Yeah! I'm so excited!
That's the exact one I have in my kitchen
and it is getting replaced today.
Are you kidding me?
The girls are gonna freak out.
Thank you, Zach! I'm glad you like it.
It's so awesome.
I love this.
(upbeat music)
How did this all start?
How did you decide to sort of, start creating content?
So, I guess I've always like,
kinda liked art and I really picked it up in high school.
I had a small following on Instagram
'cause I would post some of my drawings
and stuff like that.
Some of the people really liked my artwork.
So they were like,
"Oh, can you make some YouTube videos
so we can see you draw real time."
So that's when I like, started
creating a couple of videos here and there.
I was so nervous on camera.
I think I was like filming in my room
and I had to retake it probably like 20 times.
I think that's really interesting
for your viewers to hear that,
that at first it wasn't totally comfortable.
It took you a few tries to like, you know,
tell me about that process.
I think I was just thinking about like,
making my video and I'm like,
"Okay, I kinda have to do it sooner or later."
And I was always a really shy kid.
So for me, I just really wanted to do something
like, out of my comfort zone
without too many people watching.
Ironic. 22 million followers.
I probably had like a couple people
that were gonna watch me, like 50 or something.
So I was like, "Okay, I'll do this for the 50 people."
So what would you say to someone
who might want to create a bit of content,
but is too afraid?
I think when I first created content,
I didn't know it was gonna be so big for me.
I was just like, okay.
Like if I mess up, worst case scenario,
like there's only gonna be two or three people watching
and they're probably gonna be my family.
It changes your disposition
if you think people are watching.
So to block that out,
not only makes you more brave,
it's actually healthier for the ego
because I think it's good not to assume
people are gonna see it.
Were you nervous when you first started acting?
I was in diapers.
So I probably didn't know what being embarrassed was.
So now that you know 22 million people are watching,
has that changed the way that you work?
I guess I've gotten like a little bit more comfortable.
I'm still naturally like, fairly shy and reserved,
but I have been able to kind of like
step out of my comfort zone a little bit.
And when I was first creating content,
it was more like I did like a voiceover
talking like, just about the art.
After the art progressed,
people wanted to like find out a little bit more about me.
That's a good tip.
Is let the work lead and kind of put yourself behind it
and grow an interest in what you're accomplishing
rather than just making it about you.
Yeah. I think that's a really
worthy piece of advice.
And I guess when I first started out,
I also thought like, why would the viewer care about me
if I have like,
if it's just me.
But I kinda want them to be like, interested in my work.
So at least they have something
that they find is really cool,
just 'cause I thought I wasn't like
very interesting as a person.
And I guess as people looked at my artwork a little bit more
and found out a little bit more about me,
they wanted a little bit more and a little bit more.
And that's when I started opening up a little bit more.
Did that feel like a compliment or a responsibility?
I thought that was a bit of a compliment
just 'cause when I was younger,
nobody really wanted to find out anything about me.
So I thought it was so cool
that there's so many people that are like,
"Oh, I wanna know more about your life, what you do."
What's that sort of what your childhood felt like,
like you were more of a wallflower?
Yeah, I think I was always very isolated and anti-social
so I found it so cool that so many people
were interested in me.
Why do you think that was?
Well, at least in my classes and stuff,
everyone's more outgoing loud and stuff like that
and in a group dynamic.
I just don't really know how to fit in.
I have to say, I really love hearing that
because I just,
and I'm assuming, and assuming is dangerous,
but there are probably so many of your followers
that think that you might not have that,
you know, Achilles' heel of shyness
or not feeling like you're fitting in.
And that just gets down to the emotionality of,
I think there's probably a lot of people
that can relate to it
and yet, do they know that when they watch you?
I think a lot of people assume
since I have a big following,
that I'm really out there or outgoing
and stuff like that, but I'm kind of like,
I'm like pretty reserved
and I have like a small friend group
that I like to stick to.
So what is a night at Zach's place like?
