15 Million Views on YouTube

YouTube. It's very hard to put this into words what YouTube has become in my life, our lives... but it most definitely transformed us, enhanced us, grown with us. I started YouTube as a coincidence, many years ago on Bags4Bubbles. Uploading videos to be posted to a handbag forum, not thinking much about the video platform side of things. I kept getting comments, then video requests, then more video requests... from there I had my first child and decided I enjoyed YouTube and would like to start doing "Mommy Topic" videos - so Being Mommy with Style was born.

My first video on beingmommywithstyle!

I didn't know what to expect in the beginning. I only had recently realized that YouTube was made up of "communities" when I started Being Mommy with Style. I hadn't really watched "Mommy Vlogs" prior to that, but I knew I wanted to talk family and mommy things, which didn't fit on my handbag channel... so I was going to give it a go. From there, it took off! I found I loved the daily vlogging aspect of it during daily vlog months (April, August, October, and Vlogmas)... and I enjoyed receiving video requests and fulfilling those.

Over the years, we've done day in the life style videos, reviews, hauls, chat sessions, tags, and more... I enjoy a little part of each type of video - but I think that day in the life and reviews may be my favorites. I enjoy reviews because I feel like they may be helpful in some way, and day in the life style videos are fantastic to have that piece of history documented, to be able to look back and see my girls at 9 months, 2 years, 3 years... watching the grow all over again through the videos.

YouTube became a secondary source of income for our family. Don't get me wrong, we are not becoming millionaires from our videos - but it is a respectable amount for the time that I put into doing something that I enjoy and it is appreciated. We have taken vacations funded by earnings with YouTube, I've paid for furniture and other things around the house, and I feel a sense of pride that I am also able to contribute to our household.

YouTube has given my family a number of opportunities... I've attended conferences and media events. I've traveled out of the country for the first time ever and we took our first (and soon second!!) cruise all because of YouTube. I'm grateful for the experiences we've had that I know wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't decided to pick up the camera and start vlogging all those many years ago.

Most of all those, I'm thankful for YOU. The connections I've made on YouTube over the years. The comments from names I recognize from years ago, comments from people that say they've watched for years but only just worked up the courage to comment, emails from people saying that I've helped them in some way. You've helped shape me, grown with us as we've grown, and been there for me during good and bad times. I'm appreciative of all of the love and support we've gotten from YOU on YouTube over the years.

It's an amazing thing, and I can't wait to see where it takes us next! We already have some exciting things to look forward to coming up in 2017 and I'm excited to be able to share those with you!

In a simple way to say "Thank you", I wanted to do a video looking back at some of our memorable moments over the years. 15 million views. Something I never imagined I would be saying, but here we here! Here's to all that's yet to come!

** This is not a sponsored video. All opinions are my own.