Turning Views into Ventures with Austen Tosone
Jul 01, 2025 – [[read-time]] minute read
Welcome to “Turning Views into Ventures,” where creativity meets strategy and channels become businesses. Each month, we spotlight a standout YouTube creator who’s transformed their channel into a thriving business. Discover how they knew it was time to take things to the next level, the strategies that helped them grow, and the lessons they learned along the way. This series shows that YouTube isn’t just a platform for views—it’s a launchpad for opportunity, impact, and long-term success. Whether you're building momentum or exploring what’s next, this is your roadmap to unlocking the full potential of your channel.
This month, you'll hear from creator Austen Tosone, who proves that success on YouTube isn’t defined by subscriber count — and that you don’t need millions of followers to make a big impact.
Tell us a little bit more about yourself:
I first began blogging and posting on social media in 2012 and I launched my YouTube channel in 2017. It was something I had always wanted to do but I was worried that my videos wouldn’t look professional enough. My early videos (still on my channel!) were backlit, echo-y, and out of focus—but without starting I never would have improved. 8 years later and over 850+ videos on my channel, I love YouTube more than ever. Today I create videos where I share my journey to build a balanced and creative life in the city—you'll find ”week in my life” vlogs in NYC and Hoboken, the behind-the-scenes content of my work as a content creator, and cozy videos like decluttering my makeup collection or creating a vision board. I love the vlog format because I can bring my audience along with me in my day-to-day life and share a mix of aesthetic montages and real talk.
What does it look like to balance being both the creative force and the CEO behind your brand?
Balancing the creative aspects of content creation and the business side is harder than it looks. Maybe one day I wake up with a great idea for a video, but I can’t take advantage of my excitement and film right away because I have other business focused commitments that day. I try to set different types of goals as a creator from growing my platforms to upgrading my equipment to learning a new type of editing technique so that I’m fulfilling my creativity but also growing my brand and creating a bigger business.
Looking back, what would you tell your younger self about building a lasting business from content creation?
Diversifying my income streams has been incredibly helpful for my creator business. As a micro influencer, I can’t just rely on brand deals for my income—I’ve also incorporated passive income streams like ad revenue through the YouTube Partner Program, affiliates, and digital products to help level out my income. This is one of the reasons I’m able to be a full-time content creator even with 22,000 subscribers and I suggest all creators add a passive income stream to their business so they don’t have to stress during slower seasons of brand work.
What would surprise people about what it really takes to build a career as a creator?
I wish more people understood how much work goes into every little thing. Producing a single piece of content can sometimes take hours, even if it looks like a simple photo or it’s a Short that’s only a few seconds long. There is a ton of unglamorous grunt work that goes on behind-the-scenes, and you also have to adapt to learn the legal side of the business, how taxes work, and so much more.
When did you realize your channel could evolve into a business?
I was already making money through brand partnerships on other platforms when I started my YouTube channel, but once I got into the YouTube Partner Program I could see the potential for my channel once I grew my audience even more. YouTube is my favorite platform as a creator because I feel like they respect creators and give us lots of opportunities to earn and get in front of new viewers. When I put in the effort on YouTube, I can see the return on the investment of my time.
How do you define success today compared to when you were just starting out?
When I first launched my channel, I considered success sticking to my upload schedule to build that consistent creative muscle and was able to post 1-2x a week for the first two years. Then for a while I considered high views and growth to be what made a video successful, but by solely focusing on analytics I realized I was overlooking the creative element that made me fall in love with YouTube in the first place. These days, I’ll feel proud of a video when I look beyond the metrics. For me that could mean a video that gets some thoughtful comments from my subscribers, editing a vlog where the music cues match up perfectly with the cuts between clips in a satisfying way or a video where I try something brand new and learn as I go. I try to get 1% better with each video I create.