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A CANDID confession that she felt like a loser at 30 led to one woman receiving generous donations and brand offers.
Akouto Von unexpectedly went viral on YouTube when she vented her frustration over her failed career and marriage.
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By33, who lives in California, was posting videos about fashion and celebrities when her content took a completely different turn almost a year ago.
On October 24, 2023, she posted a clip titled, “I’m a 33-year-old woman with no life. (My advice to young women).”
“I feel like a loser,” she added on the thumbnail.
Her candid confession clearly struck a chord and has been viewed more than 2.5 million times.
But it wasn’t just viral fame that brought her money, made deals, and found a community she didn’t have before.
Barely working
Von moved to YouTube after struggling to find a job in media after graduating.
“I didn’t find people in journalism who looked like me,” she told The US Sun.
“Not just black people, but specifically people with dark skin who looked like me at the time.
“I only saw blonde, white women on TV and I thought: I’m never going to be able to be a journalist in front of a camera discussing the latest celebrity gossip.
“So I decided to go behind the scenes and produce, edit and create instead.
“And even with that transition, I still had trouble finding a job.”
After using student loans to make ends meet, Von went to work in customer service, which was definitely not her chosen career.
Her love life wasn’t exactly what she wanted either.
Although she was married to a man she met at university, after a few years the relationship ‘didn’t feel right’ anymore and they broke up.
A MEETING WITH FATE
Her family lived in Illinois, but when her ex moved out, Von began to feel “depressed” from the stress of bills and the feeling that her love life wasn’t moving forward.
A chance encounter with a filmmaker at a Southern California train station inspired her to share her “broken” feelings online.
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“He showed me his account and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” she said.
“When I met him, he had over 950,000 subscribers and I was shocked. Right now I think he has over 2 million.”
He gave her tips on how to grow her own YouTube channel and taught her that clicks are more important than subscribers.
And he urged her to be raw.
I thought, if I can get 500 people to click on this video, I’ll be very happy.
Akouto Van
“Throughout our friendship, I kept complaining about how poor I was,” she said.
“I had no friends and felt isolated. He said, ‘Just talk about it and see what happens.’
“He said people really like raw music on YouTube.”
REALITY CHECK
Von recorded over 30 minutes of her complaining about her life, but edited it down to just 12 minutes.
Her last contract had been expiring for a month now and she had not yet found another job.
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She wasn’t convinced the confession would go viral, but within a week of speaking candidly about her feelings of being a loser, more than 1 million people had watched the broadcast.
“I felt like I had nothing to lose,” she said.
“I thought, if I can get 500 people to click on this video, I’ll be very happy.”
Von waited until 20,000 people had viewed the now-viral video before sharing it with people who knew her personally.
“I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to say anything until it’s done or until I have to prove something,” she said.
“The first person I sent the video to was my sister and she was like, ‘What’s going on, what are you doing?’
“She was very, very surprised.”
MONEY MAKER
Von’s life changed “very drastically” when the video was viewed thousands of times.
“I went from being lonely, vulnerable and isolated to a person who went viral almost overnight,” she said.
“It was an overwhelming experience and I was not prepared for it.
“I was making a lot of money, and I had never made so much money in such a short time before.
“I got so many brand deals.
“I got so many emails and the best part was that even though I felt alone, I wasn’t alone, thanks to the views and comments on the video.
“If you look at Instagram, you see that everyone is rich, travels everywhere, has beautiful houses and things like that.
“But I didn’t realize that many people were also isolated and lonely, out of work, struggling to make friends, and in difficult marriages.”
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CASH FLOW PROBLEMS
Von said she didn’t intend to make money from the video and was shocked when someone offered to set up a fundraiser on her behalf.
The donations totaled $550, but most of the money she earned came from the number of views her video received.
Despite the viral success, Von says she’s now almost back to where she was before she made the video.
“People ask me for YouTube advice all the time and I always say, don’t count on it going viral,” she said.
“It’s good, but it’s not sustainable. I’m kind of back where I was last year.
“I’m not as isolated anymore because I have a great online community and I’m thriving emotionally, but I’m still broke.
“When you make YouTube videos, you don’t know how much you’re going to earn in a month.
“I had to recalculate all my funds.
“I work as a barista to make ends meet, because a large portion of the money I make on YouTube goes to paying my bills.”
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UPDATE
Von spends about 40 hours a week on her YouTube channel, with most of her time spent editing it.
It focuses more on the video sharing platform than any other social media app.
“I don’t really want to be an influencer,” she said.
“I just want to talk to people on YouTube about my favorite things, my dreams, goals and stuff like that.”
She encourages other people to pick up a camera and share their personal stories.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re from a small town or a big superstar, if you have something to say, always say it because you never know who’s listening,” she said.
“You never know how they might relate to you.
“Always tell your story, no matter what it is or how small it feels. I will always tell people that.
“The most important thing is not how many views I can get with this video.
“It’s how can I inspire, how can I make people click? How can I make people curious?”
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