Noelani Yokota, a nursing major at El Camino College, shows how much she enjoys providing happiness and joy to people in her films by allowing them to connect with her emotionally.
Yokota started making interactive videos in high school and continued creating them in college to grow her fan base.
With her growing fanbase, Yokota’s supporters promote her so more fans can connect and interact with her.
“My first few films had millions of views and comments, which motivated me to create more, and it was at that point that I realized I enjoyed what I was doing,” Yokota said.
Yokota visits various El Camino campus locations to speak with students about different subjects. Over a year ago, she started creating films on campus, and today she has over 373,000 followers with an average of 10,000 views per video.
Depending on the interview topic, Yokota records for two to seven minutes. Her video editing process can take anywhere from five to 30 minutes.
“I don’t have a specific target audience in mind, but I have seen that the bulk of my video watchers are young adults between the ages of 18 and 21,” Yokota said. “One of my fans even contacted me to express how much of an impact my films had on them and how they had helped save their lives.”
Yokota’s video ideas include handing out flowers to men and asking mental health questions to her peers.
“The finest interaction I’ve ever had was when I offered a guy a rose on the El Camino in my film, and we ended up talking for two hours after that,” Yokota said.
Yokota was motivated to network with people through a YouTuber and TikTok influencer Hunter Prosper. Yokota has also received a message from Prosper telling her his social media feed loves to feature her, and her videos spread optimism.
Edward Phillips, a psychology major, first encountered Yokota’s videos on a TikTok list of suggested videos. He has followed her ever since. Phillips appreciates the joy and feeling her videos elicit.
“When it comes to her videos, one of my favorites is the excellent editing and how it may enhance her comedic humor,” Phillips said. “Her ability to interview a wide range of people results in all kinds of interesting and enjoyable interactions with them, which is another good aspect of her videos.”
In the future, Yokota plans to expand her following by moving to YouTube, where she will continue to broadcast motivational and humorous content, grow her audience through interviews with others, and possibly work with them depending on her connections and who contacts her.
An animal behavior and psychology major, Nick Jones, was drawn to Yokota’s videos because of her motivational material that makes him cry and laugh.
“Some of the things I like to see are her specifically. She’s got this charming outlook on everyone and her way of interviewing,” Jones said. “Another are the people she meets because of the extraordinarily different personalities that come by in each and one of her videos.”
