(upbeat music)
- Hey, good morning, everybody
and welcome to the vlog.
You know, I have said that statement 585 times now,
that's right.
And it is January 2nd,
and for those of you guys that have been following the vlog
for the last four years,
I always tell you guys on January 2nd
if I'm gonna continue on daily vlogging
or if there's gonna be a change to the format.
So yeah, today you're gonna find out.
You know, over the past four years,
so much has gone on, you know.
I mean I've said it a million times,
like when I started vlogging, there was no Reptarium,
there was no Ben and Jerry the two headed snake,
all these ambassador animals that I love so dearly,
I didn't even have.
I didn't even have Bella, believe it or not,
when we started daily vlogging.
So a lot has happened and things have been pretty amazing.
You guys know that.
And, you know, I try not to think about much
until January 1st,
and that's when I really take that day to decide,
"All right, am I ready for it?"
And I really think about four different things
when I think about am I gonna continue daily vlogging.
And the first one quite frankly, is personal.
You know, how have I...
You guys know that this has been
a little bit of a rough year for everybody really,
but you know I struggled pretty hard with anxiety,
getting much better now and stuff like that,
but I have to think to myself personally,
am I ready for it?
Is it good for my family?
And so on like that.
And that's something that I really wanna
take into account when I think
am I gonna continue daily vlogging.
(upbeat music)
Well, I look at the vlog is kind of
like a daily diary as well, right?
I mean, think about it.
I can look back on the day that I got Salt.
You know, that moment when we unboxed her
and opened up the thing and saw this
cute little albino alligator,
and so many things in my life I can actually look back on,
and it's actually really cool
to be able to relive it whenever I want to.
So that's a big part of it as well.
But also, the second thing I have to think about,
is the business side, right?
And that basically just means like,
hey, listen, this vlog helps drive
a lot of the things that I'm very passionate about.
You guys may not know about the Reptarium 1.0,
you certainly may not know about 2.0
and all the things that we're doing,
not to mention merch and all the other things
that we've got going on.
And this vlog really helps that.
So I have to decide
is that going to be part going forward as well?
You guys know that we're deciding,
and probably gonna do 3.0
I'd like to take you guys on that daily journey.
Not only because I want to share it with you
and I can look back on it like that daily diary,
but also the fact that, hey, from a business standpoint,
you guys are gonna know when we open
and you may wanna come visit.
So listen, I'd be lying if I didn't say
that this vlog helps my business, right?
So that's something that I do have to
take into account when I'm thinking
am I gonna continue on with the daily vlog?
The next thing that I really consider is me,
personal, as far as my excitement level.
You know, do I wanna pick that camera up every morning?
I talk about it all the time
that I don't like to do things that I don't wanna do, right?
So if I decide that I am not excited about the vlog
and I'm not excited about the daily challenges
of daily vlogging,
that maybe it's time to stop, right?
You know, I don't wanna do this just to do it.
I don't wanna do it
just because it makes good business sense.
I wanna do it because I love it
and I'm excited about it.
You know what I mean?
I get to mess with these animals like Nova every single day.
And it's so exciting, right?
I don't ever get sick of that.
I come in and I'm like,
"Oh my gosh, it is so awesome to see Nova",
or any of my animals for that matter.
I mean, it's just something that I am so passionate about.
Well, I wanna carry that same passion with this vlog, right?
I wanna carry the exact same passion for you guys
so that you're excited about coming along
on this journey for me.
So I have to ask each and every year,
am I still passionate about it?
Am I still waking up in the morning and saying like,
"I can't wait to pick that camera up and tell this
amazing story of just incredible animals."
Like these cute little monkeys here,
these little alligators, look at them.
They're so absolutely adorable.
Or have I gotten to a point where I'm just like,
"It's just too hard and I don't like it anymore
and it's a chore and it's kind of a drab on my life."
And that's what I have to ask myself, you know?
I don't ever wanna do this just because
I feel like I'm forced to do it.
(upbeat music)
Come on Tazzy.
