CDawgVA opens up about his journey from niche YouTuber to superstar Twitch streamer CDawgVA\/Twitch\/YouTubeAfter his long journey from being a YouTuber to one of the biggest streamers on Twitch, CDawgVA is convinced that live streaming is \u201cthe way forward\u201d for content creation. Recently signing an exclusivity deal with Twitch, CDawgVA spoke about why he\u2019s sticking with the platform in an interview with Dexerto. Before he decided to start live streaming regularly, Connor \u2018CDawgVA\u2018 Colquhoun turned his passion for voice acting into a small yet dedicated YouTube following. Seven years ago, he was dubbing over Black Butler episodes and sharing his journey toward becoming a professional voice actor. Now, he\u2019s raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity and making his mark as a massive content creator on multiple platforms. Not only that, but he seems to be friends with damn near everyone. On top of being a part of Trash Taste, one of the biggest podcasts on YouTube, he\u2019s collaborated with creators like Ludwig, Hasan Piker, and has become a welcomed guest in the Vtubing community. He never shies away from the opportunity to put himself out there and work with new creators. In our almost hour-long discussion about the current state of content creation, he provided some insight on the constantly evolving worlds of both YouTube and Twitch, pondered what he\u2019ll do if he ever decides to move on to a different career path, spoke about his exclusivity deal with Twitch and why he\u2019s signed, and the wild ride that has been his path to international stardom. CDawgVA\u2019s YouTube content has changed with the times With how long he\u2019s been in the space, CDawgVA\u2019s content has, in a lot of ways, grown up with YouTube. His channel started because of his passion for voice acting and creating content, and the way he expresses that passion has changed over the years. \u201cWhen I was making the anime stuff, that was something I was genuinely passionate about at the time. Obviously, as I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019ve kind of fallen out of anime.\u201d \u201cI started doing that when I was 19. I was very much still in my weeb phase. It got to the point where I was making these videos, and the only videos that did well were the anime videos. And I just wasn\u2019t really feeling it anymore.\u201d \u201cWhen I would talk to other creators that were outside of anime, it was really hard to explain what I was doing. I was like, \u2018Yeah, so I do this anime impression stuff\u2014 it\u2019s lame, it\u2019s lame.\u2019 But I was really passionate about it. I think that I just wanted to push myself more creatively. And so, changing that up was really important for me and really allowed me to feel more creatively satisfied.\u201d He started to use his talent for voice acting in a variety of forms. Connor would pose as popular anime characters and make prank calls or call fans. His content remained focused on voice acting but applied in different ways. This led to him reviewing voice acting for different shows and movies, and in the case that the acting wasn\u2019t too great, he\u2019d take a crack at fixing it. He was using the same skillset but applying it in different ways. Connor spoke at length about having to \u201cplay the game\u201d of content creation. Especially with how much the landscape of content creation has changed over the past few years. \u201cI think there\u2019s definitely a difference in approach that people who have maybe been around longer or maybe started on YouTube or came from Vine or something, there\u2019s a whole different approach to it. One of the main reasons is because, a lot of the time, when the older content creators got into it, you never expected to make money.\u201d \u201cNow it\u2019s so overstimulated with money. Every video is, \u2018I spent this!\u2019 I mean, I\u2019m guilty of this, too. You have to play the game. Everything is about upping the stakes. Whereas I feel like before, it was kind of like, \u2018Hey, if you like something and you wanna make cool videos about something, just do that.\u2019 What it means to be a content creator has kind of shifted.\u201d Connor\u2019s definitely been using the recent trend to his advantage, with videos like his recent \u201c$1000 Crane Game Challenge\u201d series being wildly successful on his main channel. These videos have given him the opportunity to collaborate with creators like Ludwig and Disguised Toast and show off his chemistry with other creators. But getting to the point where he felt comfortable producing content outside of his niche took some time. \u201cIt was really risky and super scary. You start uploading these videos that are different from what you\u2019re making, and people just don\u2019t watch them. But you have to have faith that what you\u2019re making is good and that there will be an audience for it. You can\u2019t expect your audience to always convert no matter what you\u2019re doing. You\u2019re going to lose people, and you\u2019re going to have to gain people.