My journey started exactly how it was supposed too, it was different than yours, and for some reason, that deeply concerned me. I invested in a heavy duty PC and capture card right after I put myself in a mountain of debt with multiple credit cards on a 14 month no-interest plan.
Smart, right?
I didn’t think so at the time, I again thought that I was just being wreck-less and chasing an idea that wasn’t going to work out, but I trusted my intuition again and went for it. Now, I would love to tell you that I was able to rise to the top, quit my job, and stream full time all in 2 months time. That sounded real great in my head, but I still had (and still do) so much to learn about streaming and marketing.
I had to start with the basic question of “Who am I ?” and “What makes me so different?” and “how much time do I have to commit?” The truth is, I had no idea, all I knew was that I love Halo, I’m good at it, and I want to compete. This all had enough passion and momentum to get me started. Now what?
I did my research, read countless articles, started actually listening to Gary Vaynerchuks content, and purchased courses from Udemy to not only understand streaming, but Esports as well.
Starting off, I learned all about the different softwares and overlays, buttons, emotes, badges, bios, and different platforms this could be broadcasted too. I had no idea how much work this actually was going to take to be successful. It was overwhelming because streaming is so new still that the software applications are still buggy and take some fine tuning. Nonetheless, I learned in chunks, as I made mistakes, and by other streamers giving me feedback. There’s a lot of truth in the saying “if you do what you love, it doesn’t seem like real work”. Yes this is a ton of work to manage, but to me, it’s exhilarating, and keeps me hungry to learn more each time I find something new I can add to my content.
Next, it’s NOT about the amount of time streaming, it’s the quality, which any gamer can agree takes great discipline not to grind it out for 6–8 hours a day when you have a full time job with other commitments outside of work. This is the one lesson I’ve learned the hard way. Too much of one thing becomes a bore, and isn’t as exciting, it just becomes escapism and shuts me off from the world, which can become a lonely place in a hurry.
The irony in this was that when I don’t sacrifice all of my time to the stream itself, I am able to create additional content like this blog, posting videos on IG, and reading new content to help me grow and promote my brand. Who would have thunk it?
Probably the greatest thing streaming has taught me is quite simple, but so easy to forget. When I focus on providing value to the world without expecting anything in return, my content comes alive and people are attracted to it. When I focus on numbers and followers, it allows for that insidious fear of “I’m not good enough” to take hold, all of my energy is drained by this fear and I am not of use to anyone, nor providing anything of real value.
I am amazed by how much streaming has taught me in 60 days, I can’t wait for what 6 months looks like 🙌.

