Today we are joined by Hannah Hutson. She’s a model. She’s a Twitch streaming partner. She makes YouTube videos. She’s also a creator across all platforms.

Hannah is in the beginning stages of her creator career. We have a fascinating conversation about what platforms are doing well, what it means to be authentic online, and what it’s like to be a full-time creator.

We also talk about how to take care of your mental health, and how to support your peers when they’re dealing with the challenges of being young, creative, and living in a world where our lives are broadcast online.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to get past your self doubt and limiting beliefs
• Tips for generating revenue on multiple platforms
• How to be authentic, and how to deal with criticism
• Why networking is a huge part of being a successful creator

Links & Resources

• Fanhouse
• Opportunity: How to Win in Business and Create a Life You Love
• Follow Pico on Twitter
• Pico
• Follow Chikodi on Twitter
  

Follow Hannah on:

• Twitch
• YouTube
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Twitter
  

Episode Transcript

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00:00:00 Hannah:

A lot of opportunities that have pushed me forward in my career and have helped me grow a lot, have all come from networking with other creators. Being on screen with them. Participating in their events. Networking is a huge part of being a creator and sharing audiences who enjoy you and have similar interests, and being seen.

All of my success has come from taking advantage of the opportunities I’ve gotten from other creators.

00:00:37 Chikodi:

Hey everybody. This is Chikodi Chima, host of the Creator Business Show. Today we are joined by Hannah Hutson. She was studying computer science at Cal, and has switched her major to political science.

She’s a model. She’s a Twitch streaming partner. She makes YouTube videos. And she’s a creator across all platforms. She’s in the beginning stages of her career. It’s fascinating conversation we’re going to have with her today, talking about what platforms are doing well, what does it mean to be really authentic online, and what does it mean to be a full-time creator.

We also talk about how you can take care of your mental health, and how to support peers when they’re dealing with the different challenges of being young, creative, and living in a world where our whole lives are broadcasted online.

Stick around for the episode. We’re going to have a great conversation, and thank you for joining us on the Creator Business Show.

Hannah, why don’t you give us a quick intro of who you are and what you do.

00:01:43 Hannah:

My name is Hannah Hutson. I go by HanHuts on my social media platforms. I started streaming on Twitch a year ago last January, and got partnered. I like to talk about mental health issues, I do some political commentary, and get into spirituality, and just exist online as myself, which I think is really cool.

Recently I’ve transitioned into doing YouTube videos. I’ve been blogging on there and making videos of my streams. Then I create some content for Instagram and TikTok as well.

00:02:14 Chikodi:

Awesome. Awesome. You graduated from Cal during the pandemic, right?

00:02:19 Hannah:

I actually didn’t graduate. I did two years at Cal. I studied computer science, and then during the pandemic I decided to take the year off just because I’m paying for tuition myself, and being out of state it’s 50K a year. I did not feel like paying 50K for online classes.

Then I moved back to Oakland. I was planning on resuming classes this past fall, but I also ended up not doing that because of the 50K. I decided to take another year off. If I do decide to go back, I’ll only have that in-state tuition.

00:02:58 Chikodi:

Well, we’ve got our fingers crossed for you.

00:03:00 Hannah:

Yeah. But I switched to, I was planning on switching to political science instead.

00:03:04 Chikodi:

Okay. But computer science is, quite reputable. Computer science, political science are quite reputable at a count,

00:03:11 Hannah:

Oh yeah. It’s a great school.

00:03:14 Chikodi:

Wow. Okay. So we’re talking to you, you’re in Colorado right now. It’s where you’re from. you are. pause to student, shall we say at,

00:03:22 Hannah:

Yeah. Yeah. I’ve paused.

00:03:25 Chikodi:

So you are, I know you’ve got about 10,000, Instagram followers and, a sizable audience on a TikTok.

00:03:34 Hannah:

Well, I’d say TikTok is a two sizeable. I think it’s my, it’s definitely my smallest platform. I think recently it’s been really difficult to grow on TikTok. I remember when I first started like just posting for fun in 2019, my anything I posted would get like a lot more views than I’m posting now. But I think since the pandemic hit, there’s just been so many more new users and people posting content that the platforms become really kind of oversaturated.

It’s a little harder to. get discovered, but I’m working on it.

00:04:07 Chikodi:

Okay. Awesome. Awesome. Okay. Yeah. So, most sizable, audience on Twitch, my, my bed and your Twitch partner. So what does that actually, what does that actually mean?

00:04:19 Hannah:

So being a Twitch partner, you basically get just, a better line of communication with Twitch. Like anything you need help with or any questions you have. it’s a little easier to get that. you also get more emotes slots, which is like, one of the reasons people subscribe to you on Twitch.

You get that little check mark by your name. I think maybe a little more visibility and then just like partner, perks, surveys, things they do as partners. but unfortunately, as far as revenue goes, Not much. so that’s one of the big things that people are fighting for on Twitch right now is having a higher revenue split at least for partners right now.

If your partner, do you still get the same 50, 50 revenue split as affiliates do, but for their big streamers, they have contracts where they get higher numbers, in higher percentages. So it’s a little uneven, it’s not fair between all switch partners right now. It definitely depends on the size of your audience.

So

00:05:20 Chikodi:

Well, I’m really grateful for you coming on the show today because, you are of college age, right? So you’re, young. so Sarah, you’re a young person and, you are like native to these creative plus. YouTube, I think is from 2006. Right. So you’ve never really like lived in a world with how YouTube

00:05:46 Hannah:

No. And I mean, it’s funny, like even being native to those platforms and being on them since they came up, it’s crazy still to see how different the YouTube of today is. Then when I was first watching it as a, you know, like in middle school and stuff, it’s just completely different. So it’s been interesting, but it’s nice, at least having the advantage of somewhat growing up with it, you know?

00:06:10 Chikodi:

Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, getting to talk today about mental health topics, both as a human, and then also as a creator, I think they really vary. Informative for a lot of people because it’s not easy to be a creator and it’s not, it’s not easy to be a human, but it’s not easy to live your life online and really open yourself up for a judgment and, you know, even more so of like, you know, self criticism, self, self reflection.