\u201d \u201cAs long as you\u2019re ok with that mindset of like, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m trying something new, it\u2019s probably not going to work out, but there might be some people who give it a shot.\u2019 And hopefully, along the way, I can gain new people like I did with my older content and change the audience up with it.\u201d \u201cI\u2019d like to think, throughout my entire YouTube career, that I\u2019ve kind of \u2013 and I think this is something I think a lot of creators don\u2019t think about, if I\u2019m making stuff that\u2019s maybe geared towards teenagers, how do you then grow as a creator but also grow with your audience, in a sense? So that maybe someone who watched you when they were 16 can also enjoy watching you when they\u2019re 22? That\u2019s also satisfying for you because you get to grow with your content, which I find is very important.\u201d Dating back to a few years ago, Connor started to brand out and try new content that was adjacent with current trends like buying cheap products and cosplays off of Wish. While this content didn\u2019t perform as well at first, it gradually began to outshine much of his voice-acting content and gave CDawgVA more confidence in posting different kinds of videos to his channel. All that said, it\u2019s hard to quantify what it means for something to do well or be a good video. Is a video that has 2 million views good? Or does being happy with a video determine it to be good no matter how many views it gets? The answer is ultimately subjective. Every creator is different. Connor spoke about how he\u2019s toed the line of creating content he\u2019s passionate about alongside content he knows will do well with his audience. \u201cYou know as a creator what is best for you. Or, hopefully, you do. For me personally, as much as I\u2019m able to sometimes turn off and grind and just make videos or make content while I\u2019m in a dry spell where I don\u2019t have much creativity or ideas I\u2019m passionate about\u2014 like, sometimes you just have to turn your brain off and just focus on getting out good stuff that hits the beats. And it\u2019s good. But sometimes you get this feeling where content doesn\u2019t inspire anything in you anymore.\u201d \u201cLike, you\u2019re making something \u2013 maybe it\u2019s great, and people would still watch it, but it\u2019s not satisfying for you to make. And even more so when it gets to the point where you don\u2019t want to make it. That\u2019s when it gets dangerous as a creator, forcing yourself to make something you have absolutely no interest in making.\u201d \u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned continuously through doing this is that you can\u2019t expect people to care about you or care about what you\u2019re making. But you need to figure out how to gain the trust of your audience to have faith in you as a content creator to make stuff that\u2019s entertaining.\u201d So, CDawgVA banked on having the trust of his audience and chased a new venture: Trash Taste. The Trash Taste era The Trash Taste podcast exploded in popularity within the first few episodes, and through weekly content, live stream events, and Trash Taste specials that threw the boys into wild adventures together, CDawgVA, Gigguk (a.k.a. Garnt), and TheAnimeMan (a.k.a. Joey) have created a content empire that exists alongside all of their separate YouTube\/Twitch ventures. We asked Connor about what he thinks made Trash Taste so successful, and he admitted he wasn\u2019t too sure himself. \u201cThat\u2019s the question everyone wants to know the answer to; I want to know the answer to it, too. I think Trash Taste was a mix of a lot of little factors that were really pushed by the pandemic. I think Trash Taste would have done pretty well, but I think the pandemic and the time that it came out really put it in front of way more people than it would have been normally. \u201c \u201cWho\u2019s to say where it would be if the pandemic didn\u2019t happen and whatnot, but I think it kind of hit at the perfect time when people couldn\u2019t hang out, and it filled that sort of void where I think a lot of podcasts weren\u2019t going; We\u2019re not trying to talk about anime, we\u2019re not trying to talk about some sensational topic, we are literally going to talk about the worst food takes we have. That\u2019s just the show.