Why I Launched A YouTube Channel
I’m a YouTuber y’all! Okay, so I haven’t uploaded my first video, just YET. So I don’t know if you can claim the title YouTuber until you actually have some videos up… BUT, I created my channel. I have channel art (it’s a thing). And I have 2 subscribers! My first 2 subscribers are my sister and my hubs. Thank’s y’all – you the real MVP. 🙂
I am working on filming and editing my first video, and probably by the time I post this, you will be able to see it.
I wanted to share with you the journey to this point, and exactly WHY I decided to create this channel.
If you have been following me for any amount of time, you know that my online influencer journey is one that has been constantly evolving, changing, and GROWING. If you haven’t been following and are new here, let me share a brief history with you. (And when I say brief, I mean, as brief as I can make it. I tend to make long stories… longer. So stick with me.)
In 2016 I started selling Younique makeup. A couple of months into being apart of this company my confidence started to grow and I started sharing selfies of my makeup looks. I was terrified by the thought of recording any videos, much less doing any videos LIVE. Eventually though, I decided to give it a try. My first few videos were NOT perfect, and the day that I decided to click “Start LIVE Video” on Facebook, I’m pretty sure it was a train wreck. I have no real memory of it, so I probably blocked it out. Pretty soon though, I started to get comfortable with sharing videos. I started into a routine of going live, applying my makeup for the day, and chatting with friends & followers who were online at the time.
Fast forward to the summer of 2018. I was enjoying my job as a Younique presenter, very busy with my full time job of 4 years, running The Pink Rose Boutique, and busy raising 3 children. But, there was a part of me that missed blogging and writing. (I had a blog before this one, where I shared a lot about life as a mom, and documented stories of my children.) I knew I wanted to start writing again, and decided I wanted to start fresh. My blog was going to be a place that I could get organized with some of my tutorials, and also share more with my followers. At my core, I wanted to share Younique’s mission of uplifting, empowering, and validating as many women as I could. I launched this website and started writing.
Fast forward to early summer of 2019. (Summer is the time for growth y’all!) I had been blogging sporadically throughout the past year, but not having near enough time that I would like to devote to my writing. That year as I was blogging, I learned about influencer and affiliate marketing. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but learned that companies worked with various bloggers, and people on social media to “advertise” their products. As a trade off, whichever sales YOU brought in through your specific links or codes, would result in getting paid a commission. I thought to myself, wow, that sounds almost easy! If I can do what I am ALREADY doing, and share products that I am ALREADY using, and get paid for it? That just seems like an icing on the cake. I started researching companies that offered affiliate programs.
I applied and got accepted to some of my favorite brands. L’ange. Target. Amazon. This was so much fun for me. I was already shopping at these places, I was using the products, I could AUTHENTICALLY share with my audience more of the products & services these brands and companies had. I learned that there was a value to what I was doing. There was a value to my skills in taking pictures, posting online, writing reviews, and sharing with my audience. Suddenly, my blog was more than just a place to organize tutorials & share life stories.
Companies started reaching out to me, asking if I would {collaborate} with them. Collaborate basically meant, they would pay me, and/or or share a product with me, in exchange for content posted on my blog, or on social media.
Glamour Jewelry Box. Dutch Oven Blankets. Smile Brilliant. Bark Box.
It was fun getting to work with these companies, learn more about how they started and what made them special, and then translate that to my audience.
It was a busy summer, and while I would like to think I am wonder woman, and can handle all the things, all the time. My family and work balance was suffering. I was still busy with the boutique, usually working during the day on sewing, shirts, and embroidery, and then would work into the night on my blogging & Younique business. My passion was growing in my blogging business, and I had one foot out of the boutique. Still, I held onto it for a while. It was hard to think about setting down a business that I had worked hard to build for 6 years.
August 14, 2019, I made a tearful announcement on my Facebook page that I would be stepping away from the boutique, so that I could have more time with my family, and devote my full attention to my blog.
Once I made that decision, I felt a sense of peace, and a bit of a relief. I know the Lord had been working on my heart to set the boutique down, but it was not easy, and I was stubborn until the end. Afterwards though, I felt freedom and a new flexibility of my time. I could work virtually from anywhere, as long as I had my phone/laptop with me.
Shortly after that decision, at the end of August, I decided to join the SATX Babes Who Create chapter. Formally known as the San Antonio Blogger Babes. You can read about that decision here, but basically, I was excited to join a group that was doing what I was doing, and hoped to gain some new knowledge and grow my influencer business. I have had some seriously fun collaborations and events as a result of joining this group. I have met people, and received opportunities that I wouldn’t have received if I hadn’t jumped in.
At the end of October, for my own health and wellness, I joined the FASTer Way To Fat Loss program. I knew that I needed help with my nutrition, and all the stories and testimonials I read showed amazing results. I connected with my coach through Instagram, and started the 6 week program on October 28. When I was researching the program, I saw that there was a chance to join as an affiliate, and a chance to apply to be a coach. I thought, wow, if this program works out and is good, I could see myself sharing it with others, heck I could even be a coach!
