This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with Dove, you can view the full Beauty List Here. 

A million followers and rising.

As one of the first successful black female beauty YouTubers, hitting over one million subscribers,  Raye Boyce knows something about breaking down barriers. 

A native of Boston, the 26-year-old vlogging maven, ItsMyRayeRaye, got her start on YouTube after requests via Tumblr and Instagram kept pouring in. The social media world has been good to Raye. She met her husband and manager, Eric, via MySpace. The two were married in 2012 when Raye was 21. 

Fear of failure and being accepted topped her list of challenges. “I wasn't sure anyone would understand what I was doing, but I always had the support from my friends and family,” she shares.

Before trying her steady hand in the beauty business, Raye was most interested in fashion, looking to attend the fashion merchandising program at FIT in New York. But her aspirations “quickly changed,” as the makeup world took over completely. “I instantly fell in love,” she shares.

While the beauty queen on the YouTube scene loves spending time with her family and bowling, the self-professed adventurer has a bit of a daredevil side. Yes, she has a taste for skydiving and likes to hit up an amusement park or two. But the rollercoaster of her career keeps her from looking too far to the future. Preferring, says Raye, to “take life one step at a time.” 

As with most influencers on the internet those steps have included haters. “There was a time when I began receiving negativity on my videos that I had never received before. I didn't understand why it was happening but that was really difficult for me and I wanted to quit.” She didn’t. And is happy that she never gave up, remaining true to herself instead. “For the most part,” shares Raye, “my relationship with myself hasn't changed much because I have always been true to me. I can say that each and every day I am growing and I find ways to better myself.” 

Raye is wearing Keds' Champion Originals.

Growth and goals for the social media darling includes starting her own company and doing anything she puts her mind to. “Female empowerment is knowing that you can do anything, even if it might be in a field dominated by the opposite sex.” 

“Female empowerment is knowing that you can do anything."

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She’s on deck to help other women succeed as well, even those in her own industry. There’s no jealous vibes with Raye. “I always try to find ways to share the knowledge that I have in hopes that I could help someone. I think we all need to stick together because we would be so much more powerful as a whole.”

Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.