Rachel Metz is the DIY ( Do it Yourself ) queen of her YouTube channel Living to DIY. Metz has not always been active in the YouTube community. Not too long ago, Metz was working as a retail manager at Free People. Metz was also the sole — proprietor of the catering dessert business Tickle Me Sweet. After a health scare in 2015, which Metz now considers a blessing in disguise, she was able to focus exclusively on her channel which has now amassed over 25,000 followers.
HA : What has been your favourite experience so far with DIY ?
RM : My favorite experience would be watching my YouTube family grow and being able to constantly engage with them. It is mind blowing that people not only want to watch what I am creating, but also want to chat with me. They don’t understand how much even the littlest comment means to me. It fuels my fire every single day to make my family as big as possible as well as to inspire people to “live to DIY.”
HA : You’ve noted that your boy-friend, Paul Rodriguez, is one of your greatest motivations for working hard. What are some tips/tricks that he has given in achieving success ?
RM : I wouldn’t say they are tips/tricks to achieve success — it’s more so guidance on being your best self. One of my favorite moments was when I felt discouraged about pursuing YouTube. I let it (discouragement) ”buzz- kill” everything going on in my world. Paul told me to look at that pain as adult growing pains. Instead of being sad, angry or frustrated and letting it poison everything… know that you are just growing into a new phase of your journey that sucks for the moment. But, you are going to get through it (just like a growing pain). Yeah, it’s super uncomfortable but if we could deal with it (growing pains) as kids — we can deal with it as adults. That’s really helped me focus on the bigger picture and not live solely for instant gratification.
HA : Can you discuss your transition from a catering business to focusing solely on DIY projects ?
RM : I just gave everything I wanted to do a try and nothing brought me happiness like DIY’ing. I’ve always crafted, but I was scared that if I tried to become the next Martha Stewart, people wouldn’t take me seriously. I thought I had to have a business with a product, like Tickle Me Sweet, and I was so wrong. DIY’ing is who I am and what makes me feel complete so I decided not to care what people think, do what makes me happy and figure out how to monetize it (DIY) as I go along.
HA : Do you get inspiration from any HGTV shows when formulating DIY ideas ? Are there any influencers that inspire you ?
RM : Not particularly HGTV, but more so people that are on Instagram. Instagram provides such an incredible melting pot right at your finger tips. @ispydiy is definitely my go — to “broad” for “boss” DIY things. @homeyohmy is also a total “G” that’ll fire you up too. If I’m being completely honest, my main source of inspiration comes from those late night 2 a.m. “black — hole” scenarios on Instagram.
HA : How do you combat discouragement ?
RM : I feel like a lot of people look at discouragement as a form of failure. If you feel discouraged with what you are doing, it can stop you from working so hard. For me, it’s only a failure if you don’t learn from discouragement. When I feel discouraged, it’s mainly because I think I did something wrong. Instead of sulking and crying about it, I instantly think, “What could you do different? More of ? What did you do well ? What worked ?” I then write my reflections down and go after it.
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Originally published at www.huffingtonpost.com .
Originally published at medium.com