KumaMonster: Building a Community Through Unique IRL Adventures | Episode 11

KumaMonster shares his journey from gaming to IRL streaming, his unique adventures like walking across countries, and insights into building a community in the IRL space. Discover practical tips, the importance of community support, and how to stay motivated in the evolving world of streaming

Find Kuma:

https://www.twitch.tv/kumamonster

https://www.instagram.com/kumamonster_tv

https://www.youtube.com/@kumamonster_tv

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Transcript

Teaser

SPEAKER_02 0:00

It was not good. I lost a ton of weight in like a bad way. I mean I looked great. I looked nice and skinny, you know, it was fantastic. Um but not not the healthiest thing. Um but it was fun. I mean it was brutal, it was good content.

Intro

Patty 0:25

Welcome to the Growth Rate podcast, where we dive into real streamer stories and find out what is behind a streamer. I'm your host Patty, and today I have with me Kuma Monster. Among other paths, he walked the Nakasendo Trail in 27 days across Japan. He is based in New York and he's out here chasing the IRL dream one adventure at a time. Hi, Kuma. Thank you so much for joining us today.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Hi, Patty. Thanks for having me.

Patty 0:58

I feel like you are like the person that I met in the most random way.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

That was pretty random, yeah.

Patty 1:06

Almost one year ago, we were just both randomly walking in Rotterdam, and you were like, Hey, are you streaming? That was like one of the best interactions I've had with uh Twitch.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

Yeah, I love I love I love seeing people streaming. Even if I'm not streaming, if I'm on the street and I see somebody with like a camera or a phone, I I go up to them and I'd say, Hey, are you streaming? And like, I just want to see what they're doing, you know.

Patty 1:31

Yeah, that's super fun. And uh I feel like here it doesn't really happen a lot. People don't really just, you know, walk around with cameras or anything. There's only one. Do you know Kari?

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Yeah, I know Kari.

Patty 1:45

So because we both live in the same city, there there has been times that you know I was walking one up a street and she's going down the same street, and we look at each other and be like, she's streaming.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

That's awesome. I love that.

Patty 1:58

Those are the the most fun ones.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Yeah, no, it's it's always fun to bump into other streamers and like it's always fun to interact with other streamers, which is like why like the the meetups are great and

KumaMonster Streaming Journey

SPEAKER_02 2:08

stuff like that.

Patty 2:08

Yeah, they're super awesome. But I've met you so randomly, I have no idea how your journey on Twitch started. When did it start? Tell us how did you start streaming?

SPEAKER_02 2:22

So I first started streaming gaming a little bit in the pandemic. Um, or like I don't know, 2020 in 2020 a little bit, and then that computer broke, and then I'd streamed, I don't know, 2022 maybe for a couple of months gaming, and then my my health was really bad, so I stopped doing that. But I missed it, you know, I missed the community that you can find in Twitch and the people. And a friend of mine said, hey, like you should you should stream again. And I thought, well, I don't know what I'd stream gaming, but maybe I'd try IRL. So I did one gaming stream, and then I did one IRL stream with the jankiest setup ever. I mean, it was still a phone stream, but it was like strapped to my chest and super wobbly. But you know, a bunch of people showed up and were chatting, and like from when I was gaming, and it was fun. I had a good time and I enjoyed it. And so I thought to myself, well, let let me let me give it a shot. I kind of fell in love with it, so I I just started doing that. It was fun. And uh the rest is kind of history. I mean, for a while I was doing it twice a week at around at around the same time, and then I met another streamer who was visiting New York, and he said, Well, why don't you why don't you stream more? And so I started streaming more and then started growing more.

Patty 3:45

That is an awesome adventure. Like, because I had to prepare for it for the podcast, I did go and uh check your stats, and I was like, wait, he streamed games? When did this have fun?

Transitioning from Gaming to IRL Streaming

Patty 3:56

Yeah, but what's what was like uh this those streams, and why did you come back and did IRL and not games?