So I hope we can spend some time talking about that and how that is, both a, a pursuit of passion and also how that’s, you know, generating revenue as a business.

00:06:51 Hannah:

Yeah, definitely. I have a lot to say about that. It’s basically what I talk about normally on stream and also just a main factor in my life is how to deal with that. And so I’m still not perfect at it yet. There’s definitely a lot of, knowledge that I at least have about it.

00:07:08 Chikodi:

Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, one of the things that’s fascinating to me is that You have a few very different personas. You know, you’re the same person, but very different on Instagram from, YouTube. then, you get to speak at length on your Twitch stream. So, how do you, how do you see yourself as a creator online?

How do you describe yourself as a creator?

00:07:34 Hannah:

So that has been, a little bit difficult for me because one, when you’re doing what I’m doing and it’s not really, like I have a product I’m marketing or a niche that I’m trying to do, or I’m a gamer or anything, when I’m online, I’m really trying to be myself market myself as a human being and have people like my personality.

And so. It’s hard to know who you are as a person when you’re not on the internet, it’s hard to figure out who you are. so doing that while being on the internet has been a little difficult because there are so many parts of myself and all of those are authentic and real, but it’s difficult to figure out how to express all of those online.

That’s why with my platforms, I’ve struggled with a bit becoming the full integration and a full brand of myself, just because I’m not sure how to do that yet on every platform. it is a vulnerable thing to do. And so I think that’s why I started Twitch in The first place because I can be live be myself and talk for five hours, it’s, I think that’s definitely where I am my most authentic. And that’s where my community comes from. That’s where my fan base comes from seeing me as I am just talking to people. And that’s really easy. then with YouTube, it’s really nice. because when I vlog you get to see what I do outside of just being on my PC how I interact with my family and my friends and what I do when I’m not on the internet.

So that’s really nice too. with Instagram, you know, right now it’s like, I use that platform a bit separately to, show a part of myself, just like taking photos and then possibly working with brands and stuff. what I really want to do is figure out how to bring it all together in a cohesive way.

So I can also really authentically express myself on all of my platforms and have them be more tied in, because I think, when you’re talking about being a creator being a brand and marketing yourself, it’s important that it’s cohesive. And you’re not a different person on different things with different personas, because that’s not what I’m trying to do.

I’m not a persona. These are all parts of me, but I want to integrate them more all together. it’s just a little difficult to do that.

00:10:04 Chikodi:

And so how do you describe yourself as a creator?

00:10:06 Hannah:

Honestly, that’s something I’ve been trying to figure out. I would say it’s hard because I’m trying to figure myself out as a person. when I originally started doing anything, even wanting to stream on Twitch. I was like, okay, what am I passionate about? Because it really Wasn’t computer science.

That’s not who I am as a person. so I got really into politics. that’s why I originally started, as a political commentator. now I’m figuring out reevaluating, okay, what are my passions? What are my values? What do I want to bring to people as a creator? What do I want to give to people as my value?

Right now for me, It’s just really me being myself. But as a creator, I would say my niche has a lot to do with, self-help, mental health spirituality, and really, really authentic, genuine, like interactions with people, teaching people how to change and that it’s okay to change and that people can be whoever they want to be at any time.

And, you know, how to get rid of those limiting self beliefs really pursue your passions and not have a fear based on what society tells you can do, what you thought you could do your whole life based on what other people thought of you. really breaking through those boundaries.

It’s difficult because in order to do that and to teach that to people, I have to do that myself. So that’s been, the journey I’ve been on is really. You know, not only being able to speak about that because it’s the thing where you always give really good advice to people and you know, it’s right.

But you, don’t always take it yourself because it’s hard. It’s hard to do. as I continue to really learn how to not care, what other people think, embrace who I am and share that online. I think my content, who is I, who I am as a creator, will become a little more apparent, easier to communicate with people as I really embody that myself,

00:12:15 Chikodi:

Yeah. Okay. So, you mentioned, Instagram helps you, connect with sponsors and what have you, so what are your, what are your revenue streams as a creator right now?

00:12:25 Hannah:

Right now it’s not great. To be honest with you. most of my revenue originally came from Twitch. it’s all subscriptions and donations still, most of my revenue comes from Twitch. I have been able to. Get a few brand deals and I have different tiers for what I charge for posts, videos, reels, and that kind of thing.

I sometimes work with brands in exchange for a free product because I am stepping into the market and it’d be, it’s good to build up my portfolio and resume of big brands I’ve worked with, even if it’s just, product exchange at this point. then on Instagram with reels, you can actually make money.

If you’re in the Creator program with. It’s like the, I don’t know how they do it. Exactly. If people see ads on reels, I’ve personally never used Instagram reels besides posting them. So I, don’t know. I’ve never scrolled through. but I, they, I guess they pay you per view. that’s been really nice as well because usually my, reels get a little upwards over 10k So, it’s a good amount of money. then I’ve been pursuing modeling recently and they find me through Instagram sometimes. So that’s really nice. I get paid for shoots. yeah, that’s about how I’m making my money right now. then I have a Fanhouse as well, which is a safe-for-work platform that people can subscribe to and also tip on.

I share some more private parts of my life and, photos, I don’t post to other places, so yeah.

00:13:57 Chikodi:

Yeah. I’m Not familiar with Fanhouse but,

00:14:00 Hannah:

Yeah. It’s a pretty new platform. Not a lot of people. are

00:14:03 Chikodi:

Okay. But you can catch that wave early. Like you said, you were able to do with a TikTok when it really took off in this country.

00:14:09 Hannah:

Yeah.

00:14:11 Chikodi:

What kind of support do you have in your creative endeavors?

00:14:15 Hannah:

Well, I wouldn’t really say I have any support. I am a hyper-independent person and I’m working towards not being that way, but a lot of the opportunities that have really pushed me forward in my career and have helped me grow a lot, have all come from networking with other creators, being on stream with them, participating in their events, and being with them on social media.

Networking is such a huge part of being a creator and sharing audiences who, enjoy you have similar interests and really being seen. I’ve been the most fortunate. With my connections with other people and the other streamers I know on Twitch, how I even got a huge audience in the first place was, I won a dating show on Twitch.

