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Before Gracie’s Corner became a staple in living rooms, classrooms and car rides, Javoris Hollingsworth was a kid in Jeffersonville, Georgia, learning rhythm in church.
He spent Sundays with his grandmother, listening, watching and eventually playing drums and keyboard.
“That’s where the music, the musicality, and all that stuff kind of comes into play,” Hollingsworth said in conversation with Newsweek.
After years of playing music in the church, Hollingsworth’s path later veered into science. A Bill Gates scholarship helped carry him through chemistry degrees, including a bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D., where he became a professor and expected to remain in academia. “I had the mindset that this was going to be what I was going to do for the rest of my life,” he said.
The pandemic changed the formula. Hollingsworth and his wife, Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth, were teaching and working from home while trying to keep their children occupied. YouTube became one of the tools in rotation during the era. Soon, the couple noticed a gap in the children’s programming that their kids were watching.
“We just didn’t see that much where our children could see themselves,” Hollingsworth said. “For me, that was a problem.”
As many children do, Graceyn Hollingsworth, their daughter, wanted to start her own YouTube unboxing channel during that time. Her parents, understanding the appeal and the risk, helped further develop that plan.
Rather than build a live-action family channel around a child’s day-to-day life, the Hollingsworths created an animated version of Gracie, allowing their daughter to sing and perform while keeping her childhood guarded.
“If she’s hidden behind this cartoon, we can take her to the mall or anywhere, and we don’t have to necessarily worry about her feeling comfortable out and just having a normal childhood experience,” he explained.
Finding the Sound
During the early days of Gracie’s Corner, Hollingsworth tried to do nearly everything himself: beats, writing, recording, production. While the musician in him was ready, the scientist in him understood limits. “I was very ambitious at the very beginning,” he said. “I thought I could sit here, make all the beats, and do all this great stuff.”
Producing songs, writing lyrics and shaping visuals demanded more than one person could sustainably handle. Hollingsworth began assembling collaborators who could help with beats and animation while he focused on songwriting and recording with Graceyn. “Knowing your blind spots and where you need help” became part of the process, he said.
The music still had to feel lived-in. Hollingsworth wanted songs parents could tolerate after repeat plays and children could absorb without losing the lesson. His method often starts with a beat. Then comes the theme, the lyrics and Graceyn’s vocals, stacked and layered until one child’s voice can sound like a chorus.
“Usually it’ll be Gracie and I’m in the recording space and I go through the different beats that we have on hand,” he said. “Oh man, this one has a good vibe that may fit with this topic.”
The result is a catalog rooted in letters, numbers, colors, phonics, history and affirmations, with production choices pulling from genres families already know. “We’re trying to tackle everything that a parent would understand that their child would enjoy, or even needs,” Hollingsworth said.
Representation as a Creative Mandate
From the beginning, Gracie’s Corner centered Black children and families. The decision was intentional, Hollingsworth said, because children’s media often gave Black characters secondary roles or limited visibility.
“We wanted to create a space where that wasn’t necessarily the case,” he said. “We do have a prominent place in the series, and that was all intentional.”
For Hollingsworth, representation extends beyond skin tone. It shows up in the family rowing together in a remix of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” in lessons about Juneteenth, in songs designed to tell children they are “smart” and “beautiful,” and in a cast meant to reflect a wide range of cultures while keeping Black children at the center of the frame.
“Everyone deserves to be seen,” he said. “With our depiction, though, we’ve been very strong and big on showing the Black family.”
Some lessons reach beyond the preschool basics. Hollingsworth, who lives in Houston, said changes in school systems have made cultural education feel especially urgent.
“There’s some elements I do feel like kids, they need to know,” he said. “Especially if you’re talking about our kids, children of color.”
Songs about Black History Month and Juneteenth approach the audience with reverence, framing the topics without being patronizing. Hollingsworth said the goal is to present difficult history in a way young children can grasp. “These are heavy topics,” he said, “but presented in a way where kids can understand it.”
