Bethany Mota, fashion designer and author, talks to LI kids

We interviewed YouTube star and fashion designer Bethany Mota when she was in Manhattan recently. We all liked her new book, “Make Your Mind Up: My Guide to Finding Your Own Style, Life and Motavation.”

We love your book. Do you think you will write another one?

I haven’t even thought about it yet. I’ve been so focused on this one that I haven’t. It’s a lot of work. But I would do it again, just because seeing the final result is so amazing. I don’t know if it would be like a similar thing or if I would write a book about something else.

Did writing this book also help you overcome your shyness?

Yeah, in a way, because in the book I talk about things that I haven’t even talked about in videos before. And I had to open up and be a little bit more vulnerable, so I definitely had to overcome those fears and just kind of do it anyway, even though it was scary to talk about specific things.

How did you feel when you made your first fashion YouTube video in 2000?

I was 13 when I made my first video, and I was scared and I was super shy — like you could watch my first video and see that I was just very different, and I also just grew up on YouTube. Being on YouTube is what really allowed me to figure myself out and learn more about myself and come out of that shyness and really own and embrace who I am and the opinions and thoughts that I have. So making the first video, it was just the first step into that. It took me two or three months to finally film the first video.

How did it feel to design clothing for Aéropostale?

So cool. I wanted to be a fashion designer ever since I was younger, and I just never thought that it would happen or I never thought I would have the opportunity. It’s a lot of decision-making and can be stressful, because they flew me to New York and I was working with a design team. Seeing the clothes come to life and then seeing people wearing them, and then being able to wear them myself, was just a dream come true.

What do you do to encourage yourself for any challenge that might come along the road?

I accept fear. In the past I used to deny fear and say I wasn’t afraid. I found that even when I said that, I wouldn’t do whatever that was. If something scares you and makes you nervous, then it means you really care about that way. And I personally think that the best things in life to do and go after are things that you really care about. Because those are the things that you’re going to be most passionate about. I’m going to use that energy, and I’m going to allow that to push me forward into whatever it is that I want to do.

Did anyone in your family inspire you to design clothing?

I think I just always wanted to do it on my own. Growing up, my sister’s style inspired me. She is five years older than me. So I just always wanted to be my sister, no matter what. She was so cool.

What is some more advice you can give your young viewers for secret fashion tips?

Secret fashion tips: Wear what you feel most comfortable in. Because there are a lot of trends and they’re like, this is what’s in, this is what’s not in. I used to fall on trends, which I still do sometimes, but I feel like when I first started getting into fashion and figuring out my style, I felt like I had to wear everything trendy. And then I was like, wait, I don’t actually like this. So I think exploring things and experimenting — just be very adventurous with the clothes that you wear and how you style it. And then whatever you enjoy wearing, wear more of that. And then you develop your own personal style over time. I just think that that’s so much more important than being trendy.

Do you think you would like to have a TV reality show about your blogging?

That would be fun. I mean, maybe I just need to blog more, because that would probably be the way to go. I just got a new blog camera, so maybe I should start doing that.

Have you ever had any fashion fails?

Oh yes. Well, my first pair of high heels, I was very excited about them, and I wore them with plaid sweatpants out in public. I wore white high heels with plaid sweatpants and I was just rocking it. It was just a look. That was a fail. But I owned it in the moment. Yeah, that’s like one of the main ones. And then also sometimes I choose the wrong shoes. One time I wore a pair of high heels, and it was my first time wearing them, and I didn’t really know if they were very good quality or not. And I went to an event, and I was standing in line for something. And then at one point the heel just broke. I was kind of like leaning back on it, and then I just fell to the floor. I fell backward. And I looked at my heel and the heel was gone.