SPEAKER_02 4:04

The gaming streams are really fun. Like I got to play um a lot of old JRPGs and a lot of uh I was playing like JRPGs in newer games, and I don't know, I just I wanted to do something different. I wanted to get out and live life a little bit more and explore, and it was fun, you know. It was a it was a fun way to interact with people. I kind of just fell into it, I guess, like most things I've done in my life. And I mean it's it's been a fun journey, right? Uh the game streams are fun though. Like I I am probably gonna try to do some more desktop streaming just because iRail is great, but it is really hard on the body, and sometimes you just want to stay inside when it's cold outside, you know.

Patty 4:45

For me, it's when it's raining, because you know, here the weather in the north of Portugal, people think of Portugal it's sunny or whatever. The north of Portugal, it's like the UK. Okay, it rains most of the year, so I totally get wanting to just

The Appeal of New York City for IRL Streaming

Patty 5:02

be inside. So when I was looking at your stats when you came back with IRL, even though you were only doing it uh twice a week, you actually grew quite fast, didn't you? I don't know how long did you take to reach partner.

SPEAKER_02 5:17

It took me a little while to reach partner. Uh I mean it was less than a year, but probably about seven months, I think, to reach partner. And I think, I mean, I can attribute the early growth to a lot of factors, probably. There wasn't anybody really doing the kind of IRL I was in the city at the time. And the time slot I was streaming, there was nobody else streaming. So I feel like that helped a lot. I mean, IRL was smaller than it is now. I think also partially, because I was back back when I started streaming IRL, the category was called traveling outdoors. Yeah, I remember that. It was a very unused un underutilized category. Most people that streamed IRL were doing it in just chatting. So I think that afforded me more visibility. And also, I mean, New York City is kind of it has a wide appeal. And so I think that draws people in a little bit as well. And then with that consistency and stream, I I streamed no matter what the weather, no matter what was happening, I was always out there. So I think that had a lot of a lot to do with it too.

Patty 6:28

Yeah, I was gonna ask, like New York City, it's like its own world. Uh, do you think that helps with IRL? Because you know, it it's like there's no way of exhausting content because it's such a big city.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Yeah, I think I think that does help. I mean, especially it's I mean, in the earlier days, you know, I was because I never really did the tourist-y stuff in the city growing up and and and living here, and so being able to just go do tourist-y things with chat and see it through their eyes and through my and see like other parts of the city through their eyes as well was helpful, I think, and so it sort of fostered a lot of that early interaction and and growth. And near, yeah, New York City has a lot of uh a lot a wide appeal. I think there is there is always something going on, and there's always you know, chat likes to see lots of people and the hustle and bustle and all that. I mean, and to a lesser extent, people like to see sort of the the less traveled parts of the city as well, the the the outer boroughs, the the random places in the middle of nowhere. But there is definitely a dedicated group of people that like to see New York City for sure.

Patty 7:43

Yeah, that is really interesting that you didn't like visit the touristy places uh when you were growing up, because I'm the same. When I started doing IRL just in in my city, it's like a different scale because you can see my city in a day, but it's always very interesting because it's the streets that I walk every day and never really gave thought to you know the buildings or anything, but because Porto is like a very, very old city, so the buildings still have like that are old architecture, and everyone just loves that. And I even talked with someone from Prague, and she had the same feeling, like for her, it's just walking her city, but for the viewers, it's like a very different experience.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Yeah, I think I think it's easy for us to to just take it for granted and sort of forget that, especially in a bigger city that people want to see it. They they they crave seeing that. Maybe they live somewhere small or they live somewhere different, or they're just in a different country, or they want to travel and they find our streams as a way to to kind of fill that need, or also, you know, there's people that can't travel, that are unable to for a variety of reasons, and so I think we give them a way to get out of the house, as it were, or or travel, or live that dream, which

Building Community and Viewer Engagement

SPEAKER_02 9:04

is cool.

