How were you bullied?
After my parents’ incident*, a lot of people thought I wasn’t reacting how I should’ve been. People started to harass me on Facebook and during school. They would send me rude messages and make rude statuses. They were calling me an “Attention Whore” and saying I wasn’t reacting right.
How did it affect your life?
The bullying got to the point where I couldn’t go to school anymore because it was so bad. And soon it got so bad that I had to move to Utah.
How did you solve being bullied?
The bullying never really stopped. But I realized that if people aren’t going to care about me, that I shouldn’t care what they are saying about me.
How did your experience lead you to helping others with bullying issues?
I realized that I’ve been through what a lot of people have been through. I wasn’t going to let it break me; instead I decided to help others.
When did you start your YouTube channel?
I decided to start my channel after my parents’ incident. I wanted to put my story out there.
What were your first couple of videos?
My first video was on Suicide Awareness Day. I posted it September 2012. And my second video was called “You’re Not Alone,” about bullying.
How have your YouTube videos changed your life?
My YouTube changed my personal life. I’ve been contacted by safe houses asking to share my story. And after I posted my Suicide Awareness, I had a lot of people reach out to me about how much my video helped the.
How has the internet changed your life?
The internet has helped provide me with so much by helping me reach out to people all over the world without having to travel all over the world. After reading all of the people I have helped I realized I wanted to do more than just videos. And I started two different blogs. One blog that is connected to my YouTube channel, I use to answer peoples questions. And my other blog is on my story.
What is your process for coming up with ideas for videos?
On my YouTube channel you can make a forum. And on my forum I ask my viewers what they would like to see me do next.
What is your process for creating the videos?
First I have to pick a topic to do my video on and then after I choose a topic, I write down the key points that I want to talk about. I put them in front of the camera while I film for help.
How much time do you put into your followers?
I put a lot of time in. On Twitter I respond to all of the tweets and direct messages I receive. But I get a lot more messages on Facebook and I try my hardest to respond to all of them, but it gets really hard sometimes. And on YouTube I get around 1,000 comments everyday and I don’t always have the time to respond to all of them, but I do read them all.
What has been the most important story you have heard from one of your followers?
All of the stories are important to me. But everyone who has reached out to me has their own special story and I applaud them for reaching out to me.
What do you plan on doing after high school?
During college I want to major in broadcasting so that I can become a public speaker. I would love to be able to travel all over the place and to different schools to inspire other people with my story. But my dream is to have a talk show so I can help even more people.
*On Dec. 27, 2011 Zoë Royer’s parent’s lives were ended in a tragic murder-suicide.