What are you doing when the cameras are turned off?
Probably like try to learn something new.
I do like some business stuff.
I like to work out.
I really enjoy meditating and going on walks
and just like clearing my head.
Okay, that is good advice for people
who are just binging social media.
What is advice of when to know
the limit has been reached for the day?
It's time to turn off.
For me, personally- Mm-hmm.
after consuming some content,
I'm just like, "Okay, is this helping me achieve my goals?
Or am I just kinda wasting time at this point?"
Was it anything in your family
what gave you the knowledge to know
that you needed that balance of on time
and off time meditating, walking?
So they would always limit me to like
one hour of internet a week when I was younger
and I would kinda like sneak behind my parents' back,
and play more than I probably should of.
But then I was able to fail from that
'cause then all of a sudden I thought about it
and I was like, "Oh, I'm not really going anywhere."
And I kind of had to learn it myself,
not from like what my parents told me.
What is some advice like, a meditation amount of time
or propelling yourself to go out for a walk?
What works really well for me
since I'm like a very visual thinker,
I just put on headphones,
put on a song I really like,
I would blast it, probably a little too loud.
It's bad for my ears.
Okay, so you blast music and you're a visual thinker
and you go out there.
Do you find that on these walks and in these meditations,
creative things come to you
or you're able to sort of cleanse your palette
and get rid of all the noise and then start a new?
I think it's where I come up with new ideas,
but even more so I'm like thinking about the future.
Just 'cause when I'm working,
it's like pretty stuck in the present.
So to get like the motivation and drive
to just grind every day,
I kinda tune everything out.
And I think about like,
what's my work's gonna do for me and for other people,
like 10 years from now
and I'm just visualizing what that world's like,
what I'm gonna be doing.
And after I visualize those goals,
I'm like really excited about it.
And then ideas start coming in.
Sounds quite organized if you ask me.
What or who do you think is
sort of a catalyst for you to be such a giver?
You give back so much.
Like, where did the influence come from?
It mostly came from when I was younger,
but I didn't have much to give.
So there wasn't really anything for that.
And I think it was not until I started talking
to my friend and Mr. Beast, Jimmy.
I saw his content and I really liked
how he was able to create content
and give back to people at the same time.
And then I think the click for me
was when I painted a lot of iPhones
and I surprised strangers and they were like,
so happy about it and I was like,
"Whoa, this is really cool."
I can give back, do my arts
and create content at the same time.
I fell like that's around the time
where my daughters turned me onto you
and I started becoming obsessed with your work
and I wanted an iPhone so badly that you would do,
but I really think it's the kind of person that you are.
I mean, just real talk for me.
I just think if a person
has a lot of influence over other people,
my deepest wish is that they're leading all of us
to think outside of ourselves.
When you're taking a walk
and you're thinking about the future,
what next would you like to do?
What was your latest meditative walk future thought?
Well, obviously I really love YouTube.
I really love art. I wanna keep doing those things,
but I want to like, expand further into everything,
so in the future I'd be able to run startups,
things like that.
And then after earning a lot throughout my life,
I would like to start up some really cool organizations.
I just had this fun idea about a free college,
'cause I think college is so expensive
and education is pretty important,
even though I dropped out.
I did too, but I agree.
And then my girls,
my daughters are in a very traditional formal school.
And I think sometimes when you didn't see it through,
it kind of always bothers you
and you appreciate education even more,
and wanna see it go the distance for people.
Yeah. But I think that,
that's something I definitely wanna do,
like, run these organizations
and nonprofits to help people out.
But obviously I need money to do that.
So I want to like use my platform to build up a huge empire
where I can use this tool and help others.
Okay. So, big goals.
I believe in my heart you're gonna meet them.
Well, thank you for everything that you are
and you put out there on the world,
it's been such a pleasure to like hang out with you today
and not stalk you on DM.
It's nice to meet you IRL.
Yeah. Thank you so much for inviting me.
Thank you so much.
(upbeat music)