Daniella Monet, the star of Nickelodeon's 'Victorious,' has found new success with Instagram and 'eco-conscious' investments

• Actress and influencer Daniella Monet, known for her role as Trina Vega on the Nickelodeon show "Victorious," shares her daily life on YouTube and Instagram with her followers.
• "I'd say the benefit to YouTube, or any place where you can create your own content, is the control that you have," she told Business Insider.
• She is part of a trend of traditional actors becoming social-media stars.
• She has also invested in several eco-conscious companies, which she often features on her social-media accounts.
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Actress and influencer Daniella Monet took the momentum from her traditional TV role at Nickelodeon and built a business she had more control over on YouTube and Instagram.

"I'd say the benefit to YouTube, or any place where you can create your own content, is the control that you have," she told Business Insider. "That's the one thing you don't 100% have when you're in a traditional acting job."

The 30-year-old is best known for her role as Trina Vega on the Nickelodeon show "Victorious," which ended in 2013.

With 3 million followers on Instagram and 260,000 subscribers on YouTube, Monet shares her experience as an actress, influencer, and entrepreneur in the beauty, lifestyle, and wellness space on these platforms.

Monet has also invested in several "eco-conscious companies," which she promotes on her social-media accounts, like the beauty subscription box cofounded with Harry Potter actress Evanna Lynch, Kinder Beauty; Outstanding Foods "Pig Out Chips"; and the Los Angeles-based vegan restaurant, Sugar Taco.

As the lines between Hollywood and social-media stardom blur, many actors have become influencers, building their own direct connection with their audiences. That comes with its set of challenges.

From playing a part on Nickelodeon to sharing her everyday life on YouTube.

Monet has worked with Nickelodeon for over 12 years, she said. And although she has no plans to stop working in TV, she does enjoy the freedom that comes with YouTube.

"I think the real reason I got involved with YouTube was because I just wanted a place to have longer-form content that told more of a story," she said.

If you're on TV, people feel like they already know you. But Monet said fans are really more familiar with the character you've played, and not who you actually are.

Coming from a traditional acting background, Monet always had a team behind her producing the content she appeared in. That changed with YouTube. At first, she tried outsourcing the editing, but she said she preferred the way a video came out when she edited it herself.

"It was a learning curve for me to not only create the content, but to finish the content and promote the content," she said.

Monet shares life announcements in vlog-style videos on her YouTube channel, like when her boyfriend proposed (2.6 million views) and when she found out she was pregnant (2 million views).

Monet is one of a slew of traditional actors - like Will Smith, Jennette McCurdy (iCarly), and Jack Black - who have started sharing their everyday lives on YouTube.

Investing in eco-conscious and vegan companies.

Because of her acting career, Monet didn't attend traditional school. She finished her GED online and took business classes later in life at a local college. But she started investing early, she said.

"I was a young kid, making pretty decent money for my age," she said. "I wanted to learn about different ways of saving your income, so I started investing at about 16 years old."

Monet has invested in several eco-conscious companies. Outstanding Foods was her first significant investment, with lead investor and fellow actor Rob Dyrdek, as well as other influencers, actors, and athletes as investors.

Recently, Outstanding Foods "Pig Out Chips" went viral on social media and was featured in Whole Foods Market's top 10 trends for 2019.

Her beauty investment, Kinder Beauty Box, is a cruelty-free and vegan monthly subscription box. It ships with 100% recycled and eco-friendly materials - even the ink used to print the logo is soy-based, not made from petroleum. She often features it on her Instagram.

Monet has also invested in the female-owned Los Angeles vegan taco shop, Sugar Taco - which she said will plant a tree for every meal sold.

'It's a part of my daily life.'

Monet has been vegan for 17 years and said she chooses only to share and invest in companies that align with her lifestyle.

This is an especially important topic for influencers, who don't want to alienate their audience by promoting products that don't fit their personality.

"Anything that I have invested in or cofounded, I have truly tried and tested everything, it's a part of my daily life," Monet said. "People want to know that they can trust you. It's not worth it to take those easy campaigns for X amount of money if it's not something you stand by."

YouTube star Alisha Marie, who has eight million subscribers, echoed this sentiment in a recent interview with Business Insider.

"The audience knows, you can't trick them," Marie said. She also said she turns down more brand deals than she accepts.

Monet said she sees her platform both as an opportunity to promote her investments and also to spread the "eco-conscious" message she is passionate about.

"If I can influence anyone just by the way that I live my life, and be a role model, then I've done my job," she said.