Keeping it ‘Very Demure’
Photography: Michael Izquierdo
In 2024, Dictionary.com coined “demure” the word of the year, citing a 1200% increase in usage in digital web media alone. The website credited Chicago-based creator, Jools Lebron, for the overwhelming popularity of the word after her viral “very demure” video that year.
“It has meant the world to go viral with that video. It changed the trajectory of my life,” said Lebron.
What started as a TikTok video on “how to be demure and modest and respectful at the workplace” in August 2024, would lead Lebron to stardom. The viral video now has over 54 million views and over 24,000 comments, in counting. Celebrities including RuPaul, Khloe Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez even got in on the fun, creating their own “very cutesy” videos.
At the time that Lebron posted the original video, she was a social media creator for over 10 years and working as a cashier. Weeks after the video garnered attention, especially from brands, she shared a video update; “One day I was playing cashier and making videos on my break and now I’m flying across the country to host events, and I am going to be able to finance the rest of my transition.”
That same month, Lebron quit her job. Looking back at the biggest milestone in 2024, Lebron was proud to be “financially free.” How did she enjoy her hard-earned money? A vacation to Puerto Rico, upgraded apartment, and paying for things for her family. “I love being able to take care of those around me that have supported me through my ups and downs. My hard work for the last 10+ years of creating content paid off!”
Despite the newfound fame and business deals, Lebron hit a roadblock. “It didn't feel like anyone cared to get to know me as a person,” she said, adding at one point she even felt like a robot; “All they wanted me to say was demure this and demure that.”
This experience led to an important lesson of not listening to outside voices, something she shares as an advice for other Queer creators. “Continue to be the diva that you are…people will always be there to tell you, you can’t do something or that you don't belong, but at the end of the day you have to believe in yourself in order for things to happen.”
Now, as Lebron continues to build her empire, she said there is a project in the works that “will give people a better look into my life and who I am as a person outside of demure.”
In the meantime, she hopes to be someone other creators can look up to and knows 2025 will be “just as iconic.”