Come on out, buddy boy.
I love this guy, Tazzy.
He is just absolutely incredible.
Of course he's my Argentine Blue Tegu
and he is a hit with the kids.
And he's just an absolutely wonderful animal.
There is no doubt about it.
And the last thing that I really think about
about going forward with the vlog
is that what you guys think, right?
I mean, you know,
YouTube is an ebb and flow
where you have peaks, you have valleys,
you have big videos, you have smaller videos,
so on like that.
It doesn't bother me when views are down a little bit,
as long as they eventually go back up.
But you guys really determine things more than anything.
You know, let's face it,
if half the viewership,
or a quarter of my viewership go away,
that tells me that you guys are sick of me.
That my message is no longer resonating with you.
Come on, buddy boy.
You're okay.
Tazzy, oh my gosh.
Tazzy's getting a little bit crazy on me here.
Go down, be free.
He is so funny, he is such a good animal.
But again, you guys are determent, right?
I mean, I want my message of inspiration,
of passion for life,
reptiles, loving animals, all the things I preach,
I want you guys to really love that message.
And if for some reason you guys start deciding like,
"I'm just sick of it."
And you decide to stop watching,
that kind of tells me it's time to change.
You know, either change my format,
change the amount of times I post videos,
maybe from seven days a week to three days a week,
or whatever the case may be.
So you guys have a big part of it.
Even commenting and liking,
or subscribing for that matter,
you guys determine that.
If my comments go from a thousand comments to 200 comments,
you guys aren't as engaged.
If my subscribers start dropping
or my subscribers and growth starts dropping,
you're telling me something.
If the like on the videos go down,
you're telling me something.
So you guys play a big role in my decision as well.
So what's it gonna be?
Am I going to continue to daily vlog in 2021?
Let's go ahead, rewind things,
and take a look at those four things
that I really thought about yesterday
before coming to you with my final decision.
First one being personal.
Again, you guys know that I suffered,
I had a lot of issues this year.
I'm feeling so much better.
Am I perfect yet?
Not really, but I'm getting closer.
And I feel personally I'm ready to make that commitment
to doing 365 days of vlog
because I think I mentally am ready for it.
And I think that physically my energy level is good.
So that one gets the check mark in the yes column.
(upbeat music)
And the truth is
is that this vlog really helped me personally
during those times.
I know it may seem weird,
but it was kind of therapeutic, right?
When you're really struggling mentally,
a lot of times you don't even wanna get out of bed,
you don't wanna do anything.
And the vlog was kind of forcing me to work every day,
forcing me to do things,
and forcing me to kind of get going, you know,
and that was therapeutic for me.
You know, it took my mind away from the anxiety.
It took my mind away from all the things
that I was bothering with, all the craziness in the world.
So in that way, the vlog was actually super helpful.
And I just can't imagine going without it
to be totally honest with you.
(upbeat music)
Then when it comes to the business question, you know?
I mean, of course you guys know that the Reptarium
was closed for three and a half months this year
because of COVID,
and now we have limited numbers,
but we have plans on expanding.
And I really do believe that,
even though the beginning of 2021
might be a little bit rocky,
I think that once we get into the middle part of the year,
it's gonna be rockets.
And hopefully we can expand.
That honestly is gonna help my business,
being able to tell the story every day.
Having you guys get excited about it
right along with me and wanting to be a part of it.
Because you know, with you guys watching every day,
you kind of take ownership of it, right?
It's like you've been here since we built
every single thing in the Reptarium.
When we do that expansion, you're gonna be a part of that
and you're gonna be excited to come visit.
So obviously, from a business standpoint,
things are really good.
So once again, you know, it makes sense to continue on
because we still have more to tell.
We're not at the end of our story, right?
When we finish that story, then maybe we're at the end.
But right now there's so much more to tell you guys,
and I know it's gonna really help
to be able to bring you guys along on this journey.
And as a matter of fact
I've got another business I've been working on
for the last, I don't know, six or eight months
that I've been kind of keeping secret from you guys.