\u201d Garnt has somehow topped \u201cAll bread tastes the same\u201d with \u201cI don\u2019t think Chinese food exists,\u201d truly a legend in the podcast space. Joking aside, it\u2019s clear why fans are invested in these three. There doesn\u2019t need to be big drama going on or a big guest on the show for them to create content that starts a conversation. For example, Garnt actually had some good points with his Chinese food take in the full context of the above clip, but the wording in his initial delivery of takes like these is so great\/awful that it creates viral content. That\u2019s just part of the charm that earned Trash Taste such a massive following, even after they\u2019ve tossed any conception that the show would have the same focus on anime that all of their main channels had for years prior. There was enough otaku culture in there for fans to feel welcome, but enough new content to welcome new viewers as well. \u201cIt\u2019s literally just a conversation between three friends produced better and hopefully flows a bit better than conversations you\u2019d have with your friends. There\u2019s a void of podcasts that hit that, that had good production, that kind of explored otaku culture in a way we hadn\u2019t really had before, that kind of involved anime in a light way. And then we had this really strong marketing push that was that initial figure special. It was kind of this perfect amalgamation of stuff.\u201d But CDawgVA hasn\u2019t been afraid to step out of the Trash Taste space and push his own content further. He spoke about maintaining a functional, healthy work\/life relationship between the three of them and compared their show\u2019s appeal to that of Top Gear. \u201cWe obviously are very close, but it\u2019s very much like Top Gear. We have a lot of comparisons to Top Gear, and we really look up to the lot. And in Top Gear, they didn\u2019t always hang out all the time. I think that\u2019s really healthy and necessary.\u201d \u201cLike, as much as we hang out and do so much work stuff \u2013 I\u2019m literally heading to the office after this interview \u2013 we also have our own individual friends as well. I think that\u2019s kind of a healthy way to maintain a business and also a friendship. Like, you need more than two friends. You have to have other interactions and have healthy relationships with a lot of people, I think. That makes for improved mental health. Relying on two or three people for everything is kind of tough.\u201d \u201cEveryone asks, \u2018How do we do it?\u2019 I don\u2019t know. I think the most important thing is that we were really good friends before we started it. We were genuinely good friends and just so happened to be YouTubers.\u201d Connor could have rested on his laurels, stuck to YouTube, and banked on the success of Trash Taste while uploading his own original videos here and there. But he hasn\u2019t. Instead, Connor has become one of the biggest streamers on Twitch. CDawgVA thinks live streaming is the \u201cway forward\u201d for content creation Up until recently, CDawgVA was more of a YouTuber than a streamer. Streaming was something he\u2019d do here and there, but he still had a heavy focus on video content. That\u2019s now changed, with the creator being able to swing an exclusivity contract on Twitch. He regularly pulls tens of thousands of viewers and has managed to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity through livestream events. We asked Connor about his philanthropy efforts and have split that off into a separate article where he revealed he aims to raise \u201cat least a million dollars a year for charity.\u201d But how did he get into streaming, and what motivated him to spend so much of his time on live streams rather than the pre-recorded videos he\u2019d been doing for years? \u201cI just really enjoy the live aspect of the content. I\u2019ve found that it allows little moments that would almost certainly be cut out of the edit for a video to come out in a more organic way when it\u2019s live. Cause it\u2019s kind of more embarrassing when it\u2019s in a video. You\u2019re like, \u2018Ah, just cut it.\u2019 But when it\u2019s live, it\u2019s like \u2013 those moments that are kind of boring, kind of embarrassing, you have to reimagine how you view it.\u201d \u201cI think live content is just\u2026 right now, it feels like the way forward for content creation. I feel like that\u2019s where it\u2019s at just because the live aspect adds so much to it.\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t really put my finger on exactly what it does, but it\u2019s how I envision live sports compared to highlights. Like, yeah, you could watch the highlights and save so much more time, but there\u2019s something about things happening in real time that adds something to it. People wanna be there. They wanna be in the thick of it.\u201d As for why he\u2019s chosen Twitch to sign with for exclusivity rights, he touched on what Twitch offers creators that other platforms don\u2019t have. With YouTube investing massively in getting more live streamers on the platform and Kick standing out from the crowd with a heavy cut of sub revenue going to creators, it\u2019s more important than ever for Twitch to stay competitive within the live streaming market. \u201cTwitch offers a lot of great tools that are really helpful right now. The easy clipping system, all the moderation tools, the way chat\u2019s presented, all that stuff. Obviously, there\u2019s nothing stopping someone from replicating that, but it\u2019s all combined with the culture in a way that I think allows streamers to immediately get invested in this cozy atmosphere you have on Twitch. To me\u2026 I dunno. I\u2019d be impressed if anyone could come close to it. I really like it. I mean, that\u2019s why I signed with Twitch.