All About Change - Season 3, Episode 13: Beauty Vlogger Shalom Blac on Her Rise to Internet Stardom

Episode Date: September 14, 2020

On this episode of All Inclusive, Jay speaks with special guest, Beauty Vlogger Shalom Blac! At the age of nine, Shalom became a burn victim leaving her face permanently scarred. Today she has nearly 1.5 million subscribers on her Youtube channel and is well known in the beauty industry all throughout the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When she was only nine years old, Shalom Black became a burn victim, leaving her face permanently scarred. Today, she's a world-famous beauty vlogger with nearly 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube. All Inclusive, a podcast on inclusion, innovation, and social justice with Jay Ruderman. Hi, I'm Jay Rudermanerman and this is All Inclusive. On today's show, Shalom Black will tell us the amazing story of how she turned a childhood tragedy into a career that has inspired so many. Shalom, welcome to All Inclusive. Hi, how are you guys? So tell me about your life as you remember it as a child in Nigeria before the accident

happened honestly I would say I was probably like a happy kid I didn't like grow up with a family that was rich or anything like that but I just remember just being happy going you know to my mom's store helping her after school and yeah I think I was I was a good child. I don't want to say that, but I think I was an okay child. I wasn't that bad, but yeah. At nine years old, your parents owned a restaurant and they served snacks to the students nearby by frying snacks in hot oil. You and your sister were sleeping under a table

when this vat of hot oil dropped on the floor and severely burned you and your sister. Tell me how your family reacted. Was there a tremendous amount of guilt on the behalf of your parents? Yeah, definitely. I think my parents had a lot of guilt, especially my mom, being that it was her store and that's where she worked and was selling stuff um there was rumors going around basically saying that she fried up her kids just to make money so I can't imagine like how she felt um but I remember just like seeing pictures of her at the hospital with us I wasn't conscious enough to know exactly what was going on, but I saw

pictures of how much she literally got so skinny because she was depressed. My dad on the other side, I think his kind of guilt that he had was the fact that he wasn't present. So yeah, I think that kind of changed the whole family dynamic because we were treated different. Our parents have to be cautious, you know, and be a little bit, you know, overprotective just so that we don't get picked on at. I felt like my dad was trying to hide my scars more than I was trying to hide it, which kind of made me even more insecure about it because I'm like, oh, well, he's telling me that I have to cover up all the time. So even like moving to the state and stuff, I started having to like cover up. I didn't want anybody to see it. Tell me about going to the US. You had an aunt that really, really worked hard to get you guys visas to come and get the proper medical treatment. Where did you end up

in the United States? We ended up in Maryland. That's where she basically raised her kids. So if my math is correct, you were in middle school around 2009. Tell me about the bullying. Can you just describe what that was like and what type of names people were calling you? Yeah, so I was called all the names. So Scarface was one of them, or Two-Face, the burnt B, the B word um and so many other names or just people just kind of being disgusted saying you they do not want to touch the same thing that I've touched or if I say something like in class people would just sort of kind of turn around and look at me in a disgusting way

so I just kind of learned to not speak at all I never raised my hand to answer any question because I was trying to avoid getting attention from any of my classmates. So I was just like cooked up. I think I didn't really speak to my family about the whole issue. I would just go home and be sad. And then of course, I started skipping school as much as I can, just so I don't have to deal with those people at school. And you talked about being suicidal. When did that come on? Was that when you were in middle school that you felt suicidal? Or was it later in high school? I think it was sort of like throughout. I've never harmed myself, but the was there there were moments where I would go into the bathroom with a knife and basically look in the mirror and be like maybe I should just end it

up right here right now so the thoughts were there I never actually went through with it I think most I was afraid that what if I don't die, you know, I'm going to be in the hospital and my parents are going to be well disappointed at me for trying to do such things. So that is definitely. You were able to pull yourself out of that period. Yeah. I remember my mom always just like telling me you have a purpose. And I wanted to see what that purpose is because I didn't understand why I will have to go through the things that I've been through and for that to be considered a purpose, you know? So I know we don't

really talk about religion and stuff. I honestly feel like it's God that had pulled me out of the thought and I think I sometimes I I wouldn't say I have suicidal thought but there will be moment where you're just like okay what is the purpose of life and you know you just sort of kind of like feel worthless so when those moments come I'm like okay girl you need to snap out of it and I do try to like be around people that do make me feel good. Like my friends, you know, that have accepted me for who I am. I feel like it kind of helped me a lot. Well, I think whether we talk about like formalized religion or spirituality,

