Turning hate into fame--Kylee De Thier's story

Revenge is a dish best served, SERVING.

What’s the most effective way to deal with bullies?

Take what they’re trying to hurt you with and create a wildly successful career.

Being the only queer kid in a small town isn’t easy.

That’s what 21-year-old content creator and makeup, artist Kylee De Thier, will tell you about his time growing up in Gisborne, NZ.

However, both strong and talented, Kylee used the hate as motivation to achieve bigger and better things.

Now an established creator with a following of over 700,000 across platforms, Kylee sat down with our CEO, Stan, to talk about what it takes to overcome the challenges that were placed before him as a young, queer, Māori creator.

From Minecraft to makeup

A true digital native, Kylee has been making content for almost as long as he can remember. He started making Minecraft YouTube videos at just 10 years old.

'I’ve always had a thing for technology and production. Even as a little kid I always put my all into content creation,' he recalls. 'I wanted to be like all the big gamers, as every other child did.'

But when Kylee reached intermediate school, he found a new passion. So he began moving away from gaming content and into nail art.

Looking back, he says, 'I got the sh*t bullied out of me, but that just made me want to piss people off even more.' This marked his transition into makeup content.

However, it wasn’t until 2020 that Kylee got his 'big break,' as he calls it. Because while the world was locked up at home, the beauty industry boomed.

Particularly on TikTok, where Kylee started to gain traction.

From the beginning, Kylee knew getting into beauty was going to be 'rocky ground.'

Being a young, Māori boy, creating beauty content challenged societal norms. And Kylee knew that not everyone would be supportive.

'It's so interesting to me that your pure existence can really rark someone up so much. That’s embarrassing for them,' he says.

'I used to sit in class and hear the boys go, “Oh Miss, put Kylee Fleek on”’ – his handle at the time. 'My heart would just drop to my stomach.'

So how did he handle being bullied by his peers?

Kylee emphasises the importance of confidence if you’re going to do what you love.

'I’d do the whole façade of, "Yeah okay put it on[the classroom tv]" and then the whole class would watch me do a nail review. That's when I think they realised they couldn’t say anything to get to me. They ended up on my side.'

When asked how he managed to be so confident at such a young age, Kylee credits his mum. 'She’s always unapologetically supported me.'

By the time Kylee reached high school, he was getting opportunities none of his peers were.

'The older I got; the less people could say sh*t.'

But the feeling of belonging was something he still lacked in school. So he found that kind of community online instead.

He’s since grown that community into the large following he has today, overcoming many other challenges along the way.

Some of those challenges include finding motivation and dealing with self-doubt. Staying consistent with content creation, especially alone, can be really hard. 

'You’ve got to learn to just do it. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get into the practice.'

For Kylee, with self-doubt comes the question, 'is this the right path?'

'I’m still finding myself. I’m still figuring out if this is what I want to do, which is the craziest thing to say. I’m always questioning.'

To this, Stan offered a valuable response:

'You don’t find your passion through discovery. You don’t stumble upon your passion. You learn to love something through your competence. You get so good at something, by doing it, that you end up falling in love with it. To truly feel passionate as a content creator, you have to work at the craft.'

For any creators on the same path, I highly recommend watching this podcast. It’s honest, it’s inspiring, and I now want to be Kylee’s best friend. 

-Sophie, Writer