Patty 9:04

Did you ever did like things deliberately different to stand out, or was it like a very you know, learning journey, like you were going and learning, and uh did you have goals with streaming? Because now it's your full-time job, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Yeah, so I really enjoy interactive elements in stream, and it's hard to balance because some people some some viewers really don't like overlays and stuff like that. Uh I personally didn't I chose to to stream with the camera facing away from myself versus facing me as a as a as a lot of IRL is mostly just facing towards the creator, and I think that sort of focused and catered to the audience that wanted to see the city rather than see the creator while still building a relationship with the audience. Um, and then interactivity was huge for me. And I mean, one thing I did do was watch my metrics, and something I noticed and still noticed to this day is when I stop, go inside, and and stop for too long, I'll lose probably about 10 to 20% of my audience. And it's that some people just don't want to see that, and and that's fair, you know. But I and at a certain point you have to decide like is it worth it for you to keep that viewership or do you want to be able to sit down and have a meal? You know, it's yeah, it really depends on kind of what you want to do, I think.

Patty 10:33

Yeah, I totally get that. Whenever I do IRL, I always have it like in the time slot between big meals, so that I don't have to stop because of that. But uh especially when you do the really long ones, I mean you you need to you need to stop, you need to eat all of that.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Well, it's it's hard too, you know, when when you're stopping to eat, especially in a city, it's expensive, it's not it's not cheap. And so, I mean, I I won't I won't stop and sit down for a meal a lot of the time because I won't get out of there for under $30. You know, it especially in New York City. Now, if I'm in Chinatown, I can grab something for under 10. So that's different. And I'll I'll sp I'll eat it on the street so that again, chat's getting a view of the city and it feels more urban, feels more out and about rather than just sitting down. Um, but specific like to specifically make myself stand out, I think I think I'm just more focused on myself than what other people are doing. Try to do my own thing, and uh, I mean it worked out pretty well. I think I think I think I had a pretty unique set of circumstances that helped me grow as quickly as I did though.

Patty 11:43

If you put everything together, time zones and the the city and all of that.

Multi-Streaming and Its Impact

Patty 11:49

Did you start doing uh multi-stream from from the beginning?

SPEAKER_02 11:54

I didn't start multi-streaming until sometime last year, I think. Late 2024, I think I started multi-streaming.

Patty 12:04

Did it did you notice a difference with it?

SPEAKER_02 12:07

I think I I did manage to pull us a decent amount of viewers from YouTube to Twitch. Like I have I have a certain number of viewers and community members that just watch my stream on Twitch, that have come over from YouTube. They don't watch anybody else on Twitch, but they like the community and they've come over from YouTube. And and some of them have have branched off into other streams and and learned about the Twitch ecosystem. But I mean also, I mean, the the YouTube, it it's hard sometimes with RL to get a good chat app that you can read, both chats and everything like that, but I do think it does help. And you know, it's good to it's good to diversify. And now that you can't save a Twitch VOD forever, you have a place to store your VODs, which is which is pretty big, honestly. I know I would have lost tons of my VODs just because just because of the way my brain works, I would not remember to download it all the time. You know, I've got ADHD, it wouldn't, it just wouldn't happen.

Patty 13:06

If I don't schedule a time slot to you know to download my VODs and put them on YouTube, yeah, I'm gonna forget as well. And sometimes it's quite sad. I I've been to Korea and I did IRL there and I didn't save that VOD, and now I'm I'm very sad.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Yeah, that sucks.

Adventures on the Nakasendo Trail

Patty 13:21

I really want to talk about the the talks, the oh the talks, the walks that you do because um you know last year for TwitchCon, you did one in Europe, and you know, the Nakasendo that's I I was there almost every day because it was like such an amazing trip. These are like not your normal per se content, right? You you you have to do like big plans. Where did this come from? What was the first one?

