Gathering The Boldness to Start a YouTube ChannelYouTuber Shares Her Experiences

Intro

Determination is all you need to start any new venture including a YouTube channel. Join Dr. Gee and Lady Yasme Agyeman-Boateng in this Thriving Lesson to learn more about her journey as a mother, losing her job in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, motivation for starting her YouTube Chanel, and how she came by her mantra, "Just Click Record!"

Guest Bio

Lady Yasme Agyeman-Boateng is the creative mind behind the Taste and Bloom YouTube channel, which shares recipes for babies, toddlers, and infants. She started creating content for YouTube in July 2020. She also has a degree in economics and a minor in French.

Q: What motivated you to start creating content for YouTube?

I was working in December 2019, when my second son was born, and then COVID-19 happened. Because I was working with schools at the time, and schools were beginning to shut down, the business we were able to get dropped a lot. Eventually, around March, we lost the company and I became unemployed.

Around June, I was part of a group of young mothers. In that group, we shared a lot about the food we were making or what our kids wanted to eat. As my second son started being old enough to eat, I was encouraged to share the kind of food I was making for him with the group. So, I began looking into making videos about the kinds of food I was making for my family. I just decided to keep it going as time went on.

Q: Were you comfortable in front of a camera or online at all?

To be honest, I have always been active on social media, but I have not always been posting. In regards to the camera, I am a shy person. When it comes to recording, there is nobody else in the room, so confidence comes easily to me. When I started, even if my husband was around, I would not be able to shoot. Now, I have grown comfortable on camera.

Q: What were some of the challenges of making your early videos?

Because I am a mother of young children, I had to choose my recording times carefully. I could record voiceovers pretty easily, but my son would not let my ring light stand still. It is a process to make a video, even short ones. Most of my content is around four minutes long, but that could take two hours to record just one video. Keeping young children engaged and calm for that long is a challenge.

Another challenge for me is that I was too focused on the number of views that I was getting. The passion was there, I wanted to do it, but it was discouraging when only 20 other people would watch that video. Once more people started watching, and strangers were asking for my advice, it was surprising to me.

Q: If someone is looking at starting a YouTube channel, what advice would you give them?

Just press record! You need to start as soon as possible. The first step is always the hardest to take. Once you have your content together and know what you want to say, just press record!

Stay authentic, stay real. Sometimes we feel like we need to copy those who have similar content to what we want to create. If you are not yourself, you will not go anywhere. Be authentic to yourself and let people see who you are and what you are passionate about.

Do not worry about being ‘good enough.’ If you look back at the early videos of the most popular YouTubers, you can see that they did not know everything when they started either. It takes time to find your style and your audience. You will get better and better the more video you create.

Summary

For those who want to start creating YouTube videos, just press record! It will not be an easy journey, but it is very rewarding to create content that others can enjoy. Stay authentic to yourself and share what you are passionate about, and your YouTube channel will thrive!