Grace Helbig Tells Us to Grow Up

Twenty-nine year old YouTube sensation Grace Helbig (“Hey USA” on TheScene and on her own channel, “It’s Grace”) has written a book, “Grace’s Guide: The Art of Pretending to be a Grown-Up,” which came out this week. With chapters like “50 Adult Survival Tips” which includes such advice as “do your taxes,” “google that rash,” and “find a good hairstylist,” this proud New Jersey native hopes to usher her mostly teenage demographic into adulthood with this self-help book. (There’s plenty of interactive worksheets.) An admitted introvert, Helbig came of age within the rise of the internet and as the only girl in a family of four brothers, she found it to be her “personal paradise,” a place she could explore topics she was too embarrassed to bring up to her parents and interact with people she’d normally be too insecure to talk to. Yahoo Style sat down with for an exclusive interview.

Yahoo Style: Why did you write this book?
Grace Helbig: I always knew that I wanted to write a book. After I graduated from college and moved to Brooklyn, my roommate and I got obsessed with self-help books for some reason. But they were all very generic, very beige, all repackaging the same message.

YS: What is it that you hope to get across to your readers?
GH: I am getting all kinds of feedback. Some people tell me that the book is really helpful or made them smile. Someone told me that it inspired them to clean their room.

YS: The internet. How did you get to there?
GH: I went to college to be a screenwriter, but then I got into improv. I was also auditioning for TV and commercials. But then I saw the web. As a natural introvert, I was drawn to it because it was something I could do by myself at home. My roommate and I would come home after work, have a glass of wine, and make videos as a hobby.

YS: You write that you are a workaholic and you in fact wrote this book while shooting a travel series (“HeyUSA”) as well as shooting and editing your own series. What’s your best advice about time management?
GH: It’s all about balance. Surround yourself with people who inspire you.

YS: How many Red Bulls do you drink a day?
GH: Wow! I stopped drinking coffee because I know I can’t be near a restroom at all times! I am drinking lots of energy drinks. I feel like I am morphing into a Jersey Girl stereotype. I wake up and have an energy drink and watch my roots grow in.

YS: You worked at Applebee’s, Dave & Buster’s and the Olive Garden, the Trifecta of Mom and Dad food joints. Which place makes the best martini?
GH: Best martini? I have to admit, if I am road tripping, it is Applebee’s.

YS: You used your Applebee’s money to pay the $1,200 entrance fee for the Miss New Jersey pageant. For someone with self proclaimed social anxieties, why did you do that?
GH: My parents instilled in me that I could do anything. There are no viable skill sets required to enter the pageant, you just need to fill out a form and pay the entry fee. We had to do a dance with scarves, wear evening gowns, then a bathing suit, and then do an interview. The interview was based on a bunch of facts you wrote about yourself. So I talked about how we sucked at swimming. I later realized that every other contestant talked about their charity work. My father never wanted to project any female stereotypes on me - the only Barbie he finally bought me was a Native American Barbie because he thought that would be a positive image - but the family came to support me.

YS: You spent the summer shooting a travel series called “HeyUSA“ with another YouTube star Mamrie Hart. What wisdom did you draw away from that experience?
GH: Travel with good company. Mamrie (Hart) and I travel all the time together. We’ve been in very close quarters and always get along. We only fought once on the street in Austin after a bartender bought us too many shots and we were both wearing ridiculous wigs. So we were crying and yelling and the next day we were like, “We’re good, right? We’re both idiots.”