Ethan Nestor & CrankGameplays: YouTube Phenom

Lisa Belisle: Hello, I'm Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to or watching Radio Maine. Today I have with me in the studio Ethan Nestor, who is, I don't know exactly how to describe you. You have so many different talents in the entertainment industry. How would you describe yourself, Ethan?

Ethan Nestor: I would just describe me as a content creator, I guess. I used to describe myself as a YouTuber, but now I do a lot of different stuff. So content creator just pulls them all into one. Thank you again for having me.

Lisa Belisle: This is gonna be fun. I love this because you're heading back to LA very soon, and not Lewiston, Auburn. You're heading to the actual LA in California. So you started this really pretty young.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah, I was 15 when I started making YouTube videos. Back then, I was pretty much only making videos on YouTube, but now I do a bunch of different platforms. I started at 15 years old making videos, and now, at the end of the month, actually the 29th of August will be my 11 year anniversary, which is wild.

Lisa Belisle: It's pretty interesting to think that you have such a significant body of work going back that many years.

Ethan Nestor: We were just kind of talking about this before we started recording, but sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad to be able to look back at old stuff and be like, oh, that's cute, I'm glad I can look back at that. And sometimes I'm like, ah, I kinda wish that I didn't still have that up from when I was 15 or whatever. But that's part of it.

Lisa Belisle: What was sort of the turning point for you? At the height of your YouTubing career, how many subscribers did you have?

Ethan Nestor: Right now I have the most subscribers that I've ever had, 'cause it grows every day. It's just kind of exponential at this point, which is wild. So I have about 2.1 million subscribers on YouTube.

Lisa Belisle: And that's even after having transitioned away from your original focus?

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. I originally was doing just gaming stuff, and now I'm sort of transitioning away from that and doing different kinds of content, just kind of whatever I want. I still really like the gaming stuff, but it's not as creatively fulfilling. It got kind of easy and a little bit monotonous. So now I've been doing a bunch of different kinds of videos and just trying to be more creative and do different things, so I'm not just sitting at my desk all day.

Lisa Belisle: So you started doing the gaming content back many years ago. What was that turning point when you said, oh, I think I could actually make a living off this?

Ethan Nestor: It was right after I moved to LA where I realized that it was starting to get to that point. I didn't even realize that you could make money off of videos when I started, back in 2012. There was still a lot of bigger people on the platform, but I think in 2012 the most subscribed channel only had a couple million subscribers. So I wasn't even aware that you could make money off of it. And then as I started doing it more, I was like, oh, you do make money off of this, that's cool. Maybe someday I could get to a point where I can just do this. That was my goal for a while, to just make that the thing that I do, 'cause I loved it so much. I was completely obsessed with it.

Lisa Belisle: And then at what point did you say, okay, I think I've had enough and I'm gonna move on to the next thing?

Ethan Nestor: That's happened a couple times, not as far as YouTube, but there's definitely been pockets of what I've created. I just kind of had one with ending the gaming stuff and being like, okay, I think I've kind of tapped this out now. I want to try and challenge myself a little bit more. It's still fun to go back and do more gaming stuff. But most recently, just a few months ago, I was like, okay, I think I wanna move on from gaming stuff. I think I wanna do stuff that's more about my personality rather than playing games and stuff like that.

Lisa Belisle: And you did it in kind of a dramatic way, I understand.

Ethan Nestor: I guess I did. That's the thing about YouTube, you always have to kind of cater to the algorithm. I don't love having to do that, but you have to be kind of clickbaity sometimes. So I named the video, 'cause I used to go by the name CrankGameplays, I was like, this is my last CrankGameplays video. And then a lot of people thought that I was quitting YouTube, but I was just like, no, I'm just not gonna be CrankGameplays anymore. I'm just gonna go as my name and make different kinds of stuff. But yeah, it was a little dramatic.