From that, I actually bought my base following. In my first stream, I averaged 400 viewers, which was, you know, really huge on Twitch. It’s it was really nice and it was a really nice start. So all of my successes really come from taking advantage of those opportunities.

I’ve gotten from other creators

00:15:30 Chikodi:

That’s fantastic. That’s fantastic. so I want to, while we’re on the topic of, the business side of things, you know, one of the videos I saw on your YouTube was you were talking about how in high school, you know, you were really struggling financially and your friends would actually bring extra lunch for you or share their lunch with you.

So you had something to eat at school. And so it sounds like you are finding your way as a creative business person, but how do you reconcile that kind of, financial instability and that, uncertainty with the current uncertainty of, you know, growing, your income on these platforms that you don’t, you don’t have full control over.

00:16:13 Hannah:

Yeah. I would say obviously based on that, I’ve struggled with financial insecurity, my entire life. I was raised by, a lower middle class, single mom. She was a personal assistant. My dad was a pretty absent bartender. it wasn’t, much money has always been a huge factor, just for me growing up.

It was actually the reason originally I decided to pursue computer science at Berkeley because I was like, okay, go to school immediately after a six-figure job money’s taken care of. it was a really huge deal for me to. Take the leap to really believe in myself and pursue this career path where money is very uncertain and, you don’t get a paycheck for the amount of hours you put in you don’t go to work do this.

And then you get that money. It’s a super unstable field. and it’s a super unstable source of revenue. originally when I started on Twitch, I was like, this is amazing because, I was making more, just having fun and doing whatever than I did in my other jobs. And it was great. then I got unemployment from the government.

So I was able to, before I started streaming and I was able to save all of that money to really, use that, to invest in the equipment I needed and to support me while I pursued that creative endeavor. So I was definitely, I definitely could not have done it without Unemployment, money, to be honest with you, it was a huge deal for me you can still do it.

Starting out when you have a job and you have stable income pursuing it as a as a hobby or a thing you do outside of that, just to test the waters on how much money you can get. most people do that quit their jobs and pursue it full-time when they see that, you know, it’s more of a stable option for them. So I didn’t do that right now. kind of the thing for me is like, I’m not doing great financially right now, and it’s kind of between like, okay, well, do I get a job? or do I just keep working really hard at this? And it’s really part of my mental health too. I think that’s been my main focus. And so if I have a job, it’s like, when do I have time to work on myself?

So it’s just, it’s, it’s a lot. And so I’ve been very fortunate and I think. I’m a lot. I’m just a big risk taker. I think, I don’t my brain doesn’t really work the way probably a normal person’s would. So I I’m okay with not having anything and just not having anything to lose and just pursuing it. So that’s kind of what I do. I think if you believe in yourself and you’re passionate about what you’re doing and you’re going to do anything to make it work and keep bettering yourself and pushing forward, but you’re going to succeed. So, even though right now, I don’t have much income it’s also because I don’t think I’ve really been putting out a lot of content or trying as hard to do that as I could just because I’m figuring out so much behind the scenes of what I want that to look like and, who I am and my schedule and that sort of thing.

So, I’m pretty optimistic that as soon as I figure out everything it’s going to be, it’s going to be good.

00:19:37 Chikodi:

Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, what does, what does your mental health routine look like? Because you know, that’s something you’ve talked about, we’ve just alluding to it. So, you know, as, far as, both a creator and as a person, but, you know, I guess as a creator, putting yourself out there and being vulnerable, how do you take care of your mental health and what does your routine look like to, to take care of your mental health?

00:20:00 Hannah:

Yeah. you know, even without being creator, mental health is a huge issue. it’s been a huge issue for me all my life. And I think like, even me taking the step to start streaming on Twitch, I had to do a lot of work, in overcoming a lot of fear of judgment of others and insecurities. I had about myself about putting myself online and being live in front of an audience. My mental health routine for that. And what am, I need to go back to again, because recently I’ve posted a lot of reels on Instagram and I don’t really care about the comments. I think they’re all stupid. like it’s, it just doesn’t even make sense. I don’t understand them, but it still annoys me.

And sometimes I’m like, okay, should I respond? should I just let it go? it’s hard when you get negativity online to know what to do with it, but a huge part of that for me, has been really stepping away from my ego and, kind of just trying as often as I can, to really chop away at that ego and keep going through ego death and realizing like, you know, people are perceiving me a certain way, because of how they perceive their own worlds in themselves.

You know, all I can do is be authentic and stand behind what I’m doing. as long as I know what I’m doing and for what reasons, and I can defend myself for that, then it really doesn’t matter to me what other people are saying. I still have to release some fear of judgment and it, because it takes a lot to be vulnerable because when you put, an authentic, cause when you put on a persona online, a lot of people do, a lot of people are super successful off the personas.

They put on, when you get negativity from that, it’s really not the same because you’re like, people are going to hate that. Oh yeah, it’s a controversial persona. But when you’re yourself, very openly, it can be a little harder to take that criticism and to take that negativity.

I’ve just been learning to separate myself from that and just not caring about what other people think. And so that’s not the biggest thing. About like mental health wise. I think like other people I’ve never really cared about judgment from other people too much. I think it’s always been about being super self-critical and having that, perfectionism, which is really detrimental to creativity and putting yourself out there.

It’s the reason why I haven’t been able to put a lot out, because whenever I want to do something, I feel like it takes so long or it’s never good enough, or I’m not at that skill level yet to produce what I want to produce. so I just ended up not doing it. It’s really frustrating learning how to put out things, even if it’s not the best thing in the world, just because to get there takes a lot of practice and, you have to start somewhere Besides being a creator, I really want to pursue music. And that’s been the hardest thing for me to start because I want my first song to sound like it’s already a radio hit. that’s not how people start. That’s not where anyone starts. so it’s just really hard. I think that’s a huge creativity block and a huge thing with mental health getting frustrated with yourself and, not feeling like you’re good enough not feeling like you can do those things and feeling like maybe this is not for me.

I can’t really, I can imagine the finished product, but I can’t imagine the journey getting there. And the failures it’ll take, it’s hard to do. So my routine is just breathing. I started meditating every morning and every night, just yoga. it’s so important to really be able to take a step away, especially when your personality is your job and being online is.

Your job Like, it’s very hard, but you need to learn how to separate time for yourself and things you do just for you and being online. that was hard for me because everything I did, I wanted to film it I wanted to post it and I wanted to share it. then there was nothing I was doing for myself that in the back of my head, I wasn’t thinking about, how do I make content from this?

So it’s really important to separate the two and have that time to make content and be that person. And then also just experience life for yourself and not, as content online.

00:24:49 Chikodi:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I’m 40, right? So, there was a time before everything was online, you know, it’s like, there are pictures of me in high school, things that, you know, fortunately, no one’s going to be able to Google, but, the exist on film. So that is a really interesting phenomenon of really having grown up online and what that means in terms of like, yeah, maybe this is content, or maybe this is more of a private moment, but like you said, existing online really forces you to choose like, am I, am I creating?

Am I just being, you know, so I find that really interesting. And then, you know, your peers, it sounds good. It sounds like you have a lot of peers who are also creators in the, in the early stages of the.

Careers as well. So when you are in your peer group of early stage creators, what do you talk about in terms of how to maintain mental health?

00:25:46 Hannah:

What’s my what’s my peers. I don’t know. I would say I maybe don’t talk with them too much about maintaining mental health. I think it’s. We discuss, you know, where they’re going and their careers like things that they want to do, that sort of thing. And mental health is always kind of like, and over an overarching theme of everything.

Like, I think I’ve gotten some really great advice from, I have, like, most of my friends are older, like late twenties, early thirties, who are some who have had careers in social media and like I have to step away or whatever. And so, one of my really good friends who’s in the social media space. She used to kind of be pursuing it more as a creator, but now as like a social media manager and kind of behind the scenes and she, has just been going to therapy and seeing someone kind of discussing everything with them, and I would recommend therapy to everyone, even if you’re not a creator, like, please it’s a good thing. but. It’s really just about, I mean, she’s let him gave me the advice where like, you know, I can have days, oh, this is the really good advice she gave me. So you go into a creative period where you’re not posting online when you’re not doing anything. And you’re just by yourself and really in that creative space and you’re creating for you and not through other people.

And then after that, you go into the mode of sharing and marketing or doing whatever with your creations. And she gave me the example of, you know, Adele, basically, she didn’t do, she didn’t do any like interviews or any like media work for the year. She was just working on her album. And then once it comes out, she’s doing everything.

It’s the biggest album in the world. You know what I mean? So I think when you’re a social media presence, you still should realize you don’t have to be. On social media all the time. Like it’s hard because for the algorithms they want you to post every day. They like, I’d say talk like multiple times a day.

So it’s hard when you feel like you have to keep up and do something every day, or you’re going to lose out on views, lose out on followers and visibility. So that’s really difficult. But I think at the end of the day, it is always going to be a quality over quantity. And so if you just need to take that time to really create and produce quality things, it’s better than just like constantly having to be online and posting and not taking that time for yourself to really come back to center, know who you are, know that you’re not just someone online and you’re a human being and you, because you, even if you didn’t have any followers, any social media presence, you are still everything you are, even if you don’t post it on.

00:28:41 Chikodi:

Can we go back to what you said just a second ago also about when you put yourself out there as yourself online, having to deal with hate. So what does that, what is your process of dealing with people’s negative feelings when you are showing up authentically on different social platforms?

00:29:00 Hannah:

Well, it’s actually interesting because I feel like for me, it’s been interesting because I really haven’t gotten any hate when I’m onto it. Like when I’m just myself being who I am, like, even if people do come in haters, it’s very easy to just be myself and convert them because I don’t have those huge reactions to it.

And I’m just like, whatever dude, you know? But, so I think what I’ve found is when I do get the hate, it’s when people are misperceiving, who I am authentic. And so for me that’s been difficult because it just means that I need to work on communicating who I am, but it’s also at the same time, it’s like, I should be able to post these things.

And like, cause there are still things that happen to me. They’re still like true. They’re not like fake, you know, but it’s hard if you just see one video, and that’s it, that’s all, you know with me, then you get this whole idea of who I am as a person and then you paid it And you. call not even though that’s not me at all. so I feel like most of the hate I received is from me not being seen as my authentic self. And so that’s something I’m working on communicating more. But, so that’s why also like it’s frustrating when I get those hate comments, but at the same time, like even if you are completely yourself on the internet and people hate that they still don’t know you and even in real life, No, your parents can say something, your friends can say something and they still don’t know all you are, and they still are having their own issues that they’re projecting on to you. So it’s really just about, no matter if it’s strangers on the internet or your best friend, like really knowing yourself and who you are and believing in that and standing in that and not letting other people’s opinions influence that.

00:30:56 Chikodi:

And so you’re talking, are you talking specifically about the discrepancy between, you know, modeling on the internet versus, you know, talking about politics and well, three distribution

00:31:07 Hannah:

Yeah. cause definitely, cause the hate I get is, you know, it’s videos on Instagram where I’ll tell like, a story from four years ago about. funny like Luke, most recently I got a million views on this, real I did, that was just like a comment someone made after we had sex and there, and there was so much hate in those comments and it was just like, that was four years ago and people are so mad at me.

I don’t know. I just don’t know. I like men just, don’t like to see women be open about anything, like really that’s about it. So all the hate I’ve gotten is from men. There really hasn’t been any, women on there, So that, and then the other video I got hate on everyone was body shaming. me which I thought was interesting.

Everyone was telling me to eat and like that my ribs work gross and I was too skinny. And so I looked at that and I was like, okay, that really didn’t affect me at all because, one thing, like I’m very often in my appearance and so I can get a little more, insecure when people comment on my personality.

Just because I think that’s more vulnerable for me, but body-wise like, everyone has an opinion on someone’s appearance. So I really it really doesn’t bother me. but yeah, like being on Instagram and being, you know, having the photos I do, I think it comes across. Like, I can be very like sensual and I post like, you know, in scandalous things and whatever, even if it’s not inherently sexual.

