The Couple's Table
The Couple’s Table is a weekly livestream podcast hosted by Heather Ramirez and Tom Buck. Join us, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall podcast and stuff!
The Couple's Table
From Creator of the Year to New Adventures: Celebrating Success, Community, and the Digital Journey
What happens when an unexpected accolade throws a curveball into an already celebratory week? Join us as we recount the whirlwind of emotions that surged when Tom was named Creator of the Year, a surprise that unfolded amid birthday celebrations and family calls. It's a week marked by gratitude, laughter, and reflection as we relish the community's overwhelming support. Discover how these moments of joy connect us back to the humble beginnings of our YouTube journey, driven by the encouragement of friends and the inspiration of creators like Casey Neistat.
Into the world of content creation we go, celebrating creativity and dedication across diverse platforms. From the thrill of organizing a Discord watch party, reminiscent of movie nights with friends, to recognizing the innovative spirit of fellow creators, this episode shines a light on the magic of shared experiences. We delve into the broader landscape of digital careers, discussing the triumphs and trials faced by those who have ventured from traditional professions to explore new horizons online. It's a tribute to the creators, old and young, who continually redefine the possibilities of their craft.
As we wrap up, we'll touch on the unique challenges of navigating healthcare in the US, a topic with its own set of complexities and communal experiences. We'll reflect on the evolving perceptions of age and creativity, celebrating stories of those who embrace new passions regardless of life's stage. It's a candid conversation about the intersections of teaching, gaming, content creation, and the quirks of pursuing non-traditional careers. With each shared story, we acknowledge how our community and these creative journeys bring us together, reinforcing the power of connection in a digital age.
🟣 CONNECT WITH HEATHER —
My Vlog Channel: http://www.youtube.com/heatherjustcreate
My Tutorial Channel: http://www.youtube.com/heatherramirez
My Gaming Channel: http://www.youtube.com/heatherjustplay
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/heatherjustcreate
Website: http://www.heatherjustcreate.com
🟣 CONNECT WITH TOM —
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/tombuck
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sodarntom
Hello and welcome. My name is Tom.
Speaker 2:And I'm Heather.
Speaker 1:And you're sitting at the couple's table.
Speaker 2:The couple's table is a live stream podcast on this channel. Join us for better or worse.
Speaker 1:For richer or poorer.
Speaker 2:In sickness and in health.
Speaker 1:Even if we don't always remember the intro perfectly, it's okay.
Speaker 2:We totally remember the intro perfectly.
Speaker 1:Actually I would say I would actually argue maybe you improved it.
Speaker 2:See Sorry, hey everybody.
Speaker 1:You know what Heather's favorite letter of the alphabet is.
Speaker 2:C. Yeah, when you won creator of the year, I was like C.
Speaker 1:Yes. Anyway, oh, thank you, I know it's so exciting.
Speaker 2:Congratulations, if you haven't heard.
Speaker 1:What a week.
Speaker 2:I know man.
Speaker 1:What a week, let me just man.
Speaker 2:What a week, let me just say All right, let's check in with the comments really quick. Mr Camera Junkie in the house. What's up? Christian is here. Hello. Bon is here. Hey everyone. Marcus is here. Congratulations Gil. Hello everyone. Happy Friday, cirilla, woo, woo, congrats. Hello, woo, woo Congrats. Tom Caden is here. Morning. Everyone from Australia Just listening today About to fly down to pick up a new car and drive it the 650 kilometers back home, not even leaving the state.
Speaker 1:What kind of car if you don't mind sharing? Also, christian, I just finished working on a video where I added your name to the member thing at the end.
Speaker 2:Oh cool, I saw Tom working on fixing the or updating the. Yeah, yeah, I updated it.
Speaker 1:So last thing I do anytime I work on a video, I do the members list very, very last, so that way it's as up to date as possible when that video is finished.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what's?
Speaker 1:up.
Speaker 2:Well, you want to talk about it. Why did my chair just lay down? You just sink. New lows over here. Oh my god, I don't know. It's been a week, it's all over the place.
Speaker 1:Let me adjust. There we go.
Speaker 2:Call me Cubby. Congrats to Tom. Tom is on fire, says Bon Ouch. Well, let's talk about the journey.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:The journey of the past seven years. Huh, oh my God, that journey. Sure, the journey of the past seven years? Huh, oh my god, that's quite a journey. Yeah, yeah I, I do have to say when tom won we were just in tears like we, some guy it was like on your, on your video yeah. He commented like oh, I could tell tom was about to cry. No, tom was crying, yeah that was edited full, full Full.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just hit. I was like yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, that one, that was crazy.
Speaker 1:That was crazy, that was pretty nuts yeah. Yeah, and Heather was really like, because we were. I didn't want to jinx it, man, it was kind of wild because they sent out an email like 20 minutes for the stream. That was the first time we saw it, it was 30 30 sorry well, actually I think it was like we didn't technically 40, but you were on the phone with your mom I was on the phone with my mom and she was asked like hey, did anything ever happen with that creator of the year award thing?
Speaker 2:I was like no, I haven't heard anything I can hear them talking and as soon as you guys were talking, boom, I get an email. And then I'm just like what is the time conversion? Because we always mess this up with roads, since we're in Australia.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's literally on my phone on the lock screen. I have like different countries times and one of them is Australia, so I know.
Speaker 2:The only way I knew was that I actually I clicked the link.
Speaker 1:And it took me to the YouTube premiere and it said like 30 minutes or something.
Speaker 2:Yes, it said premieres in like 30 minutes and I was like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, do you want to tell your mom, because you're on the phone with her, and I debated whether to jump into the conversation.
Speaker 1:I don't even know what's happening. I don't want to jinx anything I know. And then we're going and heather's like you know, the category comes up.
Speaker 2:She's like I'm just gonna just be filming here, you know, especially if, like you tell your mom it's like you don't win. You know, I don't want to, yeah, so I didn't want.
Speaker 1:Well, that's why, when you said you're gonna film, I was like we don't need to film me losing I know I know, but I was like you know what I'd rather.
Speaker 2:I feel like I would regret it if I didn't, and you would. We could reenact, reenact.
Speaker 1:Wow, crazy, oh my gosh, amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah so.
Speaker 1:That was pretty funny.
Speaker 2:Okay, oh, a Tesla.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow. I'm curious to see how you like it on the long drive.
Speaker 2:Gil says you're okay, your birthday week, that's drive. Gail says you're okay, your birthday week, that's incredible. On the actual day it was because I know what the heck?
Speaker 1:because road was doing it on the fifth but mine is the fourth and it just because bailey.
Speaker 2:So what's up? Not much audio.
Speaker 1:Hotline speaking of birthdays on our hotline, gave a very generous handles gift card for the sweet birthday present that I get to partake in. I said it might get us through the weekend.
Speaker 2:Jake is here. Congrats, tom Edward. Congrats Also our birthdays are the same.
Speaker 1:Oh nice how cool PBW Media.
Speaker 2:Congrats Tom, very well-deserved and overdue. I was watching the premiere on the way to work that day. Glad it coincided with Australian times. Yeah, they definitely set it up Sean says hi, hello, sean, matt is here, congrats Tom. Hello from Music City, usa. Well, let's, I don't know, let's talk about it. Do you want to start like 1985. Do you want to start like present, or you want to start 1985 and go forward?
Speaker 1:well, something that was really cool. So this all happened. And it's one of those things where it's like, oh my god, this is happening and then instantly I just started getting text messages and comments and emails and also, which is like so nice, um. But then it's like, okay, I like how, how do I when, how, what do I say thank you. I have to do something. Like, okay, let's just for the most part, wait, like let's just finish the day and we had some really fun, like I know you were so good he wanted to stay present, which was like so good right because, yeah, those kinds of things don't happen every day, so let's like enjoy it.
Speaker 2:So the funny thing is that, uh, after, like right after, we had an event in my discord server yeah uh, where we were doing a watch party, watching a documentary about the launch failure and then relaunch of the game we play, final fantasy 14. So I I we had like I don't know 12 people rsvp'd, which is a lot. There's a lot of people. Yes, I had made this whole thing about how it's your birthday and I just asked. I asked you is like I know this is how we wanted to spend your birthday, but now that there's this thing, like we could totally cancel, we don't have to do this. And you were like no, that's, that's what I want to be doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm not like I'm really not a big, like we have the party like last last year on my birthday, you like put together like basically a surprise party and stuff, and it was like a multi-day event. It was a whole thing which was I've never of that before and that was like that was really fun and really special and I loved it. Um, but definitely we were gonna chill, not something that needs to be done every year and typically that's kind of a thing like I want to eat a food that I like.
Speaker 1:He's not a birthday yeah, and I like I like to spend those days reflecting more on anything like you kind of think he wants.
Speaker 2:In and out is what he wants yeah, or well, we got.
Speaker 1:There's a really good like crepe restaurant that opened up near us.
Speaker 2:That's what we got, yeah, it was good, that's it.
Speaker 1:Um, and so it's like, oh, let's just stay home. And we had the plan to do the discord thing, which I was excited about, because what you can do in discord is there's like a youtube plug-in thing. I'm acting like I know what discord does.
Speaker 1:I don't know anything about discord, but there's like a youtube plug-in thing and so it can end up being where everyone's like in the room, either you know in the chat video or just voice or whatever, and you're all. You can all watch the thing synced up. But what I think is really cool about it is it plays it locally on everybody's devices. So that way it's like I'm sure it's been a while since, like I taught online with Zoom or whatever, so maybe it's improved, but it's better than like screen share quality used to be, because you're not sharing the screen.
Speaker 1:Everyone's watching this thing, so it's really cool. So it really is like watching a movie with friends. Yeah, and that was, I was so fun really looking forward to that, and so you're like, oh, we don't have to do that. Like no, that's like what I'm looking forward to, and it's like it's very, very cool and all the other cool stuff will also still be there.
Speaker 2:So, like, let's focus on that yeah, I know, I know it's so much fun it was it's a lot of fun, all right, uh, julie, huge congrats thanks julie, I can't talk anymore. You truly deserve it. Matt, not a big birthday guy either. They were great when you were young. Now I just I just shook. I'm just I'm shocked I'm still here, uh, christian super chat. Tom, your content is a great inspiration for me. I found your videos during the pandemic and it really helped me for my job as a teacher.
Speaker 1:How wonderful, really, really, really glad to hear that Thank you so much, King Paco.
Speaker 2:I'm happy for you, Tom.
Speaker 1:Thanks, king, I'm scared tech.
Speaker 2:Hey, good to see you. Good to see you Well. So yeah go ahead.
Speaker 1:Well, I was gonna say so, I didn't know. So anyway, the day ended Very high, highs. Woke up Yesterday and was like, okay, also, then I had a cold. I was like getting sick. So I was like, oh shoot, I know man.
Speaker 2:On top of this, you went to bed, so I'm not feeling 100% right now. My throat Is scratching.
Speaker 1:I was like getting sick, so I was like oh, shoot, on top of this, you went to bed, so I'm not feeling 100 right now, but it's scratching.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh no yeah, um, I always get sick around this time of year, though. Uh, it just is a thing that happens, and even if you go through like birthday photos from like my childhood, like most of them, I'm like a toddler that just looks like, uh, it's just, it's what happened. Um, but I was like, oh, I, I can type stuff out, I can send emails. I was like I'd really like to make a video, uh, which is interesting, because thursday is my video day, so video already came out.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh, that would mean I'd like publish two videos on the same day, oh man always nervous to do something like that, but I thought this was really important, so I recorded a video which is really cool, it's fun to do, like it's one shot, unedited, no cuts, um, which I really like. You know doing that kind of thing sometime not unlike this stream right now and that was just a cool way to kind of like share my, share, my thoughts. That I thought would be better than like writing something, but was cool during that as I realized I love these kinds of things. We were watching the thing at the kitchen table and that kitchen table is literally where I sat when I started my youtube channel and if you could be like he loves the like literally by myself, in like a dead silent house, create account, okay, do the thing here, and then smash cut to.
Speaker 1:I don't know, seven and a half years later, I guess, and you're at that same table with your wife. And I'm screaming my head off Screaming because you're winning this award, like that is pretty cool, that is a very cool thing.
Speaker 2:I've always loved that about you how appreciative and grateful you are. That's so cool.
Speaker 1:I mean, wouldn't it be cool to go back and Tell the past self like yeah. Definitely worth doing this buddy, like you should.
Speaker 2:I mean for the record I did.
Speaker 1:You did yes.
Speaker 2:I always I freaking knew Not that you were going to win this award In 2024 or whatever. But first time I met Tom I was like where, obviously he wouldn't be who he is if he weren't as humble. But I was just like dude, you're the coolest person I know I've ever met. Well, that's what I said about, and he was like I don't know if I should start a YouTube channel.
Speaker 1:I had made like five videos Okay, and I was like I had made like five videos Okay, and you were like where's your YouTube channel? I was like I have a couple videos. I had my drone license video. I had two little drone montages that were like a minute long of just like scenery. I think. I had like one or two videos about 3D printing and that was my whole channel. 43 views or something.
Speaker 2:Oh man, let's see. Uh bond says the watch party was a very fun and enjoyable experience.
Speaker 1:That was awesome, and we still have two parts to finish too yeah, so if you like to join us, uh, you totally should.
Speaker 2:I don't have a link, though it's on my gaming channel, but the disc. Our disc server is super fun.
Speaker 1:If you're not interested in learning about the history of Final Fantasy XIV, maybe not the ideal thing.
Speaker 2:The reappel room. Hey, hey. Big congrats, tom. Let's see, obscure Tech is cute, matt. Tom, I don't know if you know, but Aaron Parecki encourages his viewers on his live stream to vote for you.
Speaker 1:That must have been the difference maker, because the Parecks the road to health.
Speaker 2:Congrats, tom. I watched the video you posted and feel it was even more special that it happened on your birthday. Happy, belated birthday.
Speaker 1:Thank you, that was a very nice little quantum surprise.
Speaker 2:Right Audio hotline. I feel you. I'm not big on birthdays, but that was an awesome birthday for you yeah, and the cool that's.
Speaker 1:The cool thing is like we have no plans, nothing. And then it's like you know, and that that's a thing like you and I I remember very, very early on, like you were still living in long beach at the time and I was visiting you. This must have been, I don't know, two weeks after we like actually started dating or something like really early on. Um, we're out there. You wanted to like show you live really close to the beach and you're like, oh, there's a cool place.
Speaker 1:We go sunset here, sunset here, and we're trying to like, oh, we gotta go find like the perfect sunset place to watch the beach and, and you know, we're also, as you know, the la area, so there's traffic and we're literally racing against like the setting sun, and it was like not working out, we're just really trying to force it, and it was like let's just park at your apartment and walk to the beach and walk to the beach that just happens to be the closest one and whatever.
Speaker 1:And it was like we got there at like the most perfect sunset time in the most perfect spot. It was wonderful and it was just like you know, when you're not trying to force all this stuff to happen, then you leave the opportunity for good things. That just happen. Yeah and yeah, and I just have to be open to that and I feel like you know, that's kind of the thing. It's like no, it's a birthday, I got to do this, this, this, we need this event, that event. It's like those weddings where everything's timed down to the second and the couple doesn't get to enjoy the day, Like I don't know. I like the idea of like, yeah, just be open to whatever. This doesn't have to only happen on special occasion days, it could happen on literally any day, but just be open to whatever could happen.
Speaker 2:Let's see. Gil says damn, that hit me. Audio hotline Gil fire Bailey. We had a whole conversation about it over on Aaron's Discord after winning that's cool. Aw, that's so nice, JFK. Hey everyone, Jeremy, look at Tom putting the moves on how to level you.
Speaker 1:That's me All planned. That's me all planned.
Speaker 2:I'm I'm like laughing and rolling my eyes because it was totally the other way around and tom was just like no tom wasn't.
Speaker 1:No, tom was oblivious. There's a huge difference between no and no awareness dude.
Speaker 2:I mean, I've told it, I've told this story a thousand times on the couple's table. But the movie theater is just the perfect example of like tom and I went to go see a movie and it was. You know, it was too. You know how the movie theaters are right now. They're super cushy seats, but they're always in pairs, right, and I was so excited because the armrests were up when you go in, the armrests are always up and I was like, okay, we get to sit together.
Speaker 1:And he was like, as I'm walking back from the bathroom, we're gonna hear side one and then we're gonna flip it over and listen to side two he looks at me in the eye as I'm about to sit down and he just goes okay and that echoed throughout the entire theater so let me tell you my side of the story and I was like, well, I guess he's not into me let me tell you my side of the story for the record, which was we went in, the things were up.
Speaker 1:I had the thought of like oh, the things up. But then I was immediately like, oh my god, that's like so forward, that's blah, blah, and you're like I need to go to the bathroom. So I sat down and the whole time, literally the whole time she was gone. I was sitting there going do I leave the thing up or do I put it down, and I was going like she would remember it was up. So if I put it down she's going to feel bad because I put it down, but if I put it up then it's too much pressure.
Speaker 2:I was like I don't know what to do.
Speaker 1:And I was panicking the whole time, to the point that when she came back that was when I was still making my decision I was the thing is so big and heavy on the cushy seats that, yeah it goes, it bounced. But it wasn't me slamming it, it's just a big heavy thing and it just happened to be because I spent the whole four minutes or whatever, panicking and then I was in action for so long that that just happened at that moment.