Lisa Belisle: My husband was watching some of your pieces and he would come back and he would say, oh, wow, did you see this piece? This was really interesting. And I was thinking to myself, you've kind of built your whole persona around a very specific thing that you've done for a long time, since you were much younger. And this is a really public way to say, okay, I'm not that persona anymore. I'm moving on. A lot of people don't have that opportunity when they make a decision in their life that they're gonna do something different.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. I'm really, really lucky to have the audience that I have, because since the beginning they've kind of been all about, not necessarily the games that I'm playing, but all about me as a person, which is really lucky, because there's a lot of people that have to just stick to one little thing. So they were all super supportive. Not only supportive, but very excited when I made the change, because they were like, oh, we get to now see more of you. Before, it was just me reacting to the game that was on screen or whatever. So now it's like, okay, we get to see you do more stuff and be more of the goofy side of you. That comes out a bit more with these different videos.

Lisa Belisle: I've watched several different YouTube channels with my 22 year old who really does get invested in these people. It almost seems like she views the people that she watches as almost her friends or her family. After watching them for a while, I can sort of see that that's sort of a day in the life, and here's another day in the life. So are you bringing people into kind of a day in your life? What is it that you're doing now that keeps people tuning in?

Ethan Nestor: I've just been doing a lot of weird stuff recently. I've been trying to figure out how to describe the videos that I'm making now, and I don't know how to put them in a certain category, but I'm just trying to find ways to be goofy and entertaining and try funny things. A video I did recently that people really loved was, I had my friend cover my body in Elmer's glue. I don't know if you ever did this as a kid, but putting glue on your hands and then waiting for it to dry and then peeling it off. I really loved doing that as a kid. What if I did that with my entire body? It's a really dumb, weird idea, but it was really fun and really goofy. And that's what people really love, I guess. So I've been doing stuff like that. Also buying the top rated baby toys recently and I tried them, just because I think that that's a funny thing, a grown man giving an honest review on how these baby toys are. So now it's just all about having fun and trying to be goofy and entertain people the best I can.

Lisa Belisle: That must require a tremendous amount of creativity, just coming up with the ideas to use for your pieces.

Ethan Nestor: I don't know if I would give myself that much credit. I do feel like I'm a creative person, but a lot of what I do is based off of improv. I don't script anything. And thankfully I have Jocelyn, she is my creative producer. Before, it used to be like, I would come up with all of my ideas and I would set up every video, but now it's a lot more fun for me, because I'll give her a basic idea, or she'll have an idea, and then she'll sort of set everything up. So then I can just play off of what I'm getting right then and there. And I'm a bit more surprised now because she's more involved in setting the video up. So I feel like, I don't think that I'm not a creative person, but I'm more of just an improviser, and I think that I'm a good improviser. I did a ton of improv when I was in high school and past high school, and that's just kind of what I'm doing now in a sense, just not in the traditional way. I'm just kind of improvising and trying to make jokes off of things that happen immediately. I really like doing that stuff, especially with other people.

Lisa Belisle: It's interesting to me that you first answer the question, like, well, it's not that creative because somebody else is setting me up to do this, but then it's improv. So maybe improv is a little creative. I actually think you have to be really creative, and creative in the moment in a really different way, to be able to do things that are more improv oriented.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah, I guess so. I think I just don't like giving myself credit for anything. Which is why I go to therapy.

Lisa Belisle: Oh, okay. Well, that's also good. All the different tools that you can use in your toolkit.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah.

Lisa Belisle: I do think it's hard to actually show up in the moment and try to do something that somebody else might find funny or entertaining. And that's why we love watching improv. But you don't think that that's creativity.

Ethan Nestor: It's not that it's not. I think it's just kind of the way that I view my own videos, because at the end of the day, they're very goofy and very fun, but I wouldn't compare it to something that I would find truly creative, like an art piece or a short film or something like that. They're just kind of goofy and entertaining. So I guess they're inherently creative, but I just don't think of it that way, I guess.

Lisa Belisle: And that's okay. I don't know that there's a right answer here. I'm just exploring a little bit, because we have different people who come on the show, and they're like, but don't you usually talk about art? And so it makes me think, what is art and what is creativity? I'm not painting every day as a doctor, but I am engaging in kind of creativity when I'm working with people or having conversations. So isn't each of us engaging in some level of creativity on a pretty regular basis, unless we have everything scheduled down to the minute?

