Before we rush into the next goal, the next upload, the next milestone—let’s pause for a moment. Gratitude for how far you’ve already come. Gratitude for every viewer and subscriber who chose to spend their time with you. Gratitude for YouTube being a free platform where we get to share our thoughts, skills, experiences, and stories—without permission, gatekeepers, or limits. It’s easy to normalize this. But zoom out for a second. We’re living in a time where we can connect with brilliant minds all over the world instantly. Learn from each other. Teach. Build. Create impact from our living rooms. That’s not small. That’s extraordinary. Today, just take a breath and acknowledge it.You’re not behind. You’re participating in something incredibly rare—and powerful. Grateful for this space. Grateful for this community. Grateful for you all and wishing you a happy holiday season.🤍

I just hit this huge milestone last night! I know I haven't been around on the community in a while, but I was here when Alexa first set it up. I've been busy with life, grandbabies, and yes, YT. I have spent this year really working on who I'm talking to and why, and had that elusive viral video hit in Sept. The amazing thing is, it's still getting views and subs, and also leading to increased views in my library of videos. Prior to the video hitting in late September, I had 1800 subs, my 365 watch hours had fallen to 2.2K, and I was seriously considering quitting if nothing changed by the end of the year. In over a year of monetization, I had only made $180. I hadn't even gotten a second check from YT. I just wanted to post to encourage all of you to keep working. This wasn't an "overnight" success. I've been posting every week to YT since June 2021. And I think YT finally has a clue who to show my videos to. LOL

So far, in the restart (FINALLY!) of my YouTube channel this month -after almost 10 yrs of dead silence- I’ve created and published 7 new short-form videos and 12 shorts. And just today, I got one ridiculous comment on my latest short (haha -people!)… but also today, I got 2 more subscribers. That makes 10 more subscribers than I had on Oct 31st before I restarted…hey, that’s one for each year I hadn’t uploaded anything on my channel 😜. (I’m no @Rachel Benson, @Tina Holsten, or @Mike Bayer just yet, but I’ll keep the dream alive 🥹🤩.) Slowwwww and steady, right? 🐢 I’ve gotta say, the biggest hurdle for me is the tech, not in the how, but in the WHAT…as in, my device limitations with storage and software. (I know, I know @Mike Karabell -that iPhone 12 life has me breathing my last breaths 😅.) I have to upgrade everything, after NOT needing to in yearrrrs. My biz thrived on FB referrals…and EVERYTHING was delivered live on Zoom -easy peasy. So I got comfortable in ‘that’ space. But I also got TIRED of weeding through the constant noise of the Meta platforms. (Soooo much noise!) Rediscovering YouTube as a viable solution? And coming across @Alexa Saarenoja? Whoa. Talk about serendipity. (Her fiery spunk reminds me of mine - #SistersFromOtherMisters 🤪) Yes, I’d decided to give yt the attention it merits for the B-HAGs I want to achieve. And THAT means I’ve gotta hop on these upgrades soon so that I’m not spending mindless hours just downloading and uploading from multiple apps and devices w/varying capabilities. (Cue the panic attack…nevermind. I’m in control of me, dammit. EXHAAAALE - I got this 👊.) Am I the only one? “Papa, can you hear me?” 😅

TO FIND YOUR CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE ?! THIS WAS A QUESTION ON VID iQ and I thought I would post it here 😅. Please include your channel name below it. Then we can critique it.

After over 1 year of consistent weekly uploads, I've reached 1,000 subscribers. I just want to thank @Alexa Saarenoja for starting this group when she did. I was lucky enough to find her channel way back before she was monetized and was inspired to take the plunge into YouTube because of something she said. I believe that with persistence and patience, it is possible to grow your channel and find your audience. Although I am on the slow growth path, I'm building my channel in a way that feels authentic to me. Thank you--especially to the people who were with me in that first cohort of this group. So many of you were instrumental at that time. You shared your perspective and expertise and you helped me to have the audacity to think I could do this. I will always be grateful for that. 💚