Why I started a youtube channel

Where do I start?

To be completely honest, I never thought I'd create a Youtube channel. I was the type of guy who was always in some sports practice or at home doing homework, or hanging out with my friends. Not the type who would pick up a camera and start filming, editing, directing, producing, or marketing his own videos. But life happened and here we are... I'm what you call a Youtuber.

I don't believe in having a victim mindset where you think the world is against you and that's why nothing goes your way. But for a while, it seemed like that was the case in my book.

I was a 20-year-old missionary who was living his best life in Meridian Idaho visiting families and making friends with strangers. But in 2020, Covid-19 forced me to leave the state and go back to Utah because the pandemic got really bad. And I spent my welcome home in quarantine. All of a sudden my world was turned upside down and in an instant, the thing I loved doing most, which was serving and befriending strangers, was taken away. I had to change my focus to dating and starting my life by working for my future career, and for a little bit that's exactly what I did. My plan had always been to join the Navy, specifically the Navy SEALs, and make a living by providing security to this beloved country called the United States. However, the thing I never saw coming was the fact that I would change my mind about it.

For some reason, the service I was doing as a missionary was more important to me than the service I would have been doing in the Navy. I found meeting strangers in person much greater than becoming a SEAL. And I don't know how else to describe it besides saying that there was something about developing lifelong connections that made me want to find a job that was essentially that. A missionary-like job. Maybe it was the family aspect of it because I frequently enjoyed watching random people grow close... but I don't know. The point is my career of choice suddenly disappeared and I was open to something missionary minded. Therefore my new route became going to college and getting my degree in business to then start my entrepreneurial journey from there. I wanted to get money out of the way to solely focus on people, nonetheless, I immediately dropped out of my first class 5 minutes in, due to a surge of negative emotions telling me "I'm going the wrong way." Which was spontaneous but incredibly vivid.

So there I was: pulled away from a place I loved, with a major career change at the last second, followed by my dropping out of college. You'd think my misfortune would stop there. Haha

A series of dark events happened that turned my world upside down yet again and it was too awful and personal for me to talk about on here but I basically said enough was enough. I had to do something to change my circumstance. So I quit my job, did what I could to strengthen some important relationships, and searched online for a different job I would love as much as the stuff I was doing as a missionary. And that's when I found a youtube channel called Yes Theory.

A group of friends who believe that life's greatest moments and deepest connections exist outside your comfort zone.

It was May 18th, 2022 when I saw one of their videos for the first time. And I remember the date because it was a significant moment for me. These guys were doing the exact thing I've been longing to do and they inspired me to pick up a camera despite my situation being so sucky.

I encountered many problems the moment I decided to be a Youtuber, but at the very least I found my happiness again, and the joy always trumped the struggle. I didn't know how to edit, how to record with quality audio, or capture clear footage, but I made my first three videos anyway and learned from there.

My first video was inspired because I wanted to capture one of the many horrible things that were happening at the time. To remind me of the reason why my channel exists. Which is to spread joy one video at a time by filling life's empty pages with memorable stuff.