Sign in with Google Our Creator Spotlight series explores how brands can get more from their advertising and marketing strategies by partnering with YouTube creators. Here, YouTube creator Pierson shares how she creates engaging content, builds community, and forges authentic brand partnerships on her YouTube channel with nearly 7 million subscribers.
Think with Google: Pierson, you have nearly 7 million subscribers on YouTube. What do you think is behind the draw of your YouTube channel?
Pierson: I take mundane, everyday ideas and turn them into big, fun adventures. A lot of YouTube content creators focus on crazy experiences but my channel is about making the extraordinary out of the ordinary, in a way that’s funny, creative, and relatable. For example, transforming my bedroom using only cardboard or surviving days in the desert living out of the world’s smallest suitcase.
You’ve gone from making stuff for fun, to building a real business that serves millions of subscribers. Was there a specific moment when you knew you were going to be successful?
Pierson: Honestly, it wasn’t one moment. It was when I started noticing how deeply connected people were with my content. They weren’t just viewers; they were truly invested in the story and the world we were building together. And that kind of engagement is unique to YouTube.
I was, and still am, independent from the studios and networks. It’s just myself and a small team, but I consider my audience a huge part of that creative team. I listen to them constantly.
A great example of this epic feedback loop is my Suitcase Series. It started as a small experiment — a silly one-off video, Surviving Using the World’s Smallest Backpack in Europe. The reaction was immediate and my audience gave me so many ideas for where it could go next, that it became this episodic journey.
With every video, it felt more and more like we were building the series together, so we took that energy and did something even more extraordinary — surviving the desert with the world’s largest suitcase. It was a fun payoff that surprised my audience and paid tribute to the world they helped create.
It’s so inspiring to see how you ensure your content stays authentic. How do you approach brand partnerships to make sure they feel organic?
Pierson: Yeah, they need to feel authentic to me, my channel, and my audience. Often, the best partnerships are with companies that truly understand my audience and allow for seamless, natural integrations into the videos and content I produce.
To me, it’s important that brands are on board with my style of doing the ordinary in extraordinary ways. My audience knows I’m passionate about sports, especially football, and I’ve loved partnering with the NFL for all types of campaigns where I can flex this creativity. And that partnership has unlocked some massive career highlights for me.
This year, I featured in a Super Bowl ad with Hot Ones host Sean Evans, brought fans along for my insane experience at the Super Bowl, and even made a BTS YouTube Shorts video with the CEO of YouTube. The Super Bowl content I made now has more than 20 million views.
Working with the same brands consistently keeps my audience’s trust and delivers better results for the brand too. Like with the NFL, I’m really focused on building long-term relationships with brands I’m genuinely excited about.
That’s a big win for you, your fans, and for brands like the NFL. So what makes partnerships between brands and creators successful?
Pierson: YouTube partnerships are so valuable because together, brands and creators can do something that wouldn’t be possible on their own.
One partnership that stands out is my work with Liquid IV. We did a full channel takeover, meaning my YouTube channel ran Liquid IV ads exclusively for one month. I also created a custom ad for them to play before my videos, which was so fun. The best part was seeing people’s reactions in the comments.
The campaign had amazing engagement on my channel, and Liquid IV saw a noticeable lift in interest and sales.
When creators are given creative freedom and the partnership feels authentic, brands have an incredible opportunity to tap into that deep personal connection with the creator’s fans.
So what does the future look like for you?
Pierson: One of the great things about being a YouTube creator is that you don’t need a huge budget to make something great. That, plus my deep connection with my audience, makes it the best place to experiment, and tell stories in new ways.
I’d love to take my episodic content a step further, maybe a 30-day challenge, or another big project my audience can follow from start to finish. And YouTube Shorts gives me another kind of connection with fans too, so I’m definitely going to keep doing that.
I want to keep exploring concepts that are fresh, ambitious, and unpredictable — the kind of ideas that make people curious about what’s coming next.
This interview first appeared on stage at YouTube’s 2025 Brandcast event in Sydney. It has been edited for length and clarity.
For more YouTube insights and Brandcast highlights from Sydney, explore why the future of video is on YouTube and how YouTube boosts campaign effectiveness.
