Self-care guru and gamer Cozy K shares how she avoids burning out
We’re reaching out to some popular creators to get their best tips and tricks for success and better understand the ups and downs of life as a trailblazer on the internet.
This week, we caught up with Kennedy, aka Cozy K, via email. Kennedy has over 169,000 followers across TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, and YouTube. She is known for “cozy” gaming, self-care recommendations, product reviews, and organization tips. She recently graduated from law school and uses relaxing, cozy games to unwind. She aims to create a community of relaxation, inclusivity, and warmth.
The interview below has been condensed and edited.
What's the first thing you do to start your day online?
I usually write out a to-do list for the tasks I need to complete for each platform that day. It helps in not feeling overwhelmed by the amount of content I have planned for the entire week by just focusing on individual tasks each day.
What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out as a creator?
To take things day by day and not push myself too hard. I definitely dove headfirst into some platforms and tried posting or filming something every day, and I ended up burning myself out and having to rebuild a schedule that worked for my specific capacity each week.
When did you realize you’d broken through and become a successful creator?
When people started beginning their DMs with "I'm not sure if you'll see this but..." because I never considered myself a creator that seemed unapproachable or unreachable! It was definitely a shock, but I love being able to reassure my community that I'm always happy and willing to communicate with them about anything!
If you hadn’t become a creator, what would you be doing right now?
Content creation is actually my side hobby! I'm a lawyer in my day-to-day life, so it's nice to have a separate venture that I can focus on when real life may get overwhelming or stressful.
What's one thing you do to manage your relationship with your fans?
I put on community games days in my Discord channel, where we play games like Jackbox, for example, where everyone can join in. It's been my favorite part of connecting with my community lately! A lot of my community have become real friends, and we often refer to each other as a second family, which is all anyone could want from their community!
What do you think of the idea of cancel culture?
I think holding people accountable for harmful actions is always necessary. The criticism of cancel culture often seems to shame the masses for no longer wanting to support someone who effected harm, which has always seemed unreasonable to me. People do not owe support or forgiveness and platforms are a privilege, not an entitlement. The goal of becoming a better person should not be to maintain one's platform anyway, so accountability seems to be one issue while losing support as a result of any actions seems to be another. But "cancel culture" is almost a dirty word now, so whatever we want to call holding people with platforms accountable and pushing them to be better people and right their wrongs, I'm all for!
How much of your true self do you show online?
Mostly all of what I'm showing is my true self! My full personality comes out when I stream and film any playthrough videos because I can't really help it! My TikTok and other YouTube videos tend to be a bit more polished, but they're still portraying my true self in terms of my interests.
What's one of the best interactions you've ever had with someone who follows you?
Any interaction where someone expresses that my videos have gotten them through a hard time makes me want to cry tears of joy. I get more of them than I ever expected, and each one affects me in the same way and fills me with a sense of purpose. All I want is to provide a safe and cozy space on the internet, and it's lovely to see that my content really does have that effect sometimes.
What is your most treasured tool?
My iPad! I create all of my YouTube thumbnails, Twitch overlays, and edit all of my pictures on it, so I'd be lost without it!
What holds you accountable?
My community and my passion for my content. There are some weeks where I'm just tired and don't want to do anything, and then I remember a comment that says something along the lines of "thank you so much for posting consistently, this is my happy place," and I'm immediately motivated to create again. Then, just the fact that gaming is kind of my one sole passion means the things I get excited about can also turn into content, which makes me perpetually excited about possible new content!
Thank you, Kennedy, for talking with us!
We’ll be featuring a new Q&A with a creator every week, so shoot an email to grace.stanley@clarion1822.com for a chance to be included.
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