B.C. YouTube creator Kris Collins hit superstar heights in 2022 (2024)

The views are in and B.C.’s Kris Collins has been named one of YouTube’s top Canadian creators for 2022.

Collins, who goes by the name Kallmekris on YouTube, began posting content to social media platforms in early 2020, at the start of the pandemic.

The Abbotsford resident and former hairdresser portrays quirky characters in comedy skits for more than 7.9 million subscribers on the channel and 47 million followers on TikTok. On YouTube, her videos have been viewed more than 1.3 billion times, enough to make her the year’s No. 2 trending Canadian YouTube creator.

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We talked to Collins about channelling her creative energies, the pressure of streaming stardom, and Christmas dinner in Abbotsford.

Q: Where did your creative energy go before you started making videos?

A: Well, hairdressing was great because it was just a different kind of creativity. I could talk to a lot of people and use my comedy to entertain my clients. And then housecleaning was great because I’m just a very introverted person. So I would just put my headphones on and clean.

But it’s funny, when I was younger, in middle school and early high school, I used to make videos on my own for my family. And then I was on Vine for a little bit, too, but never with the intention of it being my job. It was just because I enjoyed making my friends and family laugh. And I always looked at entertainers or creators and thought that was a really cool job, but that I’d never be able to do it. So when I fell into it, I was like, Oh, this just makes a lot of sense for me. Because it is crazy up there in my head.

Q: Were there some growing pains?

A: Yeah. Because I had no idea what I was doing. And I’m in a little town just outside of Vancouver and nobody I know does this job full-time, so there was a lot of failing and figuring it out, like what agency to be with or whether to be with an agency or how often should I be posting and what should I be posting, all this stuff. There was a lot of trial and error. When I was first getting into it, I was still hairdressing. Probably for more than six months into it. I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger on letting go of my other job because I just always thought it was going to like just go away. And I still kind of think that.

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Q: A lot of people would be surprised to hear you call yourself an introvert.

A: Yeah, yeah, I think so. I don’t know what it’s called, an ambivert or something — like, I can talk to anybody and I don’t have a problem with that. But I have a very low social battery so I can be loud and comedic and fun for a certain amount of time and then I need to hide for a week. I get overwhelmed in those situations. I was just at the Streamy Awards in Beverly Hills and there were so many creators there who are mostly extroverts, and I felt very overwhelmed.

Q: How much pressure do you feel to keep coming up with stuff, especially on several platforms, and with more and more followers?

A: That’s probably the hardest part. I mean, it’s an amazing job. I’m very blessed to have it, but I have to wake up every day and make up what my job is going to be for that day. That’s what I kind of miss about a nine-to-five, you wake up and you go to work, you come home, you forget about it. But with this job, you wake up — if you slept — and then you have to think about what you’re making that day. I’m always kind of thinking about work and how I can apply what just happened to a video, like if I’m at a family dinner. I never go anywhere without a little notebook or without putting something in my voice notes for later. Because it is a constant worry that I’m going to run out of ideas.

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Q: So what will you bring to the Collins Christmas dinner in Abbotsford, besides your notepad?

A: I’m an avid baker. I am the baker in my family. I like to bake cookies, any kind of Christmas bark or pies or whatever. So I’ll bring all the desserts.

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