Ethan Nestor: Yeah, that is a good point. And I think that that is kind of the beauty about YouTube, and the reason why I really like making stuff online. The platform of YouTube has changed a lot and it's got a bit more corporate than I would like it to be, but especially back in the day when I started, the draw of it for me was, oh, I see these people just playing video games and having fun, I can do that. It was very relatable. So I think that YouTube became this place where anybody could be creative in their own way and build an audience. That's my favorite thing about YouTube, that anybody can do anything on the platform and find that little pocket of community. I really, really love that.

Lisa Belisle: I have to say, in addition to my 22 year old daughter, also my husband, who I already referred to, Kevin Thomas, who runs the Portland Art Gallery and also is the producer for the show. I'm gonna out him right now. He's a ham radio guy, so he has an entire YouTube channel that is interviewing people who are also ham radio enthusiasts.

Ethan Nestor: That's so cool.

Lisa Belisle: Yes, I think so too. So you're definitely gonna put this in. When I watch him and I watch other people interact in that space, I just see how much community you've already referred to, that this generates. I think this is such a great thing for people who might previously not have been able to hang out with other, let's just say ham radio enthusiasts, or gaming enthusiasts, because maybe you're the only one in your town, but then there's one in the next town over, and there's 12 in New Hampshire, whatever that is. So I think that's the democratization, and also the community, that is really appealing.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. I think that that is another reason why I fell in love with YouTube so hard. As soon as I started making these videos, I found other people online making the same videos, and then we became friends. Most of my closest friends are people that I've met online through YouTube, because, like what you just said, I was kind of the only one that I knew where I grew up that was making videos and making them as consistently as I was, and was as obsessive over it. So to be able to go online and find other people that were as obsessed with YouTube was really, really cool. Made me feel a lot less lonely, which was nice.

Lisa Belisle: Yeah. It is also interesting to me, because for years you were a gymnast. So you are an athlete, which very much is sort of an acceptable thing in this day and age, and obviously you build a community around that. But what if you're a kid who doesn't wanna be an athlete, or you don't wanna be a scholar in high school, or you don't wanna follow the traditional path? The ability to forge your own path is pretty powerful.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. I think it's really important. And again, I really love that with whatever interests you have, you can find that pocket and find that niche. I think it's so awesome. It's my favorite thing about the platform.

Lisa Belisle: The other thing that I find really interesting is that maybe 10 years ago when we talked about YouTube, people would say, but what does that person do for a living? In fact, I think I was probably guilty of that until about five years ago. I would sit and watch these videos with my daughter and I'd be like, but do they work? And how do they have enough time to actually do this stuff? And she'd say, no, mom, that's their job. And now, having been doing this sort of side project with Radio Maine and other podcasts I've done, it's a lot of work. So you actually are working quite a bit. And you were describing the algorithms and sort of understanding the medium, and how to make this into a business. So talk to me about that.

Ethan Nestor: Whenever I've been asked, what is it like doing YouTube as a job, I almost don't think of YouTube as a job. And this is not a super healthy way of thinking about it, I think, because it gets so overwhelming, but it's not really a job, it's kind of a lifestyle. A lot of people who are in my spot on YouTube, and a lot of my friends who are successful on the platform, everyone is constantly thinking of video ideas. Everyone is constantly recording or streaming or coming up with the next thing, or even the smaller stuff that you don't really think about, like spending the time to edit or making a thumbnail or posting, and then being like, okay, this video isn't doing super well. I need to change the thumbnail to try and drive more engagement. So you're making another thumbnail and you're interacting with your community on social media. So it can very easily consume your entire life. I have a bit of a better work life balance now, but for a while it was all I did all day every day. Because especially when you start to grow, it's just never ending feedback. So you constantly want to be engaging with your community and constantly want to be posting more. It can get sort of dangerous in a way, because it is very addicting. But yeah, I've always sort of seen it as almost like a lifestyle instead of a job, just because it can kind of consume everything.

