Charlotte Dobre on Bypassing Industry Gatekeepers and Turning Rejection Into YouTube Stardom

We had the pleasure of talking with Charlotte Dobre. Charlotte spent much of her twenties auditioning for other people’s approval. She crossed Toronto for unpaid auditions before work, during lunch breaks, and after work, trying to fit whatever picture a casting director had in mind. Sometimes the objection seemed to be her height. Sometimes her nose. Sometimes she simply was not what the room wanted. She booked commercials and built a legitimate acting career, but the larger lesson arrived through repetition: wanting to entertain people and being given permission to entertain them were two very different things.

“My entire early career felt defined by rejection,” she says.

The irony is that rejection eventually pushed Dobre toward a form of entertainment in which the gatekeepers mattered much less. Today, she has built a sizable online audience around the qualities that conventional casting once gave her reasons to scrutinize: her face, her voice, her opinions, her willingness to be loud, funny, blunt, and occasionally ridiculous. Her channel now operates partly as an advice desk for the internet, with viewers submitting stories that Dobre reacts to with comedy and an unsentimental point of view. She describes the persona simply: an “internet bestie,” the friend who will make you laugh but will also tell you what she thinks you need to hear.

That instinct for winning people through laughter predates YouTube. As a child, Dobre volunteered to sing during vacation entertainment shows and staged little plays for her family. Comedy also served another purpose. She was bullied growing up, and she figured out early that making people laugh could turn an uncertain social situation in her favor. “If I could make people laugh, they would like me,” she recalls.

Performance became the obvious direction. She appeared in school plays, landed her first lead role in ninth grade, specialized in theater in high school, studied theater at university, and later attended the New York Film Academy. Acting came naturally enough that she remembers instructors commenting on her professionalism, her ability to take direction, and the ease with which she could enter a character. “Some people excel at math,” she says. “I excel at acting, performing, and being on camera.”

What she could not control was who would hire her.

After New York did not work out as she hoped, Dobre moved to Toronto and pursued acting while looking for employment that could accommodate auditions. A hosting job at a YouTube news channel gave her something more useful than a paycheck. She eventually became one of its creative directors, learning how stories were chosen, thumbnails were designed, and search optimization helped determine what audiences actually saw. She was studying, in practical terms, the machinery of the platform that would later give her the independence she had been unable to find elsewhere.

When the pandemic halted auditions, Dobre tried her own channel again. Earlier attempts had gone nowhere. This time, her first video drew roughly 10,000 views. She began posting three times a week, hired an editor, and within about six months was able to leave her hosting job.

Success did not remove the old question of acceptance. It simply relocated it.

The first time Dobre allowed more of her personality onto the screen, commenters asked, “Who is this cringy, loud, opinionated girl?” She adjusted technical habits, including learning to speak into the camera more like a friend than someone shouting through a lens. What she refused to adjust was the personality underneath them. “If anything, I leaned into it further,” she says.

That reaction also sharpened one of her recurring arguments about internet culture. Dobre has little patience for the idea that earnestness itself is embarrassing. Trying hard, attempting to be funny, caring openly about something, or refusing to follow the crowd can all earn the label “cringe.” To her, genuine embarrassment lies closer to fakery. The distinction matters because her career has increasingly depended on doing precisely what institutions once discouraged: putting herself forward without waiting to be selected.

That pattern has followed her beyond YouTube. During a difficult period in her dating life, Dobre wrote a comedy pilot about dating apps, partly because she wanted to create an acting role for herself. When attempts to get the project moving stalled, she funded it herself, executive produced it, wrote it, cast it, and starred in it. The pilot was later optioned, but that arrangement ended. Rather than leave the project in limbo, Dobre is preparing to release it herself.

Her assessment of the work is characteristically unvarnished. “It was a solid, like, 7.7 out of 10,” she says, before noting that she has watched plenty of television she considers much worse. She is proud of what she made. At this point, that appears to matter more than institutional validation.

There is something fitting about where this leaves her. Dobre recently leased a dedicated studio, a considerable change from the 600-square-foot condo where she filmed six years earlier. She wants to spend her days writing, making comedy, working with people she likes, and performing. The ambition itself has barely changed since childhood.

