FOLIO
Though she’s a local, born and raised in St. Augustine, and a Duval resident for three years, Ellie Kitten’s real name is a trade secret. Given the nature of her work, the tendency to kayfabe is more than reasonable. After all, despite the rapid normalization of hostilities between opposing sides in regard to medical marijuana, one’s support for the cause is not necessarily dinner-table conversation. While only a few of her friends and family are aware of her current side-hustle, those who are have been very supportive, which makes sense, because she’s the kind of person one is inclined to support under any condition. Hell, she could be running her own cartel, and it would still be ADORABLE.
The reality of her new career is far more anodyne, though, in both senses of the word. Having acquired her own medical marijuana card earlier this year, she was struck by the persistent stigma that affixes to the product, and she sought to counter it the best way she could: by starting a YouTube channel that breaks down not only product lines, but the lines of perception, which may be the most important part of all. Using her trusty Nikon D5500 and iMovie, she has produced 31 videos since April, ranging from three to 11 minutes each. She demonstrates products, evaluates businesses and answers questions about the law and the psychology of medical marijuana in Florida, such as it is. In the process, she’s built up a small but devoted fanbase, people who are surprisingly not crazy,
at least by YouTube standards.
The channel has exactly 640 subscribers at press-time, with more than 37,000 page views to date. (By comparison, I have 34. A pitiful comparison if there ever was one. But it’s never too late. Watch me at YouTube.com/user/SheltonHull!)
Most of Ellie Kitten’s videos get between 500 and 1,000 views, and the vlogger, who also goes by the shorter form Ellie K., has broken that threshold 16 times so far. (Surely all my little Hullamaniacs will help spike those numbers for her, right?) Her most popular video was her first, which has more than 4,000 views. She promotes the channel mainly through social media: @HelloEllieK on Instagram and the Twitter machine, though she’s only tweeted twice as of press time.
A key metric is fast approaching; once she reaches 1,000 subscribers, YouTube will allow her to monetize her videos, which have been strictly a labor of love so far. Given the ongoing controversy involving the site, which has kicked several prominent users to the curb for a variety of reasons, it will be interesting to see how the increased attention will resonate at HQ. She’s done no sponsorships yet, but she’s starting to turn heads at the dispensaries. She probably did anyway, but the internet always helps.
Check her out at YouTube.com/EllieKitten.
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