Your New YouTube Obsession: An Interview With StephsTooDef

You may or may not know that February is Black History Month, so to celebrate this amazing month, I was lucky enough to interview my dear friend and role model Steph, aka StephsTooDef. She is one of the most hard-working women in the industry, and she has a very interesting background that’s definitely inspiring and shows how hard work and passion can pay off. She is truly a force to be reckoned with.

1. What inspired you to create a YouTube channel?

Prior to my YouTube channel, I was making vlog type videos for GameSpot. I loved the community over there, but things started to fall apart in 2007 and I decided to stop creating videos. At the time, I had no clue what YouTube was; I just randomly started watching and was excited to see that a small gaming community existed. From there, I created a channel and decided to get back into making videos for the hobby I adore!

2. How long have you been on YouTube?

I started making videos in August of 2008, so I’m coming up on my sixth year.

3. What kind of videos do you make?

I like to think I have a wide variety of videos on my channel. Every month I do a Monthly Pick-Ups video, which highlights the games that I purchased that month. I also do impression videos, top ten lists, reviews, and unboxings. Every so often, I also post a Steph Plays video, where I share the first level or two of a game.

4. What are your favorite video games?

Honestly, I could go on and on about my favorite games. I’ll just share a few to give you a good idea of what type of gamer I am: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Kingdom Hearts, Bioshock, Assassin’s Creed II, BurgerTime, Dragon Quest IX, Resident Evil, Parasite Eve, Persona 4, Tetris, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Silent Hill. I’ll stop there.

5. Who are some of your fellow YouTubers whom you look up to?

YouTube is full of awesome content creators and I love discovering new YouTubers all the time. I don’t want to leave anyone out, so I won’t name them here, but if you check out my channel, you can see some of my favorites!

6. What are the best and worst things about being on YouTube?

The best thing about making videos on YouTube is the fact that my voice is being heard. YouTube is my outlet to express my thoughts and opinions on video games. Regardless if a million people or just one person watches my videos, I know someone is listening to what I have to say. I also love being able to interact with the community.The worst thing about YouTube would definitely be YouTube itself. Over the years, the site has changed so much, and lately the changes haven’t been that great. There are issues with commenting, there are no longer video responses, and videos get flagged more often. They need to work things out a bit more.

7. Have you experienced any negativity on your YouTube channel because you’re a female gamer?

When I first started out, I received a lot of negativity on my channel but things have simmered down since then. I was disrespected because I’m both a minority and a female. Some of the racial comments I received were ridiculous, but I didn’t let it stop me. Every now and then, I’ll get a comment like, “Shouldn’t you be cooking dinner and cleaning up instead of playing games and making videos?” People also used to think that I didn’t know a thing about games and didn’t trust or value my opinion. After a while though, it wasn’t a problem. I definitely had to prove myself.

8. Are there any social media sites where fans can follow you?

You can follow me on Twitter and on Facebook. I also have a Tumblr account where I just spit out random bits of my gaming thoughts.

Thank you so much for allowing us to interview you, Steph! If you haven’t checked out her channel yet, you can watch all of her awesome videos here. In the meantime, here’s her latest video for your viewing pleasure: