Los Angeles-based Connor Franta is a hugely popular YouTube vlogger who built a career out of his online social media presence, expanding into writing and various entrepreneurial ventures. Born in Wisconsin in 1992, Franta grew up in Minnesota where he first became interested in creating video blogs (aka vlogs) in his teens. Beginning in 2010, he began posting confessional videos on YouTube, sharing his life, interests, and friendships with fans and other vloggers. By 2012, he had gained a significant following made even larger after he joined the collaborative YouTube channel Our2ndLife along with other YouTubers Kian Lawley, Trevor Moran, Justin "JC" Caylen, Ricky Dillon, and Sam Pottorff. Franta's fame reached a peak in 2014 when he was nominated for "Web Star: Male" at the Teen Choice Awards. Despite that accolade, 2014 proved to be a difficult year for the then-22-year-old, who announced his departure from Our2ndLife and posted a video in which he publicly came out as gay. After leaving Our2ndLife, Franta continued posting videos and began expanding his influence, launching several successful charity projects including raising money for the Thirst Project, a global non-profit organization promoting safe drinking water. He also founded the Common Culture lifestyle brand, under which he debuted such products as a coffee line and an apparel collection. Also housed under the umbrella of Common Culture is his music label Heardwell, on which he has released several compilations series including 2014's Crown, Vol. 1 and 2016's Common Culture, Vol. 6. Also in 2016, Franta released his autobiographical memoir, A Work in Progress, which spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi