Bret Shuford 0:08
All right, Aaron, welcome to the CreatiVisibility Podcast. I'm so happy you're here.
Aaron Goldenberg 0:13
Thanks for having me. I'm honored to be here. Very first, Guinness.
Bret Shuford 0:16
Yes. I can't remember when we discovered each other. But I feel like you're I, I feel like you were either moving from Florida or was like somewhere within that transition of you moving from Florida to Atlanta, because I remember knowing specifically that you were, I remember you moving two years ago. So I don't know if it was just like, hey, on tick tock. You're just kind of getting your feet wet.
Unknown Speaker 0:41
Yeah. So you know what it would have had to be before tic tock because I hopped on at the beginning of the pandemic, but I moved officially in June of 2019. from Miami to Atlanta, so I guess maybe we just Instagram maybe Instagram, it had to have been Yeah, mutual friends being homos, and yeah.
Bret Shuford 1:03
Tell the audience a little bit about what you do. And then we'll talk we'll get into your content creation, but your history of being an actor and what brought you to Atlanta?
Unknown Speaker 1:13
Yeah. Hey, everyone, my name is Aaron. I username basically, everywhere is Aaron Goldy. Boy, which is a R O N, G, O LD, why, boy. And grew up in Miami, which is where I started everything by acting in church when I was younger, and like transitioning to student films and community theater in my teenage years. And then finally, in my kind of early 20s, college years, getting an agent really diving into TV, film commercials and theatre here and there as well. Yeah, and acting is just like what I've wanted to do my whole life. And I don't think I really grasped growing up in Miami, which does feel like a very artistically rich city, I didn't really grasp that, like, a TV and film career based out of there was going to be a lot harder than a place like LA and New York and, and now Atlanta. So I kind of just thought I would live there my whole life. And it finally clicked one day, like, Oh, you've got to go where the work is. I don't know why it took me so long to to understand that. And there is stuff that happens down in Miami, but I just knew that there were going to be a lot more opportunities if I if I moved. And I love Atlanta, the fact that it has blown up with over the last few years. And the fact that it's like still pretty close to home, made it a pretty logical next step for me. So yeah, so I moved two years ago to pursue TV and film, I got an agent a few months later, and then the pandemic kit a few months after that. So I found myself at home with lots of time. And for some reason, I thought that like, tick tock was a, like a dance and lip sync place only. So then when I realized you could post comedy there, too. I was like, Oh, I can do that. I don't just do this stuff that I like make on Instagram, which my Instagram and my YouTube and everything that I had ever done before that had never really gained popularity. I think maybe I had about 1000 followers on Instagram. You know, nothing had ever blown up and gone viral. And my YouTube I'd kind of given up on that because I was putting in so many hours and just like zero return. And then I'm one of those people that like my first video on Tik Tok went pretty viral got like, 300,000 views, which, for me at the time, like nothing I'd ever created had gotten that many. So I was like, Oh, wow, this is great. And I get it. Like the video was pandemic themed. It was quick cuts, comedy, all that stuff. So it made sense. But then as usually happens with something like Tic tock or any place that like, gives you a viral video right away, the rest of my stuff crashed immediately. So it was confusing going from that to like, videos that struggled to get 500 views. And I was like, Okay, I guess I just need to keep doing this. And yeah, I can go into other details later. But yeah, so from that really, like, kind of launched a lot of other platforms for myself.
Bret Shuford 4:20
And did you feel like you were like very conscious about like, Okay, I'm going to create content. I'm going to be a content creator, or did you feel like you're like, you know what, I'm just here. I'm gonna figure this out. I'm, you know, the pandemics here and I'm just gonna keep making shit.
Unknown Speaker 4:38
Yeah, they're probably private videos on my Tik Tok account now, but like, I was just reposting videos I made from Instagram. I wasn't thinking of myself as a tick tock creator or even a content creator necessarily because again, my main thing is and has always been acting. So yeah, I didn't know that it would take off like it did. I wasn't really expecting it to But when it did, as the months went on, and the traction grew, and then I started getting asked to do like promotions and ads for companies, I was like, Oh, this, oh, oh, this is this is how people make money on social media, the people that I see that are always on vacation, or, you know, whatever, like, this is how it happens. Okay. And I was getting grossly underpaid. I now realize for a lot of those things, companies really tried to kind of take advantage of people not knowing how social media works and all that. But now I've got an agent that deals with that, which I'm very grateful for. And yeah, I don't know, if I answered your questions. I'm going to go on tangents. I think you know, prime, that's me. So if you need to interrupt me and like, get me back on track.
Bret Shuford 5:47
I'm very curious about No, you know, I think that there are many artists or actors out there who feel like they lose their legitimacy. If they go into content creation or become influencers, quote, unquote, how did you? How are how do you continue to sort of wrestle with that as an artist? Really, I still feel like a legitimate artists, even if I'm going to make money doing this.
Unknown Speaker 6:16
Yeah. I think for me, looking to people that I idolize in this niche, I guess. So people like Jimmy Fowley and Johnny Sibley, who are just two that I could talk about that have legitimate acting like screen TV and film acting careers as well as content creation. I think it doesn't happen until it happens. Like I'm sure that most people look at me right now. Because they don't recognize me from anything, TV and film and say, like, Oh, he's just, uh, he's just like, online, whatever. And I get people in the comments saying like, you should be an actor like, really? It should i Okay. Yeah. I never. I never respond smart, snarky like that. But I'm like, Yeah, that's like, my main thing. That's like what I've been doing. You should audition for really big movie, like, Thanks for the thought. love that idea. You Why didn't I think of that before. And like it's out. Now, I don't think an NDA really matters at this point. But like, I auditioned for Spider Man three, I've auditioned for Marvel and DC and stranger things and things that you either book or you don't book. It's just like, all part of the job. But I never would have auditioned for any of those if I didn't move to Atlanta. So I haven't really had these major audition opportunities until about two years ago. And then of course, there was like an eight to nine months hiatus on all of that. But I am very fortunate, like, this year to have booked several things, none of which have come out yet. But I can talk about one I'm going to be in an upcoming Lifetime movie called here kills the bride. I think it's coming out in like the spring. So like, you know, bridal season. And I play the wedding planner, I was number five or six on the call sheets. That was really the connectors. Yeah, I should have asked that before. Great, that was really fucking cool to be a part of a project like that, where the majority of the cast and crew came from LA. And then I was the highest number on the call sheet that was from Atlanta. So that was a moment for me feeling like, okay, no matter what has happened, or how some people might think of you or see you like you are a legitimate actor. And this is telling you that I also got a chance this summer, I can tell you off the record later, maybe to be a part of an HBO Max pilot, as well as a Netflix pilot. And the Netflix show just wrapped a few days ago. So I'm really excited to have those come out and yay, good. Hopefully, like a snowball sort of thing will happen. On the flip side of that I do know some people, including casting directors that have just kind of flat out there was one that I spoke to, and I was just asking her a question like kind of curiosity during one of these workshops, because I had been approached by like several different indie films or lower budget projects, asking if I would be a part of something without an audition even because they were saying like, you know, having somebody with your numbers online might help us get funding and all that, which is kind of cool. So I asked her like, hey, for something like if I'm auditioning for these big projects, does it help for my agent to mention my social media following which is not gigantic, but it's something you know,
Bret Shuford 9:31
what do you what is your do your tick tock is what at this point,
Unknown Speaker 9:35
my tick tock right now I think is reaching like 780 this morning. 780k And then my Instagram is 44,000 something right
Bret Shuford 9:46
now that's nothing to sneeze at. That's good.
Unknown Speaker 9:48
Yeah, yeah. But it's not the millions that they might like, yeah, consider like, Oh, this is a person we, you know, we'll make millions of dollars from or whatever. So She basically said like, that really only matters for indie projects. These other companies have such large marketing budgets that it really doesn't influence anything. I had another casting director. During a workshop, I was doing two takes of a scene. So we like self taped it. And then he was judging in class. And one of them I did a lot more like subtle and subdued and grounded. And then the other one, I kind of brought it up a little bit and kind of gave it a little more comedy energy. But I still thought it was realistic. And during the feedback he mentioned, you know, you don't want to like tick tock up this tape. And that, like stuck with me the whole class, so then it q&a afterwards. I was like, hey, just wondering, like, what you meant by that specifically, and he was like, you know, so I've seen your tic tock, and you're very big there, you know. And I was like, Okay, question, because I've never gotten to ask a casting director this like, does it, you know, because that's just sort of my brand there the nature of my a lot of my comedy, does that stick out to you, as maybe a person that doesn't know me or hasn't seen me act elsewhere? Does that stick out to you as like, Oh, this is probably the only thing this guy can do. He can't do anything else. And he was like, honestly, it's gonna depend. But I wouldn't look at that and say, Oh, I bet he can be realistic and grounded. And I was like, Okay, got it. I can. PS. But
Bret Shuford 11:23
that's like what auditions are for? Right.
Unknown Speaker 11:27
So I then I've also heard, So Caitlin Riley.
Bret Shuford 11:31
I love her.
Unknown Speaker 11:32
We all love and adore. Oh my god. I've talked to her about this stuff. And she also has gotten a chance
Bret Shuford 11:38
to be Oh, she's Atlanta based, too, right?
Unknown Speaker 11:40
She's not she's in LA. Oh, she's
Bret Shuford 11:43
an um, yeah. So
Unknown Speaker 11:44
I know that she as a result of Tik Tok has had a huge doors open, you know, she's a part of a lot that several upcoming gigantic projects. I'm, I'm so stoked for her. So like, I see that, and I know that it can happen. But then I guess I'm just talking to the wrong people. Or like, the people that don't appreciate it the same way that maybe the opportunities that are opening for her so I really don't know, I think it's a, you're gonna get both sorts of reactions. And I think the main thing that's gonna matter is like consistency in the end, you know, and then once I get footage from these other legit projects will be like, Oh, he has done TV and film and knows how to act for the, you know, for a screen that's not your phone. All that?
Bret Shuford 12:33
Yeah. I also say to people often like, also, like, if you're making money from your social media, yeah. And these casting, people don't want to, like certain people don't want to cast you then screw them. Like, you're laying your bills doing what you love. So like, whatever.
Unknown Speaker 12:49
Yes. And I was gonna say that when you when you first ask the question, like, if this is how you want to make your money, like the majority of actors, I think it's only the top 3% or something that pay their bills from sag are the top 3% of sag actors are the ones that pay their bills from acting. Right, the rest of them, we have to have other jobs. Other work, I would love the day where I'm just so crazy busy that I don't have time to create online stuff, or I can do one video a month wonderful swell, put me in that ship. But that's not a phrase put me in that ship. But, you know, like, right now, I need to make money. And I'm also somebody that's like, mostly, really trying to stay safe with the pandemic and stuff. And I could do surveying, I could do brand ambassador work, I could be doing any kind of number of jobs, but I love creating content, and writing and editing and you know, all the kind of things that come with it. And yeah, if somebody wants to judge me for that, and like not cast me or not give me a chance because I've chosen this as my way to make my loving then they can fuck off and it's okay.
Bret Shuford 13:57
So do you feel like as a content creator, you have to love writing, you have to love editing, you have to love like, you know, like, is there a way to make content and not love the whole process?
Unknown Speaker 14:10
100% But then it takes discipline, which I feel like for me is a week to week thing. Like let's see how much discipline we have. I for instance, for YouTube, I've hired an editor. So that's the only thing that I outsource the footage for those videos. The rough, like the unedited is usually about 30 to 35 minutes, I edited the first video with me and Drew and it took me forever. And I knew that like even though it took me forever I just didn't have the time and energy to put all the like extra flair on it that I think makes a really fun entertaining YouTube video. So I sought out an editor found one she lives in London. She's incredible. Love her. But yeah, otherwise, like some weeks I really really love every part of the process and that's usually when you'll see like a bunch of new skates rolling Sometimes I'm just like, I don't feel like writing, I don't feel like editing. So you'll see that like, I don't really put subtitles on my things because that takes the extra editing or sometimes that's honestly like, what makes me collab with other people. Like, that's really what started getting me to do videos with different friends was I'm tired of acting by myself in my bedroom, and I want like, some kind of more creative community experience. And then once I've done that, I've got more energy to go at it and work on it at home and all that.
Bret Shuford 15:37
Yeah, that's interesting. I guess that how much strategy or planning actually goes into your content?
Unknown Speaker 15:43
Again, it depends.
Bret Shuford 15:46
What's your goal? Like you want to post every day? Like, what's your goal, like,
Unknown Speaker 15:49
the goal that yeah, the goal at minimum is to post something every day, some weeks, I've got a really great like, you know, I'll spend the previous week writing and then I'll spend one day filming everything. And then I'll spend that next week editing and releasing as the days go on. And then if another random video idea pops into my head, I'll film and edit and post that to these days, I feel pretty spent. So doing things with my friend Drew, just makes it more fun and enjoyable for me. Or I'm doing a lot of reposts or like things that I realized like, oh, I posted this on Tik Tok A while ago, but I never did it to Instagram. So let me just post it there. Because even even though it's not new content, there's always sort of a weird like imposter syndrome thing of like, you're just reposting? It's like no, well, you know what, maybe I need that today. So shish you.
Bret Shuford 16:42
Well, I started doing that to kind of experimenting with that too, interestingly enough, because, yeah, because Instagram now is doing the paid bonuses for reels. So I'm like I need, you know, that's great, make some extra money. So I'm actually reposting old reels because my audience has grown. But also because like I knew that one performed really well, if I posted again, I might actually get paid for the views. Right? So I'm like, Screw it, you know, make some money. You know?
Unknown Speaker 17:12
In here's the thing, like people that I keep trying to remind myself and challenge myself to not care, I realized that I'm caring and thinking about it way more than anybody else's. And if somebody actually does take time out of their day to write a rude comment, or be like, isn't this a repost What the heck man like? Then, you know, whatever. Usually what happens is I'll click on their profile, and they don't even follow me. I'm like, why are you here?
Bret Shuford 17:40
I know, I get this too. It's so insane. I do want to get to talking about you and drew in a minutes. But I'm very curious, just from your perspective, being openly LGBTQ. And I know you've had some drama with tick tock with your tic TOCs for some reason, but I also feel like there's something in Steven and I have our Broadway husband's account. And so when you enter this sort of LGBTQ space, of content creation, I feel like the audience is varied, right? There's the very thirsty contingent of people. And then there's like, the very, like, Ally family friendly, you know, other side of that, which is kind of where we lean with rally husbands. But you if you hashtag, hashtag gay or hashtag, you don't know where you're gonna land on that spectrum? Or how do you navigate being openly gay serving the community, you know, because it's super important to be visible to me, for those young people that want to know that there's a place for them in the world. But also, like, if you want to grow your following, you got to throw some of that thirst in there. So how do you navigate that?
Unknown Speaker 19:03
So such a big question. First of all, yeah, I agree that I believe it's important to be visible, I think there was a point where when I first started coming out, I felt incredibly guilty. And, like, I had lied to everybody for so long. And I know it's more complicated than that. I was lied to and the sort of lying to myself of believing it was a sin and that you could change and you just had to, like, try really, really hard and whatever. So I believe that being visible really is so so important. Because like you said, it's for that younger generation I've had now like former students of mines or teens that I used to work with at my own church DM me and say, like, Hey, I just want to let you know that like, I see what you're doing and it's helping me except like, myself, I'm like, Ah, thank you. Thank you, the God that I don't believe in anymore but like it makes It feel so worth it. Me making these like, goofy videos that I'm not online preaching, coming out and being yourself and loving yourself and gay joy and all that stuff, but I think it just shines through especially for those people that need it. I know that when I was still trying to find myself just watching a video of somebody like Benny drama, who's hysterical and so creative, um, really made me see like, oh, you can be gay and happy because I've been told for so long, you can't. And yet this person genuinely does seem happy and like they're being successful, and they don't hate themselves and they're not a bad person. And so, yes, audience wise definitely have a spectrum. Thankfully, I haven't really found myself to my knowledge on like, gay, hate tic toc or any of those sorts of spaces. Occasionally, when a video of mine goes more viral, I'll get comments saying like, this is gross or like, Jesus loves you so much. Like please turn back now. I use
Bret Shuford 21:09
the sick emoji, we get the gross, the green sick puke emoji sounds. Yeah. I do believe that.
Unknown Speaker 21:17
Thankfully, algorithms on these various apps have placed me in mostly ally sort of spaces, which is nice. And I know that's not the case with everybody. I feel like the bigger you get, the more hate I see on those people's channels. Unfortunately, though, even with my minimal success on tick tock, for instance, I've gotten so many videos banned, and so many marks against my account for things that I'm like, hold on, hold on. I've seen so much, you know, quote, worse content on people's channels, whether it's gay or straight, or whatever. But like, I've literally seen people in thongs and then the thong breaks. So you still not seeing like, whole, but you're seeing a girls full on. So I have never done anything close to that. Or like, if anybody knows Garrett Nolan, for instance, like God love him, he works really hard. But it's very frustrating having a heterosexual creator like that free to do whatever they want, just because they're, I guess, verified and have millions of followers. And then for me to get a video taken down when there's a no nudity. And the sexual words that I am using are things like I'm saying a lollipop instead of Dec like I'm using what we're, you know, we're trying to
Bret Shuford 22:42
like they're euphemisms. Right, exactly. Like how is
Unknown Speaker 22:45
that graphic? How is that against guidelines? Unfortunately, the way that tick tock works is usually, if a video gets taken down, you have the opportunity to appeal it in most cases. But even with the appeal, and even if they say, Oh, yep, sorry, here's your content back sorry for the inconvenience, there still exists those marks in the system against your account. And so for me, what I've seen over the past six months is overall, my views have gone way down. And overall, my growth has gone way down. And there are videos that I'm like, I know this is good. I know that if they would just show this to my followers to my almost 800,000 followers, that they would like it or in some cases, the thing I hate the most is like a video of mine will seem to be taking off. Like I'll get 10,000 views in the first hour, which for me is a struggle now even though I used to get 100,000 views in the first hour. There was a point where I was even getting 100,000 views in 10 minutes in the first 10 minutes of things. And now usually, if I get about 500 views in the first 30 minutes, I'm like, Okay, this video might do okay, which I'm like, How is how why I don't understand there's something behind the scenes and I don't think it's intentional by tick tock but I do believe tick tock really needs to seek out ways to help protect their creators and not stifle their growth or their creativity because it's it's fucking depressing. You feel
Bret Shuford 24:11
like there was like something in your audience like someone reporting your content?
Unknown Speaker 24:16
I do. I do feel like there was that for a while. I was also getting a lot of spam comments. So I don't know if there were people saying there's probably blogs somewhere I don't know how the underbelly of homophobia work right. You know, people like go to you don't need I don't I don't. But I have seen comments occasionally. Like, let's get this guy banned again. Yeah, so I like immediately report that person and block them but I'm like, how many of my followers are actually people that are just trying to report all my content and get me taken off this app because I've been banned from grading for up to two weeks at different times. And I'm just like, are banned from posting and you know, going live or commenting or anything, just like and then at the end of that two weeks is when the appeal finally goes through. And it says, oh, sorry, your video actually wasn't unsafe. I'm like, Yeah, I fucking know
Bret Shuford 25:05
that you're like, Yeah, two weeks later, or the thing
Unknown Speaker 25:09
that pissed me off the most Brett was, there was one video where I was supposed to be banned for a week, I put in the appeal immediately, the appeal went through within one minute. I don't know what that means. But it went through instantly, basically. And my next notification I got was, by the way, you're still banned for four days, please continue to follow community guidelines. And I was like, You just told me by restoring my content, that I didn't break any community guidelines. So why the fuck am I still banned for four days because of your faulty system. So shit like that. That's so frustrating, very frustrating and infuriating. It takes the wind out of my sails. It makes me not want to do stuff. So that's why I've really put a lot more energy towards things like Instagram, things like now, only fans because they reached out to me and were like, Hey, we're looking for more like comedy creators and just kind of to branch out from being known as just like that porn site. Um, and I started that five days ago, and it's gone really well. So far. I'm just like, Why did I do this before I've made just to give you an idea, made more money on only fans in five days. Then I've made from the Tick Tock creator fund in six months. Wow. I know that not every span of five days is going to be that amount of money with only fans. But still, I'm like, Okay, this is a platform that seems to actually like, care about their creators, right and work and want to work with me. And I know there's problems with every platform, but
Bret Shuford 26:43
Well, I mean, you're gonna run into I mean, aren't you afraid with only fans? There's already such a cliche around it that like,
Unknown Speaker 26:49
yes, so one reason I hesitated getting on for so long. And I told them when they emailed me back in January, February, I was like, Hey, I'm gonna pass for right now. Thank you so much. Like, that's not
Bret Shuford 26:59
the kind of content my friend Drew and I make so yeah, right. And although your fans probably would like to see that
Unknown Speaker 27:07
100% And well, now we get a bunch of DMS on Oh, my fans like, so. You're not even going to suck his dick or anything? Like, really? Okay, I guess I'm unsubscribing I'm like, Alright, bye. But yeah, I truly don't remember what I was saying there. But
Bret Shuford 27:28
we're talking about so the only fans you initially we're gonna not take it because of the because of
Unknown Speaker 27:34
sigma and the sigma. Yeah, everything that I do, whether it's Instagram, Tik Tok, whatever, YouTube is always with the thought in the back of my head, like, is this going to help me reach my goals or hinder me somehow and back then my assumption was like, This might hurt my acting career, being on only fans. But then I realized, like, well, I can be on only fans and do pen only post things that I know are not going to get in the way of that. And like, I'm a very sexually free person. Like, if I didn't believe that it would hurt my chances of getting cancer. Like if we lived in a world where like, nudity and porn weren't as taboo as they were 100% I would be doing all that stuff. I love sex. I love videotaping and all that. I rarely do those things anymore. Like even on Grindr. I don't send nudes. Or if I do, it's in very, like rare cases, because always in the back of my mind is like this is going to get out. Yeah, online somewhere. Yeah. And with the amount that I'm recognized on Grindr, I'm like, Yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna risk us, right. Yeah. So with only fans, I feel like I hope that maybe Drew and I can be part of the change in perception for only fans and even get more creators on there to start making a living, that you have the potential to that some of these other platforms are not really working with their creators.
Bret Shuford 28:56
They're working with advertisers, not their creators, right? Yeah, that's very interesting. Okay. So I'm super excited to see how this grows. I also think the whole only fans thing is is funny and ironic for the content that you Andrew make. So for those that don't follow yet in you should follow. Drew's your roommate or just friends.
Unknown Speaker 29:17
So we're friends. A lot of people think we're roommates. Yeah, but yeah.
Bret Shuford 29:21
And Drew is straight, but like super hunky muscular like hottie and intrapreneurs they are not soon. And they started doing these funny videos where I'm going to probably botch this. So I'm gonna take a stab at it and see, I guess, where drew would come to Aaron for advice on how to respond to people DMing him thirsty things. And Aaron would give him yo, yeah, you could just say this back and it was funny euphemisms and hilarious responses and pretty brilliant. I think A showing the Druze and ally, B that, you know, you can have a platonic relationship with a straight guy who's really hot and it doesn't have to be sexualized. And yet, there's this underlying, like sexual tension and all of them as well. It did I get that right.
Unknown Speaker 30:17
I think you know, yes, you did. Um, I think too, it's so great how like, it really doesn't matter what we post, people are going to put their internal like hopes and dreams and perceptions onto a video. Whereas like, when Drew and I are together, it's really like, yes, obviously, he's very fit, but I'm not like constantly there lusting after him. Like he's just my goofy friend. Yeah. Drew, who I love creating with and we're like each other's biggest cheerleaders of you know, when we get an audition or an opportunity, like his favorite thing to say is just like, Let's fucking go like just all this stuff. So like now that started in only fans, and that's taking off, it's really cool to have this extra thing that we get to like dive into together. And that is doing well and that we can hopefully use that money to like help support us to create stuff even more full time. Let me read you find it really quick. A somebody wrote me this DM and it was so wonderfully aggressive. Concerning the intro. It might take me just a moment. Here we go. I found it well, okay. So it's that. Oh, it's so great. I think it represents a lot of people's views probably unspoken or spoken. So first of all, I want to say you injure awesome. I've been a fan since the first video guys made and you never fail to make me laugh. Second, and I say this from a place of love. Just fuck already. Sweet, buttery Jesus. It's obvious. There's chemistry and we all know your friends. But guess what sometimes friends, fuck, just get it out of your system, and get busy making babies for Christ's sake. I know Drew is straight, possibly in a relationship. Who cares? Drew can come out for a while there's nothing to say he can't go back in again. But while he's out, you ride him like a Crosstown bus, get that shit on only fans and make some scratch while scratching that itch. I'm sorry to be so direct, that I've taken a poll and this is the general feeling of the masses. Now, one of you needs to get down in your knees and start chugging like a freshman during rush week. Frankly, and if you get to plowing like Mennonites in the spring, Soviet
Bret Shuford 32:39
while that person is a writer,
Unknown Speaker 32:42
right? I actually like I responded, I was like, thank you so much for your passion. Your your thought you've obviously put a lot of thought and I so enjoyed reading that message. But yeah, it's like, that's not the energy that's there with me and you're like in person know,
Bret Shuford 33:02
you found a really good partner in crime that gets it gets what to serve the audience. And that's evident to me, it's like, you're just a partners, you're like your writing partners, your acting partners, you just know, like, Okay, this is what the audience wants, we'll give them that. And it's just enough, right? It's just enough to like, keep people laughing. But I think what I see in that as somebody who creates visible content, especially that importance of being visible for LGBTQ is that I see that like, there's an ally drew as an ally, that it's not while you are being in like sexual, you're not being sexual together. It's like, it's such a cool, safe space that you've created. And I just want to honor that. I think that that's really what I see. So I hope you continue to do that. And
Unknown Speaker 33:54
I think I've heard that like the you know, even back when I was making videos with my real roommate, um, there are people that it's very meaningful to them to have that like, straight, gay friendship, and for it to be normalized, because I know that for me as a gay teen, and just young person, like, I always felt like if I was out to my straight friends, that it would create awkwardness, or they would get overly defensive and some people do and did or I mistook their love and affection, their platonic love and affection for hitting on me. So then I would take a step, you know, too far in trying to like test the waters and see if that's actually what it was. And then it would, you know, it would cause waves and I feel like it's just so much better being open about all that stuff. And now in my life, I choose whether or not drew or any of my hot straight friends of which There are a lot because I know models and actors. Like, I just choose to take people at their word. So as long as somebody tells me, they're straight, I don't care how maybe flamboyant they are comfortable they are with whatever, like, I'm going to honor that. And I think that's part of friendship too, you know? Yeah, it would be incredibly disrespectful. For instance, if Drew was trying to constantly like, hook me up with girls, I've had that in the past where like, I had friends, too. Now I understand. It was pretty homophobic. Like, trying to say like, dude, if you were just to hook up with a girl, I'd be so happy man. And I'm like, That's rude. Um, yeah. Like, why not just be happy for who I am?
Bret Shuford 35:44
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I've heard all those things, too. I get it. I am excited to see where all this takes you. I think that's what I love about what you're doing is that you're like, you know, tic TOCs kind of making this difficult for me, I'm going to go other spaces. There's so many options out there for creators. So find the space that works for you that, again, can pay the bills. If that's what you want. I've always been so impressed by you and just super inspired by you. We're gonna say,
Unknown Speaker 36:17
Hello, thank you, Brad. I yeah, I was gonna say like, I think one of the goals now with me, like putting time and energy into so many different platforms is hoping that someday there will be some kind of an income from each of them. And so then you've got, you know, whatever money comes from Tik Tok, and YouTube and Instagram, and only fans like right now, I am at a place where I'm making money from each of those platforms. Some are more than others. Right now, only fans, even though it's the newest one is providing me the most money, which is insane. Also, I want to say like a lot of people, I think think like, oh, it would just be so easy if I started and only fans like, Drew and I built an audience elsewhere first, and those people came over. It's not like our only fans came out of nowhere. I've even thought, of course, because I'm a gay man. during a pandemic, I was like, what if we started and only fans, but just like, didn't show my face? That would be fine, right? But then I'm like, Where would I advertise that I don't have an audience for that. So I very much realize that the success is because we have such awesome fans. I'm hoping these other platforms start working out and catch up to, to join this. But I know that like every platform basically is kind of like trying to one up each other and how they treat their creators. So I'm like, please, please fight over me, please. Like, try to show me that your platform has the best incentives. And then that way, like, you know, hopefully, me and so many other content creators like me can actually start making a living for the hard work we do. Because whether people realize it or not, it is like it's very consistent. Hard work. I definitely work more than 40 hours a week, you know, and it's in my house and it's online and all that so it's very different than showing SPM but it is work and it's something we deserve to be paid for.
Bret Shuford 38:14
100% All right, well, where can people come follow you you already dropped some of those things. Erin Goldy boy on Instagram on tick tock on where and YouTube and then your
Unknown Speaker 38:27
Facebook fan page? Yeah, the two places that I'm really like, or I guess three that I'm really trying to grow right now are the YouTube right now. I'm not we're not monetized there. So basically, we just need people to watch more videos and then you get and then you're able to get monetized so go do that. Facebook is also doing a monetization system so I'm trying to push more people over there as well. But yeah, only fans if you want to see like some exclusive content that we're not posting anywhere else. But the only fans is only spelled slightly differently so instead of boi for the boy at the end of my username, it's Bo i three eyes oh, I should have done boi x because then you get the x. But it's still like wouldn't it be French for barley or something like that? God damn it. Oh,
Bret Shuford 39:16
well. Well, thank you for coming and talking us through this whole journey. It's been super impressive to watch. Go follow Aaron and drew. And keep plugging away keep being creative. Keep being courageous.
Unknown Speaker 39:28
Thanks, Brad. Thanks for having me and love, love what you and your hubby are done as well.