah. You could have gone on a very downward spiral. So that positivity and again, probably family influence is huge, right? Yeah. And I think actually when you're somebody that has a dream you don't realize how my best friend and I would talk about this a lot she wants to be a singer she's the most incredible singer ever and she should be she will be the biggest pop star one day I can guarantee you it but for now when you know when she gets down about I can't oh I just really want to be successful really want to be this she said to me actually this was maybe like six months ago she said I've realized how lucky I am that I have a dream because to not have one I don't know what my purpose would be in life and I think that's what I've always been so grateful for is I've always had a dream and something to strive for and my younger brother he was always very much the opposite he never knew what he wanted to do and I found that really hard to understand and I really felt for him that he didn't know what he wanted to do and that was really hard for him because and that's a lot of people you know you grow up you don't know what you want to do I was always so lucky that I knew what I wanted to do and when it hit to a point where I you know reached all the things I wanted to do that was like the hardest thing in the world for me because I was like what am I going to do now no more steps of a ladder yeah so what did you do then that's when I really started to focus on acting because I realized how how it's something I've always wanted to do and why would I now not do that.

28:25Now everything you do will be steering towards that even subconsciously decisions you make things you do so you know 100 % can see you in marvel and not the future if you were now with this perspective of maturity it sounds crazy saying to you as a 24 year old and having pioneered and come through such an innovative kind of business if you like to be the person you are what advice would you give to the younger version of yourself and I know we've kind of touched on this but just that one piece of advice that someone looking into your world now and you would give that young version to help smooth the path that you've been on?

29:00I think it's pretty obvious but I think I would say never stop believing in yourself. I think obviously that's something I did and it got me to where I am today but there was times where I really did struggle with that and you know if I knew what I had now I would have never have doubted myself but obviously there was still lots of self-doubt along the way um and so yeah I think it would just be to believe in myself and just learn and and do the things that make you happy and make you love yourself as well because I think believing in myself was great but also I would get picked apart online for the way that I looked as well and I think this is you know again when you're in school and stuff it's something I mean even now as an adult everyone cares what they look like and if you say you don't you're lying because if you feel good from within your confidence just shines through and so I think I would also say to myself take some time to do the things that make you happy and actually learn to love yourself a bit more as well because I never although I was really confident I believed in myself I never loved myself growing up ever like I always picked myself apart and that was something I hid massively and it's probably something I've only learned within like the last honestly even like the last year and a half is probably the yeah it's how long it's taken me to actually love my dad so glad you said because you know beautiful glamorous confident that isn't necessarily relatable to someone that's thinking that's that's what i'm thinking and you just said you are only just getting used to that now it's powerful everything you just said super powerful so much on social media can be so inauthentic you know there's people that might have the wrong motives or they just want to be famous it's almost obvious they just want to build a following whereas everything I've seen heard and watched about you is authentic and just being the real you have you always stayed true to that yeah I think and I think because I had no one to compare myself to like when I first started I mean I've always always been myself like a hundred percent I've never tried to be somebody else I definitely think it's easier now to to not be so authentic because you can see somebody successful and think, I want to be that.

31:13So you end up copying down that route. But actually, what will make you so much more successful is just being yourself. Nobody wants to watch you trying to be somebody else. Everyone wants to see you for you. And I think, especially growing up as well, a lot of people could relate to me because I was just a normal teenage girl that was going through my GCSEs and my exams like every one of us. And I got spots like every one of us. And so I think, yeah, that's definitely such a great point is just being authentic. And it's something I've tried to keep the entire time throughout my career. Yeah, without even being conscious of it, it's the relatability, you know.

31:50And I feel like I'm craving that now. You know, we are in a relatively formal environment. We're being ourselves. You know, the setting is a setting, but the conversation is raw and real. Whereas that feels like I'm calling out things that are too staged or too set up for a potential the wrong reasons. And then I think that relatability is what's coming through. And you've got that in space. I'm looking forward to the Hollywood premiere. You must make sure that, are you? You'll be invited. Absolutely. You know this. And we actually talked about it previously outside. You know, you're a role model, which at times I know you've almost felt under pressure, but you are.

32:25And, you know, You're a role model for parents looking in, the children growing up. You're a role model for anyone coming through in sort of how to navigate, how to behave. So credit to you. And I'll talk to you for a lot longer, but we need to end there. Thank you so much for making time. Thank you very much for having me. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you very much.

32:56Thank you.