Speaker 2:It wasn't staring you in the eye, Gadusha, I was kind of like ah yeah, you definitely looked like you got caught and then you slammed it down and I was like I don't know what happened here, but the final result is that you put a divider between us, so I'm gonna go ahead and take that as in my, of course.
Speaker 1:My impulse is like well, she could lift it up if she lift it up after you slammed it down.
Speaker 2:Hello, talk about forward you know what?
Speaker 1:It would be a clear signal.
Speaker 2:And see, and that's why in the video where I confessed I had to write your name, I'm not talking about any guy, I'm talking about you, tom. Yeah, when Heather did her cards to confess everything I had to say, Tom specifically.
Speaker 1:Otherwise I wouldn't have believed it was actually for me.
Speaker 2:Hassan. Congrats Tom, happy birthday.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Photo coffee hey, son congrats, tom happy birthday.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Photo coffee hey y'all. Congrats, tom, I'm dying. Us men are clueless. That was one of like 15 incidents like that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it was just a mess a cavalcade of errors I kept waiting for you to do a live stream after winning. You should totally do a live stream. Why don't you do a live stream, well?
Speaker 1:I haven't had time to do live streams. I haven't done a live stream in like a month I've been a little bit busy. Also sick yeah.
Speaker 2:You should totally do a live stream next week. That'd be cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would love to, and actually now, since I finished a video early, still managed to finish a video being sick. It opens up a little freedom. I don't know what's happening next week, but maybe it could happen. I have another video that I need to do, too, that I'm excited about, but it's a little uh one that's gonna take a little longer, so well, just to be totally honest, like I did, I don't.
Speaker 2:I knew you deserved it, like obviously, no question clearly, obviously we've been in a situation where it was like come on right and he did not win. I don't know if you want to like talk about that.
Speaker 1:This is in a previous career.
Speaker 2:This is not in content creation yeah, um, and so I was like you know what? There were 11,000 entries.
Speaker 1:I did not know that 11,000.
Speaker 2:Like that is a lot, and then just to be selected as one of the five is a huge deal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it's like oh, here's the five finalists and like, well, were there like six entrants per category?
Speaker 2:No, there weren't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, literally thousands and hundreds of thousands of votes. Yeah, almost 250. Yeah, so you know I not for me, but total, total total for the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Um, so I was like, okay, it's still a big deal to me, and you know the panel of judges, I think. Actually I don't want to misquote, but I thought that they were like experts from all the different sponsors.
Speaker 1:It wasn't just road employees which is an important thing to note, yeah yeah, yeah, and, ironically, like it is a thing of I think everybody who entered needed to use road stuff at to some degree in their workflow, um, but it wasn't like. Like, even in the things that they showed and the people who won different categories, there's people using sm7b, there's people using, like lots of non-road stuff yeah in their work, and so it wasn't like it wasn't just like big censored bars over, like the Elgato boom arm or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then plus, like a lot of the sponsors, are a lot of other companies like Nanlight and whatever that-.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Atomos and Artlist and all kinds of cool stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it's like yeah, it's Road to like Creator of the year, but which is?
Speaker 1:cool, because that to me, like I just think that's really cool you know, because it's.
Speaker 1:I guess anyone in any company could start some kind of thing and it's like does it have weight or does it matter or does it not? But I feel like there's a lot of resources and a lot of people involved. I have an eyelash in my eye that made this feel like what you kept saying was like it's, it's regardless of winning, because this was even before, like when they announced it months ago, was like this is a really cool thing.
Speaker 2:That feels like legitimizing, for I mean, you guys know, if you've been watching us for a while, uh, this has been. My whole thing is like it's cool that the different platforms recognize their creators, but at the same time, there's a little part of me that's like, well, you know, of course, of course you're going to incentivize the people who bring in a lot of money for your platform, you know, and it's hard because it's like, well, is that the only, is that the only way that we can celebrate creativity and dedication and, and you know, just, content creation is so hard and it's it. It's just because you don't have a million does not mean that your impact is not, as you know, I don't know impactful or that you know, I just feel like there's such an association with, like, success and really big numbers.
Speaker 1:I feel I might be misquoting that, but wrote on their page or whatever said that one in four.
Speaker 2:Had less than 10,000.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one in four finalists, I think, had less than 10,000.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Which 10,000 is a really big number.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I mean like considering you get the gold play button at a freaking million, you know yeah, like, and people have hundreds of million yeah, exactly so. Anyway, I I am just you know whether you were in it or not, I just I'm so happy that something like this exists where it is.
Speaker 2:It's not based on how viral you've gone, but it's based on visual quality, audio, like things that are in your control originality right you know, and just seeing, like because we watched the whole thing, um of all the other different winners and just like I mean I was super inspired with like dang, that's so cool, like it made me want to try different ways to.
Speaker 1:You know, record vlogs and stuff it's humbling, it's like these people are really good yeah especially in different niches, where it's like, oh, you're making a I don't know whatever a cooking video or a something else video, but it like looks and sounds pretty amazing and is it is like I gotta like step it up but it was.
Speaker 2:it's cool to, it's cool to be, it's cool that that exists, it's way cool that you were, that you're a you know, not only a finalist, but a winner in that kind of recognition.
Speaker 1:Yeah, mind blowing for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, also the other big circle, full circle, full circle moment is that there was another award called the road icon award, I believe yeah and um, if you were watching the video, then you saw that colin and samir got this award.
Speaker 2:But if you go to their website, there's a second person who got the award but for some reason wasn't included in the video, and I don't. I don't know why, because they didn't. They didn't even mention it at all. But if you go to the website he's there and it's Casey Neistat, which, like, is the craziest thing. You know, casey Neistat was a huge inspiration for both Tom and I. He's a huge reason why I started a YouTube channel in the first place. Yeah, this boosted board right here.
Speaker 1:Yeah right, it's behind me.
Speaker 2:This right here. This is how Tom and I met was from that skateboard which we only knew because of casey, like casey kind of, was you know, a reason why we came together.
Speaker 1:I had I had wanted to start a youtube channel for so long but watching his videos, especially when you go back to 2015, 2016, like the daily vlog stuff, was like okay, it can be interesting and imperfect and still really cool rough kind of messy yeah but like not, that's not sloppy or careless, it just doesn't have to be perfect.
Speaker 1:Set up three-point lighting for every shot all the stuff like that which you know. Then it's funny because of course things just kind of go back into like now I spend forever setting up lighting, but at the time you know literally the projects I was working on outside of being a teacher, the things that I was like, whatever it was for, like organizations or clients or whatever they would take four months to do, or something. So it's like that was my gauge of like oh, you do a project and you just agonize over it forever.
Speaker 2:You make one thing every two months.
Speaker 1:I don't know you put it up on Vimeo, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then Casey came in and was like you can make a video every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like a movie every day.
Speaker 2:That was his whole thing.
Speaker 1:Very different.
Speaker 2:But I told Tom I was like you know, what's crazy is that if this Road Creator of the Year Awards was an in-person event, you would have shared the stage with the guy that kind of brought us together, which is insane.
Speaker 1:That is pretty cool. That's full table kitchen table moment Full circle. Full circle kitchen table. Moment there, full table. How the turntables?
Speaker 2:How the turntables, let's see. Let'sntables, let's see. Let's check in, let's see. I don't hope he's dating at all. I've been missing the live streams too. Any updates on the podcast?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, oh, yeah, sorry, I was like Gil, yeah, you know, didn't you hear? Both you and Bailey have helped. Actually, yeah, it was. I think it was just last week after we talked about podcasts on here, a bit like any plans for the podcast to come back, and I even said, which is very appropriate. I was like roadcaster video, right, it's a thing. Um, so what I did was I put out a little call to action like a little mini five minute episode.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't call it an episode, but it was basically saying what I wanted to do with the podcast starting in January and it was asking for feedback, because my biggest thing is, like I can easily make a couple episodes, but doing a whole season, doing a run, a season, doing that kind of stuff, is different, and trying to figure out a structure that lends itself to sustainability, which is something I have a whole course about. That I have a whole course about ideation and structure and stuff. It does change after you've done it for 13 seasons, like when you're trying to do your first few episodes ever.
Speaker 1:It's very different than season 13, right um, so trying to figure it out and especially because I do want to bring video in as an element, not only figuring out that workflow, but also, like it can just be a camera on me talking, but it's also like, well, you know, if I'm going to go through that thing, which essentially means also then starting a different channel just for the podcast, why, like, is there anything to take advantage of with the video side of things? You, you know all that. So, anyway, I asked people for their feedback. Gil and Bailey are both a couple people who have who instantly sent in stuff, which is very cool.
Speaker 2:Matt says I'm still waiting for the video. I have interest in Tom's absolutely. One in 11,000.
Speaker 1:Matt helped me produce a video that should be out. Actually, I can see one now. I think it's next week's video.