What changed was who gets to say yes.

For Dobre, the answer increasingly seems to be the person who spent years hearing no: herself.

Yitzi: Charlotte, it’s great to meet you. Before we dive in deep and talk about your amazing work, our readers would love to learn about your personal origin story. Can you share the story of your childhood, how you grew up, and particularly the seeds and genesis of all the creativity that has come since?

Charlotte: That’s a good question. I’ve always been a creative person. When we were on vacation, I was always going up on stage to sing. When you go on a cruise or stay at an all-inclusive resort, they usually have entertainment shows, and my parents would always let me volunteer to sing or make people laugh. I was also constantly putting on little plays for my family.

Early on, I learned that if I could make people laugh, they would like me. That came from both a genuine love of making people laugh and the fact that I was bullied quite a bit growing up. Making people laugh felt like a reliable way to get them on my side. That experience led to me becoming a very creative person who leans into comedy and sees the humor and irony in everyday situations.

I was always in school plays growing up. I landed my first lead role in ninth grade, specialized in theater during high school, pursued theater in university, and completed my post-graduate studies in acting.

Yitzi: Please tell us the next chapter. How did you first enter the entertainment industry, and how did you find your early opportunities?

Charlotte: After earning my theater degree, I wanted to do post-graduate work in New York, so I attended the New York Film Academy. My mind has always worked in that creative lane. In school, my teachers frequently commented on how professional I was on set, how well I listened to directors, how effectively I took direction, and how naturally I could drop into character when preparing for a scene. Some people excel at math; I excel at acting, performing, and being on camera.

After finishing at the New York Film Academy, I tried staying in New York for a bit, but that didn’t pan out. I moved to Toronto to pursue acting full-time. I was auditioning nonstop and dealing with an immense amount of rejection. I booked several commercials, but anyone who has tried acting professionally knows the industry involves a lot of scams and continuous rejection.

I needed a full-time job that allowed me to be on camera while giving me the flexibility to attend auditions. I landed a role as a news host for a YouTube channel, worked my way up, and eventually became one of the creative directors. I selected stories, created thumbnails, and managed the SEO. That role taught me what a successful YouTube channel looks like behind the scenes.

When the pandemic hit, auditions dried up completely. I had tried launching my own YouTube channel several times previously without success, but during the lockdown, I genuinely had nothing else to do. I started posting independently. My first video gained around 10,000 views, and I thought, “That’s pretty good — maybe I’ll post three times a week.” I eventually hired an editor, and over the course of six months, I was able to leave my hosting job to pursue YouTube and entertainment full-time.

Yitzi: Unbelievable. Tell our readers a bit about what your content focuses on today.

Charlotte: It has evolved quite a bit over time. Behind the scenes, I constantly have to adapt to algorithm shifts and changing audience tastes. If you want to do this professionally, adaptability is essential.

Today, the channel functions largely as an advice platform. Viewers submit stories through my subreddit, or my producer and I select stories that have universal relatability and enough intrigue that people are genuinely invested in the outcome and my take on it. I react to the stories and share my advice.

I view myself as an “internet bestie” — someone who tells you the honest truth, makes you laugh, and doesn’t sugarcoat reality. The channel is designed to feel like you’re hanging out with a close friend who is helping you navigate your problems.

Yitzi: There is a saying that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Do you have a story about a funny mistake you made when first starting out, and the lesson you took away from it?

Charlotte: I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I certainly agree that mistakes help you grow.

In terms of a specific moment, you’re putting me on the spot a bit! The first thing that comes to mind is the first time I let my full personality shine in a video. I wouldn’t call it a mistake in hindsight, but audiences didn’t warm up to me immediately. People commented things like, “Who is this cringy, loud, opinionated girl?” It was the first time I had ever received hate comments, and I was completely baffled.

Being perceived as “cringe” is a major fear for a lot of people today, especially Gen Z. But I never stopped being myself. While I refined certain technical habits — like speaking to the camera as a friend rather than shouting into the lens, which helped draw people in — I never watered down my core personality. If anything, I leaned into it further. When people label something cringe, it makes me want to embrace it even more. Audiences ultimately want to connect with creators who are genuine, interesting, and unapologetically themselves.

