YouTube Star Michelle Phan Was Once Denied A Job At A Makeup Counter - Now Her Makeup Startup Is Worth $84 Million

She's creating an empire.

Michelle, who films makeup and hair tutorials for the beginner stylist to the advanced, is taking over the world, one video view at a time.

Currently she's up to a billion views on her channel - and there's no telling when the momentum will slow down.

In an interview with Re/code at the Code/Mobile conference, Phan talked about her startup, a Birchbox-like competitor called "Glam Bags."

Recode reports "the ferocious 27-year-old mogul had a modest start with her family - living on food stamps at one point - and now has a company with an $84 million annual sales run-rate. She has 700,000 subscribers who receive her Glam Bags - little sacks of makeup samples - for $10 a month. The makeup business is famous for its high margins."

We reported on Phan earlier this month when her book - Makeup - came out, and how she got her start making YouTube videos.

Phan also told Re/code about a time when Lancome wouldn't even hire her to work the counter in a department store because she had no sales experience. Eventually, Lancome came calling after seeing Phan's videos, and made her their "digital spokesperson."

You can read more about Phan's start here, and her interview with Re/code here.