AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 18: Anna O’Brien attends Clarins & V Magazine Golden Hour Celebration During F1 Weekend in Austin, TX at Waller Creek Boathouse on October 18, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images)
Presley Ann/Getty Images
A popular Austin-based fashion and fitness influencer is hanging up her online hat for the “quieter, more private life” she wants.
Anna O’Brien, who started the Glitter and Lazers YouTube channel and fitness page, VikingPrincessLifts, announced to her over 1 million Instagram followers that she would be “stepping away” from the account.
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“It wasn’t an easy decision, but I know it’s the right one. A lot has changed, and I’m just not the same person I was when I started this journey,” O’Brien wrote on her Glitter and Lazers Instagram account. “I’ve never really enjoyed being well-known, and that part of this career has always been hard for me.”
She said that the “discomfort” was “totally worth it,” but now that she was getting older, she realized she could not have the “quieter, more private life” she wanted if she were a creator.
“I am so thankful for the love and support you’ve shown me over the years,” O’Brien addressed her followers in the two-page goodbye post. “Honestly, saying goodbye is hardest because of that.”
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Why Anna O’Brien moved to Austin
O’Brien started her social media presence while working for a software company, according to a 2022 interview with TheNetline. She said she never thought it would evolve into something she could pursue full-time.
When she decided to leave her job and become a full-time content creator, she moved out of New York to Texas, citing the cost of living in the Lone Star State.
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“I was priced out in New York. I will be very real about that. I moved to Austin because it still has a little bit of that big city culture, great food scene, great bars, good concerts, good music, but it’s a lot cheaper…,” O’Brien told TheNetline. “It may not make sense for me forever. I might find myself back in New York. I miss it a lot.”
O’Brien’s home base is still Austin, according to her social media accounts. In her goodbye post, she noted that she was “excited for [her] next chapter away from the spotlight,” but did not indicate if she would relocate or stay in Texas.
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 23: Anna O’Brien attends Clarins and Kathleen Jennings Double Serum Light Launch Garden Party on February 23, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images for Clarins)
Rick Kern/Getty Images for Clarins
Inside Anna O’Brien’s online world
O’Brien built a following on her fashion and lifestyle YouTube channel, which she described as covering “plus size fashion, world travel and interior design with a punch of personality and a dose of humor.”
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Viewers could find themselves watching plus-size fashion hauls, home decor tips, interior decorating ideas, how-tos, DIY tips, lookbooks, vacation inspiration, outfit inspiration and a “whole lot of real talk.”
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O’Brien’s channel boasts 2.33 million subscribers, her second-most followed social media page, just behind her Glitter and Lazers TikTok page, which has 8.3 million followers.
Hundreds of thousands of followers from her other social media networks followed her over to her fitness page, VikingPrincessLifts.
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On the page, O’Brien says she is a “strongwoman in training,” writing that the gym “should be fun,” and she’s “lifting heavy with a touch of color.
O’Brien has been candid about her health struggles, both mental and physical, during her time on the internet.
She’s discussed her Lipedema diagnosis, a condition that causes symmetric enlargement of legs due to fat deposits beneath the skin, in several interviews.
O’Brien opened up about her fitness journey to Today, saying that because of her condition, she expected to “hit roadblocks along the way.”
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“I’m not looking for a miracle, and I’m not going to be sad about my life until I get thin,” O’Brien told Today. “That’s not what this is about. It has very little to do [with] weight. It’s about recognizing that I have been hurt — and that hurt has affected the choices I make in my life.”
She added in an Instagram post about her focus on wellness that she had been working on changing the purpose of food and exercise served in her life as a result of “immense guilt for things that happened to me as a child that frankly I never deserved.”
She said she previously used food to cope with the trauma she experienced as a little girl.
What’s next for Anna O’Brien?
O’Brien has not indicated what will come after her social media departure. The American-Statesman contacted her for further comment.
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However, in conversation with TheNetline, she had said her ultimate career goal was to become an inventor and an entrepreneur.
“I feel like I’m going to have a big idea sometime in the future, and I’m actually going to be — that’s going to be where I end my journey,” O’Brien said. “Being here just as an influencer is not my ultimate goal. It isn’t.”