All About Emma Chamberlain's Parents, Michael and Sophia Chamberlain

Michael and Sophia Chamberlain are supportive of their daughter’s social media career

Emma Chamberlain’s parents are a big part of her life.

The YouTuber and mogul was born on May 22, 2001, to her parents Michael and Sophia Chamberlain. Though they divorced when she was a child and had no other children together, Emma says she’s grateful for her family dynamic.

“I’m really lucky that my parents have always been not like traditional parents,” she said in a 2022 interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “They’re very sibling-like. Maybe it’s because they didn’t even consider themselves the type to be parents ever."

Emma continued, "They had me because they wanted to but were like, ‘We don’t fit the parent mold, so we’re just gonna do it our own way.’ And it’s been great.”

Michael and Sophia were supportive of Emma when she dropped out of high school to pursue her burgeoning YouTuber career and have frequently been featured in her content. She has gone on to create a coffee company Chamberlain Coffee, host her own podcast Anything Goes and model for major brands and publications.

Here’s what to know about Emma Chamberlain’s parents, Michael and Sophia Chamberlain.

They got divorced when Emma was 5 years old

It’s not known when exactly Emma’s parents were married, but they divorced when she was five years old. In her 2022 Call Her Daddy interview, the star said their split was “actually not a super bad experience.”

“It was, No. 1, what was best for them and for their happiness. No. 2, I never saw them fight, I never saw them argue,” she explained. “They divorced before it could ever become traumatizing in that way for me and that’s really mature."

Emma added, "They’re still friends, they talk all the time. I’m really lucky in that way, they get along great. And they’re so supportive of one another.”

The one downside of her parents’ divorce, she continued, was that she didn’t have a romantic relationship to look up to growing up.

“[It] does become a little bit jarring when you’re older and you’re like, ‘I’m in my first relationship, what is this supposed to look like?’ I don’t know, I’ve never seen it,” she said.

Michael is a painter and photographer

Michael works as a painter and started his own YouTube channel before Emma created hers. According to a 2019 interview with Business Insider, Michael had gotten rid of his TV and turned to YouTube for entertainment.

On YouTube and Instagram, he shares his work and creative process. He mainly produces oil paintings, usually depicting landscapes or seascapes.

Sophia is a flight coordinator

According to her LinkedIn profile, Sophia works as a flight coordinator and previously worked at Microsoft.

In a 2019 interview with Business Insider, Michael said that Sophia also helps Emma with administrative tasks.

Michael helped Emma start her YouTube channel

Using his experience with the platform, Michael helped Emma start up her YouTube channel. He was the camerman behind many of her videos and helped her take photos for Instagram.

Michael also frequently travels with his daughter. In 2021, he accompanied Emma to the Louis Vuitton Womenswear Spring/Summer 2022 show as part of Paris Fashion Week.

When Emma’s channel started growing rapidly, Michael said he gave her advice for handling the influx of attention.

"When you talk to the camera, remember that you are talking to one person," he recalled to Business Insider. "That makes it more personal and less overwhelming when it comes to the sheer volume."

He also told his daughter that “haters” were inevitable and to not pay them too much attention. "It's just part of the deal,” he said.

They struggled financially when Emma was growing up

Given her eventual success, fans might assume that Emma comes from wealth, but the Anything Goes host has opened up about her upbringing.

In her 2022 Call Her Daddy interview, Emma said that despite the wealthy reputation of her hometown San Fransisco, her family faced financial struggles.

“A lot of people assume that if you live there, you’re wealthy, but that was not the case for me and my family at all,” she explained. “My dad’s an artist, so we fell more on the lower middle class side of it, which was tough.”

Emma also said that her family shared a one-bedroom apartment while her friends at school were “living in these massive mansions.”

“There were times when we couldn’t even go to the movies, when I was a kid, because there wasn’t enough money,” she told Forbes in 2018.

She continued, “Having no money at certain points was weird. I’ve always been the one who struggled financially, so now it’s so cool that I can make my own money and do whatever I want with it.”

They each have a close relationship with Emma

Emma credits her close relationship with her parents to the fact that she’s an only child.

“I think it could have been really fun to have a sibling, but I liked the friendship I was able to develop with my parents and the closeness, and I don't think I would have had that if I had a sibling,” she said on Call Her Daddy in 2022.

In the interview, Emma described her unique relationships with each of her parents.

“My dad is very open-minded and creative, but also very wise,” she said. “[I’ll say], ‘Dad, this boy’s the love of my life’ and he’s like, ‘That’s the worst dude I’ve ever met.’ He’ll tell me what he thinks. But he also gives me the freedom to make mistakes. And he never judges me.”

Sophia, she said, is “like one of the girls.”

“She’s very lovable. I tell her everything. And I have no hesitation,” Emma shared. “She knows everything I’ve ever done in my whole life. So I’m very, very close with her.”

Emma also described their relationship as “more like sisters.”

“We used to butt heads a lot when I was growing up,” she said. “Even when we do fight like literal sisters, she’s always there.”

They supported her decision to pursue a social media career

Emma started her YouTube channel as a creative outlet during high school. She was having a tough time relating to her classmates, and her dad suggested she start a project outside of school she could get excited about. She decided to start her channel and quickly found success, garnering 8 million followers in just two years.

Her junior year, Emma dropped out of school to pursue YouTube full-time and soon moved to Los Angeles, both decisions that her parents supported.

“I just want her to be healthy and happy,” Michael told The New York Times in 2019. “Her mom and I are not dance parents. My feeling is, and I tell her this often, you can walk away from this at any time. If it’s not good for you and it’s not healthy for you, it’s not worth it."

They’ve been impacted by Emma’s fame

In the wake of their daughter’s success, Michael and Sophia have seen their own lives change drastically. In a 2019 interview with Business Insider, Michael said that there are certain public places he and Emma can no longer go because she gets swarmed with fans, but that it comes with the territory.

"What are you going to do anyway?" he said. "To be honest, most people are really respectful. Oftentimes they just want to take a picture."

Sophia said she was shocked when fans began to approach her in addition to her daughter.

“I didn’t honestly have any perspective on YouTube or the popular YouTubers until I took her to Playlist Live [in 2018] and I was like, ‘Holy crap,’ ” she said in a 2019 interview with The New York Times. “‘My life is never going to be the same. This is crazy.’ Because I didn’t know how popular she was."

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