COVER INTERVIEW
AMAZING GRACE!
Grace Victory began her YouTube channel at the age of 21, originally under the name of The Ugly Face of Beauty. As her platform grew so did her voice, evolving from beauty focused content to exploring topics such as mental health, eating disorders and wellbeing. She has just bought her first home and chats to Lynda Clark about her career, her plans for the house and has some excellent advice for first time buyers
Photos: Mike Prior
Hair and Make-up: Alessia Grace
@Alessiagracemakeup
Grace is absolutely brimming with joy and you can see why this is her mantra – she just wants to bring joy to everyone and she really does! She grew up on a council estate in High Wycombe and said, “I didn’t know anyone who owned their own home. I have a younger sister who is five years younger than me and I had quite a difficult childhood. I really enjoyed living there as everyone was very friendly and it was a real ‘pop round and borrow some milk’ vibe.” She started working from the age of two, working on stage, films and modelling. She said, “My uncle was a dance teacher and I just loved singing and dancing and I always enjoyed being in front of the camera! When I was 18 I started teaching dance at a women’s refuge and at youth clubs which I used to go to when I was younger. I then worked in a children’s care home which I really enjoyed. In 2011 I was looking at YouTube and realised that everyone was white, thin and middle class which wasn’t me at all. So I started posting about myself and my following grew very quickly.
“By 2015 I was making more money from YouTube than I was at my day job so I decided to leave, which was really hard as I worked with children who had behavioural and emotional needs and I was like their big sister. So, I went in pursuit of a new life and decided to move to London. I had to take out a £3,000 loan so I could afford to pay the rent as I had absolutely no savings. But, I was determined to make it work.
“In 2016 I was asked to do a documentary for BBC 3 called, Clean Eating’s Dirty Secrets which had over 1.2 million views. It unpacked the realities behind the wellness trends, which is very close to my heart, and it catapulted my career. Not everything is about make-up, hair, fashion and body image and people follow these trends religiously. I am a great believer in self-love and I think people shouldn’t be a slave to how they look but consider how they feel about themselves and work on that.”
Grace met her husband, singer songwriter Lee, in 2018 and it was an instant attraction. She fell pregnant during the pandemic and had their little boy, Cyprus, during Covid. It didn’t go to plan though and after he was born Grace became very ill and fell into a coma for three months. “I barely survived but I willed myself to get better as all I wanted was to be with the family and my new baby. I then got pregnant a year later and had two children under the age of two which was very hard work.”
With a growing family, Grace and Lee decided to move to Hertfordshire when their daughter, Kamiko, was eight months old. “The landlord decided to sell the property we were renting and we decided we wanted to buy our own home and the rents had gone sky-high and you don’t get much for your money. I have moved five times in the past and I knew what I wanted. The final straw was when my son didn’t get into the primary school we wanted him to go to and we realised we had to move to get him into a good school.
I want everyone to find joy in their life and it helps if you think positively and feel good about yourself
“Lee went on Zoopla and found a house but it was way out of our budget. We just couldn’t find anything suitable and then we came across this house which was built in the 1960s and was being sold through probate. We really liked it and it was very clean but needed some work but we really wanted it and we had a vision of what it might be like eventually. We made an offer which was rejected as it was too low but we negotiated and we managed to get it. There was no chain so it went through fairly easily.”
They have started work on the house and Lee has been busy looking at YouTube videos to do the work himself. Luckily his brother, who is a plumber, has been helping him. They have plans to extend it at the back and create more space in the roof, but Grace said, “It will take time as it costs a lot but I really want to keep the 60s look. At the moment the bathroom is very typical of what was popular in the 60s – it’s pink and I want to keep the same colour scheme but make it into a girly powder room. I can see exactly what it will look like and it fits perfectly into our plans. We have painted our sitting room in a beautiful shade of yellow which is the colour of joy and it makes me feel so happy. This is going to be a long-term family home and I don’t think we will be moving for a very long time. The problem is I like things to be done yesterday and it all takes so much time and with two small children it is very hard.”
My uncle was a dance teacher and I just loved singing and dancing and I always enjoyed being in front of the camera!
Grace shares the ups and downs of her life on social media and most of her content is on fashion, beauty, and she is passionate about promoting wellbeing. “It resonates with a lot of people and I have 247,000 followers on Instagram. I want everyone to find joy in their life and it helps if you think positively and feel good about yourself. It’s very difficult for women as there is a very high standard of what is expected. It’s totally exhausting worrying about your size, what you eat, your career and juggling everything so you can be a great mum too. I really don’t care what people think of me as I stay in my lane and live my life. I want my children to see that they can do anything if they put their minds to it and I want to be a role model.”
Grace is also the author of two best-selling non-fiction books. Her first, No Filter, is a reflection on her life experiences and in 2021 she published her second book, How to Calm It: Relax Your Mind with Stormzy’s Merky Books, which offers practical tools for mindfulness and self-development. “Writing the books was an incredible experience and I will definitely do another book one day. I met Stormzy, who has suffered from depression in the past, as he was shooting a music video, Big For Your Boots, and wanted some strong women to appear in it. I got the part and we really hit it off. The book is my take on what holistic wellness looks like and it has helped a lot of people, which is great.”
Don’t be scared to start the process and speak to a financial adviser before you start. It’s better to know where you stand and if you have to save more, then at least you know what your goal is
Having just become a first time buyer, Grace has some excellent advice on buying your first home. She said, “Make sure your finances are in order and save and save some more as you will be surprised how the costs mount up. Don’t be scared to start the process and speak to a financial adviser before you start. It’s better to know where you stand and if you have to save more, then at least you know what your goal is. It’s very hard as there is so much paperwork and legal jargon to wade through but ask lots of questions and get a financial adviser as soon as you can as they will hold your hand throughout the process. Buying your first home makes you feel very grown-up but it’s wonderful that we now feel like a complete family unit in our own property.”
By her own admission Grace is a grafter and is a very talented, beautiful lady both inside and out. We end our fun day together with lots of laughter and joy and I hope we meet again soon as on my journey back to London I felt like I had spent my day with somebody very, very special and I realised that I was much happier than usual and that Grace had made that happen.
Follow Grace on Instagram and TikTok @Gracefvictory
First Time Buyer is an exciting bi-monthly glossy which takes a stylish and comprehensive look at all the options available, setting them out in an entertaining and informative way, and helping potential customers navigate their way through what is often a daunting and complex process. We dispel the myths, reinforce the facts and arm the reader with the tools necessary to make their homeownership dreams a reality.