\u201d CDawgVA has also managed to turn his Twitch streams into a steady output of YouTube content. His second channel, ConnorDawg, is close to a million subs already, and it\u2019s almost solely comprised of videos edited from his livestream highlights. He\u2019s essentially created a content pipeline that allows him to focus on his livestream content and then turn that into edited YouTube videos for those who aren\u2019t around when he goes live. Rather than trying to produce everything himself, he\u2019s got an entire team built around editing his content. He employs several people who work full-time on things like graphic design, editing, creating art assets for him, and other production-related stuff. Mudan, an editor he\u2019s been working with for a while, has an entire team working under him as well. According to Connor, the efforts of this editing team play a huge role in the success of his main channel and the way his livestream content is packaged for his second channel. \u201cI work with Mudan, and Mudan has a lot of editors working for him. Mudan and I are very open about it: We have a deal where we split ad rev 50\/50 of that channel (ConnorDawg). We started the channel off, and he was definitely losing money cause he was editing videos that got 20-50k views, but we were confident that it would get to the point where it\u2019d be quite profitable. He delegates editors and works with them, helping the channel grow.\u201d Considering recent ConnorDawg uploads average over 500k views, this deal has certainly paid off for both parties. \u201cI\u2019ve always said this: There are a lot of YouTubers out there and not a lot of good editors. It\u2019s very important that you treat editors right and that they\u2019re paid well, that you make sure that their job is so secure that they never have to consider working somewhere else or having to pick up more work. If you\u2019re a YouTuber who\u2019s pulling in really good money, you should share that with the people who got you there.\u201d As much as Connor has done his best to employ a fleet of editors who can get his content YouTube-ready, there also exists an armada of fan channels. Literal dozens of channels exist that are dedicated almost solely to uploading short highlights from Connor\u2019s stream. This is fairly common for those who have mainly live streamed content (Hasan Piker, for example), and we asked Connor how he feels about clip channels. \u201cThere are some [clip channels] who I think do a more honest job of representing the content and what happened. Those people are providing a pretty good service that I can\u2019t do, right? I can\u2019t have someone stare at my content, wait for something to happen, and upload it. I mean, I probably could, but it\u2019d be a massive amount of resources to invest in something like that.\u201d \u201cBut there\u2019s obviously a demand from the viewers to have these kinds of clips. They serve a purpose, and they offer these sort of real-time moments that are entertaining to people on YouTube. Which, for clips, has a great algorithm for sharing them. Whereas Twitch is more focused on sharing clips to other platforms.\u201d \u201cAs much as people may get annoyed about it or maybe just aren\u2019t a fan of what clip channels are doing, they\u2019re pushing your content and your name out there in a way that you almost can\u2019t. If someone were to clickbait something extremely egregious, I couldn\u2019t do that. Like, even if I was paying someone [to make clips], maybe the clip would get 10x the views if someone else did it. Which is almost a weird thing of like\u2026 That\u2019s messed up. But also, I guess you kind of pushed my content out there in a weird way? It\u2019s a double-edged sword, but the benefits almost always outweigh the negatives, and it\u2019s sort of its own ecosystem.\u201d Looking up CDawgVA in the YouTube search bar provides some strange results. From people really wanting to see him fall off his bike during the Cyclethon to those who are invested in his on-stream shenanigans with IronMouse, there are tons of channels out there that compete with each other to upload the most memorable on-stream moments with a clickbait-y title to hit the top of search results. All while these clips are monetized by the people who uploaded them, not by Connor himself. Those who hang around his stream to make money rather than doing it as a gesture of affection as a fan have caused issues in the past. \u201cIf they do go too far, you can set a boundary and put your foot down. In the past, I\u2019ve had to full-on just ask someone to stop uploading clips due to the way they were clipping, and they were harassing my moderators and my chat. They\u2019d come into the chat and go, \u2018How long are you streaming for? I gotta know how many hours I need to be here.