As if her year doesn’t sound crazy enough, her workload didn’t stop at balancing YouTube and a feature-film. Shortly after Bad Night hit the screens, fans were hit with yet another awesome surprise. In August 2015, McAllister announced the imminent release of Really Professional Internet Person— a tell-all, autobiographical book that lays out her entire story from start to present. Once again, I was forced to demand we back up a step... quite simply, when and how: “I love writing and I’ve always wanted to write a book— it’s something that was on my bucket list. Scholastic helped me cross that one off by approaching me in early 2014 asking if I was interested in writing a book, and of course I said yes. Writing a book was definitely a very intimidating task, I mean it’s a BOOK, but I was surrounded by the best team of people from Scholastic who helped me every step of the way.” For a brief moment, I felt the need to ask McAllister if she was hiding something serious... because most people aren’t checking off monumental goals like writing a book and starring in a movie from their bucket list at just 19 years old. But I quickly remembered just how different McAllister is from many people her age. This is a girl who’s tirelessly found a way to combine her passions with work, maintained relevance and pushed the bar for a community time and time again. Movies and books are the rewards for McAllister’s hard work. I wanted to know how that felt: to walk into a store and see your very own book sitting on the shelf. The moment of finally holding a physical copy of a work you’ve spent so much time on and knowing that all of your followers will get to read the contents. Getting to that point, as McAllister explains, was no simple task... it was a long time coming:
“Not only was I constantly re-writing chapters of the book until I felt they were perfect, the design process was also something I was super critical about. I had a hard time putting into words exactly what I envisioned the book to look like, so when I finally got everything right and got to flip through the first copy of the book, it was an overwhelming sense of relief. Towards the end, I was kind of driving myself insane with all the little changes I kept making, so it was such a good feeling to finally have what I was working so hard on for so long in my hands.” The book’s release received countless appraise from her followers and peers alike, but the celebration of the accomplishment didn’t stop there. McAllister not only got the chance to speak at Carnegie Hall for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, but she also toured 12 cities for Really Professional Internet Person. “Both experiences were incredible. Speaking at Carnegie Hall was different than anything I’ve done before— I was speaking in front of a group of very talented students and their families, and being able to spread a message that I felt like they could all relate to was a great feeling. Touring is my favorite thing in the world— I love traveling and getting the chance to meet and hug everyone who supports me, so of course I had so much fun and I can’t wait to go on tour again soon!” Jenn’s accomplishments on YouTube alone are inspiring, but combined with her massive year starring in and producing a feature-film, writing a book and touring— it’s a whole different picture. As for the future, Jenn has no plans to let up. “Five to ten years from now, I’d love to be acting full-time and producing more content! I’m in love with the entertainment industry and want to get more involved.”
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