Lisa Belisle: Which honestly, having talked to a lot of small business owners, if you own your own business, it really is what you do a good portion of the time.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. It is extremely similar to owning a small business. It's just, this is all I do all the time, which again, has its ups and downs, because sometimes it can be really hard to step back and be like, okay, I need to have a day off, or even just take a couple hours to sit and not work on it. I've always described being my own boss as a blessing and a curse, because it's great, I can make my own schedule and do everything on my own time. But then also there's no one telling me to stop or to start. So sometimes it sucks, because I make my own schedule and I'm doing this on my own time and I can figure that out. Sometimes I'm way overworking and doing way more than I should. And sometimes it leans too far on the other side where it's like, oh man, I haven't made a video in a week, I should probably do that.

Lisa Belisle: You have a very strong sense of self and your own creativity and who you are, and it sounds like you've come to a relatively good place with that. And yet what you do for this small business, for this job, for this lifestyle, really is highly dependent upon the feedback of others. So how do you balance that? How do you maintain listening to your own inner voice, but also listening to the voices of others?

Ethan Nestor: It's a very good question. There's a big learning curve with that, and it's something that I still kind of struggle with a little bit. In the beginning, when people first started leaving comments and stuff, I was so adamant about responding to every comment. I didn't want to disappoint people, and any small thing of feedback I always took to heart, 'cause I was like, okay, I need to be trying to please everybody. That can get really toxic really quick, where you're trying to please everybody, which is impossible, and maybe you're changing things about your videos that you actually like, but you're trying to please these other people. So there was a long time where I took what people said too much to heart, and I tried to cater too much to my audience. That is a really good way to burn out really quick, and a really good way to lose that passion, because you're not doing it for you anymore. So I've tried to still respect what my audience says, but I've gotten to a point now where, it's not that I don't care what my audience says, because I do, but I'm constantly reminding myself, okay, you don't have to cater to everybody. You don't have to make every person like this video. Just, if you are having fun, that should come through genuinely on camera, and then people watching will most likely enjoy it because they're seeing how much fun you are having. So I've tried to do that a lot now, where I'm just having fun for me, and I don't have to really worry about what my audience is gonna think as much, because I think that that'll come through genuinely on camera. Kind of a rambly answer, but.

Lisa Belisle: No, but it's interesting, because what you're saying is really consistent with what I've heard from different actual visual artists, like painting visual artists. I actually consider you a visual artist of a different sort. But let's just say, we said we weren't gonna mention her name right off the bat, but your mother Annie is a painter. So when I spoke with her and said, tell me about your art, it was very clear that she was doing a lot of things that really resonated with her, and the pieces that she was putting out in the world and hoping that it would resonate with other people, and really staying true to who she was and what she was doing. And it enabled her to simultaneously accept the feedback of people who would then purchase her pieces and put them in their homes, but also really continue to have that joy of painting.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. No, I think there's a lot of people that I've talked to that want tips on starting YouTube and stuff like that. They're like, oh, I'm worried that people won't like my videos, or I'm worried that I don't have anything interesting to talk about. And I've always just been like, just do what you think is fun. Like you were just saying about Kevin, I'm not into ham radios, but you are, and you have found a community of people that are into ham radio. So if you have a thing that you're passionate about, and you start doing things with it or talking about it or whatever, it will resonate with other people. You're not the only one that likes ham radios, I promise.

Lisa Belisle: So again, those of you who do like ham radio, I encourage you to go online and look up Kevin Thomas, because I think you will really like his YouTube videos. So thank you for the additional plug. And Kevin is absolutely behind the camera, very unhappy with the fact that we are promoting him, which gives me a great deal of pleasure. So getting back to you though. The other thing I wonder about is, you've described it very much as a lifestyle, which means that you're kind of constantly on. And I'm wondering how you take the time or structure your life so that you actually can turn it off. What is it that you do in time that you're not thinking about content?

