Forbes 30 Under 30: Lifestyle guru Michelle Phan finds the next big thing

By the age of 28, YouTube personality and lifestyle guru Michelle Phan has garnered more than 8 million followers on the video platform. So in 2011, the forward thinker created ipsy, a beauty product subscription service that provides users with an array of different products each month. Speaking at Forbes' 30 Under 30 Summit held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Phan said she's always looking to the future.

"Eight years ago," Phan said on Oct. 5, day two of the Under 30 Summit. "I saw YouTube and I knew this was going to be the future."

For Phan, it's all about knowing what's coming next.

"Mobile is where it's at," said Phan speaking to her live interviewer, Kelly Osbourne. In 2014, 60 percent of the more than 1 million ipsy subscribers signed up for the service on their desktop. A year later, Phan said, 70 percent of users subscribed via mobile. Next up, she says, is 360-degree immersive content.

So, how did Phan achieve her digital success? During the "Sharing = Success" panel at the Under 30 Summit, Phan credited her faith, following her calling, and straying from labels.

"I live in a label-free world," Phan said, a sentiment echoed on Twitter via the #Under30Summit hashtag being used by conference attendees. Phan learned the harder way, though, how this idea could get her into trouble when, during a June 2015 interview published by Cosmopolitan magazine, Phan said she was not a feminist. She told the magazine, "When you read about the real history of where feminism comes from, it came from a very political point of view. I don't believe in bringing any politics to an idea like feminism. I love the idea that women should be celebrated, but I also believe men should be too. We need both — yin and yang."

From there, Phan received backlash of the kind only the Internet can dish out.

"I should've asked, 'How do you define feminism?' " Phan said, an insight she gained just a few months after the incident. "We have gone through four waves of feminism." Phan then took attendees on a short trip through history, recounting thousand-year-old documents found in Turkey outlining women's rights. And her views about celebrating men and women haven't changed. Still, knowing what she knows now, Phan stressed the importance of separating yourself from your brand.

"If you're a brand," she said, "you can't be yourself." So, there are things Michelle would say, that ipsy absolutely wouldn't. And in shareable success-building, that's OK. "You want to try to be as Switzerland-neutral as possible."

In her never-ending quest to find the next big thing, Phan, with her ipsy Glam Bag startup worth $84 million, realizes money isn't everything when it comes to content creation.

"Influence," she said, "is the new currency."