Simmer down, Tina, let’s participate as a CLIENT first before you jump straight to COACH.
2 weeks in to my program, my coach announced that they were opening up interviews for the coaching opportunity. I can’t explain the feeling but I just knew deep down that I could see myself coaching. I knew that if I could help others learn what I was learning, and see them reach their goals, that it would be something worthwhile of my time. I overthought about it though, A LOT. What if I can’t do it? What if no one wants to sign up for my rounds? What if I’m doing too much again? I didn’t want to clear my plate, only just to fill it right back up again. I decided that I would at least just sign up for an interview slot, and see what happened. I prayed. I said “Lord, if this is your will for me to do this, and go down this journey, then please make it clear. Open or shut that door after the interview.”
I interviewed with one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met, and felt an immediate connection to her, the community that she described, and the mission this company is out to share. Here is a quote from their website.
“At the FASTer Way, we firmly believe in equipping and empowering as many people as possible to enjoy their BEST health, be their BEST selves, and truly make the world a BETTER place.” (source)
This company, and their values at their core are EXACTLY in line with the mission and goals I hold so close to me. It felt completely right. I left the virtual interview feeling a new level of nervous. I had stopped overthinking, and knew this was where I wanted to be, but now I had to wait and see. Would I be accepted?
I got the acceptance email within a few days.
I could hardly believe it. I wasn’t even finished with my own first round, and I was just accepted to become a coach. I signed the contract and started my educational journey. I completed my training, and passed the Coaches exam on Thanksgiving weekend.
I started my first official 6 week round as a coach, on December 15. During this month, I suddenly realized I had more to talk about with my audience. Still, I felt a little awkward. My first live video that I shared without putting my makeup on, felt unnatural. WHAT DO I DO WITH MY HANDS?! Ha ha. But, I was having fun with sharing new topics. Recipes. Macro tips. Cooking videos. Success stories. Grocery hauls. I started creating and sharing videos about anything and everything. I was going live on Facebook to share some of my own personal results with the FWTFL, and shared more about the program.
I was nervous how my audience would respond, it felt like a sudden NEW thing for me, but in reality was a stirring in my heart long before I got the courage to share. Becoming a coach empowered me to stand up and start speaking out. I found a voice I didn’t know I had. And a little to my surprise, my audience responded that they wanted to see MORE of this content. It made me excited. I still have a huge love for Younique, and don’t plan to quit that anytime soon. But, this new content, and subject is one that I am increasingly passionate about. I feel like I get to share a side of me that I previously haven’t shared before.
If you are close to me, you know that I will talk your ear off about gluten-free eating, have preached whole food nutrition for the past 3 years, I can tell you exactly where you can find GHEE in the grocery store, and almost always have a La Croix in my hand, as “lacking” as their flavors can be. 😀 But now, I am getting to share that side with all of YOU.
ALL of that to say, now here I stand. I have gone from a girl scared to publish a Facebook live video, to a girl who just had a chance to appear on the local NEWS station LIVE. I am not sharing this story to say “look at me” and I am not bragging in ANY way. I am sharing to encourage. I am sharing to INSPIRE. Please don’t look at my chapter 20, and compare to your chapter 1. It has been a PROCESS. A process that is not near over.
I previously shared with you that my word for the year 2020 is FLOURISH. I am fully embracing that, and adding a new chapter to my story. YouTube. Is it intimidating? Yes. Is it brand new? Yes. Will it flourish or fail? Only God knows. But I won’t know unless I try. So I am excited to start sharing on this platform, and open up more of my life to share with you. I will still be here blogging, because honestly, sometimes I can write a story better than I can tell you. But, I am excited to continue to add more VIDEO content to my brand.
The blog is here to TELL the story, and share the pictures. The VLOG will be there to let you in on the process, and SEE the story.
How many of you love to watch videos? Some of my favorite memories are captured on film. I am excited for the full picture I will be able to share. For example, I plan to share a blog post on my newly decorated front porch for spring, and what items I bought to put there. But how fun would it be to see the PROCESS? Follow along through video, go to Hobby Lobby “with” me, watch me put up the decorations, and see the process of how I get that final picture?
That is my biggest motivator for sharing these new videos. It’s my chance to be more authentic with you, and just a touch more vulnerable. (which can be scary if I am being honest!) I also love the idea that one day my kids will look back, and get to see so many memories. The voices, the sounds, the laughter… there is so much that is captured in a video that you can’t portray through picture or words.
So, if you have stuck with me this far and made it to the end of this post, you the real MVP too. I would love to have you join me in this journey, and subscribe to my new channel! Also, if you have video requests, please feel free to comment below! I am SO thankful for all of you here, and excited to continue on this path, and journey.
UPDATE! Here is the first video!
Much love. <3
