Where Is Miss Mota Today?
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If hearing “Macbarbie07” doesn’t bring up old memories, you’re lying. If you didn’t watch Bethany Mota show you the latest fashions, easy-to-do hairstyles, and quick recipes, then you’re lying- again. Or, at the very least, you missed out. Bethany Mota ruled my middle school experience by posting weekly YouTube videos. Whether it was a back-to-school clothing haul or how to fishtail braid your hair, I was the first to watch it on my parent’s desktop computer. However, as years have passed, I have heard her name mentioned less and less, begging the question: where is miss Mota today? Lucky for you, I did some digging, so you don’t have to.
Bethany Mota started creating YouTube videos back in 2009. She had gained 9.5 million subscribers by 2015 and quickly gathered many supporters, eventually leading to her future partnerships with J.C. Penny, Forever 21, and Aeropostale. In 2017, she even made the Forbes 30 under 30 list. However, she noticeably started making less content in 2018. Mota told fans that she needed to take a step back because she had become far too invested in her social media presence. This is completely understandable, especially coming from a girl that had been in the public eye since her teens.
Image Courtesy: CelebMafia
Today, she still creates content on various platforms. She has 4.8 million followers on Instagram and 164.6k followers on TikTok. In recent years, Mota has focused on building her jewelry line called Atom and Matter. The sales she makes from this line are donated to help women’s empowerment charities and are sustainable, containing recycled silver covered in either gold vermeil or rhodium.
In addition to her jewelry line, she has been in a serious relationship with Dominic Sandoval, an award-winning choreographer. She has also been a loving niece to her sister’s two children. Mota has recently posted a few YouTube videos featuring her boyfriend and nieces. Overall, she has refrained from posting as often as she used to because she has grown up and is not the same teenager making videos from her bedroom. Mota revealed in a YouTube video that it was a struggle for her to return to YouTube as she is not the same sweet, young version of herself anymore, ultimately believing it would be difficult for many of her viewers to understand. Sadly, this phenomenon occurs for many influencers who begin their social media careers at such young ages because their audiences have trouble watching them become adults.
However, like anyone in the public eye, influencers are bound to get hate regardless of what they do. Mota quickly realized that maturing is inevitable and that her audience would just have to accept it. It is unlikely we will see her post the same amount of videos she did in 2009, but I am happy that she is back on YouTube. While I no longer wait for her to release new weekly videos, I am eager to watch her continue to grow and become the best version of herself. I will still always love watching her Black Friday hauls or her winter night routines. She walked so that beauty and lifestyle influencers today could run. She truly paved the way for female influencers and taught us the best ways to be festive on nearly every holiday. Looking back, it was probably not completely necessary to change my bedroom decorations depending on the season, but Bethany Mota did it. She taught us that being extra is entirely okay.
Strike Out,
Bella Kubach
Boca Raton
Bella Kubach is a Content Writer for Strike Magazine FAU. Most of her free time is occupied by buying things she doesn’t need, reading her horoscope religiously, and making an endless amount of Spotify playlists. You can reach her at bellakubachxox@gmail.com
