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Kelsey Kreppel didn’t expect to become an influencer. Today, she is a successful YouTuber and podcast host. She films vlogs, humorous videos, and fashion commentary; hosts guests on her podcast Circle Time; and has garnered over a million fans who appreciate her charming personality, unique sense of style, and refreshing authenticity.

However, Kreppel didn’t set out to be a YouTuber. Until her mid-twenties, she was a preschool teacher in the L.A. area. In an interview with The Harvard Crimson, Kreppel described the path that eventually led her to YouTube.

“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher,” Kreppel said.

After majoring in child development, Kreppel began teaching full time, describing it as “the best.” To support herself financially, she started nannying on the side.

“I feel like I lived such a normal life up until I was 24,” Kreppel said.

She explained how she eventually fell into YouTube after meeting her current husband Cody Ko — another popular YouTuber, entertainer, and social media personality.

“I met Cody, and he was making videos and doing what he does,” Kreppel said. “And I was so intrigued by the whole thing.”

She described the appeal of a YouTube career: “It was cool that he was his own boss, and it just seemed so creative and fun.”

Ko encouraged Kreppel to be in a few of his videos. After he observed that she was a natural in front of the camera, Kreppel said she could envision herself doing YouTube full-time.

“I figured I felt comfortable doing it, and I didn’t want to just be the random girl in Cody’s videos,” she said.

As Ko’s partner, Kreppel knew that she would be increasingly in the internet’s public eye.

“If I was gonna open my life up to this world, which I would be doing dating him anyway, I might as well be my own person doing it,” she said. “The rest is history.”

Now, Kreppel brings the same realness and charm from her teaching background into her social media presence, and fans love her for it. Her channel features a variety of content across humor, commentary, and lifestyle, but over time, Kreppel has found her niche in vlogging, or video blogging.

“Once I started vlogging, I really fell into where I am comfortable,” she said.

With so much indulgence and overconsumption in the age of influencers, Kreppel appreciates the opportunity to show her audience a more normal perspective.

“Your day-to-day doesn’t have to be this crazy thing. And I think that resonates with a lot of people,” she said.

Through her work, Kreppel has demonstrated the importance of being a good role model.

“I realized now how many people I reach and how I can be a good example for people — just a solid person on the internet for people to watch because there’s a lot of craziness on the internet,” Kreppel said.

This opportunity to have a positive impact on her audience has motivated her to continue to grow her channel.

“I always loved teaching because I always said I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, and I felt like I was doing that with teaching,” Kreppel said.

For Kreppel, YouTube offers the same opportunities as teaching to connect with people and be a strong role model for younger audiences.

Beyond YouTube, Kreppel hosts a successful podcast called “Circle Time,” where she and her guests exchange witty banter, personal stories, and bits of pop culture in a classroom-like structure. While Kreppel had hoped to start a podcast for a while, she emphasized wanting to do “something that felt right to me” — everything she had previously conceived of felt too broad at the time.

The idea for her current podcast spawned during the Covid-19 pandemic, when Kreppel returned to teaching part-time. She explained how she was the only person willing to run the Zoom sessions for the preschool classes.

“​​I started doing the Zooms, but all I could really do was the ‘circle time’ — the morning meeting of preschool,” Kreppel said, “Because we can’t go outside and play. My whole life was circle time.”

However, working within the constraints posed by online schooling, Kreppel was able to make the best of the difficult situation.

“I felt like I was getting to know the kids a lot more, because we had no choice but to just sit and talk. Because that’s all we could really do,” she said.

Kreppel realized that if she structured a podcast like she structured a circle time, she could have the opportunity to incorporate the “conversational openness of preschool” into adult topics, according to DearMedia.

“I wanted to bring that same childlike energy to ‘adult world’ because I feel like we all miss that,” she said.

By creating a comfortable environment to share stories and a safe space where her guests could connect with their inner child, Kreppel has been able to be a part of some deeply rewarding conversations.

“I hope that it comes across as a comfortable conversation because every time I’m talking to someone, it feels that way,” she said.

Another aspect of Kreppel’s social media personality is her sense of style. Quirky, colorful, and ever-evolving, her unique fashion sense has drawn the attention of her fans, with some even tracking down and cataloging the items she wears in photos and videos.

When asked about her fashion inspiration, Kreppel described her style as “all over the place, really,” explaining that she doesn’t like to confine herself to a specific aesthetic nor dress with others in mind.

“My style started to evolve a bit when I realized that the only way I’m ever going to feel confident is if I’m wearing something that I actually like,” she said.

Looking towards the future, Kreppel sees her online presence evolving, with one big change surely set to redefine her channel — and life — going forward: Ko and Kreppel welcomed a baby boy in January. Kreppel expressed that while she is not sure what the future holds, she is excited to share her life with fans, as she always has, including content that is “a bit about having a baby.”

“There’s a lot of unknown right now,” Kreppel said. “I’m really excited to see where my content goes, and I’m excited to keep posting and whatnot,” she said. “I just don’t know exactly what it’s going to be like, you know? I’m interested to see.”

She is excited to see where her life goes when there’s a baby in it, and to share updates with her audience in the same authentic way.

Kreppel has carved out a niche for herself on the internet as a lifestyle vlogger, fashion commentator, and podcast host whose fans love her for her refreshing authenticity and unique sense of style. No matter where life takes her, Kreppel’s content and dedicated audience aren’t going anywhere.

“My content will still have the same vibe that its always had of trying to be as realistic and honest and open and real with my audience,” she said. “That’s not going to change.”

—Staff writer Arielle C. Frommer can be reached at arielle.frommer@thecrimson.com.