From YouTube Hobby to Creator CEO: Women Leading at POSSIBLE 2025

On April 28, 2025, the POSSIBLE Marketing Expo 2025 commenced its three-day event at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, attracting over 5,200 marketing professionals. A key session, “The Rise of the Creator CEO: Women Leading with Purpose,” moderated by Shelly Zalis, Founder & CEO of The Female Quotient, featured Camila Coelho, Global Entrepreneur and Digital Trailblazer, as a keynote under the Future of Creativity & Brand Building and Social Impact & Purpose Driven Business tracks, held at the Coastal Center 4th Floor Purpose Pavilion in the Pearl Ballroom.

From YouTube Hobby to Global Influence

Camila Coelho opened the session by sharing her journey as a creator. She highlighted her pioneering role in the influencer industry. Coelho began making YouTube videos in 2010 as a hobby, long before the industry existed. She faced significant challenges in proving herself.

Camila Coelho

Back in 2010, I started doing YouTube videos for fun as a hobby. It was pure and organic, but also very difficult. It was something completely new that no one knew how to deal with, and we had to prove ourselves.

Shelly Zalis emphasized Coelho’s role as a trendsetter, noting her early work selling beauty products at Dior.

Shelly Zalis

You create the trends, which is what I think it really means. What’s incredible about your journey is you started selling beauty products at Dior.

Building a Brand with Authenticity

Coelho shared her background as a Brazilian immigrant who moved to the US at 14. She highlighted her drive for independence inspired by her mother’s resilience. After high school, she took a six-month break to find her passion. Eventually, she worked at a Dior counter at Macy’s. There, she discovered her love for connecting with women through beauty, leading her to become a makeup artist. She started sharing YouTube tutorials that grew into a blog.

Camila Coelho

I’m from Brazil and moved to the US at 14. Watching my mom work hard as an immigrant inspired me to be independent. I worked at a Dior counter at Macy’s and loved connecting with women, feeling confident. This led me to become a makeup artist and start YouTube tutorials, which grew into a blog because the community loved it.

Zalis praised Coelho’s authenticity, which Coelho emphasized as a core principle. Moreover, she noted a milestone moment when she sat front row at a Dior couture show in Paris.

Shelly Zalis

You’re so real. Your content comes from your heart, and that’s clear in how you’re engaging and growing.

Camila Coelho

I’ve always stayed true to myself. I am a self-made woman. A big moment was sitting front row at a Dior couture show in Paris—a full-circle moment from working at the counters. I did a collab called Close Big Deals with Brands, started my own brands, and made my mom very proud.

Breaking Rules and Innovating in a Saturated Industry

Zalis reflected on Coelho’s role as a trendsetter. She asked how Coelho continues to innovate in a saturated industry. Coelho highlighted the challenge of staying at the top, emphasizing her team’s role in helping her innovate. She also stressed the importance of understanding her community.

Shelly Zalis

I’m going to give you first because you were defining new moments that became movements. How do you compete with yourself in digital content?

Camila Coelho

The hardest thing is to stay on the top. What’s next? What do I have to invent next to innovate? It’s an everyday exercise. The industry today is so saturated. My team helps me stay creative with their ideas, and understanding my community is key.

Zalis then asked about breaking rules. Coelho explained how her early makeup tutorials defied norms. She emphasized the importance of following her intuition despite criticism.

Shelly Zalis

Let’s talk about breaking rules. What rules in fashion and beauty did you do your way?

Camila Coelho

My first YouTube makeup tutorials broke norms—no one was wearing that type of makeup. I remember people saying, this is not good or not flattering, but I said, no, this is me and people love it. You have to know what you want and hold on to that, despite criticism. It was by following my heart that really got me.

Creator CEO: Taking Risks and Building Brands

Camila Coelho’s journey as a creator CEO exemplifies the risks and challenges of building a brand. She emphasized maintaining authenticity and innovation. Coelho highlighted her transition to entrepreneurship, spurred by a groundbreaking collaboration with Lancôme. She talked about the challenge of balancing her own brand with other opportunities.

Camila Coelho

I worked as a creator for other brands until 2018, then launched my first brand in 2019. I did a collab with Lancôme, the first to put my name on their product. It was scary working with luxury brands while starting my own. How do I set time aside? Do I stop working with others or do both? I decided to do both. I’ve always been picky on which brands I work with, so the no’s were important. But there were great opportunities I didn’t want to miss, so I worked harder. That was the most challenging for me. My first brand was Familiar Collection, my clothing line. It’s a lot of work, but so rewarding seeing the final product come to life.

Advocating for Epilepsy Awareness with Purpose

Shelly Zalis shifted the conversation to Coelho’s advocacy for epilepsy awareness. Coelho had the condition since age nine, emphasizing its importance as a purpose-driven mission. She highlighted her decision to go public in 2019. Her pregnancy drove this decision, and she acknowledged the profound impact it had on her community. Coelho also noted the Epilepsy Foundation’s role in her advocacy work.

Shelly Zalis

You had epilepsy at the age of nine. Now you are a champion for so many with epilepsy. That is something near and dear to your heart. When did you decide to talk about epilepsy publicly?

Camila Coelho

I was diagnosed with epilepsy at age nine and lived hiding it. My mom told me at age nine, you don’t need to tell anybody. The stigma on epilepsy is crazy, and there is a lot of stigma still. I work to end stigma, and I’m part of the board today. I couldn’t talk about it until 2019, a big year for me. I was ready to become a mom, and with epilepsy, you need to plan your pregnancy—on medicine or without. My doctors told me, you need to get out of medicine to get pregnant, because the medicine could affect the baby. So I decided to talk about it. There must be so many women going through what I’m going through right now, so I shared my story, as scary as it was. The messages I received were beautiful. I felt, if I could help one person, it would be enough. Messages like, my daughter was able to tell her friends that she has epilepsy. Moms told me, I got pregnant on medicine—everything worked out. So that was a big weight off my shoulders. Making my decision on how I was going to try to get pregnant, and today I have a healthy little boy, two years and eight months. I got pregnant on medicine, because there are new medicines out there. One out of 26 people in the world are diagnosed with epilepsy, so in your circle, some people likely struggle with it or can’t talk about it. It’s very important for us to be open and learn more about it. Most of us live a normal life, but some are stuck in life because they have epilepsy.

Shelly Zalis

My son had a febrile seizure up until the age of seven. And my grandson had some of the scariest moments in my life. What’s the name of the foundation?

Camila Coelho

It’s the Epilepsy Foundation. The Worldwide Epilepsy Foundation.

Shelly Zalis

You are truly an inspiration. When purpose meets passion, you are unstoppable.

Camila Coelho

Thank you. It’s a pleasure to talk with you.

POSSIBLE Miami Marketing Conference 2025: Day 1 Recap and Day 2 Look Ahead

The Rise of the Creator CEO: Empowering Leadership with Purpose

The “Rise of the Creator CEO: Women Leading with Purpose” session at POSSIBLE 2025 showcased Camila Coelho’s journey from a YouTube creator to a global entrepreneur. It emphasized authenticity, innovation, and advocacy. Her story highlighted the power of combining passion and impact for creator CEOs.

Photo Credit: POSSIBLE 2025 by Shutterstock