Tara Yummy and the Ever-Changing Mindset: Spinning Her Next Chapter
Photos by Justin Ayers shot at MSA Studios, Produced by Lucy Ivey, lighting by Mike Anderson, Hair by Courtney Housner, Styled by Tabitha Sanchez, Makeup by Tara Yummy, BTS by Sammi Smith
Tara is wearing Bella Venice top; Dolce & Gabbana shorts.
When Tara Yummy appears on my screen, she isn’t framed by studio lights or a staged backdrop. She’s sitting in her kitchen with her glasses on, hair swept back, ready to spill all things Tara. There’s something grounding about it—the intimacy of a kitchen-table conversation with one of the internet’s most visible BFFs.
“I would say that what takes up most of my time is definitely practicing DJing,” she told me, weeks before her debut show. “It was like a skill I learned a couple of months ago, and it takes forever to learn. So I’ve just been practicing, like, for hours a day. Anytime my friends call me, I’m just behind my CDJs, trying to figure something out, because it’s so complicated.”
That was Tara before the set. Now—just one night later—she’s not only stepped behind the decks, but sold out her first headlining DJ show, presale and all. The transition is complete. Tara Yummy isn’t just a YouTuber anymore; she’s an artist who can move a room.
Music, for Tara, has always been about ownership of energy. “I’ve always wanted to kind of control the music in any room I’m in, which is really controlling and not cool, but I find a way to do it, and DJing is that way.” Coachella flipped the switch this year: the realization that she didn’t need to wait until later in life to chase what she wanted. “I was like, why am I thinking about starting this so late? Why would I wait until I retire? Why don’t I just start now?”
Her debut setlist, appropriately named the Tara Yummy Mindset, reflected that instinct. “When I think about the songs I’m going to play, it’s literally just songs that have been stuck in my head. I don’t care what everyone else likes—I want to play what I want.” The crowd last night didn’t just accept that—they danced right into it.
Tara is wearing, Sculptor Worldwide top worn as dress; Dolce & Gabbana shoes.
Six years into YouTube, Tara thinks of her career as unfolding like a serialized show. “Every chapter is exciting in its own way. It feels like seasons of a show—each one has its ups and downs, but they’re all special.” Her longtime audience knows her not as a polished host, but as a friend. “I’m just kind of like, we’re just going to talk in the car. We’re not going to do an interview. None of them are pressing. We’re just yapping.”
That ethos carried into her set: less about precision, more about presence. Watching her behind the booth was like watching her on YouTube—loose, playful, unafraid to show the seams.
The shift into DJing makes perfect sense for someone known for curating the most sought-after parties in Los Angeles. “The people that stand out are the people that I went to high school with. They’re such a big key point in creating a fun environment. They know how to have a good time, know how to put their phones down.”
Tara is wearing Bella Venice top; Dolce & Gabbana shorts.
The Tara Yummy party aesthetic translates seamlessly to the club: “Sweaty. Fun. Sexy,” as she puts it. Last night proved it—her friends in the crowd, the room thick with heat and movement, Tara at the center pulling the strings.
Her endurance online has always come from discernment. “I only say yes to things I know feel like me. If something comes along and it doesn’t feel like my style, I don’t really look at the money. I just think, okay, that doesn’t really feel like me.” That instinct has carried her through partnerships with Urban Decay, Marc Jacobs, Juicy Couture—and it carried her through her first headlining night. Nothing felt forced. Nothing felt brand-driven. It was just Tara.
For someone whose life has been broadcast online, her biggest risks remain personal. “I’ve been traveling a lot more, like I went to Italy, and I’m not the biggest traveler. But it paid off—I got a really fun video out of it.” She insists her friends are her greatest creative influence. “If I’m not feeling inspired, I’ll see they’re uploading, and I’m like, okay, I need to keep going.”
Tara is wearing Jacquemus top; Sculptor Worldwide shorts; Vintage boots.
The same friends packed into the venue last night, reminding her—as they always do—that community is the engine.
Tara still keeps a handwritten card that reads 30k tacked on her mirror, a nod to the time she thought 30,000 followers would be her ceiling. “If I had made 30,000 people smile in a day, even that’s enough,” she told me.
Legacy feels like a heavy word for someone whose career is still very much in motion, but Tara answers quickly. “I hope that they remember how fun everything is. I want people to remember me as someone super duper fun and try not to think about the bad things in life.”
The Tara Yummy mindset—restless, confident, and unapologetic—came alive in the sweaty, euphoric chaos of her debut. “If I had to say one thing about it,” she told me, “it’s not giving a f— about what people think. It’s confidence, and it’s not really caring.”
Last night, she proved it. Glasses off, headphones on, crowd in the palm of her hand—Tara Yummy became exactly what she always wanted to be: a reminder that fun can be a legacy all on its own.
