From Pink Slip to New Beginnings: Why I'm Leaning Into YouTube Video Creation in Midlife

Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash

After losing my job back in December, I was devastated. I had only been employed for six weeks, so my termination was very unexpected and I didn’t have a backup plan. Which for a Type A personality, that feels like a gut punch. For a few weeks I walked around feeling hopeless, like “How in the hell am I going to pay my bills! How am I going to survive!”

When I’d accepted the job back in October, I had just depleted my savings, so the offer was right on time (or so I thought). Now I was sitting here, a few weeks before Christmas, and literally had ONE paycheck to my damn name. But as faith, luck, God, and the universe would have it, a few days after being terminated I received the funds from a lawsuit that I’d been dealing with for three years. I knew the amount I’d received wouldn’t last me that long, but it would help until I figured out what to do next.

One day while sitting on my sofa watching YouTube videos, and drowning in self pity and a bag of Lay’s potato chips, my son Jorden plopped down next to me and started questioning me about YouTube. Apparently, he had taken a look at my channel and wanted to know why I wasn’t consistent in making and posting videos. He knew that I was an avid watcher of YouTube as he pointed to the television screen (yes, I watch YouTube on my tv) but he didn’t understand why I wasn’t leveraging the platform for myself.

He pointed out that I had conquered LinkedIn, having over 90K followers, so why wasn’t I trying to do the same thing on a platform that would actually pay me to make videos about the same stuff I was sharing on LinkedIn for free and now being shadow banned for.

At the time of his now lecture, I had 1.2K followers on YouTube and I was actually gaining new watchers each month without having posted in over a year! All I needed to monetize my channel was 4K watch hours, and I was actually 2K hours away from reaching that goal.

This kid was actually making sense (he’s 26, but I still consider him a kid).

Honestly, at that moment, I was only using YouTube to host videos that I’d made for Instagram and LinkedIn, and still wanted people to watch them, because I felt the content/message was really good. But I had never considered making consistent content strictly for YouTube like I’d done on other platforms.

Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash

So Jorden challenged me. He dared me to grow my YouTube channel and to be consistent. He challenged me to move away from relying heavily on LinkedIn and short form content and to give YouTube 100% of my time for at least 60 days. So in January, I sat down with my iPhone, a tripod, and the wireless mics I had purchased on Amazon and began talking about what was on my mind - Being Fired at 55.

Well to my surprise, the video had over 40K views! I didn’t realize there were that many Gen X’s who had lost their jobs and were searching YouTube for answers, but 40,000 of them happened to find me.

So I decided I would continue to open up and share more about my experience and how I’m surviving, hoping that my vulnerability will help someone else.

So far here’s how it’s going:

I’ve made a total of 11 videos since January.

• 2 have gone viral with one having over 119K views (it isn’t about job loss but the Target boycott).

• 2 videos I deleted because they are kinda political and I realized that isn’t the content I want to be known for. So there are actually 9 new videos up.

• 4 videos relate to surviving unemployment.

• 2 videos are more about women empowerment.

• 3 videos about current events

• I finally became a YouTube Partner in early February, which means I get paid to have ads on my videos (ya’ll, please watch the ads on YouTube videos). I am basically paid for every 1,000 views (which means we have to get a lot of views on a video to generate revenue). I am scheduled to receive my first check later this month.

• I was invited to join the YouTube Creator program which means if I’m accepted I’ll get to attend exclusive events and workshops, and receive support for YouTube to further grow my channel.

Yes, I’m still trying to find my groove when it comes to YouTube and this type of long form content, but since I’ve leaned into it the results have been pretty amazing. I must say, I’m pretty proud of myself.

This experience has taught me a few things:

1. Sometimes you can’t sit around trying to make shit perfect. Sometimes you just have to get up and do something and that’s what I am doing.

2. I’m figuring out YouTube as I go and perfecting my craft along the way. But I will admit, I’m far from being a novice. My background incudes public speaking, being a freelance photographer for 7 years, and understanding marketing due to being on platforms like MySpace, Black Planet, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram back when none of them were popular and growing with them throughout the years.

3. You are never too old to start something new and become good at it.

4. Sometimes being let go from a job is a blessing, because if my narcissistic boss hadn’t fired me, I wouldn’t be receiving my first check from creating content on YouTube.

So here’s my ask…

I don’t have it all figured out. Yes there are days I still struggle with having a whole PhD and being fired over hibiscus tea (you have to watch the video to get the full story). But if I don’t believe in myself, if I don’t try to figure out how to pivot from this loss, no one will do it for me. That I know for sure.

So here’s my ask - Instead of setting up a GoFundMe and asking you to give me money, I’m asking you to support me by watching my YouTube videos. If you find my videos informative, give them a thumbs up and then subscribe to my channel. If you’ve lost your job and you’re feeling hopeless and helpless, definitely checkout my YouTube channel. If you know someone who’s lost their job recently, share one of my YouTube videos with them. That’s it. That’s all I’m asking.

P.S. If you’d like to hear more about becoming a YouTuber in midlife, comment down below.

Dr. Carey Yazeed is a Behavioral Scientist and media contributor. Make sure you check her out each week over on YouTube.