Rebecca Zamolo Says Opening Up About Her Miscarriage Online Helped Younger Viewers Understand Their Own Moms' Losses (Exclusive)
The YouTuber tells PEOPLE that she's happy to have created lines of communication between kids and their moms dealing with pregnancy loss
Rebecca Zamolo is using her online influence to bridge some of the toughest gaps between parents and their kids.
While speaking to PEOPLE exclusively about her new kid-friendly products — the Detention Escape board game and Zam Glam hair bow set, both of which are available at Walmart — the social media star reflected on her wide reach with varying audiences across her social media platforms. Zamolo, 40, says her viewers on YouTube skew younger, while she feels like her Instagram and TikTok communities are closer to her age.
"I feel very lucky to still be in tune with the younger generation, especially as my daughter grows up," says the viral creator, who shares her daughter Zadie, 2, with husband Matt Slays. Zamolo continues, "I really like to be aware of their struggles, how they're thinking, why they're thinking it, how I can help, because I think that will make me a better mom as [Zadie] gets older."
Related: YouTuber Rebecca Zamolo Reveals IVF Struggle, Miscarriage in Heartbreaking Video: Felt 'All Alone'
Zamolo says she still shares the bleaker realities of her life with that younger audience on YouTube, where she originally started sharing content over a decade ago; her channel has since amassed over 17 million subscribers. In 2021, she posted a YouTube video about her miscarriage, titled "We Lost Our Baby and I Am Not Pregnant Anymore."
As emotional as she became while filming the video, Zamolo says she felt compelled to share her miscarriage story in the interest of being honest with herself and her following. Going public with her experience in front of a generally younger audience had an added, less expected benefit too: she was educating a new generation about that type of loss so many other families endure.
"When I opened up about my miscarriage, I know a lot of parents reached out and were like, 'This opened up the conversation for us with our kids because we had a miscarriage, and it helped them understand,'" she tells PEOPLE.
"It wasn't something I planned," the Game Master Network creator adds. "I honestly was just being honest with where I was, but that's a lot of the responses I got and that made me just really happy."
Related: YouTuber Rebecca Zamolo Reveals She's Pregnant After 'Long' IVF Journey: 'All Feels Worth It Now'
Other moms have come to Zamolo to share conversations with their own kids that came about because of her YouTube video.
"[Kids] being like, 'What is that?' And it's like, 'Well, mom had one. You know when mom was crying? It was because of that,'" the influencer says, recounting what parents have shared with her.
Reflecting on the communication she's inadvertently — albeit gladly — encouraged amongst families, Zamolo notes that she thinks it's "really important" to ensure that kids are able to take part in a difficult conversations about miscarriages and participate in supporting their mothers.
"I think that a lot of times we don't consider the kids' feelings. We talk about the parents on a miscarriage. We talk about how hard it is. But the kids are seeing their parents go through it and not understanding," says Zamolo.
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