Howdy! My name is Zakk or "Boulder" I upload gaming content every day! Here is my complete story of my YouTube history! Enjoy

Here is my channel if you're interested [ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

It all began in 5th grade, my friend and I would always watch iCarly on Nickelodeon. INSTANTLY we knew that's exactly what we wanted to do. I begged my mom for nearly 2 years trying to get my own YouTube channel! The middle of 6th grade, she finally let us make one but she managed it and monitored what we uploaded. We made the absolute worst videos ever looking back on it... Although back then, we thought we were amazing.
Before we had a channel, my grandma had pancreatic cancer, I would show her the videos we were planning on uploading because she would always smile, she honestly inspired me to keep doing YouTube, she would always tell me I'd make it someday and how talented I was. Obviously she was just saying that I was talented to motivate me. The end summer before 6th grade (2012) my grandma passed away. My friend and I went on to make 4 more videos before the end of 7th grade where he decided to stop making videos and stop talking to me. That didn't stop me from making videos, I loved doing it.
September 5th 2012, I made my very own channel. I didn't tell my mom because I knew she wouldn't be happy, once again I didn't make the best of videos... I would upload videos of me talking to a lemon with a face on it, eating cake with my face, or running around the house acting like my cat was trying to kill me. Didn't really get that many views but I would get so excited to see 10 views on a video not knowing every time I clicked it would count as a view. I could seriously kick myself for deleting those instead of privatizing them.
A week after making my own channel, my friend showed me Minecraft. I got the PC version before him and one night, he came over and we played for HOURS. The next day, he left and I decided to make a video about it. I told my sister to hold the camera steady on the computer screen while I talked. That video was the Birth of what I am today.
I would share my videos on Facebook to my friends from school and family. One day, my friend Brandon clicked the video and told me about Skype and how he has a server. Once I figured out what a Skype was, I added him. He literally taught me EVERYTHING. How to sprint, join servers, and A LOT of other things. He then showed me how to crack soft wares to record and edit videos I recorded on my computer! We would upload short videos of us messing around on his server. We started playing Minecraft Hunger Games on the Hive, which is still on my channel in the playlist labeled "Before Boulder" because my name was "TheNintendoBoy7" at the time.
Brandon and I have known each other for 12 and a half years now but we didn't really talk until we started playing Minecraft. At the start of 7th grade, we didn't talk on Skype as much and he would "spam" me so I blocked him because I didn't know he wanted to talk. All through 7th grade, I would upload videos of me playing Minecraft Hunger Games or a survival world. I also discovered Minecraft PE YouTubers and starting recording that as well! I hit 21 subscribers in a matter of a few months.
The end of 7th grade, I decided to unblock Brandon and ask him why he would "spam" my Skype like that, he told me he just wanted to play. I then stopped doing Pocket Edition and began to focus more and more on PC and the quality of my videos. I uploaded almost every other day, thus bringing me to 60 or so subscribers by late May of 2013. I left for a family trip for 3 days in June and when I came back, I had 75 subscribers! Even though I didn't upload all that week, I gained 15 subscribers! I was so excited and proud! It truly motivated me from that day on and on February 22nd 2014, I hit 100 subscribers, I could not believe it! 100 seemed impossible but I managed to reach it.
All of 2014 I uploaded as much as I could! I figured out how to record in HD widescreen, got a Blue Snowball microphone, And passed 200 subscribers in October! Things were really starting to look up for me! After I hit the big 200, my channel began slowing down and I began to lose motivation, I kept uploading but I wasn't as excited to do it anymore... Not to mention the Minecraft SMP I joined split up back in June. 2015 was a wake up call. I realized if I wanted to do this as a career someday, I'm gonna have to work to get there. I was growing extremely slow at this point, getting stuck at 260 for what seemed like forever.
June 2015, I made a HUGE decision that changed the ENTIRE outlook for my channel. I changed my name to "Boulder" and privatized all my videos. I started fresh with a new name and new videos. I quickly lost 20+ subscribers but almost instantly gained back 30-40 more! I uploaded EVERY SINGLE day for about a month! Then we started moving. I couldn't upload as frequent, thus making my channel inactive as well as most of my subscribers. Once we were fully moved into the new house, I really put on my game face and started again. Once again I was slowly growing. Got stuck at 318 for WEEKS! I was still uploading but I wasn't pulling anybody into my channel! Eventually I made it to around the 330 mark in the end of 2015.
2016 started off pretty slow, still stuck in the 300's... I tried uploading different games and other types of videos but nothing seemed to work. Then, April of 2016, I found a YouTuber by the name of FrvmeworK. He had a Shout out Sunday series on his channel, I decided to enter. The first week, I didn't win but I really wanted this shout out. The second week after I entered, I WON. The day after I got a shout out from him, I hit 400 subscribers! I couldn't believe it! I was still gaining subscribers all that week! I eventually capped at 489.
As June 2016 approached, I met so many cool people that tried to help me grow but nothing really happened... Until one guy by the name of HouseOfCrei sent my link to Rhyze, a call of duty YouTuber. He does "Top 5 Underrated YouTubers" on his channel. June 5th, he gave me the #1 spot in his video, I hit 500 subscribers! Once again showing no signs of stopping all that week and the next, I hit 600 subscribers June 13th, barely even a week after I hit 500!! I am still in amazement looking back at what I did and where I was at to where I am today.
I guess all I can say is, don't ever doubt yourself. I still to this day remember how happy it made my grandma to watch my videos and it keeps me going. I hope you read this all the way through, if not, well looks like I wasted about an hour and a half of my time. Thank you for reading and I hope you've enjoyed my story [/font]