coffee with a creative: channette
Do it for the aesthetic: anything I create needs to be appealing according to my specific style.
I’ve found that some of the greatest friends you could have are ones that were the least expected. Channette is one of those kinds of friends, and we’ve only known each other for a few months! We met through, as funny as this sounds, the animal crossing community…but we’ve formed a genuine connection and friendship that I am so very thankful to have. As she is creative in so many forms, I jumped at the opportunity to interview Chan for this week’s Coffee with a Creative.
Chan is what you could call a multifaceted creative, although she has a specific focus on the video format (Youtube and TikTok). It makes perfect sense if you know Chan and how incredibly charismatic and full of life she is. In front of a camera, she commands the screen and makes you fall in love with her over and over again. She truly is so special. Not only to me but also to the Youtube and TikTok community, specifically the LGBTQ+ and Latina communities. As a proud lesbian that was born and raised in Puerto Rico, Chan can help so many people understand how they are feeling and learn how to be proud of their heritage and their identity.
“I wouldn’t simply characterize myself as a Youtube content creator, but it is the platform I am most passionate about.” Youtube is a creative outlet for Chan, but her creativity runs deeper than that. She has a passion for film, fashion, and art, and has showcased these talents through many different platforms. “I recently graduated from college with a degree in Psychology, but aside from that, I like to be creative. I post content on Youtube, additionally, I have started to grow a following on TikTok, and I also enjoy creating merch for fandoms.” By merch, she’s being modest. In reality, she’s a phenomenal graphic designer that has the potential to actually be hired as a designer. She recently created some stunning art based off of Folklore, Taylor Swift’s new album. (which if you haven’t listened to…this is a shameless plug).
“I think I thrive most during creative workdays because I feel fully in my element no matter what I am creating. I make sure to put all my passion into it so that the day's routine simply falls perfectly into place.” A workday for Chan is more than just taking a few steps towards the creation of a video. Instead, she prefers to film and edit on the same day and get that out of the way so she can focus on promoting the day it goes live. “My work ethic has a lot more chaotic energy than anything else in my life. I am someone who tends to fall to depths of procrastination which is why there are such gaps between the content I put out. But then there is the side of me that when I get in the zone there is no stopping me.” This passion for creating, even if it is last minute, dates back further than just her current channel though. “I had wanted to start a Youtube channel probably since the age of 12. I'm almost sure I had one at that age, but I actually stopped it because my family found out and would poke fun at it, which created some anxiety. But who knows, maybe I could have been as big as the Youtubers I watched!" She laughs, and for good reason. It’s a thought a lot of us have for many forms of art: “what if I had done that too...” Chan created another channel for beauty while in high school, but after being teased by kids at school about it, she gave it up. Thankfully, she never fully let go of her passion for it.
"Four years ago, when I started college, I decided it was time to stop letting other people have so much say in what I do,” and the channel stuck. This time her content didn't have a specific focus but rather involved creating content that involved her as a person and everything she had an interest in. While not having a specific niche, Chan has now discovered that there is an element she wants to focus more intently on in her video. “I made a video talking about how I knew I was gay and it has gotten quite a bit of attention. I’ve have had so many people reach out to me in DMs because of that video asking for advice on coming out and their sexuality overall.” While her fashion and lifestyle videos were so much fun to create, there is something very different about creating content that can help change another person’s life. “As a gay woman that struggled in the closet for years, that is the best and most surreal thing to experience. It makes me so emotional that opening up about a bit of myself made other LGBTQ+ people feel comfortable enough with coming to me and sharing their stories.” For a creative person, having your art and content matter to somebody is the most important thing. It is one thing to enjoy what you do, but it is another to have what you do matter to somebody else. “Because of this, I am looking to create more content that is LGBTQ+ based.”
