100 Thieves BrookeAB interview: Making gaming a safer space for women JBL x 100 ThievesBrookeAB is a top-tier Twitch streamer signed to 100 Thieves \u2013 but, for Brooke, being an internet star also means working to make the gaming space a safer place for other women. We got the chance to sit down with BrookeAB as part of 100 Thieves\u2019 partnership with audio tech company JBL for the release of their upcoming headset collaboration. Brooke \u2013 who boasts a whopping 1.3 million followers on Twitch and 370,000 subscribers on YouTube \u2013 opened up about her experiences as a streamer, a woman in gaming, and an unintended \u201crole model.\u201d Brooke\u2019s path to internet fame first started in late 2019, when she skyrocketed from 10,000 Twitch followers to over 270,000 in the span of a single month. BrookeAB makes waves in 100 Thieves That surge marked a major change for the streamer, who was fully prepared to exit college life to enter the \u201creal world\u201d and get a job in forensic psychology. 100 Thieves were quick to spot that growth, signing Brooke and kickstarting what she calls one of \u201cthe best experiences of my life.\u201d \u201cIt was such a surreal experience, because I was never expecting to do streaming as my career,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt was something I just did in my free time that I really enjoyed, that I was passionate about.\u201d \u201cIt was such a huge jump that I couldn\u2019t wrap my mind around it. It was so strange. My friends were like, \u2018I just saw a YouTube video that had you on it. What\u2019s going on?\u2019 \u2026 It was hard for me to even wrap my mind around, that people wanted to watch me or follow me on that scale. It was a nice little confidence boost, like \u2018okay, I can do this. This could be my job!\u2019\u201d Now, Brooke is one of the biggest streamers in the game \u2013 but it\u2019s not all sunshine and roses. Being a woman in the gaming world Brooke has been open about her struggles with stalkers throughout her career, openly calling for change on major social media platforms. Since rising to stardom as a streamer, she\u2019s dealt with stalkers threatening her and even sharing her personal information online \u2013 but she\u2019s not backing down. When asked about her advice for other women trying to get into streaming, she believes that standing your ground is the most important thing you can do. \u201cDon\u2019t let stupid trolls on the internet stop you from doing what you love,\u201d she advised. \u201cI\u2019ve been there so many times, like, \u2018Gah, maybe this isn\u2019t for me, maybe I can\u2019t handle this.\u2019 I think a lot of women in this space have felt the same thing. It would just be a shame if we let people behind a screen stop us from doing what we love and what we\u2019re passionate about just because they wanna be a jerk over the internet.\u201d \u201cKeep going. Don\u2019t give up. It\u2019s the hardest thing in the world, I know, to be like, \u2018just ignore it.\u2019 You don\u2019t have to ignore it. That\u2019s a thing people say, \u2018Oh, just ignore it.\u2019 You don\u2019t have to ignore it. You can address it, talk back to them, do whatever you\u2019re comfortable with. Don\u2019t let them stop you from doing what you love.\u201d From \u201cSymfuhny\u2019s girlfriend\u201d to \u201cBrooke\u2019s boyfriend\u201d As Mason \u2018Symfuhny\u2019 Lanier\u2019s girlfriend, Brooke has also had to navigate what so many other women have: Being labeled as a \u201cgirlfriend\u201d instead of\u2026 herself. Marzia Kjellberg notably experienced a similar situation back in 2018 after regularly being pigeonholed as \u201cPewDiePie\u2019s wife,\u201d which prompted her to leave YouTube after seven years on the platform. Brooke feels that she\u2019s overcome this hurdle, although at first it was \u201ctough.\u201d \u201cThat was what they were coming to watch \u2013 they wanted to see me and Mason interact,\u201d she said. \u201cMy whole stream was, oh, I\u2019m playing this with Mason. It was always \u2018Symfuhny\u2019s girlfriend,\u2019 or, \u2018that girl who plays with Symfuhny.\u2019 It was hard, because I\u2019m so thankful that meeting him and things like that provided me with all these people to come in my stream, but you get the, \u2018Symfuhny made you.\u2019 Okay, did he offer me a great opportunity? Absolutely. But would these people come back and watch me if I was boring and didn\u2019t do anything?