Behind The Scenes With YouTube Hit Series Gracie’s Corner

The year was 2020 and while the rest of the world was grappling with a global pandemic, YouTube was having quite the year. The video platform saw the biggest growth in usage out of all the social media apps during the pandemic, with its user base growing from 73% of US adults in 2019 to 81% in 2021.

YouTube was a saving grace for adults juggling the difficult act of working, homeschooling, and caring for young children stuck indoors. But something was missing for some of the parents looking to provide ‘edutainment’ to their little ones: representation of today’s world.

Inspired by their daughter Graceyn’s passion for singing, college professors Javoris and Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth created Gracie’s Corner as a response to the lack of Black representation in children’s media during the pandemic. Today, the ‘home project’ boasts over 4.7 million YouTube subscribers and an overall 5.4 million followers across all platforms.

The popular YouTube series covers everything from eating veggies to the beauty of natural Black hair through catchy songs produced by Gracie’s father and sung by Gracie herself. The musically talented family has received significant recognition, including the 2024 NAACP Award for Most Outstanding Children’s Program, and collaborations with artists such as Big Freedia, That Girl Lay Lay, and Snoop Dogg have broadened the series’ influence and appeal.

The Hollingsworth family sat down with ADWEEK to discuss its accidental viral success, navigating the landscape of video algorithms, and lessons for the next generation of creators.

Their words have been edited for length and clarity.

A different kind of pandemic baby

It’s 2020 and we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Like most, we’re having to juggle working from home as well as helping our children with school.

At the time, both Javoris and I were professors at universities. I also am a psychologist, so we had to work [during the pandemic]. And so, we had to find ways to keep our littlest kids entertained. We did that by doing what most people were doing—allowing our children to watch educational content. YouTube at that time was one of the easiest ways to do it because it would auto-feed the next video and then you could find longer videos.