SPEAKER_02 13:50

The first one I did was planned extremely poorly. Um, I just kind of I don't know, I was it was 2024, and it was TwitchCon, I I'd become a partner, so I was like, all right, I'd I'd like to try to go to TwitchCon EU if I can, and I'd like to travel. And I thought to myself, well, how can I stream that and make it kind of interesting? And so I decided, okay, I can watch walk from old TwitchCon to new TwitchCon. And the year before I'd been Paris. So I walked from Paris to Rotterdam. That was the first time, but I gave myself 17 days. Just that's just happen how it happened to like work out, and actually recharging helped me a lot with the planning of that route. And my I mean, and then but we used Google Maps for it, and then like day two, it put me on a highway, so we had to completely scrap that. And so between recharging and the rest of my mods, they were finding routes for me to take. And I ended up having to walk about 26 miles a day. I've walked like multiple marathons in a row. It was not good. I lost a ton of weight in like a bad way. I mean, I looked great, I looked nice and skinny, you know, it was fantastic, but not not the healthiest thing. But it was fun. I mean, it was brutal, it was good content. There's I mean, there's there's some days of that the day three was or day two, day three, one of those days, like was absolutely brutal, but amazing content. Um, but yeah, I mean, and it's a fun way to arrive at TwitchCon. And then so it was kind of just a whim. I was like, I'd like to do something cool. And then the second year, which was last year, I planned it much better. It was longer. I mean, I I gave myself double the time, but I did 600 miles in 36 days, walked through the whole UK. I mean, that was an amazing trip. Um the the community was amazing as well. I feel I felt I felt really good about that trip. It was really fun. And then I was I was wanted to stream in Japan, but you know, I've I've been I'd been to Japan before a couple times and wanted to try something different. I was like seeing like off-the-beaten trail in countries, and I think like like in all I mean the first trip I didn't really meet anybody, but in the in the UK, I got to meet a bunch of people on the road and and and have a bunch of good experiences. And the same thing happened in Japan as well, even though I didn't speak the language. You know, I I I was able to give myself enough time to kind of talk to people and and take take a moment to experience the culture, and and that was kind of amazing. And so yeah, I'm hoping to do that again then this year.

Patty 16:51

Yeah, so it was a very you know learning experience with with all of that. And I think recharging, like we've mentioned mentioned him before on uh Auckventure's uh episode because he also helped her a lot. I feel like he's a a great uh member of the IRL community always wanting to help.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

He's it, yeah, he really is. He's a great ally to like everybody in the IRL community. Always oh honestly, like last year he showed up. Well, so he let me state his place Paris, so it's as like a base of operations before I before I left and helped me get set up with sim cards and stuff. And then last year, uh it was might have been on my last day walking. He he came he came way out of his way on a bicycle and gave me a box of macarons, which was classic. So I ate a couple of those, and yeah, that was really cool, that was really fun.

Patty 17:43

Yeah, I I feel like your first one was like it went wrong, but you learned all the lessons so that you were very prepared uh the second time around.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

Yeah, the first one was definitely trial by fire. I mean, I I uh a lot of people thought I was gonna give up, but I'm just I'm kind of stubborn when it comes to stuff like that.

Patty 18:04

Just stubborn to quit.

SPEAKER_02 18:06

Sometimes, yeah. Maybe at my own detriment sometimes.

Health Challenges and Recovery

Patty 18:09

I don't know if you still have this, but your bio was uh still saying recovering from the Nakasendo trail. Uh, did you get sick because of that, or was there other things?

SPEAKER_02 18:21

Oh yeah. I you know, I don't know what it was. I I'd like so I did the Nakasendo Trail and then I did a Sebathon in Japan. And it was the silly it was it was the first Sebathon I did, did not plan it at all. But it the concept was like, I won't leave Japan until the stream ends. So the stream ended. The day it ended, I got sick. And then I got back to the US, like kind of recovered, and then got sick again. I was kind of just sick for like two months, the first two months of this year. And it was like breathing issues and some other stuff, and I put on a ton of weight. So I'm still sort of recovering from that, trying to figure out like why I I don't even really know what happened with that, but trying to figure out just trying to get healthy again, you know, going to the gym a lot and trying to get my mental health good. I don't know about everybody else. I don't know about you, Petty. It's been a rough start to the year for my mental health, too.

