The YouTuber opens up about management, comparison and the importance of authentic diversity
Georgia Rankin, known online as MakeupJunkieG, has had some terrible experiences when attending events. The one that tops it all, she remembers, was arriving at an old venue, discovering that there was no lift [Georgia uses a wheelchair] and being offered the solution that the venue staff could ‘just carry her up the stairs’.
“It’s embarrassing and it’s not great for me pain-wise, either. I’m 21 years old, I don’t want to be carried upstairs by strangers. I just want to go to a place that’s accessible, I shouldn’t have to worry about it,” Georgia says.
Georgia has skeletal dysplasia, which hinders the growth and development of bones and joints, and is 2ft 7 inches tall. Since being diagnosed as a child, and despite some of her bad experiences, she does think that on the whole accessibility is getting better.
“It is getting better. There are lifts in clubs nowadays, and buildings are becoming more accessible. There is still a way to go, though.”
Georgia is positive and incredibly warm. She’s got a great sense of humour and her laugh is joyous. On today’s shoot, which she has attended with her mother Andrea (who has her own great TikTok account @officialmumager), Georgia is full of energy, open to testing out a new wardrobe and makeup, and really fun to be around. She is definitely a half glass full type of person.
Her warmth permeates her YouTube channel – and is no doubt why she is so popular on the platform. Georgia has more than 700,000 subscribers, and more than 44 million views. She joined YouTube in 2014 after appearing on This Morning. After the show, she was gifted some MAC makeup and decided to create a tutorial on YouTube… the rest they say is history.
In 2018, Channel 5 created a documentary about Georgia’s life called ‘30 inches tall and turning 18’ – it was this, she says, that led to her YouTube really blowing up.
“After the first night of the show, I hit 10,000 subscribers. I went from 1,000 to 10,000. It was mad,” she remembers.
Since creating the channel, Georgia’s content has evolved to more than sole tutorials.
“When I started, I thought ‘I want to teach people how to use makeup’, but now it’s very different. I want people to come away from my channel thinking ‘I am good enough, I shouldn’t feel like I’m not worthy in the world’.
“Social media can sometimes feel like a very dark world and I want my channel to be a break from that. I want to help people mentally. I always get messages from people saying ‘I’ve had a really bad day and then I watched your video and it’s made me happy’ – that’s why I do what I do. That’s my purpose.”
Although Georgia’s upbeat outlook makes up the majority of her YouTube, she has also shared videos where she talks about having suffered with comparison and some of the lower moments of her social media journey. 2019 wasn’t the most positive for Georgia.
“Last year was really rough, and I had a lot of bumps in the road. My old management didn’t work out at all, and I felt very left out and forgotten about. I felt like I was really at the bottom of the food chain.
“I found Instagram a difficult place. I kept seeing campaigns with the same girls and I really felt like I wasn’t accepted. I don’t feel like there’s enough diversity in campaigns. It does affect you because it puts you in the sort of state of mind like ‘am I in the right job?’.
“It’s sad because I love seeing diverse people in campaigns and I know it does have a good response because when brands have reposted me on their page, the comments are really good.”
Georgia has changed management since last year, and is now represented by Free Focus – who among others represent Hannah Witton, Zoe London and Lucy Moon.
“It’s amazing already. Finding a team who want the best for you is so important. They need to connect with you as a person, you’ve got to get each other because this industry is so intense.”
Since changing management, Georgia has already seen an increase in brand opportunities. She recently did a photoshoot campaign with Lounge Underwear to celebrate International Women’s Day. The experience really boosted Georgia’s confidence and she’d like to do more fashion campaigns in the future.
“Years ago I used to really struggle with clothes and it used to be such a big worry. I’ve got used to it now, though. I wear jeans all the time, but the jeans that I’ve got are actually cycling shorts, but they look like mom jeans – which are the style I would want to wear anyway.
“Underwear in particular was a real worry. I used to think ‘oh no, I’m going to have to wear Peppa Pig underwear for years!’ I used to wear Next really young girls, but they’d dig into me because I’m not tiny – I’ve got curves. But then I discovered brands like Lounge, where the sizing is amazing. A size 4 is perfect for me. I felt like a new woman.”
Creating her own fashion range would be a “massive dream” in the future, but for the time being Georgia would love to work with the likes of Misguided and Pretty Little Thing. She also wants to continue creating relatable content for her ever growing audience.
“My main audience is 18 and above, which I love. My followers have grown up with me and my content is older – lifestyle qnas and things. I’m not really a fan of the challenge videos for example.
“I want to be relatable. You know, I’m not that glam – apart from things like this. Most of the time I’m sitting at home with my dog, I don’t really go out that much. I want to be honest about that.”
If she could change one thing about the influencer industry, Georgia says she’d like people to care less about numbers. “There is a real hierarchy when it comes to numbers, and I think it’s such a sad situation. If you’ve got low numbers, you’re seen as low down. It’s like popularity – I think no matter what numbers you have, you should be treated the same.”
She would also like to see “authentic diversity”. “There’s a difference between throwing someone in there for a tick of the box, like ‘we’ve ticked the diversity box but we’re not really bothered about the person, it’s just so we look good as a brand.
“I want to see more brands who genuinely have a passion to be diverse.”