\u201d \u201cIt was tough at first, but we were in Vegas and we were walking, and it was the first time someone stopped us and they go, \u2018Oh my God, Brooke, hey!\u2019 And they turn around and they say, \u2018Brooke\u2019s boyfriend!\u2019 At that moment, I was like, \u2018What did you just say? I gotta document this, write that down!’\u201d \u201cThat was the turning point where I was like, I\u2019m my own streamer \u2026 I kind of separated myself from being Symfuhny\u2019s girlfriend.\u201d Not trying to be a \u201crole model\u201d As a woman who uses her platform to speak out, it could be easy to label Brooke as a \u201crole model\u201d for other women in the space. However, Brooke just wants to stay true to herself while trying to make the scene a more positive experience for other women. \u201cPeople say the word \u2018role model\u2019 and things like that, but I don\u2019t ever feel like that\u2019s me,\u201d she said of the term. \u201cI\u2019m happy to hear that, but I just want to be my most authentic self and be as open as possible about all issues I\u2019m going through. I think that\u2019s one of the main things about me being in this industry.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m open about sexism, whether it\u2019s in gaming or this industry. I\u2019m very open about mental health. Very open about stalking issues. I think it\u2019s important to have these conversations, because if we just sweep it under the rug, nothing will ever change about any of those things. For me, I love being able to have those conversations and lead those conversations, but there are just so many amazing women in this industry. \u2026My ultimate goal is to make gaming a safe space for all of these women.\u201d Using her platform and partners to support women Brooke says that working with partners like JBL has allowed her to amplify her message and broaden her platform. As she explained, \u201cthey\u2019ve always given me a platform to speak about that. I\u2019m so thankful for them, they\u2019re one of my favorite brands to work with.\u201d Describing that platform and work to support women, Brooke pointed to the JBL Changemakers Panel, where she and other female streamers \u201chad an open discussion about what it\u2019s like being a woman in gaming, what issues we face, what we\u2019d like to change.\u201d The event was also in partnership with the 1,000 Dreams Fund to award 30 women in gaming $1,500 to further their careers. While this opportunity was one of many things that can make being a streamer fulfilling, one of the more overlooked benefits isn\u2019t getting invited to exclusive events or making the big bucks. The best parts of being a streamer For Brooke, a huge plus to being a streamer is getting to chat and interact with her audience. She says that talking to her viewers can make a crummy day a lot better. \u201cAt my old job, I went to work, I went home, I went to school, I went home. I just kind of kept to myself. [In streaming], you meet so many people you would never, ever even know existed,\u201d she explained. \u201cI go live every day and talk to these people in my chat. When people are regulars in my chat, I\u2019m like, \u2018How was work? I know you work at Chipotle. How was your promotion?\u2019 You get to know these people. As weird as it is and you don\u2019t know them, you get to interact with so many different people.\u201d \u201cSomething people don\u2019t realize is that people will say in chat, \u2018Thank you, I needed a distraction today,\u2019 or things like that. That\u2019s you guys for me sometimes. They don\u2019t understand that it goes both ways. I could have a really bad day and go live, and then I\u2019ll end my stream and go like, \u2018Wow, I feel so much better!’\u201d BrookeAB is an overwhelmingly bubbly, positive, and resilient person whose work in the streaming space includes making strides for other women to succeed \u2013 and we can\u2019t wait to see where life takes her next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
100 Thieves BrookeAB interview: Making gaming a safer space for women JBL x 100 ThievesBrookeAB is a top-tier Twitch streamer signed to 100 Thieves \u2013 but, for Brooke, being an internet star also means working to make the gaming space a safer place for other women. We got the chance to sit down with BrookeAB […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}