Why did you decided to work in the creative industry?
It's a long story because originally I started studying Applied Physics in 2012. I did this until 2014 but because of some personal issues I had to quit. After that I decided to give Computer Science a try but found out I didn't like it at all.
Since I loved filming as a hobby I decided to make it my career. I felt that I needed to do something more creatively. I still use aspects of my previous studies combined with my creativity and filming. This helps me to get results or ideas that people I work with normally don't think of.
However, I did decide not to go to the film academy and instead study Creative business (or Media and entertainment management) because I wanted a broad education and I think it's important to know how a business, management, finance and sales work.
why did you quit YouTube when you started to get an income?
I started doing YouTube in December 2009 and I continued doing it until November 2012.
In the first two years of my YouTube 'career' I didn't make any money and I produced three videos a week. The videos I made were fashion and make-up related.
In 2012 my video productions declined and my interests changed. I mostly preferred blogging over YouTube because the community on YouTube had changed. It became less interactive and less supportive. My website gave me the save haven I was looking for to share my content. It took away the feeling of having to compete with others for views.
I did like the journey I had as a content creator on the platform and it gave me a lot of opportunities to work with brands I normally wouldn't have worked with. I still enjoy watching videos on the platform but for now I like to keep my YouTube journey a positive memory. But who knows I might start making videos once again in the near future.
why did you decide to change your domain name?
It started out with the fact that I needed a place for my online portfolio. The host I used for my previous blog wasn't suited for that. So I decided to change hosts. While making this decision I also came to the conclusion that I wanted a more diverse domain name. I like writing about fashion and beauty but I also want the freedom to write about so much more than that.
Why english and not dutch?
When I started my YouTube channel, back in 2009, there wasn't really a market for Dutch beauty YouTubers.
My very first video was a response video to an English YouTuber, Blair Fowler. I didn't expect anything when I posted the video but people really enjoyed it. That's when I decided that I wanted to make more videos and grow my channel. Since my first video got so many positive responses from people all over the world, I felt that sticking with English was my best option.
The people who followed my YouTube channel also followed me to the different platforms I decided to use after I quit YouTube. So that's why I decided to stick with English.
I, now, feel way more comfortable with English than with Dutch. By still making content for an English speaking audience I keep my horizons broad and make it more accessible for everyone.
where did you learn your film & photography skills?
I'm mostly self taught. After I gave film, editing, photography & Photoshop a try, I found out that I really liked doing it. So I decided to teach myself how to do these things by practicing a LOT and watching tutorials online.
I currently use Adobe Premiere pro & Adobe Photoshop for all my work.
I also thought myself how to use Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Animate.
I'm planning on learning how to use Adobe After Effects in the near future.