Justine Ezarik | The Most Successful Female Tech YouTuber in the World

Justine Ezarik, popularly known as iJustine, rose to fame in 2007 after posting a “300-page iPhone bill” video on her YouTube channel. The video was viewed more than three million times in ten days. The video focused on the detailed bill sent by AT&T, including every text message, email, and data transfer during the billing period. 

About 

Justine Ezarik gained recognition on the internet as a life caster. Besides lifecasting and reviewing tech gadgets, Justine has also appeared in TV Series like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Minds, The Vampire Diaries, and a YouTube Premium reality series, Escape the Night. She has over 7 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, and in 2019, her videos surpassed 1 Billion views. 

Early Life

On the 20th of March 1984, Justine was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Her father, Steve Ezarik, comes of Slovak descent. He worked as a coal miner in Pittsburgh. At the same time, her mother worked as a physical education teacher. Justine has two younger sisters named Breanne and Jenna. Both of her sisters are professional volleyball players. For schooling, Justine was admitted to Bentworth High School. It was a small, rural public school located in Washington County. She completed her graduation in 2002. 

For further studies, she got admission to Pittsburgh Technical Institute. Upon completing her studies, Justine started working as a graphic designer and video editor for several companies. She was focused on her path to becoming a graphic designer. However, things changed after she participated in an online video contest sponsored by Yahoo!

Beginning of Career 

In December 2006, Yahoo! organized a competition for the best online videos. Justine participated in the contest. Her video got over 140,000 hits and finished second in the competition. Following this, she starred as a photojournalist in Spike TV’s The Kill Point. Her lifecasting career began in 2007. She created her lifecasting channel and started broadcasting her daily life. It was built on a website named Justin. tv by Justin Kan. She was also volunteering as a beta tester on Justin Kan’s channel. 

Justine appeared on the internet for the first time with the help of a wireless webcam and microphone. Initially, Justine planned on creating a video series for the tech-savvy audience. In June 2007, Justine was invited to a mall by a technology advocate to film her Internet TV Show. But Justine had initially planned to cover the debut of the iPhone at Shadyside, a neighborhood in the East end of Pittsburgh. She ended up filming the show and covering the debut of the iPhone in Minnesota, Minneapolis. In July 2007, Justine hosted the series premiere party of The Kill Point on her live video stream. Following that, Justine was named one of the most popular life casters of Justin.tv by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. 

Breakthrough

August 2007 marked the release of the “300-page iPhone bill” video. Justine uploaded the video on YouTube and other video-sharing sites. The video caught the attention of mass media, and Justine became an overnight sensation. Within a few months, Justine’s video received international news coverage, and by the end of the year, the video got more than 8 million views. Through Revver, a video-sharing website, Justine earned a $5000 payout. 

The same year, Justin Kan named her “Star of the Network.” Her good looks and tech-savviness attracted millions of technophiles and casual users to her content. Following that, she got a job offer from a new media expert training company named Xtrain. 2007 brought in unprecedented success for Justine. 

2008-Present

In 2008, Justine moved to Carnegie, a borough in Pennsylvania. She wanted to resume her career in web designing and video editing. Being in front of the camera 24/7 and constantly judged by people started affecting her. She revealed how difficult it was to be a part of the industry. Her father supported her decision, whereas her friends had become intrusive towards her. She drastically reduced lifecasting productions upon reaching Carnegie. From daily content, she switched to a weekly appearance on her website. 

While Justine was still in Carnegie, Apple announced the release of the iPhone 3G in July 2008. Justine wished to upgrade her device. She went on a vacation to North Carolina and upgraded her phone. In the same year, Intel and its PR firm Ogilvy & Mather invited Justine to participate in a 10-member social media strategy advisory board. By 2010, Justine had decided to relocate to Los Angeles. 

After moving, Justine started living in an apartment. Any agency did not manage her. She was earning money by appearing at conferences and doing online promotions. It was difficult for Justine to work everything independently in a new place. Moreover, she was a self-constructed celebrity. Things never came quickly to her. In 2008, she uploaded a video about wanting to order a cheeseburger. The video was an instant hit. It received more than 600,000 views in its first week. By 2009, Justine stopped lifecasting. In the same year, her Twitter went from 386,000 followers in April to nearly 600,000 followers in two months. By the end of the year, Justine started gaining worldwide recognition. Her parody of The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” garnered more than 4 million viewers.

2010-2014

The following year, Maxim listed Justine on its Hot 100 List. In 2010, she got a nomination for the Best Vlogger at the Streamy Awards. For her collaborations with Rooster Teeth, Freddie Wong, Greg Miller, and Adam Kovic, she landed another nomination at the Streamy Awards in the Best Collaboration category in 2014. 

2017-Present

In 2017, Forbes listed Justine as one of the top 10 Top Tech/Business Influencers. The following year, she collaborated with MKBHD for a YouTube video named “Naming the new iPhone X? Ask MKBHD V30!”. Recently, she interviewed the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, at the GoogleO event. The two discussed the future of AI and Google’s plans to use AI in their upcoming products. Here’s the video:

Recent Update:

In 2022, Justine collaborated with smart luggage and travel brand Samsara. Samsara launched a new suitcase called the Tag Smart Device. The briefcase is combined with Apple’s AirTag. With the Tag Smart Device, users can get the precise location of their suitcase on their phones via Bluetooth connectivity. The AirTag is secured with an aluminum frame and TSA-approved locks. Justine unboxed the new intelligent luggage product on her YouTube channel and highlighted the bag’s key features. She also talked about the functioning and how travelers can track their luggage using the AirTag combined with the bag. 

Also read: Marques Brownlee | Biggest YouTuber in the Tech Industry