When I was in college, instead of partying and doing normal college-kid stuff, I started a small gaming blog to keep me entertained. I really didn’t expect much, other than it being a nice little hobby and a way for me to talk about games when I didn’t know too many other people who shared by obsession. *clears throat* Did I say “obsession”?! Oh, I mean "passion"…yeah.
Anyways, only a few months into my new venture as a “video game blogger” some of the big video game magazine companies started to take notice and reached out to me for a feature. I was starstruck, to put it lightly. Then before I knew it…I was featured in EGM and writing articles for GamePro. I knew I had found what I wanted to do with my new big-kid, grown-up life and things just snowballed after that; suddenly I had reviews published regularly in GamePro magazine and featured on the front page of GamePro.com. I also became the Editor-in-Chief of GamePro sister site GameGirl.com where I managed 9 other writers and the daily content on the site. On top of writing for GamePro, I also started picking up other freelance writing offers for companies like Machinima, GameZone and GotGame.
I also got my start in the video coverage side of game journalism at GamePro when they gave me my first on-camera hosting job at E For All. GamePro really played a huge role in the beginnings of the me I am today because I never thought I could do video work, never even gave it two thoughts as I’m wicked camera shy. But I had such a great time covering the show for them, despite my nerves, I knew I had just found my next calling in this industry! But, I also knew I was gonna have to keep working on that pesky camera-anxiety that was haunting me. So what does a girl who is trying to pursue a career as a video host, despite her stage fright, and loves to talk about video games do?! She starts a gaming YouTube channel! And so begins Raychul-morphosis stage 2.
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Social My Media
Starting a YouTube channel is easy, starting a YouTube channel that’s something people wanna watch is not. A lot of my earlier videos are pretty cringe-worthy, but hey, we can’t all be a Master Jedi’s without some training first, right?! I’m still no where near a lot of other of them fancy “Tubers”, but I’m still having a lot of fun just doing my thing and doing it slightly better than I was when I first started. I had no idea how quickly sitting in my poorly-lit living room while talking into a webcam could become so much a part of my life. My ramblings about video games soon became my full-on career and I wasn’t only making videos for my channel but also being asked to appear in others’ videos. I had turned a hobby into a career and was being hired by outlets like Viceland, EGMi, GamerLive.tv, GameZone, GotGame, Playboy TV, TheGamerAccess and Cyber Power PC to host different event coverages and dev interviews for them. I also was the host of E3 coverage for Turtle Beach, I’ve had my own show on Machinima, was a host of Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade 4-week live show and was part of two other live shows called Week in Geek and Game Control Live.
I feel so lucky to have been able to somehow convince people that I’m a professional and know what I’m doing. I couldn’t have asked for a better thing to call a career.
But that’s not all folks! I also dress up as superheroes and other wacky characters too! It was my first San Diego Comic Con and I was going with a group of lady-friends. One of the girls thought it would be super cool for us to do this thing called “cosplay” and do a group cosplay at that! I thought she was crazy. Dress up as comic book characters and go out in public?! Heh. No way I was going to join up in that train-wreck. Not me! Well, three months later and there I was, sure enough, standing in full costume around thousands of other super-nerds. Yet again, I had found another calling. I had found another passion that I wanted to somehow devote my time, patience and bank account to: Cosplay.
Since that fateful day back in 2006, I have made dozens of costumes. Some of those I look back on and think, dear god…what was thinking?! But again, we all grow, we all learn and almost 10 years later I’m still growing and learning how to constantly better my craft. That first time going in public dressed like a Russian double-agent who worked for the neo-Nazi Hammer Empire and tried to destroy the rest of her Danger Girl posse, my cosplays have been featured all over the world and have taken me to places I thought I would’ve never had the opportunity to visit. But most importantly, I’ve had the chance to meet and work with some of the most amazing and inspiring people.
I’m always trying to push myself and what I can do to see just how far I can go. So here’s to more (hopefully also more regular) videos of video game fun and cosplay that makes you all proud!!