Speaker 2:Maybe even one in a million, but his oblivious obliviousness to heather's infatuation knocked him down a peg. Oh man, I can't even tell I I like pulled out everything I had, like all the like moves, none of them, nothing worked nothing, because I don't know how to play these games yeah it doesn't.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter. You're playing chess and I'm over here trying to like learn checkers, so it's not working we were not on the same page.
Speaker 2:Let's see uh, it is like tom is an amazing dude or something. Um, let's see teacher of the year and now youtube teacher of the year. Let's see oh, I don't care what you talk about, I'll listen anyway, so my advice might not be super helpful no, I mean that is a helpful thing, because that gives freedom to like is this, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1:It gives freedom to not be so panicked about like. Oh my god, do I have to be delivering maximum value every second, or well?
Speaker 2:it's also, like you know, everyone knows and can see that this is the 13th season, so you know right like you know, I I would think that you're so clear about your titles and all this and, if someone wanted to go back, there's still a lot of value in the stuff in the library that's there yeah, you know, so hopefully so now it's almost like a shift of you know, you took that approach in the first 10 seasons and now it can be a little bit more casual.
Speaker 2:Day-to-day is what I was thinking um. Let's see, ono coffee's asking how many subs of the runners-up. Have anyone under 10k subs?
Speaker 1:oh, yeah, I mean there's 22 categories or something. But, um, yeah, there's people I don't know what the smallest one is. I saw I definitely because I went through when, when they like opened everything up, I went through and just checked out channels and all the categories because I was so curious, um, and there were a lot I had never heard of and I did find people.
Speaker 2:Well, I hadn't heard of any of them except for one.
Speaker 1:I found some people who had, like you know, 2,000, 3,000 subscribers.
Speaker 2:Well, that and like. So the only other channel that I knew, aside from Tom's, was Adventuring with Nala, who is Instagram based, so it wasn't just YouTube.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, yeah, there were tiktok people. The thing in my category that I was like, where I immediately gave up hope, was that becca was also nominated, as she has been like taking youtube by storm. Yeah, rightfully so. She did a video yesterday where her emmy award is like casually in the background and I'm like okay yeah that is a different level, you know, because her channel is relatively new.
Speaker 1:And it's funny because I actually saw a comment on her channel where someone was like you must have come from somewhere, because there's no way someone can have this following with like 10 videos or whatever. It's like, yeah, she worked at the Verge for like many, many years. Yeah, and that's an interesting thing because it's like, yeah, your channel, your personal channel, is new, but the work you've been creating You've been gaining the experience, yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's where too. Then you look at something like Road, and that's where it's not even just about like this one channel. Yeah, because it's like, well, shouldn't that be an emerging creator? But it's like, no, you're a veteran creator because you've been doing it for so long under a different. Like capacity but capacity. But as soon as I saw her nominee, which she did win the.
Speaker 2:I saw it too and I was like oh category, like judges award in that category. I was like okay, there's no, yeah, as I I told, it's not that I don't believe in you, but I was definitely like, oh, that that's the one yeah, that's like yeah, so I guess also mr beast is in this category.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, cool.
Speaker 2:Catherine Wilberhill, late but happy to join today. Yay, I want a coffee. Perhaps they didn't mention Casey because he's not considered as relevant as he was a few years ago. My suspicion is that he didn't do the video. I'm sure he was busy or whatever and they weren't able to coordinate the video, so they just didn't do it. Colin and Samira had submitted a thing yeah, um, and so they put him. I'm just curious why they wouldn't have just said it anyway. And her other icon is casey or whatever, I don't know. Uh, obscure tech tom, you could have been in the running with all your vids in four three with your personality and audio.
Speaker 1:Audio and personality man I uh, I've been wanting to make a video just with, like some of my old camcorders and stuff and you know, even like the nice broadcast cameras, um, but like kind of not mention, it's not about that, it's just about like whatever, like here's this microphone, but it's for some reason just film with like the old thing, but I'm like that'd be so distracting, yeah, but it's like I want to use the old, I want to use the things for fun yeah, uh, let's see.
Speaker 2:I want to copy. I hate to say this, but I looked at the other category winners and other than tom, I'm not familiar with any of them. I mean, that's the thing which is awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's that's what's really, because it's not even just youtube. I would say this thing with youtube, but that's the thing with online stuff, because it was other platforms. When we went to vidcon back in 2019, I remember one of the talks, so I was someone that had like a massive gaming channel. I believe he gave this incredible talk huge creator yeah, I mean packed giant room he had standing room, only he had all his channel info up.
Speaker 2:Probably I think he was over a million, I don't know um huge, very well known no idea it was, but and that was still a really good time, like we we talk about it.
Speaker 1:Well, that was where I was like oh and, and even I think the video podcast, one of the video podcast winners, and I think this happened. A couple categories, but the video podcast one stands out to me was like, not in english. So yeah, I'm not gonna know yeah I'm not gonna know this channel because I literally can't understand. It's not. It's not like art, where it doesn't matter if the person speaks a different it is a podcast.
Speaker 2:They are talking. I can't understand yeah, um, yeah, and and so that's like I think that's what's really cool about it I think that is what's really cool about it, because it's like if we all knew, like if it was someone like mr beast, then it's like well, you know, you're, you're, you're so big that like this is probably. I don't want to say it's like not for you, but it's like you're probably getting a lot of recognition already, you know this probably doesn't have the meaning that it's gonna have a lot of these people exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:Um, I see the plot of a hallmark movie here. Fine, I was just as clueless with my wife. Oh my gosh that makes me feel better jeremy, could you even imagine getting back into the dating game? I wouldn't get a clue if it hit me broadside.
Speaker 1:yeah, I I mean I had no plan. I loved how we met Seven or eight years ago. Like I was not in the dating game which is probably why this took so long, because it wasn't a thing. It was just like I will be alone forever, making apparently five YouTube videos in the spare bedroom, and that is what I do.
Speaker 2:Gil. I've sent over my fave podcast episodes to friends and clients and they all love it. You can podcast about anything and people will enjoy, because you always provide value I push that to the limit.
Speaker 2:We podcasting about granddaddy oh you are creator of the year because you're genuine, totally believable and without apprehension. All this make for an easy to watch and learn that's so nice bailey, I just picked up a couple new mics, so hoping to test them out over the next few weeks curious what they are hey k and congrats once again, hey thank you and thanks for all the help the other day because, after all this, the other day k helped me out with some stuff in final fantasy.
Speaker 2:It's great yes, and uh tom says he's gonna be part of your group tonight, k, but he can't stay the whole time.
Speaker 1:Oh, there you go. Yes, yeah, also that.
Speaker 2:Bailey, it really just reinforces how broad YouTube really is. You can watch it every hour, every day, and there will still be channels you never even heard of. Yep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, huge channels you never even heard of, I mean.
Speaker 2:Whole niches. Yeah, you know, obviously like, even in yours, people were like we knew you would win. Of course, it wasn't even like, but I'm sure that there are people who are like who the hell is Tom Buck?
Speaker 1:Of course, yeah, most people.
Speaker 2:It's just funny. It's like it's funny how segmented it is, you know? I mean, that's just the nature of a platform that has algorithms like obviously that's true yeah, uh, lots of instagrammers in the finalists. You notice that? Yeah, I did. Um, I I wouldn't know the tiktokers because I don't have tiktok, but I, I like that.
Speaker 1:Um, it wasn't just youtube yeah, no, that's really cool because it's creator. Yeah, so whatever your platform is, it's recognizing that.
Speaker 2:You know, see, that's the thing, because it's like and we were just talking about this I was telling Tom this morning I love that you won this, and when I posted it on my Instagram, I really tried to give emphasis on like, why this specific awards is uh, like, why it's different, why it's special, and the fact that you know there's the, the judging um, it's not just based on have you gone viral or whatever. Um, because whenever tom and I introduce ourselves to like normal people in the world, of course the first, the first question, without a doubt oh, you do youtube. My eight-year-old also wants to do youtube. My 12-year-old also, you know, wants to be a youtuber. And whenever someone says that, um it, what it tells me is that the parent probably doesn't know youtube and the only way they know it is through their kids eyes, right, so they're thinking.
Speaker 2:I don't know what they're thinking actually, but it's probably not like what we do right in terms of like a job and a process, and you know everything that goes into building and managing a youtube channel yeah, I had.
Speaker 1:This was maybe like two years ago when I was getting my hair cut and the lady you know it was the same thing. It's like I really, I really, really, really wish. Luckily I have a couple of the regular people I go to are really cool, but sometimes you get thrown into someone else. I really wish it could be like a no talking chair. I just cut the hair, um, because it's the thing of like what, like it's always especially because I show up at two in the afternoon or something like oh, you're off work today.