From the Spare Room to the Awards Stage
Gracie’s Corner began as a family project. Hollingsworth was still working as a professor, and the channel existed around the edges of academic life. He describes the early phase almost like a hobby, a labor of love with no guarantee it would become a business.
The first major signal came when the show earned an NAACP Image Award nomination. Hollingsworth saw the family’s work listed alongside Disney, Cartoon Network and other major studios. “We’re just this little Black family that’s working from our home creating this project and putting it out in the world,” he said. “And it just resonates with people.”
The recognition shifted how he understood the creator economy. “A lot of times we always look at legacy media and just think, ‘Oh, that’s the end all,’” he said. “Things have shifted so much now to where creators are right there with them and giving them a run for their money.”
Since launching during the pandemic, Gracie’s Corner has grown into a major digital brand with millions of subscribers and billions of views. In addition to the success on YouTube, Gracie’s Corner expanded to traditional platforms as well with a Disney deal bringing the series to Disney Jr. and Disney+ while allowing the brand to remain independently owned.
Seeing the work on Disney Junior still felt unreal for the Hollingsworths. “I knew we did all the negotiation, went through the deal and whatnot,” Javoris Hollingsworth said. “But just to see that in real time was unimaginable for me.”
The Collaborations Came Through the Culture
Hollingsworth’s musical instincts have helped Gracie’s Corner reach beyond conventional children’s music. One of the clearest examples is the bounce version of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” with Big Freedia.
Hollingsworth attended graduate school at Louisiana State University and spent years around Baton Rouge and New Orleans, absorbing the region’s sound. “I gained a good sense of how the music and the style resonated with the people in that region,” he said. “It would be dope if we made a bounce version.”
The collaboration began with an Instagram message. Hollingsworth expected a long shot. Instead, Big Freedia already knew the brand. “That’s the beauty of social media these days,” he said. “You really can connect with anyone.”
The song’s success opened a wider lane for artist collaborations, including musicians who wanted to connect with children in their own families. “Nine times out of 10, it’s usually welcomed with open arms,” Hollingsworth said. “Some have children, cousins, nieces, nephews.”
The goal remains a co-viewing and co-listening experience. “We were making children’s music,” he said, “but we want to make it in a way where even the parents can enjoy it with their kids.”
Protecting Family Time
The success has brought pressure to the quiet familial structure. The brand now spans music, video, awards, merchandise, live moments and streaming opportunities. Hollingsworth said the family still tries to preserve ordinary rhythms: church on Sundays, ice cream outings, days without recording.
“Sometimes I’ll be honest with you, that part can be hard,” he said. “We still somehow manage to do it.”
Independence helps the family find time to disconnect. Because Gracie’s Corner remains a family-run brand, Hollingsworth said they can pause when needed. “We’re very blessed to kind of say, ‘Hey, let’s chill for a week and not worry about recording or anything, and just live life,’” he said.
The family has also built a team around the brand, giving them room to step back from daily operations when necessary. “We have social media managers and all these different people who help with making sure the ship stays afloat,” Hollingsworth said.
Building Gracie’s World
Hollingsworth’s long-term model is Sesame Street, a world built from multiple characters whose individual stories strengthen the whole. “You have Big Bird, you have Bert and Ernie, you have all these different characters, but collectively they make Sesame Street,” he said.
He imagines Gracie’s Corner growing in a similar direction, with spinoffs and stories built around characters audiences have only begun to know. “Creating an avenue or spinoff for all of these different characters where you’re tapping into the different cultures and doing it in a way where everyone feels seen,” he said.
The dreams are big: theme parks, films, a larger universe of songs and stories. Hollingsworth knows some goals can sound audacious. He also knows the project already moved from a spare room to spaces he once considered unreachable.
“Every single day I see little glimpses of where, man, this might very well be possible,” he said. “That’s the dream.”
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