Patty 19:16

Yeah, it has it has been a rough 2026. They they told us it was gonna be a good year, and it's just we shouldn't believe them.

Future Plans and the Importance of Novelty

Patty 19:25

Do you think that these long walks streams uh are like a separate thing, or do you just feel it's like a a big continuous project?

SPEAKER_02 19:35

It's interesting. I feel like it's a it's a fun thing to do. I feel like I'd like to try to travel in countries a different way as well, like just to see how it goes. But the walks are the walks are good. It's a great way to see a country. It does feel sort of separate from my day-to-day streaming, which I also feel like I have to figure out what that is again as well. You know, I'm very I'm I'm definitely in a a phase of change right now, and it's just a phase of like discovery, which I think partially is ADHD rearing its head, because like uh what's the word I'm looking for? To have something new, something interesting. Novelty, yeah. Novelty, that's the word. Having novelty isn't is important and discovering new things and learning new things. So I'd like to incorporate more of that into streaming. And I've got some ideas how, but we'll see, we'll see how that goes after this trip.

Patty 20:39

Yeah, I don't know how it works for you, but I feel like when when you're doing the trails, it's like you have a very clear plan and you know what every day is gonna be, and then you're back home and you're you're just like now what?

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Yeah, that's definitely part of it. That's definitely part of it. And I do I do feel you know, on the topic of growth, I do feel the need to grow more. And I feel that I need to do what everybody needs to do, you know, the hero hub hygiene, the the making YouTube content, the the editing, the VODs, all that, you know, and it's challenging. It's challenging to find time for everything, right? Yeah, but I I do feel that. But the the trips, the trips are unique in a way that it's it's a new reality for that time. Like all I have to do is walk, eat, sleep, and stream, I guess, you know? Like I have a very singular purpose in those times, and it's kind of refreshing to to kind of break free from and not have to think about the rest of life a little bit.

Patty 21:48

Are these like the walks something that you want to know be known for? Like like in the IRL space, or you're you're just like another IRL streamer?

SPEAKER_02 21:58

I don't even really think that way. I mean, I am known for the walks at this point. But it's not something that I I think I want to be known for that specifically. I think that more just being who I am and whether whatever I do, I think that that's the ideal. That's what everybody wants, right? To be able to just have the community follow them to pen like no matter what it is they're doing. And I think it's scary sometimes to branch out and try different things. But I I I feel like I have to. So I will be doing that. I will be doing more desktop. I will be doing different things, trying new things just because, like, like thank you for the word again, the novelty of it, and it's it's just more fun. And if you're streaming and you're not having fun, the audience will know. And it'll be bad content, basically. Now there's a difference between suffering and not having fun. The audience wants to see you suffer.

Patty 23:02

I mean, for you, it's a bit different because you walk so long, you it gets to a point that you are suffering, but there's also I feel like it this happens a lot with uh Sebathons. There's like two very distinct types of audience: the ones that like the goals that are punishments, and the ones that like the goals that are like self-care and you know, very positive things, but just with you know these goals that are punishments, uh, you can see how the Twitch community kind of wants to see her.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. I don't know which one I have.

Patty 23:41

I mean, maybe we have a mix of both.

SPEAKER_02 23:43

Probably, yeah, a little bit.

Chasing the IRL Dream

Patty 23:46

So you say that you're chasing the IRL dream. What is the dream that you picture?

SPEAKER_02 23:54

I guess the dream is just to make enough money to live and have fun and travel and like build a life, right? I think I do think that maybe my bio is a little outdated. Um, because I I do enjoy IRL streaming, but I do also see the need to be able to do other things as well. But I I guess that's part of the IRL dream, right? Is to be able to travel and do IRL while also having a space where you can do other content and it'd be okay.