And I think people get an idea of me from that even though really I’m just expressing that side of myself because I kind of view it more as like art. And I really do like my appearance and I really like to take photographs and I like fashion, and I really liked that aspect. But if you just see my Instagram, you’re going to get the wrong impression of me.

And I think like that’s annoying because one, I think women can be. You know, sexual and beautiful and who’s themselves, however they want and still be smart and, you know, really good people and educated. And I think that assumption shouldn’t be made immediately by seeing those pictures of someone, not someone’s a certain way, but that’s just kind of how it is, on the internet and what the assumptions people make about everyone.

So it just kind of is what it is.

00:33:32 Chikodi:

Yeah, I mean, tuning into your, your Twitch and you’re talking about, you know, the elections and things like that, and really taking on political topics with a, with a, maturity and a depth, is definitely, a different side let’s say than, you know, modeling shots on Instagram. But one thing I will say is that if, people are hating, at least they’re paying attention and part of this economy is about attention, right?

00:34:01 Hannah:

Oh 100%. I mean, the reason why, but real got a million views was because there were so many people commenting on it. And even if those are hate comments, the algorithm doesn’t know that, you

00:34:15 Chikodi:

No, it does know it. And it does like it. I think that’s, one of the interesting things that we learned. in the revelations from these, Facebook, what caused Facebook to change its name recently was that they actually do know that these hate comments drive more engagement in there.

They’re driving people towards stuff that they’re going to hate on.

00:34:36 Hannah:

Well, regardless, it just gets my numbers. So. I really don’t mind, like sometimes because I mean, comments and John hate or whatever, interactions with posts is what you sit in the algorithm, whether in comments really do that shares do that. So that’s why you’ll see so many controversial things or things where people are just hating on it in the comments is because that’s, what’s boosting it and getting it, all those views.

So that’s another thing I’ve learned why I really don’t care is because any time that happens and he’s like, okay, awesome. This video is going to blow up now. And with all the hate and people who see that also comes people don’t hate it and who followed me. And so, you know, when that happens and I get a bunch of hate comments, whatever, but if I get 500 followers from it, then I don’t really mind.

00:35:29 Chikodi:

Yeah, there was one of your Instagram posts that I still, it brings a smile to my face because you said something like, I’m sorry, I made you go far from God.

00:35:39 Hannah:

Oh, yeah. Well, it was just, I don’t even know if this was like a real comment or like a bot, but someone did this whole like Christian, Bible thing in my comments where it’s like, don’t show this don’t, you know, don’t show skin, whatever you’re going to cause people to sin, like whatever.

And like, you know, you should power up.

And so I just posted like a photo of my butt with the comment as a screenshot, I was like, okay.

00:36:09 Chikodi:

I thought that was very.

00:36:10 Hannah:

Yeah.

00:36:12 Chikodi:

You’re early in your career and you are creator across a multitude of platforms. You have peers who are doing the same thing. Like what do you imagine? The future looks like as a creator?

00:36:26 Hannah:

It’s a good future. I think I also think it’s going to be in the near future, like 20, 22. I don’t know. I have a feeling it’s going to be a good year, but as a creator, I really see myself diving deeper into the niche of spirituality and self-help. And I think doing that also when you have a new. Really builds the audience and community you want.

So the goal is to get people who are also interested in that and not just hating on it, but another reason why I think it’s going to do well is because some people have such strong opinions against spirituality and everything on me saying that I think it’ll be a healthy mix of people hating on it to get it seen.

But being a creator, I plan on really, being more consistent with Twitch. Again, I kind of took a little break from doing that and I’m going to start doing like a therapy one-on-one sessions with my viewers, having like my friends on just kind of switching that around and, just being more consistent with that.

And then being more consistent with YouTube and blogging and then also taking videos from stream. So I gained more of, who I am on switch on to my YouTube as well. Cause I only have a couple of videos for my Twitch stream on there. And then just also. Making TikTok and reels and, YouTube shorts about the subjects.

I’m interested in a casual videos of my life. Like, I, I really am just going to be sharing more of who I am and making that connection and figuring out how to communicate that. And I think from there once it’s, more cohesive and I have like a pretty strong brand identity that people can recognize and, get behind, I think that’ll really solidify who I am as a creator.

00:38:16 Chikodi:

Any thought to integrating the a couple of years that you were studying computer science at Cal and the, the, the background that, cause that’s not a small thing. I mean, like I would, I wouldn’t set foot in a computer science classroom in my life. So to do that takes a lot of courage and obviously you have to have some skills.

00:38:35 Hannah:

Yeah. I definitely. Definitely. I, I forgot a lot of it. I would have to kind of revisit the material if I were to any grade. But, I think with that, I’ve just always been really tech savvy. And I think that definitely comes in handy when you’re doing things online and being a creator. even with building my website that, I’m going to do, I’m editing my videos, making graphics for Twitch.

It just kind of all integrates together. but as far as like coding goes, I don’t think I’ll be your computer science content creator. Anytime soon.

00:39:13 Chikodi:

Just,

00:39:14 Hannah:

I have, I have a friend, I have a friend who does that she has a lot of like, she, she makes like comp side take talks and that kind of thing. So I won’t be doing that, but it always comes in handy.

Just being really comfortable with technology.

00:39:29 Chikodi:

Sure, sure. But I mean, just, just pulling that, out and saying like, Hey, I studied comps. I had. gives a whole, it gives more gravitas to all the other things that you do. Cause you’re like, well, I could do that, but I’m choosing to do this.

00:39:43 Hannah:

Yeah. Yeah.

00:39:45 Chikodi:

These different facets of your

00:39:46 Hannah:

Yeah. And I think that was a big reason why I even wanted to graduate and get the degree in the first place was to just have that and say, oh, well, you know, I graduated from Cal year science. Like, what are you going to say, to me? But I think like, a big part of that for me, has been realizing like, I am still an extremely intelligent and educated person with, or without a degree.

And I think like, oh no, that does give me credibility. And people who don’t know me, I still don’t think that. I need that. And I should just be able to be who I am and say, but I have to say, and still be respected for it. And so, you know, when people comment on under videos, like, you’re says stupid, like you’re just posting this cause you can never do anything, blah, blah, blah.

Then I’ll be like, okay, well I studied computer science at Cal. Like, because those people need it. You know what I mean? So just kind of get them to shut up, but it’s not really something I necessarily like say immediately.

00:40:53 Chikodi:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, or, feeding the trolls, you

00:40:57 Hannah:

Yeah. I pick and choose my battles, you know?

00:41:02 Chikodi:

W what’s the common denominator or is there a common denominator if you’re generating this kind of, you know, engagement and controversy sometimes, or maybe not contrast, but definitely strong feelings.

00:41:14 Hannah:

Yeah, I think the common denominator is just, I think anything remotely sexual or like posting like a thirst trap or, anything about my sex life. I think that it’s like immediately all the men have an opinion about it. so that’s kind of been the common denominator even on switch. I think that’s what it’s been too, although on Twitch, I’d say I get more hate for my politics because it’s not exactly easy to be a socialist on the internet.

Either you get a, you get lots of hate for your political views, but that’s just a. A very normal part of the space. So it’s not really anything personal, but you know, at least try personal attacks with it.

00:42:01 Chikodi:

I have an opinion about a third strap though.

00:42:02 Hannah:

Yeah, they do. And you know, whether it’s some positive or negative about my body or my personality or who I am, it just really doesn’t matter. cause I post them for me. I like them. It’s like art, it’s an art form to me. So it just is what it is.

00:42:20 Chikodi:

There’s trap with the purpose there’s goals. Huh?

00:42:23 Hannah:

Well, yeah, I did do, a thirst trap for the election where I was wearing a Bernie shirt and, that was a very successful there’s job for politics and my political agenda. So.

00:42:38 Chikodi:

Do you know of anyone? registered to vote because they saw that post

00:42:43 Hannah:

You know, actually, I think I got a couple of comments or DM saying they did, you know, and actually I think that was one of the major reasons why I was even able to, oh, on the dating show that I was on, was because the dating show is, for a political commentator and he saw that post. So it did a lot for my career.

It really did.

00:43:04 Chikodi:

That’s great. That’s great proof, positive proof, positive. what’s her name? Ventura. I think she. data Justin Bieber at one point, but she’s like an animal rights activist. And so it’s like, she does thirst traps for animal rights, but people pay attention. I mean, it’s like, yeah, it’s easy to criticize.

It’s easy to say, oh, this is whatever, but it’s like, yeah, it got people’s attention. So it’s like, how do you then take that attention? And, you know, take, take the, take the Baton and run with it. So that’s really what this, I mean, that’s, to me what’s really fascinating about this conversation is that really the future is wide open, for you because you’re, if you plan to go back to school, if you don’t plan back, like If you were to find sustainable traction as a creator, in terms of paying, you know, monthly expenses and you see a future, would that potentially dissuade you from going back to school and completing a degree?

00:44:01 Hannah:

Yeah. absolutely. Does. No. I think if I wanted to, I can complete my degree at a different time. My life is not something I wanted, but currently it’s like, you know, going to school, getting that degree. That’s the ton of time and a ton of money, especially at pal, you know, like those classes there, it’s not, it’s not a joke, you know? I mean, it’s pretty intense going to Berkeley and, I don’t see why I would spend all of that time and all of that money to get a degree when I know that I’m never going to have to use that degree and especially studying political science. But I think I can be an activist and have an opinion on politics without having a degree, especially because I think a lot of my politics and my views on policy come from a very human approach.

And so it was like, I don’t want to be debating anyone on w U S history or, you know, all these different, like economics, like the reason why I’m so passionate about politics is from a human and humanitarian perspective. And so I can argue my views without really having to go through that program and I can educate myself, without going to school too, and I can be educated.

So I just don’t really see the need for it, but we’ll see if that’s something I decided to do in the future for fun.

00:45:28 Chikodi:

I mean, we’re, we’re in a moment in, the convergence of art technology, finance with NFTE, certainly where there are people that are either dropping out or leaving the first job they’ve ever had and saying, I’m just going to trade in FTS full-time and they’re making more money, or, you know, you have influencers like on TikTok where they’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars a month talking about personal finance.

And whether you go to college or not, if the audience agrees with what you are putting out there, or if they hate it, but they’re engaging with it, then, that’s a whole new way to make a living. And so it’s like you’re really generation one, the first kind of cohort of people where this is a valid career decision to make

00:46:10 Hannah:

Yeah.

00:46:11 Chikodi:

Really, really fascinating.

00:46:12 Hannah:

Yeah. And that’s why part of what I want to do is really encourage everyone to pursue. What they’re passionate about is because we live in a time right now, where you can really make money doing anything you’re passionate about. If you find a niche and you just make that thing and you post it onto your talk, you can make a living off of that.

It’s very easy to make a living. Off of things, online now, just do in working from home and just being you, or, and it’s not meant for everyone, you know, it’s still like a difficult thing to do and you kind of have to have a certain personality and interest in doing that, but it’s definitely possible for anyone who wants to do that.

00:46:52 Chikodi:

Yeah. You know, when I got like 600 views on a TikTok, I was like, man, maybe, maybe, there is a career for me, but I think I still need a few hundred million more before

00:47:05 Hannah:

Yeah, yeah.

00:47:07 Chikodi:

Know, like subscribe to my TikTok after this and I’ll have

00:47:10 Hannah:

Yeah. That’s why, you know, I make, I make content for TikTok, but every TikTok I post, I just posted on Instagram because you get so much better views with reels. It’s insane. Like, you know, it might TikTok, the real I posted that got a million views. Like you got a million views on Instagram and it got a thousand on.

00:47:31 Chikodi:

Wow.

00:47:32 Hannah:

You kind of have to use those platforms.

00:47:35 Chikodi:

Yeah. I’m sure. I’m sure. you know, to your, to your point, you were saying, just a moment ago that you as a, in the trenches political thinker, don’t need to have the political science degree. You know, so some of the things for me, like I went to Columbia journalism school, it was great.

