The untold truth of Brad Mondo
P. Lehman / Barcroft Media via Getty Images Brad Mondo is a social media star who grew in popularity for posting funny hair-style reaction videos on YouTube. Gradually, he started showing his hair dressing skills, and he became more famous for the original looks he created.
Mondo’s hair-dressing skills got the attention of celebrities and he worked with Shay Mitchell, Vanessa Hudgens, and Heather Marks. Brad is an expert with hair and his 4.62 million subscribers on YouTube get the best of Brad’s hair-styling tips. He dedicates his Instagram page to posting personal photos.
This piece will focus on his career, his content, and his sexual orientation.
Brad’s dad introduced him to the world of hairdressing
Noam Galai/Getty Images Brad was born on 28th October 1994 in Franklin, Massachusetts. He was raised by his mom and dad alongside his brother Eric. Brad’s dad was a hair dresser and he owned a salon in which Brad spent most of his time. Brad grew in love with the idea of making people look good while satisfying his need to stay creative.
Mondo was also interested in making YouTube videos, and he grew up idolizing content creators such as Shane Dawson and Jenna Marbles. At the age of 12, he started his YouTube career, but he wasn’t consistent enough to make it big. It took Brad a decade for him to focus on YouTube as a legitimate career. He told Tubefilter:
“I made my first YouTube video around age 12. Those videos never went anywhere and are never to be seen again. I then began to post a few things at age 16 and then a few more at age 20, and then at age 22, I took it seriously and said, ‘I’m going to make this my career,’ and I did! I started making videos because I wanted to be my own boss and be a part of this super cool online community that is YouTube.”
Brad was comfortable and happy as a hairdresser, but he wanted to be his own boss, and that is why he put extra effort on YouTube. He desired to have full control over his creativity. He continued:
“Now I call all the shots. Which can be fun, but also insanely difficult. But overall, I wouldn’t wanna be doing anything else. I love having total creative freedom over everything I do. I’m such a control freak, lol.”
He continually diversifies his content by making it more relatable to fans
YouTube Brad’s extra dedication to making it on YouTube paid off faster than he had imagined. He realized that he was making an impact on YouTube when a fan recognized him on the street. Mondo knew that his career was on the up, but he needed to diversify his content to remain relevant. He didn’t want to be famous for only making reaction videos. He told Tubefilter:
“I’m known as a hairdresser who reacts to hair fails. I love doing those videos and I think they’re super entertaining, but I’m more than that. My videos will probably always be hair-focused, but I’m working on doing bigger production videos and more intricate video concepts. The viewers want real, and notice when true effort is put into videos, so that’s what I believe appeals most.”
Mondo regularly changes his content to appeal to a wider fan base, and his channel has benefited from his efforts. Brad’s goal when he started posting on YouTube was to create a hair products company, and he has achieved that goal. He is the founder and CEO of XMONDO Hair.
He came out as gay when he was in a relationship with a girl
Brad Mondo knew that he was gay at a young age, but he strived to hide it when he was in middle school. He started to grow more comfortable with his sexual orientation when he was in high school. However, at first, he told people that he was bi-sexual because he was in a relationship with a girl. He told a small group of friends about his sexual orientation, but a boy he was interested in outed him as gay to the entire school.
The revelation crushed Brad because he wanted to come out on his own terms. He broke up with his girlfriend, but most of the people at his school accepted his sexual orientation. Brad’s family knew that he was gay, but he hadn’t come out to them officially. He eventually did it, but he didn’t understand why he had to come out to them. He stated in a video titled My coming out story:
“I was not hiding it. I really was not. I just really didn’t know like how to say I was gay without it being a big deal. I didn’t want a whole coming out thing. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me. I didn’t wanna make it one… I don’t know why this is a thing. I don’t know why we have to come out. This is so stupid.”
Brad is open about his sexual orientation, but he keeps a tight lid on details about who he is dating.
