A Groundswell for a Commoner

Let’s become millionaires. Here’s how.

Just make YouTube tutorials from your bedroom on how to apply makeup. What? It’s already happened and it’s the story of a British commoner by the name of Lauren Luke.

Lauren dropped out of school at 15 to have her son, Jordan. But, that was really ok because she was constantly tormented in school for being as she relates, ‘fat and ugly’. She came from a lower, middle class family in South Shields, an area that had the highest unemployment rate in mainland Britain. Think she’s got a chance in life? Let’s see.

After a series of dead-end jobs, Lauren tried selling name-brand cosmetics on e-Bay. And then on a Sunday in July 2007 Lauren’s life was caught up in a groundswell.

At the request of some of her customers, she turned on a web camcorder and demonstrated how to apply make-up. Lauren had a passion for make-up and taught herself how to apply it with all kinds of different effects matching the looks of the rich and famous.

She signed on to YouTube and discovered that lots of other commoners just like her wanted to learn, too. That’s how you form a tribe, with empathy and passion. Here’s a comment from a viewer after watching one of Lauren’s instructional videos:

“makes me cry, i’ve always felt intimidated which is probably why i love watching you because God made you so wonderful to help us that gave up becuz we were intimidated but then we found you”

To-date, Luke’s videos have attracted more than 40 million views and more than 230,000 subscribers to her channel. She is the most subscribed YouTube user in the UK. Why? Because her passion is contagious and because the internet is free and ubiquitous and well…it’s even good enough for us commoners.

So, wait. How do you get the million dollars?

Lauren’s way was to launch her line of cosmetics online and sign a contract with Sephora. Lauren’s still doing those videos and, for now, still living in South Shields. She’s 28 and happy to have a passion for something. It’s a passion and a groundswell that could give anyone a million reasons to smile. 😉

Got yours yet?