How One Viral Haircut Tutorial Changed Everything (And Almost Boxed Her In)
“It was a very big blessing — but I’ve learned what a curse of a million-view video can be when you’re such a young channel.”
Three years ago, one haircut tutorial changed Summer’s life.
Within five weeks, it hit one million views. She had only around 1,500–2,000 subscribers at the time. Practically overnight, her channel transformed from a casual COVID experiment into a real business.
And her income went from a couple hundred dollars a month to $4,000 in a single month.
But here’s the part most creators don’t talk about: viral videos can also become a cage.
Summer’s channel, Styles by Summer, quickly became known for one thing — detailed haircut tutorials. That’s what YouTube pushed. That’s what new subscribers expected. And that one video alone has brought in over 70,000 subscribers.
But Summer didn’t originally set out to be “the haircut tutorial girl.”
She wanted to create broader beauty content — styling, products, color, confidence. When she tried to branch out, those videos underperformed. Some even hurt the channel.
It took her nearly two years to fully understand what had happened.
When you go viral early, YouTube defines your niche for you. And if you’re not careful, you start creating from obligation instead of alignment.
So instead of forcing the original channel to become something it wasn’t, Summer made a strategic decision.
She started a second channel.
One channel (Styles by Summer) is now an asset — steady AdSense, evergreen tutorials, consistent income. The other channel (Summer Beauty) is where she experiments, grows, and expands into color analysis, body shape, and image consulting.
One is reliable. One has massive growth potential.
And now she’s building a third layer: her own digital services as a certified image consultant — adding a product to the monetization mix so she’s not relying solely on YouTube revenue.
What I love about Summer’s story is that she didn’t abandon what worked. She built around it.
Instead of quitting when Summer Beauty struggled, she reinvested in clarity. Through strategy work, she realized her audience was already watching broader beauty content elsewhere. That insight gave her permission to expand — intentionally.
Going viral doesn’t mean you’re stuck forever. But if you don’t understand your audience, your positioning, and your long-term vision, you can easily build a cage instead of a career.
“I just want to have more fun with the content”
FREE RESOURCES
- Register for my FREE Masterclass
- Download my FREE 32 Page Video Ideas E-Book!
YOUTUBE COURSES AND COACHING
- CLICK HERE to get the Audience Attraction System Mini Course
- YOUTUBE BOOTCAMP FOR WOMEN: Are you looking for support, coaching, community and proven systems that will help you achieve your YouTube goals? Join a unique, comprehensive YouTube growth bootcamp that will help you 10x your growth on YouTube and bring you the financial and creative freedom you want. Add your name to the YouTube Bootcamp waitlist so you are notified when space becomes available!
- 1:1 YOUTUBE COACHING: Are you wanting to go full time on YouTube within 3 months or are already full time and are wanting to invest in 1:1 coaching for your YouTube channel for rapid growth? Click here to apply!
- STRATEGIC CHANNEL MANAGEMENT: Are you a business looking for strategic channel management? Please email my team at support@erikavieira.net with Strategic Channel Management in the subject.
TRUSTED YOUTUBE TOOLS
- Poppy AI: my new favorite AI tool for YouTube creators! Click here to get Poppy and use code ErikaV for $25 off plus theres a 30 day money back guarantee!
- TubeBuddy: Click here to get TubeBuddy and use the code ErikasBuddy to get 20% off
- Kajabi: All-in-one course creation platform I use and LOVE! Click here to get Kajabi.
RECOMMENDED YOUTUBE/PODCASTING EQUIPMENT:
- Click here for my Amazon storefront to see my favorite products for YouTube creators
*Links include affiliate links
**Erika Vieira is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com.
***Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledged. Links in the description are typically affiliate links that let you help support the podcast at no extra cost.
