Chevanne Brown takes the unconventional employment route
Published:Friday | January 17, 2020 | 12:20 PMVanessa James/Gleaner Writer
Taking the traditional route in life is not for everybody. A fact that young people are proving every day, as they try to innovate new ways to make a living; one similar to or better than what they grew up experiencing.
Chevanne Brown is one of the many who has opted to living life doing something she enjoys and is happy ‘going to work’ every day. Some may know her as ‘Chev B.’ from her YouTube page where she shows followers quick and easy hairstyles that are compatible with kinky, natural hair.
Though currently living in Canada, Brown grew up in Greater Portmore, St Catherine, where she described her life as “pretty average”, but she craved a change.
“I wanted a change, I felt almost clustered living in Jamaica after a while,” she said. “I went to university, but I was around the same people, and I felt like I was in a box. My mom was going to migrate to Toronto, but she wasn’t going to leave me and my sister behind, so the three of us packed up and we left.”
Brown describe this move as “a new beginning, a breath of fresh air”. She transferred to York University and soon got into creating, editing and posting videos on YouTube for two reasons, which she shared with The Gleaner.
“Initially, I started a channel because I am a YouTube watcher, but I wasn’t seeing much of me on there,” Brown explained, “There was a lack of representation of darker-skinned girls with shorter, kinky, natural hair and people were always asking about my hairstyles so I thought, ‘You know what, I am going to start my own channel,’ and that’s how it came about.”
uniquely her
Brown said that her channel is about things that are uniquely her, and involves videos promoting natural hairstyles, embracing body positivity, fashion and wig styling, among other things.
She described her experience of having a YouTube channel for almost three years as unexpected because the reception from her followers has good, as she continues to grow.
“I didn’t expect my following to grow so much. I didn’t expect so many people to relate to me so quickly because the channel grew pretty fast in the first year,” she disclosed.
Brown explained the reason for starting the ‘Chev B.’ YouTube channel.
“It allowed me to be creative. It was something to express myself and then it became my main thing,” she told The Gleaner.
Brown’s social media platform has become her main source of income, and has been staying relevant in the ocean of other YouTubers who have a similar theme on their pages.
“My thing was quick, easy hairstyles for short, natural hair, so that’s how I felt like I stood out, because I provided something that I felt was missing. You could be in an industry where everybody is doing the same thing, but it is how you stand out with you; like your personality; because people gravitate towards you if they feel they can relate to you,” she noted.
Chev B. currently has 297,000 YouTube subscribers and is also steadily growing on Instagram, where she said her videos are often shared.
Brown said she would encourage others to start a YouTube page, but warned that it is not something to be taken lightly, describing it as nerve-racking.
“Honestly, people see money when they come up with the idea to start a YouTube channel, or they want to be popular, but I always tell people to go in it with a mindset of doing it for fun because the money is not going to come just like that; it’s not going to just drop in your lap as soon as you start the channel,” she advised.
“It is hard work, though. People look at it as just recording in front of a camera, but it takes work, it takes consistency, creativity, a step up every single time by trying to top your previous video.”
Her advice to those aspiring to start a channel is to have fun with the endeavour, and make it something they find interesting, and then the people and the money will follow.
Chev B. plans to go further than only having a YouTube channel, however, as she revealed that she hopes to brand or create a line of natural hair products.