Speaker 1:It's like, yeah, kind of like it works, yeah, and then it's just youtube and you know, and she was like oh, so you do like little dancing videos and stuff our doctor right.
Speaker 2:I was like, yeah, we make youtube videos. And she was just like, oh, so she just literally started dancing in the office.
Speaker 1:You just make dance videos, and it's like literally never, I mean you have, you have, yeah, but yeah, I was like I don't even know how to tell you that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, then I was like I do like audio video production tutorials and reviews um help people, podcasting, live streaming, that kind of thing your audience people I just see their google, just glaze over because it's like if you don't know, if you don't know, it sounds bizarre.
Speaker 1:You know yeah and then you're only basing it off of, like mainstream media dancing videos you know I mean that's why something like nab was so impactful personally earlier this year, where it's like don't have to do, everyone here is like dedicated to the craft.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like, don't have to do that. Everyone here is like dedicated to the craft.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's it's you get to get in.
Speaker 2:You're all speaking the same language and that is also, it's like you could tell everyone who's everyone here who is like picking up a camera using a microphone, like there is that's a there's skill, undeniable skill there, and that's the thing with this. Awards is like I know that your eight-year-old has a cell phone and so do we, and we can, in theory, make the same thing, we have the same free google account for youtube channel like you see me making a video on my phone.
Speaker 2:Your eight-year-old can make a video on your phone and like it makes it seem like it's that easy, right, like it's just easy, your kid can do it, right.
Speaker 1:Uh, but that's why I like this, because it's like there's it's your whole doctor thing right, that's the example I've used is like because people the thing it got to a point where it started to drive me crazy when people like, yeah, my kid it drives tom crazy to do this, because it's just like. You know, what I don't want to talk about at all are like the weird videos your kid is watching on youtube, um, but I'm like, yeah, you know how kids like to pretend to be doctors and stuff and they like stethoscopes.
Speaker 2:This, like that doesn't mean they're as skilled as doctors but that's because everyone knows what it takes to become a right.
Speaker 1:You have to have a degree, like multiple degrees, you have to take as many years, lots of training, lots of on the job and that is an understood common knowledge right, whereas this is like what you know. What is the difference? Like it is this it is literally like you have the same account on the same platform. You have a phone, I have a phone yeah, and there's so many kids.
Speaker 2:There are so many kids who who have turned this into a job yeah, which is cool.
Speaker 1:Like I, I don't have a. I think that is great. I helped kids do that in the past, so I'm not against it. It's it's the. It's the lack of understanding and the. You know. I mean it was a thing like. I have had students in the past too who were like, yeah, I want to be a streamer, and the way that they were prepped to be a streamer was they got an energy drink fridge oh I was like oh my heart, it makes me feel sad, I mean you know you're talking about someone like straight out of middle school.
Speaker 2:So they're doing the best, they're copying they're copying what they see but I'm like that that energy drink, fridge in the background yeah but the energy drink fridge in the background is not.
Speaker 1:That. Does not a streamer make like career?
Speaker 2:oh man, okay, uh, let's see, let's catch up. Uh, the mics are mxl 550 and 551 they come as a combo.
Speaker 2:Mxl makes such good mics uh, hasan says the only video streaming subscription I've left is youtube premium. As I realized, I watch a whole lot of youtube and hardly any netflix-esque streaming services yeah, we've been. Oh, I have left. I thought you meant that you like left, but you have remaining yes, uh, matt says. As tom knows, I really don't need more mics. I sold 50 and still have 20, but all I want for christmas is a lewis lct 1040 large diaphragm tube, fet condenser, microphone system that's.
Speaker 1:That's a beautiful mic, but it's like it's not even just a mic it plugs into, like not an interface, like a box, like a power supply. Like it's a whole, whole thing.
Speaker 2:That's a situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I want a coffee. The thought that people don't understand what it takes is shared by all people who make a living in the arts.
Speaker 1:Right, and that's the thing you go to an art museum or whatever, and it's like a modern art painting that looks super simple or something, and it's like I could.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm so that person. I feel bad, but it's like come on.
Speaker 1:I mean another example too. I do the thing. I hear people all the time talk about bands, especially like the same three chords over and over again. It is did you put them together? You did not. So, yeah, it's not about the like, the complexity. I've heard like the most complex guitar players in the world like shredding all over the place and it's cool for a second and then it's very boring to me because I want that's not what I'm into. So so it's like I know it's the most technically proficient thing ever that no one else could do, but like, yeah, give me the same three power chords in like a really catchy song and I'll listen to it. It's gonna be number one on my Spotify and Raptor.
Speaker 2:Obscure Tech. I think YouTube is just getting started. I wish I'd have gotten in earlier, but I'm glad I got in when I did. Feels like a a little head start, see. So this is funny because one thing that I've really learned with my gaming channel is that there are people who will never get in front of the camera like they want to be the viewer, they want to be the subscriber and like I, I, I. Yes, I think youtube is just getting started, but I think there are, I am learning that there are people who this is just never going to be for, and I think there is always going to be more audience than there are creators.
Speaker 1:That's good. Yeah, right, like that. Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2:Hassan Tom has been a huge inspiration. Just in the last two months I've bought an Earthworms.
Speaker 1:Eco Shure.
Speaker 2:MV7 Plus and PodMic USB. Who's usb? The pod mic usb. This is me on the pod mic usb. Yeah, that was a fun video bailey, sometimes I just start setting up microphones, pa systems etc.
Speaker 1:And completely forget that not everyone can just do that, especially for what I consider to be basic, yeah, but absolutely there's a skill and a literacy and a problem solving and a competency that, like, takes a lot of time to figure out to learn k-walk comedy, not award related.
Speaker 2:I noticed I longer see a thumbs up for videos. Anyone know what's up with that? I do, I mean, I'm looking at it right now so, but I'm on, you know, on the laptop, so maybe it's a mobile thing. If you're on mobile, I don't know. Do you see it?
Speaker 1:On mobile.
Speaker 2:I believe have you noticed that?
Speaker 1:it been liking.
Speaker 2:I always when I when a video provides value, I always make sure to like it uh, the other side is that my 14 year old niece is making videos for her people that are driving subs to her channel. Very proud of her still. Oh, that's great that's crazy see the road to health, maybe it works yeah, still getting easier, if you lead with. I make educational youtube videos. Then they could ask what you educate on that's kind of easy. I'm sorry, I'm losing a sneeze look at the, look at the light it's gone, oh no god, that's the worst, oh it just went back up in there.
Speaker 1:I feel like that takes like 10 minutes off your life every time that happens.
Speaker 2:Oh, you, okay, you back well, as much as I could be, uh, yes, this is what I told tom to do the last like because we went to I teach online or something, is what you said.
Speaker 1:And what do you teach? Oh, I teach about podcasting.
Speaker 2:We went to an event, basically, where you have to introduce yourself to a lot of business people I'm.
Speaker 1:He's sick, I am sick. I just snorted into creator of the year baby. You know what I like. That it's. I'm gonna move into the ASMR niche.
Speaker 2:And I told him don't even, don't mention YouTube, Don't mention YouTube.
Speaker 1:I feel like that's a loaded.
Speaker 2:Dude, I'm waiting, like actually. At the same event, I was so excited because for the first time, I said I make YouTube videos and the follow-up question is what do you make youtube videos about? And I actually led with I have a channel about video games yeah which was that was the first time, because I always feel like I have to like categorize the three things, and I always feel like the legitimate one I need to talk about is how I do tutorials, how I've documented my journey.
Speaker 1:It's a business thing like, yeah, I do clients business, all this kind of stuff help people do this, and it's like about video games yeah, because I feel like I lose all credibility as soon as I say that.
Speaker 2:But this summer I was like I, I said it and I said it proudly and it made me happy and I was like love yeah so. So now I like go ahead, ask me what I do. Go ahead, I'm so excited.
Speaker 1:But Tom gets frustrated and so I told him don't even mention YouTube, just say that you teach online have the thing of like doctor versus doctor, like I know, like credentials and degrees and tenure and evaluations, and it's like I, I I almost feel like stolen valor, but I mean like, yeah, I'm a teacher, I know I teach things that people learn, but it's like I don't get what you're trying to say to be a teacher like a t a career teacher you are Were.
Speaker 1:I know, but I'm not. I mean, I'm not now. That requires a lot of things, and so I feel like when I say like, yeah, but you did all that.
Speaker 2:It's not like you're lying.
Speaker 1:Look, it doesn't have to make sense. It's my own. This is.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, Are you have credentials, you have certificates. You were california nominated state teacher of the year. This is tom.
Speaker 1:This is tom everybody hi, I can be frustrating to deal with happy friday everyone.
Speaker 2:Hey, andre, I mean, your dancing videos were paying that doctor. Obscure tech. Always hate to hear when folks say I don't know why I haven't started yet. I want to, but I'm not ready. Go for it anyways.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Just totally do it. I mean, we felt that, we felt that I mean.