\u2019 Or, \u2018Are you gonna end soon? Can you end soon please?\u2019 Like, what?\u201d \u201cAnd then that\u2019s kind of frustrating because they\u2019re actively making these misrepresentations of the content and harassing people while also profiting off of my content. I\u2019ve always said to people that I don\u2019t mind people uploading clips, just don\u2019t upload full-on highlights. That\u2019s the kind of stuff that we do.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019d be kind of a shame for someone to watch a highlight, and it\u2019s not edited as well as, say, my editor would do it. Because now you\u2019ve watched it, and now you can\u2019t really enjoy it in a much more entertaining way, in my opinion. It\u2019s a necessary evil. You need it, but sometimes you don\u2019t want it, and it\u2019s a force that works on its own.\u201d As if his massive presence on YouTube and Twitch wasn\u2019t enough, CDawgVA\u2019s been branching out into the world of live performance. Between going on tour with Trash Taste and getting into the Chess Boxing Ring with Ludwig, he\u2019s had to develop a whole new skillset as an entertainer on stage. Connor steals the show wherever he goes Connor has particopated in a myriad of live shows recently, but the biggest one is undoubtedly Chess Boxing. His getting into the ring with Ludwig produced one of the best live stream moments of 2022. According to CDawgVA, taking opportunities as they came to him has been a massive part of his continued success within the space. \u201cBeing a creator, so many opportunities come your way. It\u2019s so important to take advantage of those really crucial opportunities, and you never know which one it\u2019s gonna be. But you always have to stay open-minded and jump on opportunities when they appear. \u201cThat\u2019s especially one thing I think I\u2019ve been pretty good at is just, when an opportunity comes up that seems kind of unusual but could be a game-changing experience for you, it\u2019s really crucial you jump on that as a creator.\u201d As live events hosterd by content creators continue to grow, the number of no-shows does also. This was fully displayed guring the 2023 Streamer Awards, and event that was palgued with last-minute cancellations. But Connor stepping up to take the place of xQc when he was a no-show at Ludwig\u2019s Chess boxing event has paid off in spades. \u201cI\u2019d befriended Ludwig before that, but being able to turn up? A lot of creators can\u2019t do that. You\u2019ll hear a lot about how unreliable creators are, and we are unreliable a lot of the time. But when you say you\u2019re available for something and you can turn up to it, people knowing that you\u2019re reliable is really important when it comes to being asked back for opportunities.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s literally like acting and voice acting as well. If you\u2019re a reliable voice actor who always turns up on time, nails the lines, and doesn\u2019t cause a fuss, you\u2019ll get way more roles from directors, right? It\u2019s less apparent, but it\u2019s very much there.\u201d \u201cYou have to be able to show up on the day. Chess boxing was one of those where Ludwig didn\u2019t have xQc, and he was like, \u2018Dude, we need someone,\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Dude, you know I\u2019m good for it. I\u2019ll go up on stage and put on a show.\u2019 That\u2019s something I\u2019m comfortable doing.\u201d And put on a show he did. Connor\u2019s victory over Ludwig was hard-fought and came down to literal milliseconds. A fitting end to one of the most hype livestream events in recent memory. More eyes on Connor has allowed him to interact with even more creators in the space, something he genuinely enjoys doing. Though he admitted that having new guests on stream can be risky sometimes, he\u2019s not afraid to take that leap and trusts that he\u2019ll be able to get along with other creators. \u201cI think collabing is very important for streamers. Some streamers don\u2019t need to do it and don\u2019t want to do it, which is totally valid and makes complete sense. But I\u2019m just a very social person. I really like interacting with creators. Especially creators people wouldn\u2019t expect me to interact with. I just really enjoy the collaborative aspect.\u201d \u201cYou never really know what someone\u2019s gonna bring on stream until they\u2019re on there. Some people, they just switch it up, or they\u2019re way different than you expected. It could end bad, right? But I love mixing it up, and I have my friends I love hanging out with, especially on stream. I just have people I really enjoy hanging out with.\u201d \u201cI think living in Japan also adds this other layer to it where people want to come here, and they want the familiarity of having someone to kind of guide them, and that\u2019s often what I end up doing a lot of the time. Like, \u2018Hey, yeah, man! You\u2019re in Japan? Let\u2019s check out this place.