So I'm gonna need to tell you about that.
And for reptile lovers out there,
I think you're gonna really like this.
It's gonna be helpful.
I'm excited about it.
It's going to be pretty cool.
And hopefully in the next couple of weeks
I can actually let the cat out of the bag
and let you guys know what I'm talking about.
(upbeat music)
Next up would be my excitement level, right?
I mean, you guys know that every day
I'm excited about my animals.
I mean, you know, Midnight here,
the Mexican Black King Snake,
how can you not get excited about that?
And every animal here at the Reptarium,
and every animal over at BHB, I'm always excited.
I've been doing this my whole life
and I'm still as passionate as ever.
And the truth is,
is that do I want to pick this camera
up every morning and tell the story?
Yes, I do.
I still am excited about it.
I think about it all the time.
When I wake up in the morning
I start thinking about what shots we're gonna do,
how I'm gonna tell a story,
what the story is gonna be.
Of course when I get in, that story could change anytime
because every day something different happens.
Let's say I walk in and my sloth is loose,
the story changes,
but it doesn't mean that I'm less excited
about telling that story.
And the truth is I love interacting with you guys.
I love reading your comments.
I love just everything about it.
It is addictive.
So as of right now, I haven't lost that passion.
Not at all.
As a matter of fact, it may even be stronger than ever.
(upbeat music)
And the last things that I always have to consider
is the fact of you guys.
You know, how are you guys thinking about it?
Are you engaged?
Do you want me to continue to do it?
How are the numbers going?
You know, I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you,
2020 was our best year on YouTube from every standpoint,
with the exception of subscriber growth
was down just a little bit,
but actually we still put on like
650,000 subscribers this year.
So I'm not unhappy at all.
As a matter of fact, do me a favor,
we're getting close to 3 million,
It'd be absolutely incredible
if we could get the 3 million here in the next month or two.
And then it's just about, you know, you guys.
You know, how are you feeling about it.
And, you know, down in the comments
let me know how you want me to do it.
Do you want me to keep going daily?
You know, right now we are in a little bit of a dip.
I'm not gonna lie to you.
The views are a little down the last three or four weeks,
but that doesn't necessarily mean much,
because again, the ebb and flow of YouTube.
If our views continued to go down or stay down,
I might have to reconsider things.
But the fact is is that I've been doing this long enough
to know that here in another few weeks,
our views may be bigger than ever.
But I do need to know from you guys, are you still excited?
Do you still want me to do it?
What stories do you want me to tell?
Because you guys are an integral part.
But with that being said,
2020 definitely was a really great year on YouTube.
So from that standpoint,
it appeared that people really did want me to keep going.
So as always guys,
it looks like you may be stuck with me in 2021.
I mean, I can't really think of any reason to stop.
I'm excited about it.
It's good for my business.
I personally am feeling better and excited
to get on camera every single day
and share my life with you guys
and tell you guys the story of 2021,
'cause I really do.
Maybe I'm an optimist,
but I believe 2021 is going to be
one of the most incredible years ever.
Because by time we get back to being able
to be somewhat normal,
we're all going to be so appreciative of everything.
And I know we're gonna be...
I mean the littlest thing is gonna be exciting
and I wanna share that journey with you.
Not to mention, if we expand the Reptarium,
it's gonna be absolutely bonkers
and I want you guys to come along on that journey.
And lastly, you know,
as long as you guys down in the comments,
you guys keep liking and subscribing,
that tells me that you guys want me here.
And I really, really do appreciate you guys.
So there it is guys.
I think I'm here for the next 365 days.
If you enjoyed this video, you wanna look back on 2020,
right here is a playlist
where you could see the entire 366 days last year.
Up here you can subscribe to my podcast channel.
I really do think you guys will enjoy that.
Do me a favor, hit that subscribe button on this side
if you haven't already done that to get me to 3 million.
Turn your post notification on
so you don't miss anything this year.
Have an absolutely wonderful day.
Remember, be kind to someone.
And guess what,
I promise I'll see you tomorrow.