Speaker 1:A great example that's not even YouTube related is oh boy, I just turned 39 and I bought my drums when I was 29. Oy, I just turned 39 and I bought my drums when I was 29. But actually that even makes it a better example, because I was like okay, drums are expensive, they take up a lot of space, they're super loud, I don't know how to play them, so it's like I don't need to, I don't need to do this. I have plenty of other things I'm dealing with and working on right now. But I remember thinking like well, okay, especially with the drums in this case was something really physical. It's not something you can do forever. At a certain point, like physically, it becomes hard, probably. So it's like okay, there's a limited window. If I get them, if I wait five more years, then I'll wait five more years or 10 more years, whereas now, if I get them in 10 years, I could have been playing the drums for 10 years, like well.
Speaker 2:So you know what really uh solidified this for me is, on my gaming channel there is a viewer who is named, uh, grandma daniels, oh, and she is 73 years old and she plays Final Fantasy XIV with her kids and her grandkids and she tunes in to my streams and like is just having a great time and like, first of all, I can't fathom a 73-year-old not only playing video games, but playing this specific video game, because it's it's not just like mario's jumping on the pipes or whatever, it's a little bit more. Uh, you know it's an mmo, it's a little bit different, but she's over there having a good time and it just it's like. Obviously there's no thought to how old I am. When do you stop playing video games and all that? And that's really taught me because, as a, as a 39 year old, I've never known somebody who's played video games at this age, because literally when I was, you know, playing games at five, like I was the oldest person I knew who was playing it's.
Speaker 1:It's a thing that hasn't. It's like having a career as a content creator, hasn't really?
Speaker 1:been possible before around this, yeah, yeah so I mean, you know, obviously like someone could have played whatever pong in the 70s and stuff, but like the type of video games that home video games, especially computer games, that kind of thing, it's like it's still really new. We were talking about this the other day I thought it was really interesting where it's like um, because there is that thing of like well, you grow up and you're not supposed to play video games anymore, because we're talking about that, when it's like not only do we do it and love it, but now it's like your job I know which is like.
Speaker 2:It's like my hardest like thing that I I it's the hardest thing on my gaming channel is me wrapping my head around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, every day I struggle and there's people we know in our lives like I was thinking my grandparents, where it's like they, you know they were open and accepting people but like I don't think they would have been super understanding of someone playing someone middle-aged playing video games or even doing it as a job somehow is historically a person who is lazy, not ambitious or it's just not. That's what kids do, because the only thing they ever saw was like video games were invented and my grandson is seven and plays video games the end.
Speaker 1:But then I'm like well, you know, our grandparents, like my grandma, did paint by numbers and crossword puzzles, did regular like equivalent did their version, like things around in 1920.
Speaker 1:Yeah to, you know, enjoy in recreation. They took that to varied degrees and this is just a new thing. That hasn't been possible. You haven't been able to be an 80 year old gamer not just an 80 year old gamer, but like someone who had been playing games for 50 years, like, yeah, you, you know, as soon as the game comes out, someone of any age could jump in and play.
Speaker 1:But to be someone who's been doing it, since you were a little kid long, yeah, yeah like yeah, I was at a hockey game last week, um a pickup game, and there was a guy there which is pretty crazy because he was like in great shape, looked I don't know 50 or something. He was like I bet I'm the old guy, this the oldest guy in this group. I was like I don't know. Like you know, a lot of people here are maybe older than they look. He's like I'm 70. I was like, oh, okay, and he's like yeah, I started playing hockey when I was like six. I was like you've been playing hockey for 64 years.
Speaker 2:And it's so great. I love meeting people who, who you know, one of my favorite people in life, one of my friends, is in her mid-70s. And she's still professionally singing and dancing and like producing shows.
Speaker 2:Producing yeah shows that she sells tickets to locally. And yeah, exactly, and I'm just like it's so awesome where you see these people just go for it and there's just no question about age at all. Or like should I or could I people just go for it and there's just no question about age at all. Or like should I or could I? They just go. It's like I like this, Like I want more of this. Anyway, if you're thinking about YouTube, do it, it's not too late.
Speaker 1:All that to say you're right, Obscure tech.
Speaker 2:Guess I'm going to have to.
Speaker 1:It's not that you can't have the monster fridge, it's that I don't think the sponsorship deals don't start rolling in because you put the fridge in the background I just joined.
Speaker 2:Congrats on you both thank you very much. Uh. Let's see undecided toy store. What doesn't fall into the category of creator seems like anything. Social media applies.
Speaker 1:I think so too yeah, I mean we've been down that where, like, I hated the term content creator, but it's just like a certain point, like people know what it means and yeah yeah, cat is also sick this week.
Speaker 2:That's awesome that you led with video games heather.
Speaker 1:Yes, big step, big level up. You might say it's weird.
Speaker 2:I see it on mobile but not desktop. Oh how weird. Yeah, no, it's right there. What browser are you using? Maybe it's a browser thing.
Speaker 1:They just don't want to give you the power to like specific I lead with retired.
Speaker 2:So stop so top that You're still teaching Tom Agreed, Agreed.
Speaker 1:Well, that's what I've been saying for a long time. I used to be a high school teacher. Now I have a YouTube channel it's been long enough where it's like it made sense when I had been a high school teacher six months ago, but I was like four years okay.
Speaker 2:Andre, I look for, I long for the day I can say I make YouTube videos and watch their eyes go.
Speaker 1:What you know what that's a good perspective. Maybe it's the kind of good problem to have right yeah, you know, on a coffee.
Speaker 2:You are a retired in-school educator. Now you teach audio video production online. Very respectable yeah, exactly, put that on the cv it's not that you and I tried to explain like it's not like people are uh trying to be offensive.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know that and I actually I'm like I'm very excited about what we do and I actually like talking about it, but it's the barrier of like I don't want to have to.
Speaker 2:Not speaking the same educates. Yeah right, I don't want to. Yeah, let's just trying to get to common ground. It's all on you.
Speaker 1:It's not going to be on that yeah, and part of that then ends up feel like you're justifying because you're kind of fighting an uphill battle Like do you do these dancing videos? Do you have my grandkids do? Do you do those pranks? Do you do all the bad stuff I saw on the news? Do you actually make money? Is that?
Speaker 2:not a scam, yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:And then people then start accidentally poking at your insecurities, like, oh, so if it doesn't work out, you go back to teaching. Or like, yes, every day I'm worried about these things.
Speaker 2:Joel says Tom is prestigious.
Speaker 1:That's right and humble to the core. Humble core that's my favorite genre.
Speaker 2:Matt? Oh, no doubt Tom is frustrating. Hey, I'm 65 and still play a few video games. Yeah, I mean, I just haven't.
Speaker 1:That's the goal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I want to play like One of my favorite.
Speaker 1:YouTube channels is called Food for Dogs and Britta who runs the channel is I don't know how old she is 70s, yeah who? She got into gaming in like 2013. I could be getting the story wrong. She started a YouTube channel and got into gaming, I believe around 2012, 2013-ish, because she won a PS2 in like a raffle, oh my god, and it was just like what a-.
Speaker 1:And now she's like super into RPGs, like not just she's into like all the big games, like yeah, I mean RPGs and like really intense stuff. But she did a two-part series recently on-.
Speaker 1:About the PS5. On on finally upgrading to the playstation 5 and the playstation 4. Um, which wasn't just why to upgrade to the ps5, but it was like from the content creator's point of view why she stuck with the ps4 for so long and then she must have covered maybe 18 different games across these two videos about. Like, yeah, this is why, like, it actually makes a difference to port this ps4 game to the ps5 the native ps5 game.
Speaker 1:I was like that's cool, that's cool but she's just, you know, she just like, she's like her british accent just sitting at her living room table I know I gotta pull up her youtube channel she's great food for dogs did you know that my keyboard does your keyboard go to sleep?
Speaker 2:my keyboard goes to sleep I don't know.
Speaker 1:Sometimes maybe I don't know, I Sometimes maybe I don't know. I usually just push a button. All right, here we go. There she is.
Speaker 2:Look at her 245,000 subby subs. Look at her, she's just uh.
Speaker 1:Oh look, I think she, oh, wow, she updated her about recently. Wow, I do unboxings with a twist. I like to talk about the back history, the graphics, the music of a game, giving some context, what comes out of the box.
Speaker 2:See my only advice, though, britta monetize that channel, my dear, but youtube's already putting ads on there right, yeah um, yeah, look at this, look at, look at this. These are it's like and they're very it's just I mean gameplay no, no play.
Speaker 1:That's what she's. That's what she's talking about. The ps5 is how much easier it is to record gameplay, as well as on the ps5 so she does voiceover explaining, but these are.
