Liza Koshy

Portrait of Liza Koshy.Refinery29, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Six seconds marked the beginning of influencer Liza Koshy’s career. A self-proclaimed “little brown girl with big dreams,” Koshy started posting short videos on the Vine social media platform in 2013. Now, she has a following of over 18 million on Instagram; has hosted many notable celebrity events such as the Met Gala and the Golden Globes; and has collaborated with Michelle Obama, Balmain, and Christian Dior.

Koshy was born and raised in Houston, Texas, with two older sisters, Olivia and Rachel. She was enrolled in a dual language immersion program where she learned how to speak fluent Spanish. In 2013, when the social media platform Vine gained traction, 17-year-old Koshy started posting short comedic videos that soon went viral. However, according to an interview on The Late Late Show with Seth Meyers, Koshy’s success did not initially receive warm greetings:

“My dad was completely confused with what I was doing online,” Koshy said. “He sat me down, looked at my phone, and made me go through and delete every single one of my followers ... he was trying to protect me." Later, when Koshy was on a college tour and other tour-goers were following her around asking to take pictures with her, her dad recognized she was "having an impact on the world.”

By the time Vine shut down in 2017, Koshy had moved to Los Angeles (with her father’s blessing), and had garnered over seven million followers. Armed with her quick wit and the character trait of perseverance, Koshy soon transitioned into the YouTube and Instagram space. She frequently collaborated with other Viners, like David Dobrik, in what was known as the “Vlog Squad.” Meanwhile, Koshy also made a leap into traditional media. She acted in roles for Boo! A Madea Halloween and the Hulu original series Freakish, as well as produced and starred in her own YouTube Premium series Liza on Demand.

Featured on the 2019 Forbes "30 Under 30" list, Time’s 2019 "25 Most Influential People on the Internet" list, and Time’s "100 Next" list, Koshy is a bona-fide success. Known for her mustache-faced male persona Jet Packinsky III and her puns, Koshy utilizes her influence over youth all over the world to champion major social justice issues. 

In March 2020, Koshy collaborated with the Girls Opportunity Alliance (GOA) and released a documentary called Creators for Change: Global Girls’ Education, which reveals the work Koshy has done with Michelle Obama, Julia Roberts, and Lana Condor. The documentary is posted on the YouTube Originals channel and features Liza Koshy, Michelle Obama, and YouTube creators Prajakta Koli and Thembe Mahlaba traveling to different places and working together to improve the lives of girls in underprivileged communities all over the world by advocating for greater educational opportunities. Koshy utilized her influence over multimedia platforms to raise awareness for GOA in Vietnam and is a hero to many for her compassion and kindness.