I think there's something that's coursing through, you know, humankind. And sometimes we don't know our purpose. And sometimes it takes a while to find it. And I think you have to have that faith that it's going to come about. I think for you, from what I understand, you know, it came about through makeup, you were in the hospital, and you were taught how to use makeup. And that that was really a transformative time in your life can you talk a little bit about that yeah so I think my first time being introduced to makeup was after my surgery at the Shriners and they decided to do something special for me by creating a wig and also like gifting me makeup and showing me how to use some of it. It was a bit of a struggle learning how to actually

do it when I got back home. And then of course, like coming across YouTube videos, tutorials and stuff, I started like learning and picking from there. So that's kind of like how it came about. And at that time, like I say many times when I was doing it, I was more so focused on like covering my scars than sort of like embracing them and showing people like, okay doing it, I was more so focused on like covering my scars than sort of like embracing them and showing people like, okay, yes, I do have the scars, but I enjoyed your makeup. But it was more so to cover and show myself. So you did not intend to become a YouTuber, it sort of just happened, you began to get more and more attention and realized that this was a path for you. When did you first realize that you had gone viral?

What was that experience like? I think the first time I realized I went viral was when I had to go on my settings on my phone and turn off my notification because I was getting so much notification at once. And this was around the time that I did the power of makeup, whereby you basically do half of your face and then half with that makeup. And so people saw that video. But my initial thought on getting on YouTube was to just put makeup. But I also just thought it was cool watching other people put makeup. I didn't realize

that I was trying to be a YouTuber I didn't know that was what it was called but I thought oh wow it's so cool seeing all these people wearing makeup but I also didn't see anybody that looks like me so I'm watching girls that had beautiful skin flawless skin but I was like well I don't see anyone that looked like me so I'm like, let me be the person putting on makeup. And hopefully I get better at doing my makeup where by other point survivors can like learn from me because it's definitely like hard and different putting makeup on a regular skin versus like scar skin. So you end all your videos with the phrase you're your own kind of beautiful do you want to talk a little bit about you know where that comes from or why that resonates with you so strongly that's actually funny so I thought I was the one that started saying be your own kind

of beautiful but then I um went on google to actually check and I found out that it was like a Marilyn Monroe quote. I was like, oh, wow, I didn't know that. But I think I started that because, again, I felt so different from any other beauty content creators on the platform. So for me, I think my way of celebrating the difference and finding my own beauty and being happy within myself. So be your own kind of beautiful, define what it is to you and be that. You're listening to All Inclusive with Jay Ruderman. You can learn more. View the show notes and transcripts at rudermanfoundation.org slash all inclusive. Please remember to subscribe,, and review us wherever you are listening. So you're a role model for many people who are burn victims and have scars and learn from your

videos about how to apply makeup. I've even seen a few videos where you have applied makeup to other burn victims. How does that feel? Is it a heavy burden to say like okay I'm one person that you know was the victim of a terrible accident but now I'm I have this oversized role where I'm sort of an icon for so many people does it ever feel too much to you I wouldn't call it a burden um I do feel like there are times that people kind of expect you to constantly be positive but I think as humans we don't always feel good 24 7 um I was just talking to one of my one survivor friend and she was like yeah like you know I want to be posting and stuff but I feel like posting on social media people expect me to be constantly motivational and positive but that's not how

I feel every single day you know and I'm like yeah I could definitely relate um to that but I feel like I found a way to balance where I'm like okay if I'm not feeling good I'm either just offline and not forcing myself to seem like oh I'm the most positive person I'm always happy about life because it's not always like that um so I wouldn't call it a burden but there's that pressure of feeling the need to be constantly in a good mood so how was it for you to go out in public without your makeup without a wig I know you talked about, you know, first, it was like terrifying to go across the street to 7-Eleven, but then you went to Walmart. And then you've posted videos of yourself without a wig, which you didn't intend to become viral.

Where did that courage come from for all of a sudden to say, okay, you know, I'm taking off the makeup, I'm taking off the wig, and I'm showing myself who I am. And I'm proud of that. I think I just sort of like believe in taking chances in life. I read this thing, I remember coming across a saying, you lose 100% of the chances you do not take. So that was sort of like my push I'm like well let me do this what is the worst that can happen you know if I can go one step forward I could definitely go another 10 steps forward so I was like let me just take this chance and go out to Walmart and I feel like that was sort of like this yeah the starting for me I think also the thing that sort of like pushed me to constantly keep going was the overwhelming response that I've received from other people like coming to me. People that I thought were perfect coming to me and basically saying, wow, you inspired me.