\u2019 It\u2019s a different vibe being here.\u201d Creators flock to Japan and bring their viewers with them on their adventures. Having someone like Connor along for the ride who knows Japanese and can help people navigate can add a ton to the on-stream experience for other creators. \u201cI\u2019ve always had a really easy time talking to people, and I think I\u2019m easy to talk to in general. I was never really intimidated by the thought and never worried too much. It was like, \u2018Alright, this guy seems cool.\u2019 Maybe we made a connection at one point in time. Maybe there\u2019s an idea that comes up that\u2019s just perfect for that creator, and it\u2019s always really fun to do with them.\u201d Not to mention, Connor\u2019s also been on the road with the Trash Taste crew to put on their very own live show. Though there\u2019s a pay-per-view taping of the show out there along with plans to soon release one of the live show tapings free for everyone, people who attended were specifically asked not to film. For a moment, these YouTubers, who typically pull hundreds of thousands of viewers, sat in front of an audience made up of a few hundred fans. It was a more intimate experience and a very new venture for creators who got their start filming videos in their rooms. And, in some ways, the small, in-person crowd was just as intimidating as having 15k live viewers on Twitch. \u201cI think when you\u2019re streaming, you\u2019re presenting yourself in an authentic way. Buuut there\u2019s a little bit of performance to it. You\u2019re presenting yourself with a performance aspect. Whereas on stage, I almost feel like you lose a lot of the personality, or your personality becomes secondary to the performance.\u201d \u201cWith the live show, it\u2019s very much more about how we keep the audience engaged. Maybe I\u2019ll play the villain more. Maybe I\u2019ll make fun of the crowd more. Maybe I\u2019ll antagonize them more, more than I normally would. But also, just having a live audience just amps you up. You get way more into it. You see faces, which is a really weird thing.\u201d \u201cWhen I\u2019m streaming, I have 15k people, and none of our shows are even close to that. If I saw 15k people in front of me, that\u2019s a totally different thing in my brain that\u2019s happening where I\u2019m seeing all this. How you approach it changes wildly. Ultimately, you get on stage and make sure the people who paid to be here get their money\u2019s worth.\u201d While they surely wanted to make a profit off of touring the U.S. for a month straight, Connor spoke about setting aside the business part of his brain for the sake of ensuring the fans who show up in person got to have a unique and special experience. \u201cWe present so much stuff online. The business part of my brain is saying, \u2018Every show should have been streamed.\u2019 Obviously not, but you do think about how to maximize this, making sense for everyone. But the other part of your head approaches it more artistically, and you\u2019re like\u2014 I think for a live show, and especially that one like that one where I find that, if you know too much going into it, it spoils a bit of the fun. Especially if you know the previous answers from different shows cause it was kind of a game as well. I think we just thought that it\u2019d be a more intimate experience for everyone involved if you just turn up to the show, get to experience it, and hopefully, it\u2019s fun.\u201d Those in attendance at these live shows had the opportunity to take a survey that was, in some ways, a part of their performance. It was less of a live show and more of an interactive experience with fans. Preserving that experience took priority over creating content for the much larger audience all three creators have outside of the people attending in-person. CDawgVA has dipped into so many different styles of content that it\u2019s hard to keep track of. His schedule is insanely packed, and he\u2019s in a position where he has so many different things going on at any given time. But Connor doesn\u2019t plan on slowing down. CDawgVA isn\u2019t retiring any time soon Connor\u2019s been busy over the past few months. Constantly collaborating with other creators and traveling, all while trying to keep up with Trash Taste and his own livestream. We asked him about the first thing he did when he got home from Hawaii, the thing he was looking forward to most when he got back to his home in Japan after nearly a month away. \u201cThis is gonna sound so mundane\u2026 (laughs) I have this really nice coffee machine, and it\u2019s just something that really \u2013 It\u2019s such an important ritual for me just to make a coffee in the morning, a nice coffee.\u201d \u201cNot being able to have that kind of morning ritual to get my head into the zone of \u2018I\u2019m gonna do some work today,\u2019 not having that sucked, so finally being back and being able to do that is great. I have my parents here, so I was like, \u2018You have to come over and try my coffee machine. It\u2019s great.