Patty 24:24

Yeah, I feel like the IRL community, there's like so much variety because there's the people that are always traveling, but there's also the people that do IRL and they're just sharing their life. It's not like anything big, it's just them being at home doing whatever.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

Yeah, that's true. I don't think that's that's my type of IRL. I'd like I do like having some separation in my from like and not share everything. Like if I like people ask me why don't you stream the gym? And that's that's a place for me to honestly like suffer a little bit, but like, you know, like I I wouldn't be able to focus on the workout if I had chat with me, I feel like. And I know some people just stream everything. I just I just don't know if I could do it. I don't know if I could be be like it could, you know, I did it for 36 days straight, and it's a lot, it's a lot always being on camera.

Patty 25:24

Yeah, you don't have that time to just you know decompress and just be your own company. I feel like for me at least, I you know, I just I need me time, or it's just me.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

Yeah, and I I definitely need time to just turn off my brain too.

Patty 25:38

So you when you started, did you did you have the goal that this is what you wanted to do like as a career, or were you working and streaming and then transition?

SPEAKER_02 25:51

Uh I wasn't working at the time, but I just started to do it. I mean, I was I was working on my health, uh, and I would I just started to do it for fun, and as it grew, I saw the potential to make it like a a full-time thing. Uh, and unfortunately, with streaming and why we all need to have everything everywhere, is if you're not streaming, you're not earning. So, and I mean that reaches to a lot of things, but it it presents challenges in that way too.

Tips for Aspiring IRL Streamers

Patty 26:27

Do you do you have like any I'm not saying I'm gonna say like the tech part of tips for IRL, but like for for people that want to either do IRL or transition, do you have any tips for those types?

SPEAKER_02 26:43

I mean, I think I think the thing I always say about IRL is not to go buy a backpack right away. Don't go spend a ton of money on it. Take the cell phone that you have, get one of the apps, one of the free apps, IRL Pro, Moblin, whichever one it is. Don't use like Stream Elements or or the Twitch app. You can try the Twitch app, it's better, but I wouldn't use it. And just go try it, right? Go see if you like it, go do it a few times. And if you like it, then you can start thinking about a microphone and a gimbal and all that stuff. But you're just gonna just do just try it to see if you like it. I mean, the the only caveat to that I'd say is if you're already an established creator who whose audience wants to see the outside, or you want to take them outside with you to go do something, then maybe invest in an affordable microphone and an affordable gimbal. But internal stabilization for a lot of these things works really well too. So you can get away with a selfie stick these days if you have a newer phone.

Patty 27:49

I would also say to not overthink because I did that the first time I started IRL. And when uh I was doing it, not I wasn't using my phone because I, you know, I didn't want to have my personal phone on on the selfie stick and walk around, but I used an older version, like the one I was using before. And when I was watching the VODs or whatever, I always thought that it was too shaky because that it was an older phone, it doesn't have a good stabilization, and you know, you could hear the wind. So I was overthinking all of these things, but when I asked like my regulars, the ones that watch every single stream and are there, they're just they were like, it doesn't really bother me, you know, like okay.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

Yeah, yeah. I mean, and and you know, that if you already have an established audience, they're there for you to a certain extent,

Mental Health and Streaming Challenges

SPEAKER_02 28:42

right?

Patty 28:42

Have you ever like very seriously considered quitting streams?

SPEAKER_02 28:48

Not very seriously. I've thought about it recently. Just just uh because I'm just like I said, my mental health hasn't been great, physical health hasn't been great, but you know, I wanna I wanna give it a shot still and uh stick it out for a while, you know, because you can't just give up when it gets tough, right? In life, you gotta you gotta stick it out, keep going, give it a give it a try. And uh I mean I will say though that if if I lose the fun part of it and it's just work, then beyond beyond just like not wanting to do it, it won't be good content either, you know? Yeah. So I think I think that comes into play for sure.

Patty 29:36

Yeah, I totally get it when I mean when you have a schedule and you have to stick with it, there there are days that you know you don't really want to. I feel like with IRL, it's even harder. Uh when when I'm playing a game or any or something like that, I feel like I'm not even fun playing games, and this is like the the thing that is supposed to be like my hobby, the thing that brings me joy. And sometimes sometimes it has nothing to do with the stream, it's just like uh like you said, you are working on yourself, and sometimes it's just we're not in a good place.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

Yeah. Yeah, I think I think that's a challenging aspect of it for sure. Uh and you know, for the most part, I haven't I haven't had that much that that those many times. Like obviously I've had times where I'm just like, I don't feel like streaming, but I go stream and I turn it around. But I've I've definitely had challenges recently where with physical health and and mental health, it's just like okay, all these things stacking up. I get to a point where I'm just like, okay, like I'm I feel tired mentally, I feel tired physically. I'm trying to be fun and and have a good time and have a good chat with the audience, but sometimes it's really difficult.

Patty 30:42

I feel like with you, because you don't have like this very bubbly energy, like you're you're not like those gamers that are always overreacting to any everything. You have like a very chill personality, and your audience is like very much like you. I feel like you don't have to do anything overboard, you're just showing the views and you know, just being yourself. So in a way, it can be easier for the low days, but you know, the the the core community probably is the one that's gonna notice.

SPEAKER_02 31:15

Yeah, I agree with that. I I it's hard though, like even even when I think I'm harder on myself than anybody, and so if I if I don't feel like it's going well, then I'm just you know it's I'm gonna be hard on myself about it. And I think that reflects in my tone, it reflects in the content, it reflects in what I'm talking about, you know, which which isn't the best. But what are you gonna do?

Evolving Reasons for Streaming

Patty 31:46

Is like the the reason you you started still the same reason you you have today to to stream?

SPEAKER_02 31:55

Uh I don't think so. I don't I mean I don't know. That that's a good question. I haven't really thought about why I stream. I think part of it is because like I feel like I need to. I feel like it's part of my life that I enjoy most of the time. I enjoy the community, I enjoy the people. I uh sometimes this like recently the streaming's become hard. And I think sometimes it's hard to just like I need I need to find the fun again, as it were. So my reason for streaming is different now because streaming just was fun. So you know.

Misconceptions About IRL Streaming

Patty 32:31

What is it one thing that you think most people get wrong about IRL specifically?

SPEAKER_02 32:37

People say that IRL is the hardest. I don't know if that's true. I don't know why I don't know if IRL streaming is the hardest. Um I think tech wise, maybe it's the most difficult. But in terms of content, I don't I don't really think it's the hardest.

Patty 33:02

Even with tech, I mean if you if you're doing it with like the minimum required, it's not that much.

SPEAKER_02 33:09

Yeah. I think it's become way easier. I think it's become way easier to stream IRL, which is a good thing. It means there's more people doing it.

Patty 33:17

Yeah, and there's a lot more community to help out.

Community Support in Streaming

SPEAKER_02 33:22

The IRL community is extremely helpful. I feel like it gatekeeps way less than some other communities do. I don't have any that I can specifically think of, but everybody's willing to help. Everybody's willing to help you get started. Like it's a it's a good community that way for sure.

Patty 33:38

I feel like they just want more people doing it. So you know, they they give all to all all the resources. I once asked a streamer how he did streams, and he gave me a whole like PowerPoint presentation of how to set up your IRL stream, and I was like, wow.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

Super helpful.

Patty 33:55

Is there something across how long have you been streaming then? To five, five, no, three years?

SPEAKER_02 34:01

Yeah.

Patty 34:02

Is there anything in specific that like you implemented and you you noticed the big difference on growing?

SPEAKER_02 34:09

I mean nothing specific that I can think of. I think when I think consistency is huge. And I think I I don't think there's any like one thing that you can do to ensure growth. I mean you can have goals, you can have you can you can do calls to action, you can do all this different stuff, but I think bottom line is if you're making content that you like and that you're having fun making, then people will will follow you and you'll grow.

Patty 34:47

And show up.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

Yeah.

