Diversity Program Creator Spotlight: DorkyAwesomeGuy
Welcome to our spotlight series of members from our Creator Diversity Program. Today’s Q&A session is with DorkyAwesomeGuy.
Q. Why did you start livestreaming and content creation?
My background is in Filipino folk dance, performing, musical theatre, and hosting game nights, and I always found those to be fulfilling and validating experiences. As a kid, I used to film comedy skits with my friends on our family’s old videotape cameras. While growing up, I noticed that very few characters, actors, and other celebrities represented me in movies, television shows, and cartoons. I latched on and felt seen whenever there was an ounce of “Filipino” representation on the screen, like Ernie Reyes Jr. in the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movies, Lou Diamond Phillips in “La Bamba,” or Paolo Montalban in “Cinderella.” Knowing first-hand how much it can mean to people of all ages and walks of life, I want to continue doing my best as a champion and proponent for representing marginalized groups in media and entertainment.
When Facebook rolled out live-streaming to all users in 2016, it was a fun way to connect with everyone live on an online platform that many of my friends and family used. Putting myself front and center as the “main character” or “host” felt great and in line with actively being a part of representation in entertainment. So, all that being said, livestreaming and creating content felt like a natural fit. I get to do all this while making positive differences in the world, whether as small as making someone smile and feel good or as grand as raising money by doing charity streams. I get to be myself, have fun, exercise my creativity, and be paid for it!
Q. How did you come up with your streamer name?
Initially, I was “DorkyAwesomeDaddy (D.A.D.”) on Facebook because I was chronicling all of my funny, goofy experiences as a first-time parent, posting funny stories, memes, and pictures. Eventually, my post topics grew beyond parenting, so I came up with a general name that all of my posts can fall under: “DorkyAwesomeGuy.” I include “Dorky” in the name because I want people to know I like to embrace my goofy side, further emphasized by adding “Awesome” because life has been more fun when I embrace being myself with that natural goofiness.
Q. What were the first things you streamed?
My streaming adventures started in 2016 when we could finally go live on Facebook. Back then, they only allowed live streams to run up to a maximum of 30 minutes total. Knowing that, I devised a “painting challenge,” where I had only 25 minutes to paint an acrylic painting, allowing 5 minutes for an intro and outro. Before the stream, I asked my friends and family for suggestions on what to paint. Out of all the ideas, I chose the suggestion to paint an Indiana Jones-themed Super Mario. It came out pretty good, I’d say!
I started streaming Jackbox Games to bring friends from all over the world together for online game nights. One night, when I couldn’t use my livestreaming software (OBS), I streamed directly from my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phone, which was pointed at my ol’ 2013 HP Envy laptop, where the games were being run. Despite having a 15 to 30-second delay on Facebook then, we had fun and made it work!
Q. What makes your show unique, and what content can viewers expect?
I have a better camera and mic now! When viewers come to my channels these days, they can expect a fun fusion of wholesome, spoopy, cozy, chaotic, goofy, and interactive content, focusing on spreading positivity and advocating for taking care of our mental health. Generally, you can do more than just chat in my streams — there are ways to affect the stream! Sometimes, you can have fun seeing me scream my head off playing scary games like Phasmophobia, Devour, Lethal Company, or other horror games, and you can send jump scares or sabotages for added spice. Some days, we can be doing some co-working and hanging out with chill vibes and talking about spreading positivity, sharing kind words and advice, and supporting each other in our own little ways. At other times, I might be more animated as we play party games together, like Fall Guys, Party Animals, or Jackbox Games. And, of course, the occasional dance break here and there.
Viewers can request a random affirmation:
Q. What have been some of the challenges you’ve faced as a streamer? This can relate to harassment, lack of equipment, or any other hurdle you’ve faced.
In 2021, I left a marketing job because I started feeling unfulfilled. I lost passion for it, which affected my work detrimentally. When it began to negatively affect my teammates’ projects as well, and in turn, my mental health, I knew I needed to leave and make a change. At the time, I was streaming and creating content as a hobby and side gig. While not as lucrative as the marketing job, I did fairly well at the time with my stream incentives for viewers’ donations.
The biggest challenge in doing all this was getting used to an income that wasn’t steady. As entertainers, we must continually find ways to keep things fresh and fun. One of my most popular streams is when I play Phasmophobia because my community can join in to play and interact by giving me jump scares or challenges by sending donations. It was profitable, and I could pay all my bills with it! Eventually, while the game remained popular with my community, some incentives got “tired.” I had to implement exciting scares or fun new interactive features like Dixper!
