SKYLER THOMAS:
from CORPORATE TO FREELANCE
After his injury prohibited him from continuing his career as a competitive snowboarder, Skyler moved to New York where he bought a DSLR and started formally learning how to use a camera and edit. His first creative industry job happened after moving to Colorado, working for an agency editing interview videos; however, that only lasted a few years after Skyler realized he’d rather pursue a career in freelance and YouTube.
The vision for the channel for a while was to be creative. Having worked more of that nine to five sort of life, a lot of what you're doing as a video editor can be…just the basics…So for me, wanting to always be learning new techniques, the channel was about exploring that before I even started doing it.
After reaching the milestone to start monetizing his channel, Skyler’s videos started going viral and his channel began growing very quickly. As exciting as it was to receive his AdSense checks, he wasn’t making enough to commit to YouTube full time. Instead, Skyler decided to work a full-time editing job, leading a creative team for the company. While he enjoyed the position, he quickly missed the full creative control he had with YouTube.
But honestly, I think the dream from a year from now is working on the content that I want to work on, on my YouTube channel. Knowing that I've got an audience that enjoys watching it and getting something out of it like that really is the dream and that's why I'm pushing for it.
Should you go freelance? (w/ Skyler Thomas), FAMOUS EDITORS PODCAST
Since then, Skyler has recently started posting on YouTube again, committing all of his time to creating and editing videos. Based on his experience in production and post-production, Skyler shares his production nightmare stories and personal production workflow, from recording his footage to publishing the video online.
- Be aware of the burnout that comes with trying to handle too many projects at once. It’s important to find a good balance between personal project and corporate work, but don’t be afraid to loosen your workload if it becomes too overwhelming.
- While AdSense can make you a good amount of money from your YouTube videos, work on getting sponsorship and partnership deals to really get the most out of your channel.
- Making videos that fit the algorithm or trends of the time can really help your channel grow. While it’s important to make content you find funny and enjoyable, sometimes it’s also helpful to create videos that are guaranteed to speak to your audience’s interests.
- While corporate work can offer a stable position, it’s important to recognize the lack of full creative control you have compared to YouTube and other personal projects. There are a lot of people who get to have their say, but unless you’re in that position, you’ll have to deviate from your own creative vision to satisfy your client’s needs.
- When working as a leader in a corporate job, make sure to take into account your needs as well as your team’s needs. Your team needs to be motivated to be doing what they’re doing and also feel fulfilled by doing it, so not only are you in charge of your own feelings and personal direction, but also your team’s.
