Gabriella Lindley, also known as velvetgh0st, became hugely popular on YouTube in the early 2010s posting beauty videos and daily vlogs about her life to her hundreds of thousands of followers. She has since continued to share her life on the platform with her 980k followers, along with branching out into newer social media platforms such as TikTok. Now, she posts content about her home renovation and life with her wife, Cam, whom she met at a Taylor Swift concert in the early 2020s.
Early YouTube Earnings
In a recent video, Gabriella shared that during her time as a viral YouTuber, she would be paid five figures for a single advert on Instagram and even had her own homeware range with Primark. But with all of this money coming in at the young age of 19 and through her early 20s, she said she made one mistake that still haunts her to this day.
Gabriella explained: "I used to be pretty viral on YouTube.... and I'm not gonna lie, that came with a lot of money. I had my own Homeware Rangers with Primark and I was getting paid five figures for a single ad, which was at least once a week. When I tell you the money back then on YouTube was absolutely insane, it's something that I could never have even dreamt about. I'm English and I usually hate talking about money, so it feels kind of tacky to say, but 10 years ago I was making a lot of it, which isn't necessarily the case nowadays."
She added: "I was only 19 when I started my YouTube channel and as you can imagine, all of that money at such a young age came with a lot of frivolous spending." Gabriella used the money to buy a number of things she thought were "cute", including a bunch of designer bags. Turning 32 made the Yorkshire-native think about her former spending habits and want to make a change.
Shifting Focus to Savings and Investing
Gabriella continued: "I'm in my 30s now and my goals are to get better at saving, investing and staying on top of a budget, instead of just buying literally anything I think is cute. And to keep me accountable, I'm going to be posting regular content about it right here. So if you're out there and you're interested in sticking to a budget and learning how to save better, so am I. We're in the same boat here."
Endometriosis Diagnosis and Hysterectomy
Earlier this year, Gabriella announced she had made the decision to have a hysterectomy after being diagnosed with endometriosis in 2019. According to the NHS, endometriosis is where cells similar to those in the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body. It can have a big impact on your life, but there are treatments that can help.
Symptoms Gabriella was dealing with before her diagnosis included extreme pain, very heavy periods, intense PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder), and chronic fatigue. She explained how after having endometriosis removal surgery and a fibroid removed, endometriosis symptoms continued to completely take over her life, which led her to the decision to have a hysterectomy.
Following her surgery, Gabriella described the first night of recovery as being "a walk in the park" compared to her endometriosis symptoms. She said: "For people who haven't dealt with endometriosis before, I don't think it would feel like nothing. I think it would probably be painful, but for me, someone who's been dealing with just horrific endometriosis pain for years and years now, it truly has felt like a walk in the park."
For support with endometriosis, visit Endometriosis UK.