You know, you inspired me to go out without long pants today. You know, you inspired me to go out without long pants today. So I was like, okay, maybe I should really start challenging myself more and more. But it's not something that happened overnight. It's definitely like sometimes and more challenges that I just personally wanted to conquer myself. And do you still receive bullying or different types of looks? And if you do, how do you deal with that? I think I do definitely still get the look in person,

but I think I just don't pay attention to it. Or if you stare at me, I will just look back at you until one of us get tired of staring. But online bullying, I feel like most of the times I do ignore it. There are times where, of course, you would feel some type of way. I would be lying if I say I never felt some type of way about what somebody has said to me ever before. You know, people would say, oh, you're being deceitful by putting on makeup. deceitful by putting on makeup um if you are with a guy and he wakes up the next morning and see your face he's going to be scared and probably wouldn't want to see you none like this absolutely not true because it's not true but yeah so you've talked very openly about your love life and the

challenges is it much more difficult to date and to get to know people when you're a public figure? Yeah, I do think so. Because you just never know the reason why somebody is interested in you. I don't know if it's something that we like just have in our, the back of our mind, if somebody is trying to use us um for the fame so I feel like it's so it's difficult which sometimes it has happened before where people will come into your life and act like they really truly care about you and then you find out it was all you know

a front so it's been a bit difficult and I just sort of kind of learned to not speak on what I do because it's easy to just put it up on YouTube like search up the name and see oh this person has this many numbers they must be making this much or maybe they can make me you know a known person so I just like if I if somebody does come into my life I kind of don't mention that YouTube world to them. And yeah. What would be your advice for someone that says, you know, I want to become a YouTube star? Just sign up because I feel like people come before they go ahead and sign up for the YouTube. How do I do it? Sign up, study other people,

especially people that you like and also figure out what your niche is because there's so many different things that you know goes on in ut you have the beauty community you have the gamers you have the commentary um people so it's like there's so much stuff that you can do find exactly what you'd like to do make sure that that's what you want to do so it doesn't feel like a job and also make sure like when you are coming on this platform as a beginner do not focus on the numbers and the money because you might not be getting at that time and that might discourage you so just do it because you love it and be consistent you know that's definitely important i'm not as consistent anymore but starting off you definitely want to be consistent because youtube does push channels that are constantly

posting is this your full-time job at this point in time yeah this is the full-time job and hopefully one day i can have my own brand but yeah all right so i was going to ask you about that are you are you looking to release your own line of product i would love that i've been thinking about it for years now but i think i'm just sort of like taking my time i don't want to rush and just put anything out but yes that is the plan for your future and what about acting are you approached by any studios? Are you asked to audition based on your celebrity, based on your talents of being very comfortable speaking in front of the camera? I personally want to get into acting, and I've been saying it for a while now, but I told myself I need to actually go and take some classes

because I don't think I have acting skills at all but I did audition for one thing which was like the Google commercial so that was like really fun to go ahead and like do my first audition and I got it so congratulations thank you so you've also been very outspoken in terms of racial injustice and, you know, supporting Black-owned companies, whether they be makeup companies or restaurants or other companies, and speaking out about the racial injustice in this country. And we've gone through a period of time right now where it's really hit all of America. So, do you want to talk a little bit about, you know, where you are right now in terms of racial injustice and how you address it? I think I would say the way that I

pretty much address it, again, is by showcasing those Black-owned businesses, because I have the platform and that's how I can sort of like use my voice. We are living in a world where we are definitely treated slightly different than the rest of the world. And I think for us to get to a better place is by coming together and speaking out and also putting in the action. And so I feel like a lot of the social content creatives here it's honestly by highlighting the businesses and also when we do see something that is not right we put it out there social media it's a very very strong um place to really start a conversation so right yeah i do feel like it's very important you know i know it's like I'm a makeup girl and I feel like people do expect some people would expect. OK, well, I'm not a politician and I don't know much, but whatever it is that I can push forward, I would definitely do, you know, because I'm not all just makeup.

I'm more than that. Right. You know, humanity is everything. makeup. I'm more than that. You know, humanity is everything. Well, I think that, you know, even though you say I'm not a politician, you are a leader and you're a very strong person. You're not, you're not just, you know, a beautiful face, you know, dealing with makeup, but you have very strong views and you're not afraid to hide from them. And I think that the public has a innate aversion to injustice. And when you see injustice, I mean, you have the ability, you know,

through your platform to really say something very important and influence people who are following you. So I give you a lot of credit for doing that because there are many people in your position who probably would just completely stay away from that. Thank you. Shalom, it's been such a pleasure speaking to you. I'm really impressed by what you've built and not only that by your personality

and how strong you are. And I believe that you're going to be a significant figure in our society. So thank you so much for joining us on All Inclusive today. I really enjoyed having you as a guest. Thank you so much for having me. I had fun. I have fun. All Inclusive is a production of the Ruderman Family Foundation. Our key mission is the full inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society. You can find All Inclusive on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher. To view the show notes, transcripts, or to learn more, go to rudermanfoundation.org slash allinclusive. Have an idea for a podcast?

Be sure to tweet at Jay Ruderman.