Yitzi: How do you define “cringe”? When I was younger, people worried about being seen as “nerdy,” but “cringe” seems to have a distinct nuance.

Charlotte: Nowadays, people often define cringe as simply trying hard or attempting to be funny.

Recently, I was at a dinner with younger family members and friends, and the Gen Z kids mentioned that their dad — who is a professional singer — was “cringe.” I asked why, because pursuing what you love and refusing to conform shouldn’t be dismissed as cringe.

To me, true cringe is a lack of authenticity or bad acting. It’s far better to put yourself out there and be genuine. I dislike the cultural idea that trying, enjoying life, or liking something unconventional makes someone cringe.

Yitzi: It sounds like being called “cringe” often just means someone isn’t afraid to be themselves.

Charlotte: Exactly. People sometimes apply that label because you aren’t following the herd. But I don’t know a single person who has achieved meaningful success by just following the crowd.

Yitzi: 100%. I had a teacher who once said that every great person was, by definition, not normal.

Charlotte: Absolutely. We look to thought leaders, not people who merely try to blend in and stay trendy.

Yitzi: There’s a related concept that “no” isn’t rejection, but redirection. Do you have a story where hearing “no” led to an even better opportunity?

Charlotte: Honestly, my entire early career felt defined by rejection. What I do today exists because I simply refused to take “no” for an answer.

I don’t want to give the impression that I had a failed acting career where I never booked work; I had a solid run and booked jobs. However, the volume of rejection you face just to land a single commercial is staggering. You go to a hundred unpaid auditions, take time off work, and travel across the city. There was a period where I attended auditions before work, during my lunch break, and after work. My twenties were truly shaped by that grind.

I constantly felt pressure to fit into whatever narrow vision a casting director held — whether they felt I was too tall, had a prominent nose, or didn’t fit a specific physical mold. All I wanted was to entertain. I had trained for it, and my mentors believed in my ability, yet I kept hitting walls.

Ultimately, it worked out because I refused to quit. Today, creators have so many avenues to share their work directly, sharpen their skills, and build an audience. If I had booked a few consistent acting jobs back then, I likely would still be chasing traditional roles rather than running my own channel. Because I wanted creative autonomy and the ability to perform every day, I built my own path.

Yitzi: Unbelievable. For the record, you don’t have a big nose.

Charlotte: I actually do! You haven’t seen the profile view. It’s there — I’m Italian, I’ve embraced it, and it’s totally fine!

Yitzi: What has been the most challenging project or role you’ve taken on so far, and why?

Charlotte: I guess I could talk a little bit about this. The most challenging project that I’ve ever taken on was a TV series and pilot that I wrote. It was something that I was not only going through because I was having a really hard time in my dating life, but I also wanted to create work for myself as an actor. And so I started writing this TV show about dating apps.

I wrote the pilot, showed it to some people, they liked it, and we were about to pitch it, and then the pandemic happened. So it’s kind of had more than one life. I kind of get a second wind with it sometimes. But yeah, essentially, it was optioned for a little bit.

Oh, sorry, I’ll backtrack a little bit. I had gone through a period of time where I was trying to pitch the initial idea to people, and again, people were rejecting the idea. They didn’t like it. This concept, I guess, didn’t resonate with them, or maybe Canadian entertainment industries just don’t fund projects often. I think that once in a while we have something like “Rivalry” or “Schitt’s Creek” that’s amazing, but the vast majority of Canadian projects never see the light of day.

The industry is very averse to new ideas and to new people. There are a lot of gatekeepers. So I had a really hard time getting the project off the ground, but I ended up deciding that I was going to fund it myself. I executive produced it myself, I wrote it myself, I cast it, I starred in it, and I ended up finishing the pilot.

It was optioned by a production company until very recently, and now it’s again just one big rejection where I wanted to be accepted by the industry. And now I genuinely feel like I’m going to release it on YouTube because I’m proud of it. It was a solid, like, 7.7 out of 10. Sometimes I watch stuff on TV and I’m like, “This is fucking horrible.” I think I did a pretty good job, and I’m really proud of it. I’m excited to put it out there.

