When you think of making it big in the Midwest, being a YouTuber is not the first career that comes to mind. YouTubing as a career might make people think of LA or maybe New York.
Narrow it down some more to specifically Wisconsin. How many people come to mind as successful YouTubers?
Just because it’s not common doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Craig Benzine of Dane County hit 1 million subscribers July 2020, now at 1.1 million. His main channel, WheezyWaiter, features a wide variety of content, from lifestyle challenges he’s completed to discussions about why people own dogs. WheezyNews is his second channel that hosts movie reviews and some interviews with other creators.
“I want to be a positive, fun place on the Internet and show that that’s possible even though there’s so much negativity around,” said Benzine.
Benzine is from Marshall, right outside of Madison. During his first driving test, he failed because he went too fast past Madison College.
Although his original major was something related to video games, he graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in Communication Arts and Radio Television Film. It was there that he learned the basics of video production, though he did a lot of self-teaching after.
He formed a band with some friends, the Driftless Pony Club. After playing some in Madison, he eventually moved to Chicago, then Texas, then back to Wisconsin.
It was while in Chicago that he started his channel. At that time, being a full-time YouTuber was not his final career goal. He started in 2007 when making a living off YouTube was just barely becoming a thing.
Since the start of the channel, he’s expanded. He’s been featured on the educational CrashCourse channel, a project of John and Hank Green. His main topics were Film History and Government and Politics. Benzine mentioned that he gets tweets from relatives saying that their kids are watching him in school.
However, his level of success was not expected.
“I thought it would be cool to make videos on the Internet, but it was…a way to maybe get into making movies or something, some other thing, like a means to an end,” said Benzine. He added that he still might try to make a movie someday.
Though he spent some time out of the Midwest, Benzine settled back down after getting married and having a child.
“I think as I’ve gotten older… I have more Midwest pride than I did when I was younger,” said Benzine.
While the move back to Wisconsin was a practical one, Benzine likes that he can have a successful career while living in a place that people might not expect.
“I like showing that you can do it anywhere,” said Benzine.
Even though it’s not super common right now, Benzine thinks that YouTube careers everywhere will become more prevalent with time. There’s access to many free video editing platforms and almost all phones have a camera.
He shared some advice for students pursuing a career in media, whether it’s YouTube or another platform.
“I think you’ll experience burnout at some point, and I think at that point you should just really try to figure out what it is you want to do, how you want to use your skill,” said Benzine. “Not just use your skill for the sake of using it.”
Some other rules that Benzine follows and shared as advice to aspiring creators include communicating with purpose, being authentic and having some kind of schedule.
No matter what point you’re at in your life or where you’re living, Benzine encourages people to pursue their passion.
“Get your work done if you’re in school, but, but do extra things. Do things that you find fun and just figure out how to edit, figure out how to shoot,” said Benzine. “Figure out your own style. Don’t worry about where you are.”