When Markiplier, Michelle Phan, Philip DeFranco, and Cassey Ho uploaded their first videos, there was no such thing as the creator economy.
There were no playbooks, no billion-dollar industry built around online creators, and no guarantee that uploading videos to YouTube could become a career.
On Thursday, VidCon welcomed all four into its Hall of Fame, honoring creators whose careers helped shape YouTube and, in many ways, the internet itself.
The ceremony celebrated pioneers whose influence stretches back to YouTube's earliest years, when becoming a "creator" wasn't a profession but an experiment. Looking back, each inductee reflected more on the communities they built and the creative risks they took when no roadmap existed than on subscriber milestones or business success.
"I started in a dorm room 20 years ago, lost, looking for community, trying to figure things out," Philip DeFranco told the audience. "Everything's changed over the last 20 years, but the mission has stayed the same."
That mission, he said, remains simple: "Find your people, foster your community, try and figure out the world together, and, if you can, try and make it a little bit better, and always give more than you take in."
Michelle Phan reflected on how unlikely her own journey once seemed. What began with a single makeup tutorial in 2007 grew into one of YouTube's first beauty empires and helped redefine the relationship between creators, entrepreneurship, and the beauty industry.
"It really started with one video," Phan said. "Don't ever be afraid to put yourself out there, because you never know. One video can change your entire life."
For Cassey Ho, whose Blogilates videos introduced millions to at-home workouts before fitness creators became a category of their own, the moment was a chance to reflect on how unconventional her career once seemed.
"As an Asian American raised by immigrant parents, my only career choices were to be a doctor, a lawyer, or a failure," Ho joked. "But somehow I ended up becoming a YouTuber."
That YouTube career, she said, eventually led her back to her childhood dream of becoming a fashion designer and entrepreneur.
The night's most emotional speech came from Markiplier, who admitted he hadn't attended VidCon in years.
Standing on a stage where he once encouraged aspiring creators to chase their own ideas, he became visibly emotional, recalling the number of people backstage who told him they had started creating because of his videos.
"It means so much more because backstage, so many people said they started their careers watching my stuff," he said. "All I've ever wanted to do is just make things."
He closed with a message to the next generation of creators.
"It means a lot to still be able to make stuff and try new things," he said. "I hope that all of you recognize in this audience and anyone who's out there watching this, you've got the chance to make something, and there's still a lot of opportunity to do it. There are still a lot of new things to try. Anyone out there who wants to make something, please do."
In many ways, that sentiment captured the spirit of the evening.
None of the inductees talked about the creator economy as it exists today. Instead, they spoke about finding community, taking creative risks, and making something they believed in before there was any guarantee that doing so could become a career.
It's easy to forget now — at a convention filled with executives, AI startups, and conversations about the future of the creator economy — that when these four creators pressed upload for the first time, none of that infrastructure existed. They were simply trying to make something worth sharing.
Mashable is reporting live from VidCon 2026 in Anaheim. Follow our coverage for creator interviews, panel highlights, and the biggest moments from the convention floor.