But again, it’s just this perpetual state of, you’re just going to end up doing it on YouTube anyway. So, you know, that’s great.

Yitzi: I wish you only success with that. Even if you put it on YouTube, hopefully it will be discovered by someone who gets excited about it.

Charlotte: Even if it doesn’t lead to a network pickup, I’m genuinely proud of it. It’s funny, charming, and offers a sharp commentary on modern dating. My community heard about the project a few years ago, and I couldn’t share updates because it was optioned. Ultimately, I’m excited to finally share it, and I hope people enjoy it.

Yitzi: Aside from the pilot, what other exciting projects are you working on?

Charlotte: Right now, I’m preparing the pilot for its YouTube release and finalizing all the launch logistics. I’m looking forward to sharing the full story of the project and why I chose this release path.

I also recently leased a dedicated studio space. Six years ago, I was filming in a 600-square-foot condo; now, I have a beautiful creative space that feels genuinely inspiring. If I can spend my days writing, creating comedy, collaborating with talented peers, and earning a living doing what I love, I’ll be thrilled.

On a personal note, my husband and I are looking forward to starting a family soon.

Yitzi: That is wonderful. I wish you all the success in the world. Looking back to when you first started in entertainment, can you share five lessons you’ve learned over the years that someone starting out today could benefit from?

Charlotte:

1. Rejection is just redirection. Hearing “no” does not mean you lack talent or value.
2. Reject the victim mindset. You are not a victim; you have the agency to take control of your own destiny.
3. Commit to continuous self-improvement. As an artist and professional, strive to improve with every video, project, or quarter. Refine your craft, and people will eventually take notice.
4. Embrace the 10,000-hour principle. Focused time and practice yield mastery. The more consistently you practice your craft, the better you become.
5. Create your own opportunities. Don’t wait for permission or for someone else to open the door — make your own vision a reality.

Yitzi: Can you share some of the self-care routines you practice to help your body, mind, and heart thrive?

Charlotte: I maintain several routines because I have a lot of energy and can be naturally anxious.

I regularly lift weights and work out, and I really enjoy Pilates and Lagree. Dedicating an hour to physical movement and breathwork while keeping your phone away is a complete reset.

I also love evening baths and a structured nighttime routine to wash away the stress of the day.

Welcoming my husband’s dog into my life has also been transformative. In the past, I might stay inside my condo all day, but having a dog gets me outside into the sunlight, walking, and getting fresh air.

Finally, therapy has been foundational. I have been in therapy for years and work with a wonderful therapist. I am a strong advocate for mental health care — having professional guidance is invaluable no matter what you are navigating.

Yitzi: Charlotte, given the platform you’ve built and the work you do, you have significant influence. If you could inspire a movement or spread an idea that would bring the greatest good to the most people, what would that be?

Charlotte: I wholeheartedly believe that you are not defined by your setbacks. You can channel hardships into constructive fuel — both to prove doubters wrong and to transform struggle into creative expression.

I believe people can overcome almost any obstacle with determination. My parents are living proof of that. They immigrated to Canada with minimal English, worked tirelessly, re-earned degrees in English alongside their credentials from Italy and Romania, and built successful lives. They taught me never to succumb to self-destruction or a victim mindset when facing adversity. You can turn any obstacle into an advantage if you harness it effectively.

Yitzi: Charlotte, how can our readers continue to follow your work, watch your upcoming series, and support what you do?

Charlotte: YouTube and Instagram are the best hubs. I post on YouTube every four days, and Instagram is where I share life updates. I’d love to welcome your readers to the community and have them check out the pilot when it releases.

Yitzi: Charlotte, it has been a true pleasure speaking with you. I wish you continued success and blessings with your family, and I would love to connect again down the road.

Charlotte: Likewise, I’d love that! It was lovely meeting you, and thank you for the wonderful interview!

Yitzi: It was my absolute pleasure, Charlotte. Have an amazing day, and let’s stay in touch.