It was expensive. There were pros and cons, but then the majority of the, well, most people in the world will never go to Columbia journalism school. It’s only a few hundred people graduate a year, so just right off the bat, but then even in journalism, most journalists don’t go to journalism school either.

So it’s like the time that you spend actually doing the thing can very much outweigh learning about the thing in order to do the thing. And that’s, again, with these publishing platforms where you can build an audience of people who. Who like, and, agree with, or once we engage with the content, it’s like, yeah. I’m I decided to be an expert and therefore I’m an expert.

00:48:37 Hannah:

Sure. Yeah. And I think, you know, the value in education beyond just, the degree is that, repeated practice of those things in your field, like, I’m sure you have to turn in so many projects and things and you get feedback on them and critique that make you better, you know, without the decree. No,

I would say

00:48:58 Chikodi:

No, no. no. So I’m, I’m just, I’m I’m nodding my head because I thought when I was in journalism school in 2008 to 2009 and YouTube, I don’t know, 2005, whatever it was. So YouTube was really kind of crowded and busy back then. I was like, I don’t want to put my videos on YouTube. So we used other platforms.

For video hosting for like classwork. I did some really amazing classwork, and it’s gone forever because the platforms we put it on were free, but they disappeared and YouTube was free also, but I didn’t want to see those like spammy videos and what have you. So I just ignored you too, but I’m like, man.

So when you were talking about that, I’m just thinking about all of the work that’s gone, which is a risk, you know, cause there’s like a Quimbee if you were into vine, I mean, probably that’s even before your time, it’s like all vine has gone,

00:49:55 Hannah:

Yeah, there’s still like compilations and stuff saying, but you know, I can’t go back to my lights on. Yeah. I mean, I can’t go back to my lights on blind, you know, my accounts, so it’s sad, but I think that was like the reason I was thinking that studying political science might be good, even though I don’t use the degree access because I get that practice of debating people in class, writing those papers and really just like solidifying all that knowledge.

So it’s easier for me to talk about, but, I still just think with repeated practice, you could do that. And it was a little bit of an actionism thing where it’s like, oh, well I need to be an expert in order to even do this, but you don’t have to, you can just start.

00:50:35 Chikodi:

So, you’re talking about leveraging different platforms.

You have a real on Instagram that did a million views and the same exact content just put on TikTok, did a thousand views. Where do you need support? Where do you want the platforms to be better to, to help you advance in your career as a creator?

00:50:58 Hannah:

I would say it’d be nice if TikTok could be a little more helpful in also be nice. You know, I don’t, it’s interesting with YouTube as a platform because I really, I liked my YouTube videos and, it’s, I think something I put the most effort into just with all my editing and stuff, but. I don’t really know how discoverability even works on that platform.

Be honest with you. So it would definitely be nice to have a little more help with YouTube and that algorithm, once again, it’s just, I think so hard because of how massive the platform is. And so I think it’s the kind of the same thing with TikTok. Like it’s massive. I think because Instagram reels are so new, that’s part of why I had to get into it is because there’s still not a ton of people making reels right now, which is why I’m getting those views.

It’s because they’re pushing their reels a lot. And so I’m like, that’s why Instagram has a great platform for that. So it’d be nice, with chick talking to you too, to kind of have more support in that area. But I think it’s part of just learning what the algorithm likes, directing traffic from your biggest platforms to those smaller ones and just kind of working from there.

00:52:16 Chikodi:

Speaking of which, what are you doing to engage with your, your audience and viewers off of.

00:52:25 Hannah:

Well, I have a discord and So my discord community, it’s really all my viewers from Twitch. So I’m like, I don’t think anyone on Instagram, like is joining my discord. It’s almost my trades community, but from the Twitch is my biggest platform. So from my Twitch community, I’m able to connect with them, tell them about what’s going on my life.

If I haven’t been streaming a lot. just so they’re constantly engaged even when I’m not posting that content. I think Instagram and Twitter are also big for me as far as just like posting daily stories about my life and. Just always doing that. And so always having something, even though I’m not like posting, I have stories, I tweet what’s going on. and so I think just kind of being like active casually, is a good way to connect with people. And then I have my fan house too. and on. there, people can actually DM me directly and I’ll answer, but you got to pay to do that because I’m not doing otherwise.

00:53:33 Chikodi:

Not doing that to, to

00:53:35 Hannah:

No, I don’t answer. And oh my God, my Instagram DM inbox is just insane and I don’t accept any of them, but if you’re paying like $7 a month, like, and you’re a fan of mine and you send nice messages and responding to them on.

00:53:53 Chikodi:

You have a Lincoln bio on Instagram, right? how does that work for you in terms of driving, attention?

00:54:01 Hannah:

I think it’s really great. I love link tree. I, I love just having that one link for all my platforms and I have that link in my bio on every platform that I have. so you can just click it and then if you want my Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, you can go there. And I think just clicking that link and seeing that I have all of those platforms, if you didn’t know about it, you’re interested in and people check it out.

So, I think LinkedIn bio is great. I actually get my analytics, off of leaf tree or, people click the link and what else they go to and how many times. And so it’s useful for me to kind of know when it’s been successful.

00:54:43 Chikodi:

Yeah, that Lincoln bio real estate is really going to be, Quite sought after, across creators, whether it’s TikTok, you know, YouTube, I guess you do, you can actually put another link in a YouTube description,

00:54:57 Hannah:

00:54:57 Chikodi:

Across the more dynamic, let’s say social platforms,

00:55:01 Hannah:

Yeah, I mean, when it’s in your profile, I think people took it, like, usually I click people’s like tree, just cause I’m like, well, why do you have a link to me? You know? Like, what else are you doing? So I like it.

00:55:14 Chikodi:

The funniest is when people have linked trees and then they don’t have, like, the links are broken. It’s like,

00:55:20 Hannah:

Yeah.

It’s interesting because, you know, I have mine, but then so many peoples are just like so different as to like what they say and what they link to. so I just have so many platforms, so I do that.

00:55:34 Chikodi:

Yeah. And how much, I mean, how much time do you spend. Producing, the content that you actually put up in a day because you’re editing, like I’ve seen some of your YouTube, I was doing some research, very funny. You have a lot of like animations and sound effects and things. so I’m like how much time does that take in a day?

00:55:52 Hannah:

Yeah. So my YouTube video is definitely in the most high effort. The most time I spend on any content is cause like going live, like yo I’m live for four hours, but I really don’t have to do much. You know what I mean? I’m just live. And then with TikTok Instagram, it’s like I could film for a couple hours and editing takes like posting takes two minutes but for editing my YouTube videos, it’s a process. I usually break it down like, into multiple days just because I go through it once and then I go through it again and I just like, keep cutting and keep. Getting it down to, what I need it to be, you know, to make it interesting. Cause like it starts out, like I film a lot, for my blogs and everything.

So I put all the footage in there and it’s like 30 minutes and I cut it down to 10 minutes. So it’s like going through that a lot, just getting the good parts, like making the cuts that takes a while and then actually editing, putting in like all the little things, like all the images I do and then the zoom in and then any sound effects I want that takes a while.

And then the final layer is, captioning. And that takes a while too. So luckily premiere pro has like an automatic, tool to caption it, but you still have to go through it. cause it’s usually wrong, but it’s still like a nice start. Isn’t the head. Cause I used to do it without the automatically I didn’t know existed, and that was enough, but so it takes me. I dunno, maybe like, 10, 12 hours to edit a video, but it used to take more like, that’s the thing too. you know, I started new to video editing and using that program. And so every time I edit it just gets a little more, streamlined and easier to make the cuts easier to do everything. So I’m just still new to it, but I’m sure as I keep going, it’ll speed up the process a little bit.

00:57:48 Chikodi:

Just to, to hear that makes me so glad we work with a great editing team for this

00:57:53 Hannah:

Yeah. Well, I’ve actually gotten a lot of editors that have offered to work for me for free, but I’m just such a, I need creative control. And so I just do it all myself. So

00:58:06 Chikodi:

Yeah. And I mean, just the thought of captioning videos like that, the leap forward in transcription, even in the last couple of years has been a huge time-saver for me.

But, you know, as a journalist, when you want to transcribe an interview, it’s like, okay, one hour of the interview turns into three or four hours of transcribing.

00:58:25 Hannah:

Yeah. It’s rough.

00:58:27 Chikodi:

Man

00:58:28 Hannah:

And I have to, I have to do it for my blogs because I film everything on my iPhone camera. and so the audio, it’s just, it’s not consistent. So sometimes it’ll be

00:58:42 Chikodi:

Well, do you use Otter or something like that? Have you heard of Otter?

Yeah, that was huge because, there’s a rev which I used to use and it’s like a dollar 25 per minute for a transcription and then would actually be done by a human. And then I was talking to an investor and he’s like, oh, just use, Otter.

And it’s like $16 a month for 6,000, minutes of transcription. And it’s about 99% accurate.

00:59:09 Hannah:

Wow.

00:59:10 Chikodi:

I mean, my name, they might not get my name, but, they get most things,

00:59:15 Hannah:

Yeah, it’s just hard. Cause I have so much background noise and stuff sometimes, but also the way I speak, it’s not always, transcribable only, I know what I’m saying. So.

00:59:28 Chikodi:

Yeah. Well, I’m very happy. We’ve got to have this conversation, the perspective as a person who. Has the whole world in front of her in terms of creative directions. And also, you know, it’s like, you’re kind of a native to all of these platforms. It’s just a really interesting, vantage into what creativity looks like today and what it could be.

So I’m really, really grateful. We got to have this conversation, before we go, are there any, folks that you’re looking to collab with or anything you’re really looking forward to as a creator and as a, as a business person in 2022.

01:00:10 Hannah:

I don’t even know. I’m just, I be excited to collaborate with, any streamer, actually tomorrow morning, I’m flying to Austin, to stay at these two streamers. They got a house that they’re renting for the month and they’re going to do an, a suburban, so the camera there in the, on 24, 7 for a month in the house, and there’s just going to be a ton of other content creators and streamers coming in and out.

So I may be staying there for a little bit and doing that. And so I’m really excited, to do that. and then just in general, you know, as much as I’m a content creator, I really cannot wait to pursue music and work with everyone in the music industry.

01:00:51 Chikodi:

Fantastic. Fantastic. any other final thoughts?

01:00:54 Hannah:

I’ve been reading this book called Opportunity, and I think a good closing thought is, the day and age we live in, I think there are an overwhelming amount of opportunities available to everyone to get involved, whether that’s in crypto, NFTs, posting your content online, just everything you can do from your home to make money that was not available before.

It can be really overwhelming, and you can get anxiety about not getting in early enough, or not being good enough, or educated, or missing out on these opportunities.

So I think it’s just really important to always listen to what’s right for you. What will really make you happy and be fulfilling for you, and not just doing something because you’re worried about missing out on it.

See it as an opportunity, because not every opportunity is right for you, and there will always be more. So, listening to your conscience and your gut, and making decisions, and don’t do anything out of fear.

01:02:01 Chikodi:

That’s awesome. Yeah. Every everything is not for everybody.

01:02:06 Hannah:

I was thinking about making NFTs, cause I’m an artist. I have done visual art my entire life, and I actually did a version of NFTs when I was 12. It was really successful, but it was online and a different currency. I just decided not to do it because the environmental impact, it’s just not for me.

It’s not what I would stand by morally, even though I could make a lot of money for it. So just do what’s right for you.

01:02:33 Chikodi:

Thank you so much. Wishing you a lot of success in 2022, in your collabs, in your pursuit of music and art. Thank you for being authentically yourself across these platforms. Not everybody’s going to get you, and it sounds like a lot of people take aim, but I really appreciate the work that you’ve done on yourself in order to not let that bother you.

Thank you for sharing some pointers to our audience about how they can deal with negativity and be true to themselves. So, I really want to thank you again.

01:03:09 Hannah:

Yeah, thank you so much.

I appreciate this conversation and sharing.