Ethan Nestor: That was kind of why I came to Maine. I grew up here, and I've lived in LA for almost seven years now, and I was getting to a point where I hadn't been home in a while and I was like, okay, I just need to leave. So coming home has been a really great reset, because I'm not in the hustle and bustle of LA. There can be a lot of pressure in LA, because everyone is doing stuff all the time, so sometimes there's a lot of pressure to be doing stuff all the time. So I just kind of needed to get out and come home and be in nature and hang out with my friends and be where I grew up, just to ground myself a little bit. But that is something that I have a really hard time with, honestly. That's something that I've really struggled with forever. Because I've always described myself, or the sort of character that I do for videos, it's not me, but it's not normal me. It's like a hyper exaggerated version of myself. So there's been points where I'm like, okay, where does Ethan Nestor as the individual, and where does the Ethan Nestor performer part begin? Those lines are a little blurred. So it's hard for me to sort of turn off. And that also goes in with my anxiety as well, where I'll stop working and then I'm like, oh, well I should be doing more, or I should be thinking of more videos and stuff like that. And even when I'm trying to turn off, it's hard sometimes to be like, okay, you can stop thinking about videos now, you can just sit and watch a movie or whatever. I've been taking a lot of time to sit in my yard with my dog to try and have me time.

Lisa Belisle: I think pets are very good that way, therapeutic. My dogs are the same for me. I understand what you're saying.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. He's a good motivator to pull me away from work, 'cause he's like, come on dad, you have to take me for a walk.

Lisa Belisle: We have to go outside and play.

Ethan Nestor: So that's nice, to have him to sort of tug me away from my computer and be like, let's go do stuff.

Lisa Belisle: So you're describing something that I think a lot of people find really relatable. As somebody who's in the public eye, obviously it's kind of exaggerated, but I think a lot of people have kind of a professional persona. Certainly when I go into the medical field, I'm pretty serious. People maybe don't know that I have an actual sense of humor or have other interests outside of being a doctor. And you are describing kind of similar positive feedback that you get from being maybe a little goofy and being the entertainer and making people laugh. I think sometimes it can be hard, because we do get rewarded for things that we're good at, and for being the way other people kind of want and need us to be.

Ethan Nestor: I'll get recognized sometimes and people be confused. I've had people ask me if I'm okay, because in my videos I'm very loud and excitable and stuff. And so people would be like, are you okay right now? And I'm like, yeah, I'm just not yelling. I'm just being a normal person. So I think that can be weird for people sometimes, where they're like, oh yeah, you are a normal person. You're not just gonna be screaming and yelling all the time and being goofy. You can have different emotions rather than just being at a 10 all the time.

Lisa Belisle: Which is a funny expectation that we have for people who are either in the public eye and/or are artists of some sort, that we feel like we need them to be what we need them to be all the time. But we would never expect that of ourselves. We give ourselves permission to be whole human beings. And yet if we're seeing somebody on YouTube, or maybe we see our favorite artist out and about, and we're thinking, well, she always paints such sunny and cheerful pieces, why is she sad? It's an interesting contrast for me.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. I think that that's something that's really important and something that I think should be talked about more, especially with the way that social media is. Everything is a bit more personal. And I think that there's been a lot of weird stuff with parasocial relationships with being on the internet, because before, with an actor, you're seeing them play a role in whatever. So there's this idea of them in your head, but then with someone making content on the internet, you're seeing them almost every day. So you start to have that thing of like, oh, I feel like I really know this person, I feel like we're sort of friends. And I think that people forget sometimes that, while I'm not disingenuine in my videos, I am choosing to give you a certain version of myself. It's the version that I am willing to show you, but you don't know me as a whole person. You don't actually know me. So there's been a lot of times over the past 10 years where a lot of boundaries with my community have been crossed and stuff like that. I just think it's something that people forget sometimes, where it's like, okay, the person that I'm seeing on the internet, I'm seeing the version of them that they want me to see. I do like them, I like their content, but it's also important to remember that I don't actually know them, and I'm not actually their friend. Because I think that that can get sort of dangerous as well, even for the person on the other side, idolizing that person. I think it can get a little dangerous sometimes.

Lisa Belisle: Yeah, I would agree. And it also feels a little unfair, because we'll often hear, well, that person chose to be a public figure, that person chose to, let's just say, run for president, in which case they're now accepting that we're now gonna scrutinize every aspect of their life. But I don't know that any person ever fully knows what they're signing up for when they become a public figure.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. No, there was definitely a lot of stuff that I didn't know came with this deal. And it's part of it, so I have to figure it out and deal with it. But there's a lot of stuff where I'm like, oh, didn't know that that was part of this, okay.

Lisa Belisle: So explore.

Ethan Nestor: I think one of the biggest things is the guilt that can come along with doing this. Again, I constantly have that pressure of like, okay, I need to be putting stuff out all the time, or I need to be even just posting all the time so people can interact with stuff. But I think the biggest thing of guilt that I've dealt with is, I feel extremely lucky to have the platform that I have and the audience that I have. But at the same time I feel this sort of guilt, because in my brain, I'll never be able to pay them back for what they've given me, because I have my dream job and everything that I wanted since I started doing YouTube. It's just my reality now. But at the same time I'm like, okay, I have to repay them in some way and I'll never be able to do that. So that's a very big thing that I've struggled with once I found success on the platform, like, oh no, I have to give everyone everything back, but I will never be able to do that.

Lisa Belisle: That's really interesting. I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. I don't think it's a good thing necessarily, but it's definitely some feelings that I struggle with, where it's like, I always owe, I will always owe my audience something.

Lisa Belisle: Well, it's the opposite of entitled, I would say, right? Where you feel like you kind of deserved all this stuff. That's one extreme that's also not very healthy, it seems.

Ethan Nestor: For sure. Yeah.

Lisa Belisle: But yeah, I don't know, that's a funny one. 'Cause you are now doing what you're doing, which you love, but you're right, how would you possibly be able to give it back?

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. And I think that a lot of creators struggle with that. Creators of any sense struggle with imposter syndrome. I know a lot of my friends that are online deal with that, where it's like, okay, I don't deserve the things that I have, and I feel really lucky. So I think that's a normal thing that creatives deal with. But it's definitely one of the things that I didn't think of when I was starting out, and then I was like, oh, I guess I have to deal with these feelings now.

Lisa Belisle: Well, imposter syndrome is something that I think a lot of people can relate to, even if you're not a creative. And I can tell you, even in my own experience in the medical field, or even as a writer, I think it's easy to say, well, I'm never quite where I should be, or I don't have enough qualifications or whatever it is that gets you to that point. But I think it is the showing up every day and being like, okay, well, despite these feelings, I'm going to keep moving forward. 'Cause maybe other people find value in the work that I'm doing. So we know you've just made this major change to the next thing. And you're engaging in things like Elmer's glue applications, which I actually find very interesting, because I don't think I've ever rubbed it all over my body, but certainly I did exactly what you're talking about as a kid. Haven't thought about that in a while. Do you have any overarching goals that you're trying to reach for? Or are you just kind of in a place right now where you're understanding what the future might look like?

Ethan Nestor: A little bit of both. I definitely am in sort of an in-between transitioning mode right now, where I'm trying to figure out these new videos that I'm making. So once I get back to LA, that's the main focus, just getting back on schedule and figuring out what videos I'm gonna do. But there's definitely some stuff that I want to be doing in the next year or so. I started a podcast with a friend of mine recently, and so I think we're gonna try and develop some sort of live show that we can do, because he and I both love doing stuff live. And then about a year ago I did a live show that I wrote over the pandemic, and so I toured that, and it was the best experience I've ever had. I really love performing on stage. So maybe not in this next year, but that is definitely something that I want to do again, is write a show again. It was the most challenging thing that I've ever done, and I got so much fulfillment out of that. Going and writing the show and then having the, okay, this isn't good, I need to rewrite this and reformat this. Having that challenge was really, really fun, and I really crave that again. So maybe not in this next year, but definitely in the next couple years I want to do that again with a new show.

Lisa Belisle: Well, that sounds really exciting and interesting, and I'm glad you're doing that.

Ethan Nestor: Thank you. Yeah, it'll be fun.

Lisa Belisle: Anything else that you think that people who maybe don't know you, or maybe people who thought they knew you from your prior set of videos, you think that they might wanna know?

