How Dancing With The Stars’ JoJo Siwa built her million-dollar teen empire, from YouTube videos and a Nickelodeon deal, to appearing on Keeping Up with the Kardashians

Oct 26 , 2021

How did Dancing With The Stars contestant JoJo Siwa make her millions? Photo: @itsjojosiwa/Instagram

Siwa, who recently got the first perfect score on DWTS Season 30, previously starred on Dance Moms in 2013 as its youngest contestant

The 18-year-old has scored merchandise deals with Target and JCPenney, and written bestsellers like JoJo’s Guide to the Sweet Life: #Peaceouthaterz

JoJo Siwa, or Joelle Joanie Siwa, and her Dancing With the Stars’ partner Jenna Johnson just earned the first perfect score of 40 out of 40 on season 30 of the show this week, with all four judges praising the pair for both their chemistry and technique.

JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson achieved the first perfect score on Dancing with the Stars. Photo: @dancingabc/Instagram

According to Variety, stars on the show make US$125,000 during the rehearsal period and their first two weeks on the show. The figure only goes up from there, and contestants can earn up to US$295,000 in total. And Siwa already has a US$20 million net worth.

So just how did 18-year-old mogul build her teen empire before DWTS?

Creating content on YouTube

JoJo Siwa posts regularly on her YouTube channel, which has over 12 million subscribers. Photo: @itsjojosiwa/Instagram

The little Dance Moms star launched her YouTube channel at age 12 in 2015, beginning with occasional Q&As for the show’s avid fans. She eventually started making videos of internet challenges and vlogs. Her channel has about 12.2 million subscribers as of 2021.

The Nickelodeon star earns an estimated US$12,300 a month on average on YouTube, according to Youtube.me.