Social media superstar Jessie Paege is a YouTube personality, actress, author, musician, and entrepreneur. She’s a staunch advocate for mental health awareness and LGBTQ+ equality, and since 2014 Jessie has garnered over 2.9 million followers across her social channels.
She truly connects with her audience because she’s so transparent and forthcoming about herlifeand passions. Many kids, teens, and adults feel connected to her. Jessie’s online channel (YouTube: jessiepaege) features a variety of content, including comedic sketches, music videos 
(she plays guitar!), and frank discussions about anxiety and confidence. She recently announced via her YouTube channel that she is bisexual, wrote two empowerment books, launched a fashion collection at superstore Hot Topic, and co-starred in the AT&T Hello Lab series Guilty Party.
We caught up with the media role model for an exclusive interview. Jessie discussed her recent projects, her life advice for teens, and why social media should be used wisely.
What were you like as a child in high school?
I grew up in northern New Jersey, very close to New York City. Every birthday I’d see a Broadway show, which was fun. As a child, I was incredibly shy, very submissive and very easygoing. I had a classroom aide; my school believed I needed one because of social anxiety and distraction. As a child, I relied on some very strong personalities to kind of outweigh my very shy, co-dependent personality. If I didn’t have a friend in my class, I was (emotionally) doomed. I took acting classes as a kid as a means to overcome the shyness and anxieties. Because I had such outgoing friends, I was thrown into the theater group. They were kind of eccentric and weird but also very outgoing, whic was what I needed. I wouldn’t audition by myself for anything; I was super nervous. I remember the one time I finally had the courage to audition by myself for a show. I had a cute singing voice growing up, and played Gabriella in High School Musical—I don’t know how I did it! It definitely was during a very hard part in my life. But that was one of the first moments when I realized “Oh, I actually can do this.”
Who, or what, inspired you to create an interactive social media channel?
I’d been a YouTube consumer for a long time and wished to have the confidence YouTubers have. I thought it wasn’t a possibility for me. But one day, I went to a YouTuber meetup and seeing the sense of community made me want to try my hand at being a YouTuber. I was incredibly lonely and insecure at the time and my voice felt stifled in my personal life.
What have you learned about yourself as a YouTube personality?
How important it is to use your voice in a meaningful way—and you don’t have to talk about everything. Find the topics that really mean a lot to you and people will realize it means a lot to you, and they’ll identify with that. For example, not everyone has to talk about mental health in their channels, so it leaves more space for people that do, like me. I think that everyone can ‘help out’ when online, even if it’s making a funny video. Imagine a kid watches that and laughs and they haven’t laughed all day because they don’t have a great school life or even home life.
What do you love most about doing what you do, online?
It’s so incredibly liberating to challenge yourself and then see the results. Because I think everyone deserves to live freely and authentically, I realized how much better I felt as I started to almost free myself of the constraints held by my social anxiety
What advice do you have for a teenager battling deprssion and/or anxiety?
I definitely believe that talking to someone is so incredibly important. Holding it in isn’t fair to you, and you don’t have to live this way. That’s something that I wish I had realized. I thought that constantly living with (my own) anxious thoughts was just OK; I was just supposed to tolerate that. But no, you don’t have to—you deserve better. If you’re feeling a certain way every single day that coincides with depression or anxiety then you deserve to get help.
What advice do you have for teens who are honestly addicted to social media?
When you’re scrolling through social media and it’s doing nothing good for you, you’re not seeing your friends happy and it’s not bringing you happiness, remember: You don’t have to be on it! We go on social media in our free time, so we deserve for it to feel like a ‘break’, for it to feel like catching up with friends. If it’s mentally exhausting to scroll through your Instagram feed, maybe go through and reassess who you’re following, or take a break. It’s super easy to go through a whole day and just listen to YouTube videos and stories and to trick yourself into thinking you’ve had interaction. YouTube videos are there for you, but psychologically you also need people in your life to be there for you. Internet friends are incredible; FaceTime them. But everyone needs a break and you want to take a social media break even when you feel the slightest urge to be off of your phone. If you wait too long to exit social media, it can almost cause a breakdown. That’s never good. I’ve been through that.
You change your hair color often. What does it represent for you?
Color is very representative of a lot of things in my life. If you watch my first videos, they’re just very plain and boring and as I started to explore my identity and live more authentically I discovered I love color. I’m not one of those teenagers who relates to those social posts about how your whole closet is filled with black clothes. First, I put little pink strands my hair, and then did a full head of pink because my mom had breast cancer and it was during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Further in my YouTube career I was moving to LA by myself and I decided I was going to do the things that scared me, so I went for blue hair. Blue was just a fun, different color I’d always wanted to try and I was just ready for a change. My colored hair is cool, but it doesn’t define me. I’m still Jessie Paege with colored hair, or without it. I was starting to trick myself into believing I’m only Jessie Paege with colored hair and I didn’t want to feel dependent on that. The past 10 years of my life have been all about independence, self-gratitude, and knowing my own worth. At the moment, I’m back to blonde to convince myself of all that— and also because my hair was getting super damaged!
What advice do you have for someone who would love to be a YouTube personality?
Your success on YouTube is not amounted by your numbers at all. If you’re creating content that you love—that’s success in itself. Success doesn’t have to even reach an audience. Obviously, au- thenticity is everything—and not going into it thinking it’ll be a job!
Tell us about the audition process for Guilty Party--and tell us about the series.
It’s a show where essentially the storyline changes every season. The first season I played Charlie. The second season I’m playing a character named Margot, who is in a coma, and I had to do a lot of action shots which was really cool and different for me. Margot is less like me compared to Season 1’s Charlie, who was so similar to me. Margot is a lot more outgoing and kind
of rambunctious but Charlie is a very shy, submissive girl that really reminded me of myself in high school. As for the audition, I received a script for a very meaningful and very sad monologue. I recorded it last minute; at my parent’s house in Florida. I was memorizing lines while swimming! It was super cool to get the part and I was so incredibly happy and grateful. You can find Season 1 and 2 of Guilty Party on YouTube.
What is the best compliment you've ever received from a fan?
I like when fans says things like, “My mom loves you.” It brings me happiness. I love getting a parent approval!
What charity work is important to you?
I’ve donated to quite a few LGBT charities; one of my favorites being the Trevor Project. And I also got to work with a nonprofit called HRC (Human Rights Campaign) and I went to their dinner and Joe Biden spoke; it was incredibly inspiring and it was really cool to make a video encouraging people to vote, especially for equality candidates.
Tell us about your T-shirt and pin line at Hot Topic inspired by your social media posts.
Like I told The Hollywood Reporter this summer, growing up, I really struggled with my individuality. Hot Topic was where I felt I could fully express myself. They carried so many shirts with sayings, and bands, that I loved. The store brought community into my life during a time when I didn’t necessarily have it. So I associate Hot Topic with finding my identity. To have a line there is so incredibly cool. It’s priceless.
How can one rise above bullying in any form?
It’s really hard, but you have to spread love when other people send you hate. You have to stick up for others and see the best in people. And if someone is hurting you, you don’t have to let that happen and you should get help. You should talk to someone. Bullying is not something to just keep in.
What do you enjoy doing in your downtime?
Well, I don’t have a lot of downtime. A friend of mine literally said to me the other day, “You are the most hardworking person I know.” It meant a lot to me. But I like doing things that your traditional 19-year-old does not! I play guitar, chill at home, watch Disney movies. I’m very, very low-key.