Ethan Nestor: Yeah, as far as a thing coming up.

Lisa Belisle: Something interesting.

Ethan Nestor: Oh, something interesting. Oh man. How do I think of something interesting about myself?

Lisa Belisle: Which is hilarious, by the way, because I have like 10 pages of background information, all of which is so interesting. And yet you're trying to cull through what people would actually think is interesting.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. I don't know when this episode will be coming out, but in the next month I'll be having a documentary come out about the tour that I did. Ever since the beginning of the show, when I was like, okay, I'm gonna make a show, I started filming everything. So there's all the writing sessions and everything pre-production, and then the actual tour, and then post tour. So there'll be a documentary coming out pretty soon. That'll be really fun. And that is a lot more personal than my normal videos. So I think that'll be fun for both people who do know me and people who aren't familiar with me at all. So that'll be cool. I don't have an actual date, but sometime in the next month or so.

Lisa Belisle: Okay. And maybe by the time this airs, it'll already be out. So where will people find it?

Ethan Nestor: I'm not actually sure yet, but it will probably be on iTunes. But the premiere of it will be streamed on this platform called Moment. So it'll be there first and then released to iTunes and maybe some other streaming platforms.

Lisa Belisle: But it won't be hard to find.

Ethan Nestor: No, I don't think so.

Lisa Belisle: I don't think so. And people can still find you on YouTube?

Ethan Nestor: Yes. Just Ethan Nestor on everything now.

Lisa Belisle: Ethan Nestor on everything. I love that you're just taking over the world.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah.

Lisa Belisle: Well, and I wanna make sure that we recognize your mother, Annie Darling, as a Portland Art Gallery artist, 'cause she is the one who connected us. Thank you, Annie.

Ethan Nestor: Absolutely. Thanks mom. Mom's really important.

Lisa Belisle: Very, very important.

Ethan Nestor: Yes. Wouldn't be where I am without my mom.

Lisa Belisle: Yes, so true. As are our dads. I also know your dad. So he also is wonderful.

Ethan Nestor: Yes. He made my first logo for me.

Lisa Belisle: Oh yes. Well, you come from very creative parents, so I give them a lot of credit for providing the space for you and the support for you to be who you have become.

Ethan Nestor: Yeah. That's always something that I've been very grateful for, that in everything that I did, but especially creative stuff, they were always pushing me to chase that. And they were always providing a nurturing environment where I could explore creative things and they would help me. My dad, when I started YouTube, he showed me how to edit things. So they've always been very, very supportive and very, very helpful. So I've always been very grateful for that.

Lisa Belisle: Well, family and friend support, but specifically family support, is pretty important when you do the kind of work that you're doing.

Ethan Nestor: It's super, super important. Thanks mom and dad.

Lisa Belisle: And I thank my mom and dad on a regular basis here when I'm on air. So you and I are on the same page with this one. And I hope someday my kids will say that I was supportive of them too. I'm assuming they will, though. Well, I really appreciate your taking the time, 'cause I know you don't have a whole ton of it, but in your space here in Maine that you are using to just sort of recalibrate, I appreciate your taking a few minutes to come out here and have this conversation with me. And I am a huge fan of the path that you've taken, and I know that it's taken some courage for you to keep moving forward, and it's hard to do the kind of work that you do. So I give you a lot of credit for that.

Ethan Nestor: Well, thank you so much, and thank you again for having me on. This has been so cool. This is so different than the normal stuff that I do. So thank you for having me on and letting me talk about stuff for a little bit.

Lisa Belisle: It's been my pleasure. Thank you.

Ethan Nestor: Thank you.

Lisa Belisle: I'm Dr. Lisa Belisle and you have been listening to or watching Radio Maine. I hope you take the opportunity to look up Ethan Nestor, who is apparently on everything, so you can find him pretty much anywhere, but certainly YouTube for sure. And maybe you get a chance to see one of his YouTube videos or his documentary. But I think that there's a lot that we will be able to expect from Ethan in the years coming up, and I'm sure we'll all benefit from it in the future. So thanks again.

Ethan Nestor: Thank you so much.