Business

Glam Profile: Adelaide’s YouTube Star, Jake Bley

By Sharmonie Cockayne

Posted on October 7, 2014

Adelaide’s very own Jake Bley is a star in his own right.

DSC_5275-2 copy

Glam Digital’s very own Social Media Account Manager and all round Glam Boy is kind of a big deal. And not just in the sense that we love him.

In fact, with 66,870 subscribers and nearly 2 million views on his YouTube channel, 26,700 followers on Twitter, 27,000 readers a month on his Tumblr blog, and 32,500 followers on Instagram, it’s no exaggeration to say that everyone loves him. He’s made a name for himself through his YouTube channel and blog, The Secret Diary of Jake.

It’s on these mediums that he shares his soul with his followers, discussing all matter of issues from One Direction, Pokémon and dating apps, to dealing with grief, LGBT issues, and learning to love yourself.

How did we nab such a superstar at Glam Adelaide & Glam Digital? We don’t really know. But we do know that it’s about time we shared him with the Glam Adelaide community. So we’ve done a little interview with the man himself.

Jake, you’re a big part of the Glam Adelaide team. Can you tell our readers a little bit about what you do with us?
At Glam Adelaide I edit and manage a lot of the stories that go up. I sometimes write my own content, but a lot of the stuff I do is content management. I also attend a lot of events and launches with Kelly [Noble]. Most of what I do at Glam Adelaide is the social media strategy behind what we do. I also do a lot of work behind the scenes with Kelly’s social media agency, Glam Digital.

How did you come to be a part of the team?
Kelly actually head hunted me. Within a few hours of getting off the plane after living overseas, I was contacted to come in and meet the team. The next day I came in for an interview and a week later I started work. So that happened pretty quickly.

You came back to Adelaide not too long ago after living in New York. What were you doing over there?
In New York I was just kind of living my dream. I was working for a luxury brand marketing and PR company, so think Devil Wears Prada. However, my main focus over there was my work with YouTube and Google doing content creation stuff. I’d be flying to LA a lot and be all over the place filming with my friends and getting paid to do it, which was pretty cool.

You’ve made quite a name for yourself as a YouTube personality. Can you tell me a bit about what your YouTube vlogs are about, and how you’ve grown it to become the huge success it is now?
I started it out just to kind of track what I was doing with my life. I was travelling when I first started it, before I moved overseas. It quickly started to grow into more, so I started making fun videos about my life. I’d talk about my fails because I’m a bit of an awkward person. It became a bit of a hobby, but it’s more than that now. It’s a lot of fun and the interaction I get out of it is amazing. It grew naturally, I was very lucky that it just took off on it’s own.

Tell me a bit about the kinds of people you’ve met through your online success.
I have met the most amazing people in the world, many of which are YouTubers. I’m lucky enough to call some of these people my best friends. Everyone knows that internet friends are the best friends. You don’t instantly become successful on YouTube, it’s something you work hard at.

What is your favourite thing about being famous on the internet?
Changing people’s lives without even realising it. I do lots of stuff for the LGBT community and have raised lots of money for the Leukaemia Foundation, and I get people writing to me nearly every day telling me how I’ve helped them. People find what I do very entertaining but they also find it humbling and genuine. My audience feels really connected to what I do because I’m so honest with it.

What is your least favourite?
Probably greying the line between what is too personal and what’s not, because you feel compelled to share some things. I’ve recently gone through a lot of stuff with my family and as much as I would love to talk about it, I’m not sure if it’s totally appropriate. But on the other hand, I would love to share that, because I can help people going through similar situations.

Have you had any amazing opportunities offered to you because of your success?
I have, I feel very very lucky. One of them is meeting the amazing people that I have. I think that the best part is the travel though. Not necessarily paid travel, but the opportunities that arise from it. I just got back from living in New York, but between coming back from New York to Adelaide I went around Europe on a trip and I filmed the whole thing. That’s definitely the best opportunity that I’ve had!

Where can we expect to see you in the future?
I don’t know that much about what I’m doing yet, but I will be travelling. Keep your eyes on this space!

RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS

Your three all time favourite songs? ‘Summertime Sadness’ by Lana Del Rey, ‘Biggest Mistake’ by Ellie Goulding, and ‘So Happy I Could Die’ by Lady Gaga.

The three most recently played songs on your iPod? ‘Love Me Harder’ by Ariana Grande, ‘Talking Body’ by Tove Lo, ‘Runaways’ by Betty Who.

Favourite food? Tappas, give me a meat and cheese board ANY day!

Chocolate or icecream? Chocolate

Tea or coffee? Coffee

Last thing you bought? Nicki Minaj Anaconda polo by M.O.C

Favourite restaurant? Kashkaval Gardens, on 9^th Ave, New York

Last movie you watched? Maze Runner

Your go-to binge TV show? Australia’s Next Top Model

Favourite blog? Joe’s Daily

Favourite South Australian blog? Swim With The Current by Chloe Sargeant

Zara or Topshop? Zara, all the way

Favourite designer brand? Burberry