Speaker 2:This is all her gameplay, it's perfectly okay on the ps4 pro it does and then she does like collectibles and anime stuff. Look at her she's got transitions and everything that's like. So I love it, I freaking love it can you imagine going to your grandma's house?
Speaker 1:it's like my grandma's recording her game.
Speaker 2:Youtube video hang on I wish like that would be.
Speaker 1:I don't know if she has grandkids or not, but I just like that would just be the cool I mean I don't know if it's not the future of every millennial, but yeah, that would just be the cool. I mean I don't know if it's not the future of every millennial.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that's just me the ps13 let's see, um, surely, if you teach a class 34 students, when that evolves to teaching 5k to 150k people online, you're still considered a teacher, if not more so I don't have to take attendance either, which is like you, like any, any person who actually wants to be a teacher because they want to teach and, like, make an impact, wouldn't they want to teach as many people as they can?
Speaker 1:right, well, I mean, there's that. And then you look at someone like aaron precky, for example. Like he, he is absolutely a teacher on youtube and I know this, I don't know.
Speaker 2:What's your point? So are you.
Speaker 1:So if you can look at Aaron and be like you're a teacher, I just feel like he's better than I am. What the hell?
Speaker 2:Are you not doing this safe? I feel like you were trying to make a point, but I don't know if you made a point. Welcome to most of my points there's no doubt that Aaron is teaching most of my points. There's no doubt that Aaron is teaching, but there's also no doubt that you are.
Speaker 1:I know, I know, I know this.
Speaker 2:Andre Grandma Sounds Awesome. The Retired Homeless in 2064 is going to have huge game rooms, podcasting rooms and Friday night discos, with resident DJs being actual residents.
Speaker 1:Everyone dancing to Skrillex Shuffling.
Speaker 2:Eager for you both to turn 40. Join the middle-aged club with me. Yeah, I uh. January is my halfway point. So, bailey, I still forget that I'm 18. Oh my gosh, bailey came to the realization that I have to vote now. Voting is mandatory.
Speaker 1:It's mandatory give you the boot wow.
Speaker 2:So it's like a crime if you don't. That's crazy. Don tom's teaching background is one of his strong points. Unlike a lot of people on youtube, he has a talent and experience for teaching. See, exactly, I think you know your experience, your training, your education.
Speaker 1:Like the way that you present that's not well, it's funny because the two like starting youtube. Going way back to like sitting at the kitchen table was to be an escape from teaching. It was to do something that was not connected to my teaching job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but that's just on my own. That's just not being in alignment.
Speaker 1:You know, I think you wanted to teach, but it's like teaching in public education, it's really but what I was gonna say was really interesting is being a teacher, I think, did help Like. Even though I just started my YouTube channel, I had spent a number of years learning how to like, package and communicate information in like simple and effective ways, like what is our end result? That's planned backwards from there and go there, and then what? The really unexpected thing, though, is YouTube taught me how to like. Okay, now you even the classroom, you can even be more engaging, you can be more like. You know, I know like audience retention is a very real thing in a classroom of teenagers, and so they ended up like being a teacher made me a better youtuber.
Speaker 1:Being a youtuber made me a better teacher.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they just kept building each other, which was a really cool surprise. What's her name? Becca yeah if becca can bring her verge experience, aren't you doing that? I guess that's true, yeah yeah I know, but you know I gotta, I gotta put this road creator of the year, trophy thing that's gonna come like in your face like a flava flav necklace uh, let's see, elon has made playing games okay, I think.
Speaker 1:What I still don't get is people watching planes take off and land as someone who has stopped at airports to watch planes take off and land, I do get it. I I'm not so I haven't camped out, but like, especially like the. There's like a small, you know, uh, like non-towered airport near us and I've definitely, I've even filmed videos there before of this stuff because you just want to see like there's a bonanza, it's so cool, let me see them drive it.
Speaker 2:You were taxi. You are such an aviation nerd. Did you know that?
Speaker 1:I did know that because I spent a lot of money on flight lessons pilot's license. I didn't finish edward.
Speaker 2:Speaking of age, I am 77 in the past couple years I've purchased a lot of the equipment that tom uses set up my own studio. A lot of it it's done for fun, that's awesome fun is like the best reason right like yeah, uh, undecided toy store is asking anything you miss from having a traditional employer like I'll say, like I don't know, I guess maybe slightly cheaper health insurance that's probably like, honestly, that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean a thing, so a thing, especially being a teacher, because you work contract days. So I was contracted for usually 182 days a year, which is always nice because, like as in blink 182, I wish I could blink in 182 days would be passed. But uh, what's kind of cool is you have months, like, say, october, where there are no holidays, at least in my districts there are no holidays.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like isn't january january was, I remember, january. There's a there's a few.
Speaker 1:And then there's a long stretch from, like, president's Day to Spring Break, where it's just like ugh. But then there's things like November. You have a couple weekends, there's Christmas.
Speaker 2:I remember February, where there's like three, three-day weekends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, One district I worked at shortened the summer vacation so that winter break could be longer, so we had three weeks for winter break instead of two. So that's like most of December is off. But my December paycheck to the penny was equal to my January paycheck and you know that does not happen in creator life where you have that consistency, especially if it's like you know, if I just like, well, I guess I'm just not going to make videos.
Speaker 2:Well then, there goes your paycheck.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the flip side to that like because I know like the flip side of that is remembering that at least in public school, teachers are technically unemployed during the summer, they are not like on vacation, and then you're just vastly underpaid anyway. But that security of like, okay, things are like. You know, I can take time, I can take sick days, I can.
Speaker 1:There's stability, there's vacation fit in you know I can take time, I can take sick days, I can there's vacation fit in, but the thing that, the thing that I did always feel was there's a very hard ceiling as well, Like cause for public school teachers. Your pay is based on your experience.
Speaker 2:And your education and your education.
Speaker 1:So the more years that you're there you go up on the pay scale and the education you have and then you can hit a block because it doesn't even matter, like you have a phd or something. But a lot of districts would be like, well, you can't move all the way over on our pay scale unless some of your education was acquired while you were an employee here. So you have to go back to like community college and take you know, and then you do this weird math of like okay, well, I spend eight thousand dollars on classes to get this, professional development units that give me a $2,000 raise, but over five years you know, like you do this weird math with yourself and it doesn't even matter. Because if you look at like, you just go to bottom right on the pay scale like the maximum thing that you can make and it's like it doesn't matter. You will never get beyond that.
Speaker 2:Right, that's it.
Speaker 1:You also can't go below where you're at. So that's the thing that. So I guess that's it. Being self-employed content creator does not have that hard ceiling, but it also does not have the safety net floor either. Yeah, there is no floor.
Speaker 2:Gil says I'm definitely going to be an old gamer, same. We should all just like be in the same, like retirement home, a senior home and just like deck out.
Speaker 1:Let's just make this crazy game room rgb lighting everywhere oh, let's see prune juice in the little fridge in the background love food for dogs.
Speaker 2:Her video about how she got into gaming was so yes, that's the one that hooked me oh hasan. My favorite gaming channel is bifa. He plays city skylines. Very entertaining to watch him build a city for hours. Games are properly mainstream now. The previous Norwegian prime minister was caught in session in the Norwegian parliament playing Pokemon Go. I love that. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:You got my vote.
Speaker 2:Jeremy, everyone at Christmas dinner. Where's grandma? She's playing the game she just got from Santa. Nice, I freaking love that my grandchild walked in on my live stream. They were impressed.
Speaker 1:Yes, that is a big flex on the grandkids, that's so freaking cool.
Speaker 2:Aaron is a specialist in live streaming, tom is Mr Roadcaster, but waste time on eight millimeter camcorders from time to time.
Speaker 1:It's not wasted if you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:That's true, bailey. I think if you had a stat of audience retention in a classroom, it would be very scary for teachers, I'm sure. So the next step is getting the YouTubers into the classroom then, and real-time thumbs up and the stats to engage.
Speaker 1:Will you please slap him for all of us.
Speaker 2:Jeremy, when you guys finally do make it up, I'll take you around the Seattle area on a flight. Make it up, I'll take you around the seattle area on a flight boeing field to a small, non-lowered airport, non-towered airport in the county, across the sound from victoria what kind of plane would we get to go in? Obscure tech. Okay, you just touched on a topic that I'm curious about health insurance for people who go full-time on youtube. How's that work?
Speaker 1:so take all your money and burn it and it just goes up and up and up every year and and like we, we literally are like we're downgrading our insurance.
Speaker 2:Do you think we're gonna be?
Speaker 1:we're downgrading our insurance starting in 2025, next month it's our biggest like expense so it's gonna be 400 cheaper a month, which was what our current.
