Hawaiian Youtuber Ava Jules On Body Confidence, Protecting The Ocean & Spreading The Good Vibes

When we say we have hope in the next generation, it’s because of people like Ava Jules, the 20 year-old Youtube sensation who lives on the beautiful island of O’ahu, Hawaii. The lifestyle and beauty vlogger has 1.3-Million Subscribers and 100-Million Views on her main YouTube Channel alone.

As a role model, Ava actively promotes body positivity, self-confidence, environmental/oceanic preservation, and has become a major source of sunshine during the Pandemic when it has been difficult to focus on the positivity in life with so much bad news hitting our feeds every day.

Her fans tune in daily as Ava shares her latest tips and tricks for fashion, beauty, self-care, workouts/yoga, organization, studying, island adventures, and more. She has become a role model amongst the masses while promoting a strong message of body positivity, self-confidence, and feeling both good and grateful in your own skin.

Outside of being a Youtuber, she has also been focusing her efforts on her work as a Photographer and Fashion Designer (with new sustainably-designed merch launching soon!). Ava additionally has a passion for protecting the ocean and the environment, and works to create change with small mindful practices every day. She has previously paired up with organizations such as 4Ocean to help end the ocean plastic crisis and participated in countless beach clean-ups across her island.

We spoke with Ava about the content she creates, and why she is all about spreading the good vibes. She hopes to use her platform to inspire her fans to be more eco-friendly and, as she always says, to “keep shining”.

When did you first start your Youtube channel and how did you decide what topics to focus on?

I began my YouTube at the end of 2013, so I’m coming up on 7 years now! It started because I wanted to share my love for Justin Bieber, lol, but I ended up stumbling upon the YouTube beauty community. I was so in awe and captivated by the makeup videos I would watch that my channel shifted to “beautybyava” which I kept up with for about 4 years. Later on, I realized that makeup wasn’t exactly my forte (if you watch an old tutorial you’ll understand), and switched my channel to lifestyle content. It’s what felt the most me and making lifestyle type videos was what made me happiest.

With over a million subscribers and over 100 million views, people love what you have to say and are creating! What are your most popular videos among your subscribers?

My most popular videos are the ones that have anything to do with Hawai’i. I think people are curious as to what it’s like living on an island and are especially interested in my life here! Other than these home vlogs I make, my videos where I sit down and get personal with the camera are also very popular. I’ll talk about girl stuff, boys, life struggles, and body confidence. People just want someone to talk and relate to, which is why these personal videos do well. Viewers say they feel like they’re on FaceTime with me (the biggest compliment!).

Tell us about your journey with body image and body positivity, and why you choose to talk about this a lot in your content?

My journey with my body image and confidence has been a long and sometimes difficult road. Looking back, I can see the two main factors that contributed to my issues with how my body looked were: social media and high school. Not to shove the blame on these two things, but I never thought twice about how I looked until I started social media and was comparing myself to most of the girls I scrolled past. High school was also a weird period, because you feel like you need to be the prettiest and skinniest girl in order to fit in and have boys like you (that’s how I felt anyways.)

It was hard to accept my body when most of my friends were smaller than me. I felt like I needed to look a certain way, which lead to some unhealthy eating habits and self-loathing. Never would I have thought that I’d open up about my inner thoughts about this to others, but now here I am, making it a regular conversation in my content. 

I know that when I was going through my issues, I would’ve loved to have someone I look up to talk openly about it. My goal is to help other girls and boys know that their body is beautiful, and to treat it with love because it’s the only one we got. I hope to inspire others to be kinder to themselves because there’s enough pressure on teenagers and young adults as it is. 

You are also passionate about the environment and ocean conservation. We love that this is an issue being led by so many youth, especially young women and women of color. Why are you passionate about the environment?

Nature is a beautiful thing. Growing up in Hawai’i, I was constantly exposed to the many beauties of the island. In Hawai’i it is ones “kuleana,” responsibility, to take care of the land and ocean. There’s a Hawaiian phrase that really resonates with me, it’s “malama i ke kai, a malama ke kai ia ‘oe.” It translates to “take care of the ocean and the ocean will take care of you.”

The ocean was a vital part of life for Native Hawaiians, as it provided food, physical activity, and spiritual sustenance. After I graduated high school, I started to look at issues that were bigger than myself, and became aware of different problems the environment was facing. The two issues I had the biggest passion about were plastic pollution in the ocean and coral reef damage. I basically grew up in the water, so bringing awareness to this is incredibly important to me. Since then, I’ve participated in a few local beach cleanups and have used my social media platform to talk about these issues.

How has the pandemic impacted your daily life in Hawaii?

COVID hasn’t massively impacted my day-to-day life in Hawai’i, which is a huge blessing. Of course it depends on the stage of lockdown, but the beaches are now open, as well as hiking trails, restaurants, and shops. That’s pretty much all I do and all there is to do on an island.. eat, go to the beach, shop, and the occasional hike.

Outside of your Youtube life you are a photographer and designer, set to launch a new sustainable line of merch. Can you tell us more about this?

I am SO beyond excited to be creating and launching eco-friendly merch. I knew that if I wanted to do a merch line, I wanted to do it in a way that was sustainable. The process of finding the right partner to do this has been a bit hard and it’s taken a while, but I am so happy to see everything come together. My merch is something that is special for my audience and me, and the fact that it’ll make the Earth happy too is even better.

You are a role model to so many who follow you online, but we’d love to know who inspires you? Who are your role models?

My sister has greatly inspired me throughout my life. She’s incredibly hard-working and pursued her dreams of being a professional dancer in New York City. Having her as an older sister was inspiring because she chased the dream that other’s doubted her on, which I think made me feel okay and empowered about my own dreams that maybe weren’t “normal.”

What is your favorite way to unwind after a busy day, or de-stress?

Lately I have been a complete book worm. My high school self would laugh if I told her she’d read for pleasure and not by force. It’s really nice to not be on a screen, since I am most hours of the day, and to cuddle up in bed and get lost in a book.

For someone who is unfamiliar with the environmental crisis or doesn’t know how important it is, where would you encourage they go to learn more and get involved?

The internet is a great tool, so use it! I learned a lot about ongoing environmental issues just by doing simple research. People can also learn more by checking out their local organizations and finding one that focuses on the issues you’re passionate about. It’s also great to get involved with these local organizations by checking their upcoming community service schedules and participating in one that interests you!

If you could give one piece of advice to someone about body confidence, what would it be?

There’s so much advice to give, but I think my best piece would be this: Speak kindly to yourself. Negative self-talk is one of the most detrimental things to do because your brain believes what you tell it. The simple act of telling yourself something nice goes a long way.

Keep the good vibes comin’ by following Ava on Instagram and subscribe to her Youtube Channel.