It was a pretty stressful time, so I remember when I first started working with Nigel quite vividly. It was late August of 2018 and after getting set up, the first few months were kind of a mess. With a bachelor's in chemistry I had useful skill sets, but during that time, we were struggling to find a job for me that fit. I went from researching new video topics, to helping out in the lab behind the scenes, to designing merch and even gathering info for a picture based book (one of many ideas that never took off). It wasn't until we took an opportunity to travel to New York in October of the same year that things changed for the better.

The opportunity involved being consultants for a company who sold scientific instrumentation. They were interested in building a lab, but had no experience. The job itself was interesting and rewarding in its own way, but what came out of it indirectly was much more valuable. During the few days that we spent with owners, they got us to take the channel seriously as a business. The most important thing they taught us was the importance of expansion, its risks, and also why it was worth it.

So the first thing we did when we got back to Montreal was look for a bigger space, and by January of 2019, even with a tight budget, we took the risk and started moving. Without really anything to do besides move, I spent countless hours a day from January to March basically soaking in every piece of information I could about Youtube from basically anywhere I could find. Sources included several traditional marketing books, established creators, and even obscure growth gurus you can only find deep in search (granted most of them taught me everything NOT to do). Basically with thinking as a fulltime job, I ended up developing a long-term content strategy for NileRed, which is something no solo creator has time to do, especially when they're caught up in the unrelenting momentum of releasing new videos.

Over the past couple of years, even with a significant topic disadvantage (chemistry has never been everyone's favorite subject), Nigel and I have surpassed (not without disbelief) many of our peers in the realm of applied science YouTube, where often the most consistent difference, is that we're together as a team, and they work alone. However, even with success to prove it, I think not being alone as a creator is more than just being able to separate roles and optimize strategy for the future.

Having someone with you at the exact same pace along the way makes victories that much sweeter and defeats much more bearable. Content creation has such a harsh learning curve that it's almost impossible to talk to someone about your struggles if they haven't had the same experiences. Even amongst other well-established Youtubers, the differences between opinions about the most fundamental aspects of content creation are staggering. Having someone who truly understands your perspective is honestly an indescribable feeling.

My brother and I are the creators of "NileRed", the largest chemistry-focused science channel on the internet.