Speaker 1:We're gonna going to be paying less. We're going to be paying the same amount that we used to pay for our current decent plan, for a crappier plan Because it's you could just buy insurance and there are things like HMOs which can be quite cheap or affordable. But the thing I've had just enough experiences myself and with family members and things where I feel like a PPO is a way to go where you get to choose. You need to do a thing and you choose your doctor and you go and you can like if you need a specialist. It's much quicker to like get to the route we're going in there versus an HMO which would be a lot cheaper. But then you have to get referred, referred, referred.
Speaker 2:And if the system is a little slow, it can sometimes like I've literally had serious injuries heal.
Speaker 1:By the time I got to see the specialist, right, because it's like you gotta go in for the referral, yeah, where they said like, oh, it's good that healed right, otherwise it could have been a lifelong problem. Like, yeah, great, I mean great, sure, but it's nice to be able to go, like I have this specific problem. Let me go to the specific doctor. Problem is it's very expensive, so, like our current insurance for the both of us. Fourteen hundred dollars a month, yeah, that sucks, um, and god forbid you need to use it, because then it's just, you just get weird bills all the time, um, and so we're downgrading to an eleven hundred dollar a month plan.
Speaker 1:Our co-pays are I know it's the thing like your copay goes over your deductible. It's like I don't know, we know you're gonna like screw us somehow.
Speaker 1:It's like yeah, you should do podcast episode on that yeah, I mean, I don't, I just know, you know like I've had the thought of, like the answer we could save so much money with just like the little hmo, but it's like I've been as we get older I know because that's the thing too is like what is insurance for? Is it for a sprained ankle and a cold, or is it for something way more serious and long lasting? And it's like, okay, I want to have infrastructure in place for those kinds of things. Yeah, sadly.
Speaker 2:OBS. Hey, hey, y'all Congrats. Thank you, greg. All of us in the same old folks home. Does that mean Tom will advance to granddad?
Speaker 1:Oh, they'll be grand.
Speaker 2:A Turbo, cessna 182. Look see 182.
Speaker 1:See Well actually that was and it's so funny that was. There was a time in a past life where my goal was to eventually have a 182, because it's like the 172 that I trained in a lot, but significant, but not significant bigger, so a little more spacious inside, so it could probably do like four adults without everybody freaking out and more powerful, so it could also lift them off the ground.
Speaker 2:Bailey says really hoping that I can organize to come to NAB with Aaron next year. Would be busy, lots of the time, but sure I can find some time. Oh, that'd be so awesome, Bailey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean time, but sure I can find some time. Oh, that'd be so awesome, bailey, yeah, I mean, nab is an important thing, to make sure you you can take time to enjoy for yourself too yeah, man, I'm so glad I got to 65, got medicare.
Speaker 2:My last year paying insurance was 200 a month and haven't been to the doctor in 10 years, yeah well on that note, let's go get some diabetes thanks to audio hotline over here, get some. Anyway, I just have to say very proud of you thank you very much and like you know, I know you. You are doing a very good job of acknowledging that this is a community thing yes, that's what I say.
Speaker 1:Thank you also to everybody, because I can't I can't create that many fake email accounts to make it possible.
Speaker 2:I, you know, and even for me I was like, look, I'm not going to be the deal breaker, so I'm voting once I have. You know, I have three YouTube channels. I actually had three different Gmail accounts, or whatever, but I was like nah.
Speaker 1:There's no yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I want to support you, but.
Speaker 1:That's not.
Speaker 1:That's not supporting yeah but I because your humility sometimes humiliating I just want you to know how, how much people care it means a lot and I still, like I've been, I posted that video yesterday, which must be, gosh, one of the most commented videos I've ever posted in my life, and so I'm going through all those because it's crazy the nice things people are saying, but I'm trying to just do like chunks at a time because I want to like actually appreciate the things that people are saying I know he's like you're being so good, I would be in there like refreshing.
Speaker 2:but he's like okay, all right, let me just think about that. And then he comes back and he's like okay.
Speaker 1:And then he wants to be present. I want to appreciate the thing that people took the time to share, especially for something like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I've only had one really negative comment so far.
Speaker 2:He had to delete one.
Speaker 1:It was bad.
Speaker 2:Do you want to share it?
Speaker 1:I don't, I like, can't it involved performing certain acts for road in order to get free products and awards?
Speaker 2:yeah, it was very like inappropriate and stupid. I really.
Speaker 1:I told tom, you should have left it up so everyone could have just like if it wasn't like, so graphic and like I know like really inappropriate I would have, but like it was a thing where it was like I don't, like people don't need as people are reading through the comments here they don't need to have this like.
Speaker 2:I know, forced into their brains. Yeah, no, you're right, that's not what they're here for. Yeah, I guess the good thing about Medicare I'm covered due to Whoa $1,400 USD after paying that much is seeing a GP or minor hospital visits free. It's not.
Speaker 1:Oh God no.
Speaker 2:Dude. Just a 10-minute phone call with my doctor is $35.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if we walk into the emergency room it's like $4,000.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no you, you were the last one.
Speaker 1:Both of us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, both of us have gone, and it's just like, which is why it's like you never stop getting the bills, you know.
Speaker 2:It's like you pay there, then you pay this, then, yeah, you have to pay the hospital, then you have to pay, like the doctor, who is separate for some reason, just like add it all in. And then I don't know, there was another like emergency room fee or whatever, and I was like are you charging me per thing that you did? Are you charging me per thing that you did, or is this just like doesn't matter what happened, like what treatment you did? This is the thing. It's like. Yeah, it doesn't matter what treatment was.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:I ended up just walking out with a prescription and I paid $4,000.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've told this story before, but a number back in 2011,. I had to go to the emergency room because I cut this story before. But a number back in 2011. I go to the emergency room because I cut, I split my nose open and I needed like to have it closed. I don't know. Um, there was a 47 line item on my bill for window cleaning, but I did not touch I didn't bleed on windows. I didn't touch windows. There was no windows in the exam room I was in. It was just window cleaning. $47. Like, why, what is this and who's doing $47?
Speaker 2:One of the advantages of living in communist Norway is proper healthcare for not being job dependent. My dad had some clogged arteries and a light heart attack three weeks later, ar and my dad had some clogged arteries and a light heart attack.
Speaker 1:Three weeks later, arteries had been transplanted to his heart and he was out Cost zero dollars. That's the thing is like. I know I said health insurance, but I actually hate the idea that health insurance is tied to employment, because that's where you see people stuck in these horrific job situations that they can't leave because they're also super sick and it's like my job made me sick and now I can't leave my job because then I'll lose my insurance to take care of my sickness.
Speaker 2:No, it sucks.
Speaker 1:I remember when, peter Lindgren, we were doing our podcast and he had Like the burst vein or whatever. Yeah, he had a I can't remember what it's called a clogged artery, a clot, a blood clot in his arm, Like he almost died, and he literally paid more for parking than his like multi-day plus surgery in the hotel and the parking was like $28 or something.
Speaker 2:Well, Bailey says pardon my ignorance, but what is the benefit of health insurance in the US? It's not a benefit, it's actually required.
Speaker 1:Well, it's like I think he's saying like why, yeah, you have to have it.
Speaker 2:You have to have it yeah.
Speaker 1:And he's saying like, well, why, if it's just that expensive? Because, because it's all arbitrary, the four thousand dollar emergency room visit would literally be, I don't know, ninety, eight thousand dollars without insurance it's all a scam. It's all just a scam. So well we've seen what happens when the insurance ceos make a lot of money yeah, it sucks.
Speaker 2:I feel like you need to tell a joke. We can't go out on that.
Speaker 1:That was a dark joke in a way oh boy, my brain ain't working, but I can't.
Speaker 2:What were you going to do I?
Speaker 1:saw you have 1984 ironically up on your shelf over there. And it said George Orwell and I was saying, well, oh well, I can't come up with a joke I see what you tried yeah, and I was thinking of something with like you're a content creator, her look you're sick, oh man, all right. Well, let's go get you some handles do you know how you prepare for a party in space, how you plan it?
Speaker 2:there it is. Oh yeah, when my first child, we got the bill and a single advil cost 1818 back in 86. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:With inflation it's like $200,000. Now I don't know All right guys?
Speaker 2:Well, anyway, congrats.
Speaker 1:Thank you and thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I hope I know you are, but I just want you to know that people really you've really made an impact on people.
Speaker 1:It means a lot. It means a lot and I just I just I said that in my video yesterday. I hope people know that it really does and you're really good at what you do yeah, I kick ass shut up I can't even it's so, unlike Tom, that it comes off like a joke.
Speaker 2:I can't. All right, we're going to go get ice cream.
Speaker 1:Let's have it through the table.
Speaker 2:yeah, All right, guys, catch you next week, you have to do the same.
Speaker 1:Have a safe, happy, healthy, fun rest of your day and a great weekend, and we'll see you next time, bye, bye.