some highlights from Jojo Siwa's collab with James Charles below. I know I get a lot of eye rolls for this content but I don't think people truly understand how huge Jojo is going to be. The way that Gen Z is building social media empires is not a trend that is going to go away->

background: Jojo and James collabed on a makeup video where James did Jojo's makeup "out of her comfort zone" (meaning very neutral colors / minimal rainbows / minimal sparkles). Jojo also did Jame's makeup Jojo-style on her own channel.

James talks about how he had been wanting to collaborate with her for years:

"I texted you asking to collaborate in February 2018, I wanted to do a video so badly where I give you a full transformation." In his text, he said he wanted to turn her into an "Instagram baddie" (lol)

Jojo's text back was: "Hey I can’t do that… but if you wanted to do something like a full pink makeover… or a unicorn makeover, something more on brand then I would be down!”

they laugh about the past exchange and jojo says: “At the time, I was 15… so that was a lot scarier to me because I was so young.”

James notes that so many ppl thought she was "playing a character" and says he even did too.

Jojo replies: “SO many people think [I am acting as] a character, and the reason why it works for me and why my life is how it is is because it’s NOT a character."

Jojo: "... At the end of the day, I really am in charge. Obviously, I have Nickelodeon and I have my manager and I have my mom, but they’re all working under me…"

they discuss Jojo's recent catapult into more "mainstream" media, crediting tik tok. This is also something I pointed out in the spring when she first started becoming huge on tik tok.

Jojo: Over quarantine, my fanbase has completely changed for the better...It used to be super young kids... And now, it's still the young kids, but it’s also teenagers - because of Tik Tok, they realize “Oh, she’s not fake and she’s not crazy. She’s a normal person. It’s awesome"

They discuss her licensing, which is operated by Nickelodeon:

Jojo: "...I have the number one girls bedding in Target, and the number two overall kids’ bedding - I think Star Wars is what’s ahead of me."

Jojo: Toys are my number one category, that’s my number one seller for everything.

James: Your toys are outselling your bows?

Jojo: Yes, my toys, my bedding, and my apparel all outsell my bows.

James: That’s… hundreds of millions in revenue?

Jojo: My brand is a billion dollar brand. Now, I do not have a billion dollars - I didn’t make that directly. But the "Jojo Siwa" brand is a billion dollar brand, which is insane.

James: I don’t understand how someone can make fun of you…

Jojo: Well because I’m a giant toddler and I have a receding hairline - I would make fun of me too!

James asks where she wants to be in the future:

Jojo: "next big goal is to perform at the Super Bowl... performing is my number one thing. It makes me the happiest, I love doing it, I want to keep being on tour, keep releasing new music... eventually I’ll be at the Super Bowl.

I liked this interview bc it shows how Gen Z creators will continue to be just as much CEOs as they are artists. Jojo is today's Hannah Montana. in the past, that was IP that was controlled by a Disney or a Nickelodeon.

But that's not what's going on today. Jojo has a deal with Nickelodeon, but it is primarily a licensing deal. Her content is still created and produced by herself on YouTube and Tik Tok. She owns the "Jojo Siwa" brand and has final say over it.

In the past, child stars had to reply on outside capital and investment from networks/studios. In return, they played within the guidelines of their brand. That's not what's happening here.

Jojo is incentivized to manage her brand carefully because it is HER brand, not because she is a Nickelodeon employee. This is why the "oh she's going to be really messed up from this" arguments are so dumb.

She did a BILLION dollars in aggregate sales across her merchandise. She only keeps a small cut of that, but this is not her team or Nickelodeon making decisions for a brand that THEY control. This is just Nickelodeon figuring out how to get a cut of someone else's IP.

Gen Z is going to continue to run circles around the existing platforms. There is just as much respect these days for being a CEO as there is for being an artist. Jojo is just one example of a trend that is not going anywhere anytime soon!