The other big challenge I face from time to time is doing what I need to do to take care of my mental health. As my fellow content creators know, it takes A LOT to entertain, build, grow, network, market, manage, etc. This can lead to burnout, taking a toll on you and affecting how you create and interact with your community. Be careful and remind yourself to step back regularly to do your self-care. For me, my self-care was getting professional help from a therapist (bi-weekly) as well as talking to a psychiatrist to find a medicine that works for my symptoms to help maintain my mental health and keep me from falling back into deep depression. I recommend to my community to see a professional regularly as “maintenance” for the mind — they’ve studied for years how to deal with and treat our mental health. They have the expertise to help get a baseline for where we’re at and find ways and strategies to de-stress, relieve anxiety, treat depression, and deal with other mental health issues as we navigate our lives.
Q. What is the funniest experience you’ve had on stream?
We have so many moments that I am often left with happy tears and a sore face from laughing and smiling so hard. I will say that I once involved my cousin’s dog, Breck, a lovable goldendoodle, who I was dogsitting. I had a regular stream schedule during this time, so Breck naturally made guest appearances. He was a popular guest on the stream! At the same time, I had channel point redemptions that made me do push-ups and ab crunches. Of course, whenever I would get down on the floor to do the exercises, Breck would take the opportunity to try to play with me. With every pushup, he attempted to boop me with his nose or wrestle. With every ab crunch, he would drop his tennis ball on my chest or stand over me, preventing any exercises. Once, he got caught in my green screen sheet, causing my whole setup, stands and all, to fall!
Q. What is the most moving experience you’ve had on stream?
It’s always when we raise funds for charity. My community comes through, and we’ve raised thousands of dollars for charities that have meant a lot to me: Extra Life, where donations go to help fund life-saving procedures for kids at hospitals, and Hope for the Day, which does proactive suicide prevention by providing outreach, mental health education, through events, workshops, and partnerships. Usually those charity streams end with me in tears because I’m so moved and proud of my community for supporting great causes.
Q. What are your current goals?
I’m pursuing the next level of YouTube Partner! So far, I just recently hit 500 subscribers and am now trying to reach the 1,000 mark to be eligible for ad revenue. So I’m trying to increase my video output on that platform by duo-streaming there and from my primary platform, Twitch. I’m also getting more consistent with editing and posting more YouTube shorts. Once I get that down, I can do more long-form evergreen content, especially videos that entertain and can be helpful to other streamers or even personal vlogs chronicling my adventures to show a more personal side of me. I’m currently building my portfolio to pursue more sponsorships and partnerships that help make this a sustainable career path.
Q. What advice do you have for other creators?
For those who are just starting and having trouble figuring out how to establish direction or an audience, just go and hit “Start Streaming.” I once saw someone else stream with their phone camera pointed at their TV, with a mirror next to it so you could see the streamer’s face, and they had a captive audience. It was impressive. As you can see from using that and myself as examples, you don’t need the best equipment or software. Once you get going, take notes as you go, as you will learn about things you want to do next and improve and what you want to prioritize, for example, setting up new commands for your chat to enjoy, reaching out and joining communities that align with your vibe, or researching affordable indie games to play. Above all, always remember WHY you got into it and continue to be in content creation. Some days, you focus on your numbers, compare yourself to others, or only listen to what your community wants — you cannot neglect your passions and what YOU want. That is your core and foundation.
For all creators, I often say, SERIOUSLY prioritize your physical and mental health, always. We don’t mean to neglect our health, but we usually get lost in our day-to-day going through motions. Put weekly reminders in your calendar to take a step back and check how you’re doing. Schedule your next doctor/therapist/counselor appointment. Go outside and touch grass, really. If you have to take actions to protect yourself, like canceling streams, changing what you play, banning people that make you uncomfortable, etc., you have every right to do so, and your core community and friends will understand and support you.
It’s essential to avoid burnout because things may start casual and as a hobby in your spare time, but whether you’re ready or not, things will begin to become like a job because as time goes on, you will be managing a community, leading a team of moderators, creating a “work” (stream) schedule, creating and posting your content, looking at analytics, networking, and more. And that’s ok to accept as part of what you do! It comes with being in this industry. Thus, it’s essential to realize that you will need to learn how to handle these things and deal with people from all different walks of life. They didn’t teach some of this to us in school, so it’s okay to seek help. There are a lot of helpful resources and people in the industry, so be open to learning and growing! We’re human — we all have different gaps and make mistakes here and there, but to move forward, be a good person, and continue being successful, we must improve so we don’t repeat the same errors.
Be yourself. When you take care of yourself, follow your passions, and do what makes you happy, that comes out in the content and streams you create, and your community should be built around that. Good luck!
For more spotlights, check out our blog’s Diversity & Inclusion section.