Youtube is a large platform with the potential to do so much good in the world. While there are creators making efforts to create and put out content that has depth and is important, there is still a lot of content that leaves much to be desired. Chan informs me that there is a lack of inclusivity on Youtube in general, but specifically in the LGBTQ+ community. “There has recently been an open conversation about the fact that white LGBTQ+ creators are more favored by the algorithm and therefore they essentially are watched and loved more by subscribers.” Inclusivity is an issue in so many communities, especially creative ones. I talked about it in my previous interview with Jai in regards to the fashion community, but Youtube and video-based platforms are not any different. “While it is primarily the fault of the website’s algorithm, I do think that white LGBTQ+ Youtubers should show more support towards LGBTQ+ Youtubers of color so that we can gain a bit more exposure on the platform. We should all try to make the problems with this algorithm known by creating more content about it and shedding light on how damaging it is to LGBTQ+ creators of color." The lack of inclusivity on Youtube, in general, is glaring, and something that viewers also have the chance to change. While creators can work to show support for people of color on the platform, subscribers matter the most. “Go the extra mile and like, subscribe, comment, share the video of a smaller creator on your story. It only takes one or two seconds of your day, but it truly does help the creator when viewers do that. It's a simple step to show extra support to smaller creators on Youtube, especially people of color.”
I mentioned it in the beginning, but there is something about Chan that just draws you in. She said to me that she hopes to exude warm energy in everything she does, and that might be part of it. When you watch her videos--whether on TikTok or Youtube--it is like you’re having a conversation with her, or you’ve known her for years. “Filming or creating a Youtube video comes so natural to me it’s almost second nature at this point,” she tells me, which confirms everything I said. “It wasn’t always this way because I have had my insecure moments where sitting in front of the camera just doesn’t feel right. But for the most part, there is almost this alternative universe version of me that comes out when I’m in front of the camera. It makes me feel confident and like the content that I am creating is important, which is a great feeling.” Although she enjoys Youtube and the content she creates, Chan isn’t entirely sold on the idea of turning it into a job. Sometimes turning something you love to do into a job can destroy what makes it enjoyable, and what makes it feel good. “However I do hope that creating content on video platforms helps me in what I do want to do for a living, which is to eventually create a brand of some sort.”
As a multifaceted creative, Chan doesn’t have just one goal. Instead, she goals for each creative platform and hopes that by achieving them, she’ll be able to work towards her real dream. “My goal for my Youtube would definitely be for it to continue to grow this year and to continue to positively impact others. With TikTok, it helped me visualize my real dream and goal and continues to be a source of inspiration for that.” Jewelry, embroidery, art, and design. These encompass Chan’s personal goal: to create a brand or shop. “Hopefully in the next couple of months, before I start my graduate career, I’ll be able to pursue this current dream of mine with the help of my following on Youtube, TikTok, and Twitter.”
Chan has brought people joy, she’s been outspoken in what she believes in, and she’s created content that has changed people’s lives and given them hope. At twenty-two, not a lot of people can say that with confidence. “If I could, I would tell teenage Chan to stop caring so much about what others may think of you. I would also tell her that being in the closet would soon end and that she would find comfort in being a part of the most accepting loving community.”
I decided in my creation of this series to ask every creative I interview if there is anything else they want to say, perhaps a quote or something important they were once told. It only feels right that an interview with Chan ends with this. “A quote I’d like to share was said by the number one woman who inspires me every day to live as fearlessly as I can...Miss Taylor Swift herself (stream folklore). It’s stuck with me and constantly keeps me inspired to get where I am going. She once said ‘There are going to be people along the way who try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame, but if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday, when you get where you’re going, you will look around and you will know — it was you, and the people who love you, who put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world.’"
Thank you all for your continued support of my Coffee with a Creative initiative. Bringing my friend’s stories to light and showcasing their incredible talents is such a blessing and I really hope you consider keeping up and supporting these wonderful humans. As explained in my original post, I have created a Ko-Fi account for this series. On there you can donate (literally just buy a creative a coffee if you’d like) and express who the donation is going to. All the donations will go to the creative you name, and help support them and their arts, as well as simply a way to show them you believe in them!