At only 17 years old, Katie Legate, senior, is already an Internet sensation. Legate is a YouTube “makeup guru,” and uploads beauty tutorials, reviews and vlogs to the popular video sharing website. Her more than 140 videos have 3,833,157 views, and her subscriber count is 21,000 and counting. She is essentially Internet famous.

“I never expected to be this successful in what initially started as just a fun hobby,” Legate said. “It has really taken me by surprise.”

Legate has a total of three channels. Her primary channel, makeupkatie95, a vlog channel, katieandlizashow95, and a channel she shares with fellow senior Casey Campo, katieandeliza.

“I upload all of my formal beauty videos to makeupkatie95 which is where I get most of my viewers from,” Legate said. “More personal videos about what is going on in my life get uploaded to smallchick1295 as a way to connect with viewers who want to know me beyond just beauty related information.”

She uploaded her first video, a tutorial on how to make lip gloss, to smallchick1295 in the spring of her freshman year after being inspired by watching other makeup gurus such as juicystar07 and meganheartsmakeup.

“I just sort of did it on a whim,” Legate said. “Looking back on that video, I can see that I was kind of awkward and nervous.”

At first, smallchick1295 had a small and stagnant viewership. After five months, the channel had only 100 subscribers. But by the beginning of her sophomore year, Legate reached the 1,000-subscriber mark.

“I was thrilled,” Legate said.

Second semester sophomore year, Legate created her now primary channel, makeupkatie95.

“I wanted a fresh start,” Legate said. “I hated the name smallchick1295 which I used because I never expected to make lots of videos, and I wanted a place to upload videos strictly related to beauty separate from my vlogs.”

However, during this entire time, nobody knew about Legate’s YouTube presence.

“I was uploading videos with my webcam in total secret,” Legate said. “I didn’t tell my parents for a year and a half because I was worried about what they would think.”

Eventually, Legate told one friend, Campo.

“When Katie told me I thought it was really cool,” Campo said. “It was really neat how she was putting herself out there on the Internet like that. YouTube is sort of how our friendship started.”

And one day, Legate’s dad, Brian Legate, casually mentioned Katie’s videos to her when they were discussing YouTube.

“I was so surprised,” Katie said. “I didn’t think he knew about it at all because I certainly hadn’t told him. But his reaction was really positive so I had nothing to be worried about.”

Brian said he was nothing but proud of Katie.

“She is following her passion,” Brian said. “I am so incredibly proud of the way she is so personable on camera and really serves as a role model for younger girls who subscribe to her.”

In October of her junior year, Legate decided to finally go public about her YouTube channel.

“I felt like I was sort of living a double life,” Legate said. “But after I received a positive response from a few of my close friends and family, I felt more comfortable about it.”

Legate made a Facebook status with a link to her videos and a Facebook fan page for viewers to go and “like.”

“Now sometimes people come up to me and talk about how much they like my channel,” Legate said. “Nobody has been mean about it.”

Over this past summer, makeupkatie95 received a large increase in subscribers.

“In June, I uploaded a tutorial on how to dip dye your hair with Kool Aid,” Legate said. “It is my most viewed video and is what really got my channel to grow I think.”

The channel grew so much that YouTube offered Legate a partnership.

“Basically I get a banner on my channel’s homepage and revenue from advertisements that play before my videos,” Legate said. “As of now I expect to make about $100 a month from it, but that number could change depending on how many views my videos get.”

Legate spends between three to five hours a week on her YouTube channel filming, editing and uploading her videos.

“What I think sets me apart from other makeup gurus I think is maybe the fact that I just like to be myself in my videos,” Legate said. “I am goofy. I laugh, I upload my bloopers. I think that helps my viewers to connect with me as a person.”

Though Legate does receive hateful comments, she said it is the positive comments that keep her uploading videos.

“YouTube is a community of very nice people that have really changed my life,” Legate said. “The comments that make me smile are the ones that say ‘Katie your videos inspired me to have more confidence in myself in makeup and fashion and hair and beauty.’”

Legate said YouTube has changed the way she views the world.

“I am definitely a more sociable person because of YouTube. I am more comfortable interacting with people on and off camera, and I have become more mature from dealing with many types of people,” Legate said. “Mostly, being able to connect with thousands of girls and boys across the world has made me realize that we really can share our lives with other people in positive ways.”

Ultimately, Legate said she hopes to impact her subscribers in a way more meaningful than just teaching them about beauty.

“I hope that my attitude in my videos and my positive outlook can help my subscribers realize that they are beautiful and can do whatever they want to do, Legate said. “They should be confident and not worry about what people say.”