A Happy Accident

Ever wonder how a YouTube channel starts? The long planning process, the preparation time, massive commitment and the pain staking need for presence and consistency? Yeah, neither did I. It was all just a happy accident.

December 2017, my order comes in. My dream ATV I’ve wanted for years, a 2018 Can Am Outlander XMR 1000r. Watching these monstrous machines online I knew at some point I would have one of my own. Of course, being married, I was kindly told that blowing $20k Canadian Pesos can wait until after our first house. Obviously we made that happen.

All of a sudden I find myself with a GoPro 4 Black my wife Cassandra bought off a co-worker thinking it might be cool to record the odd clip. Literally that night, April 18th 2018, I was curious how hard it would be to make a YouTube channel. Before I knew it, about 15 minutes into the process I had created Mainville ATV and Outdoors as we know it over three years later at the time of this post.

April 19th, my first video goes live to the world. Its still up, but boy is it awful. I was so nervous recording it I redid the same thing three times. For what ever reason I thought I had to get my video done in one clip. No editing what so ever, right out of the GoPro I uploaded it and we were off to the races. I was hooked. The idea that I could run my own show was so interesting to me.

More rides, more videos. It turned into a cycle. Got to know more of the community, like ATV clubs and business’. I found myself creating a community, a brand, new skills and I was having a blast doing it. Before I realized it I was essentially pulling full time hours effortlessly. It can scale out of control. People have certainly helped that growth, I never did it alone. My wife and riding partner is really the reason all of it happened. My friends were always there to give advice or help me slap some last minute parts together so I can make it to the weekend ride. Business’ helping me with information, parts and incredible service. Last but not least the people who are watching us, I’m really glad its not just my mom watching (Hi, Mom).

Well over 22,000 subscribers, 3,000 group members, ~4,000+ followers on facebook and instagram, merchandise, sponsorships, business license, the website, high end camera equipment and so much more. Been a wild three years and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My only goal is to do what I love for as long as possible. If I pull that off, I won the game of life.

Hard to smash three years of experiences together and not go on a rant, but that’s my happy accident… in a nutshell.