Patty 34:49

Do you think the the IRL community helps you in that way?

SPEAKER_02 34:53

Yeah, I'd say the IRL community helps for sure. Um, you know, I I I I think we we all try to rate each other and and you know, try to come up together rather than compete, I think. A community over competition, I think, is pretty huge. Um and everybody's always you know talking about each other, rating each other. I think it's a good thing.

Patty 35:15

I feel like the IRL and the co-working community are like the the most like positive and helpful that I've been in. But yeah. Um, yeah, this this has been like a super good conversation. Uh, do you have anything like that you want the listeners to know? Anything we didn't really touch upon?

SPEAKER_02 35:35

I can't really think of anything. I mean I think we're all out here just trying to do our best and and figure it out. And I don't think anybody really has all the answers, but maybe if we we all give each other a helping hand, then we can uh figure it out a little bit faster.

Patty 35:53

I feel like uh the community, the communities that help each other are the ones that you know grow the easiest. And I can see why in gaming it's hard, because you if you put all the people from gaming, I mean there's so many games, there there's not really a sense of community. And with these these these smaller groups, RL and co-working, it's a lot easier to know a lot of the people, and especially because we didn't even have the proper uh category at the beginning, and we already knew each other, so it just even like Twitch itself helped us in you know finding each other.

SPEAKER_02 36:37

Absolutely, yeah. I think that's true. I think that's true. Twitch Twitch definitely I think wants the IRL community to grow as well, which is a good thing. Twitch definitely provides support, you know, through the creator clubs, through through other support. I think I think Twitch is Twitch is interested in IRL, I think, which is a good thing.

Patty 36:59

Yeah, I love that as well.

Finding KumaMonster Online

Patty 37:01

So do you want to tell your our listeners where they can find you?

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Uh yeah, you can find me on twitch.tv slash Kuma Monster. I think Kuma Monster underscore TV on everything else. And uh yeah, I'll be I'll be live at some point.

Patty 37:16

At some point.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Or, you know, just out and about in New York City or walking across the country somewhere.

Patty 37:23

And one last question. If I could have any streamer on the podcast having a conversation like this, who would you like to see here?

SPEAKER_02 37:33

Oh, interesting. An IRL community?

Patty 37:36

Oh, anything.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

This is this is interesting. The first person that came to mind is not an IRL streamer. Is very good at what she does. Uh Rare Gangster is a very interesting streamer that I think has a different perspective on streaming than a lot of people. I think she does it differently than a lot of people. She's a she's a game streamer, but also maybe just a comedian. She's she's pretty funny. She's she's pretty funny.

Patty 38:06

Yeah, I don't know. I don't know them, but I will I will investigate for sure. Yeah, check her out. Yeah, thank you again, Kuma, for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 38:15

Thanks for having me, Patty. I appreciate it. This was fun.

Patty 38:17

Yeah, of course. I feel like people with different personalities and people that have like very specific uh you know streams, like you only do IRL, right? Because 90% of my guests have been variety, so they do a lot of things, so they have very different approaches, and you know, uh you were the first one that does like only this, and then I also had one that just does art, and it's like a totally different perspective on growth and on how they view streaming.

SPEAKER_02 38:51

Yeah, absolutely.

outro & credits

Patty 38:53

So, yeah, thank you to all our listeners at home. If you enjoyed this podcast, don't forget to give us a follow. You can find the growth raid wherever pods are cast, and if you can, tell a friend because word of mouth is the best way to spread the word. We'll see you next time on The Growth Raid. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 39:13

Thanks, Patty.

Patty 39:15

The Growth Raid was created, hosted, edited, and produced by me. If you like the show, feel free to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. That really helps a lot. And don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel. If you would like to listen ad-free and see all of this episode's bloopers, join us on Patreon at patreon.com slash thegrowth rate. We also have a Twitter, Blue Sky, and Instagram at the GrowthRate. And if you know a streamer that would have an amazing story to share, leave your recommendation in the comments.