\u2019 I get everyone on it. You come to my house, you have to try a coffee from my machine. It\u2019s so good.\u201d \u201cI think I\u2019m probably gonna take a little tiny break in May? My parents are over right now, so I\u2019m slowing down a little more than I\u2019d like. I\u2019m trying to be a good son.\u201d Can\u2019t fault him for trying to be a good host and showing his parents around Japan, and he seems to be enjoying his small break with them. But, even after traveling so much recently between the Cyclethon and a trip to Hawaii, Connor is still ready to make more content. After years of working with an incredibly busy schedule, he\u2019s still eager to do more and push his content further. \u201cThere\u2019s always the question of, \u2018What\u2019s next?\u2019 Like, what\u2019s the next big step? Obviously, the lifestyle is tough to maintain at times, right? Weekends aren\u2019t weekends; they\u2019re extra work days. You do kind of wonder how long you can keep doing it.\u201d \u201cI\u2019d like to think I have a pretty healthy balance with how I approach it all. I try to strike a balance between exercising, socializing, and then content as well. I just want to make sure that, when I\u2019m working, that work is all good stuff. Like I\u2019m not just sitting there for two hours and messing around. I think it\u2019s important to have that sort of disciplined approach to it to maintain a busy schedule.\u201d This is where something that hits many successful content creators creeps in: Impostor syndrome. Right before winning the award for Best Philanthropic Stream Event at the Streamer Awards, Connor was on the red carpet saying he\u2019s still shocked people don\u2019t think he\u2019s ConnorEatsPants, another content creator. \u201cThe way I\u2019ve kind of looked at it \u2013 and this really helps me \u2013 if I feel impostor syndrome, it just means I have to make something even better. And it\u2019s this weird kind of cat-and-mouse game where it\u2019s never going to go away, but it kind of motivates me to improve.\u201d \u201cCause I\u2019m like, \u2018I shouldn\u2019t be feeling like this. I know what I make is good.\u2019 But then I wonder, \u2018How could I up it even more?\u2019 It\u2019s almost this weird kind of boogeyman that\u2019s chasing you because you can never not feel impostor syndrome if you get some form of success. And, you know, on YouTube or for any online content these days, you can never sit on that. You can never enjoy the success.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s always, \u2018Ok, you\u2019ve been successful. You made something people like. How do you top it? How do you make the next thing?\u2019 Having [impostor syndrome] is almost good? But not letting it consume you and hold you back is important. Using it as motivation, I find, is very helpful. And it\u2019s such an easy thing to be like, \u2018Just be motivated by it.\u2019 It\u2019s like, ok, well, the mental mechanics of it aren\u2019t that easy. But, for me, I\u2019ve found that it really did help me when I re-aligned how I looked at it. It helped me in a weird way to overcome the challenges I was facing.\u201d But are weekends just being extra workdays something that\u2019s healthy? Is always chasing the next big thing something that\u2019s sustainable? We were curious as to what Connor would want to do at the point that keeping up with this schedule is too much for him or if he sees himself getting to that point at all. \u201cI think there\u2019s some really exciting technology coming out that I\u2019m really invested in, and I could definitely see myself maybe helping with production or assisting with content creation. But, on the other hand, I just love content creation too much right now. I can\u2019t see myself stepping back any time soon; I\u2019ll always be doing something. Maybe I\u2019ll get into woodworking or something, and that\u2019ll be my content in 10 years, where I just make chairs and varnish them.\u201d \u201cI imagine myself getting to that point where maybe I just have a hobby that I like, and I only make content about that. I can always find myself doing some form of content, but at some point, I\u2019ll have to slow down. This is not something I can do when I\u2019m 40. But I think I\u2019ve got a good chunk of years left, and I think it\u2019s only going to get more exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CDawgVA opens up about his journey from niche YouTuber to superstar Twitch streamer CDawgVA\/Twitch\/YouTubeAfter his long journey from being a YouTuber to one of the biggest streamers on Twitch, CDawgVA is convinced that live streaming is \u201cthe way forward\u201d for content creation. Recently signing an exclusivity deal with Twitch, CDawgVA spoke about why he\u2019s sticking […]<\/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-45617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45617","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=45617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}