Fit for video fame
YouTube Gold Creator Award recipient Joanna Soh empowers women with her fitness videos, writes
I believe fitness and health, and looking after yourself, starts from one’s home.
Joanna Soh
HER workout videos are simple, easy to follow and take just a few minutes of your time. The activity can also be done in the comfort of your home.
Since she started her YouTube workout channel about six years ago, Joanna Soh has been getting followers daily. Today she has one million subscribers who follow her workout routines every Monday and Thursday.
Besides her fat-burning chair workout sessions, she also shares healthy recipes.
Soh recently received the YouTube Gold Creator Award to commemorate the success of her channel in achieving that number. The 28-year-old full-time fitness trainer was presented the award last December at the second annual YouTube Ads Awards gala, which celebrates everything YouTube.
HOW IT STARTED
While Soh was studying in the UK, she also worked part-time as a personal trainer. During the final year of a Performance and Media degree, she worked as a TV producer for live talk shows in London.
She was certified as a Personal Trainer under the American Council of Exercise and eventually started a side career in the fitness industry. As she loved both of her jobs, she decided to combine her skills in fitness training and TV production, and create something of her own.
“I really want to help other people to know more about their body, understand their fitness level and health. But then I don’t want to just do it on a one-to-one basis in class, because that’s just one person that I can reach out to,” she says.
“I came across a YouTube article on how the online platform is growing, and YouTubers can reach out to the masses. Then I had an idea to start the fitness channel,” she says.
Soh quit her job as a TV producer to start her own YouTube channel (joannasohofficial) in 2013. As the online industry is more established in the UK, she quickly joined the growing trend.
Soh made a promise to herself that she was going to make it work within a year. Her parents were very supportive too although they did not understand what she was venturing into at that time.
EXPANSION OF IDEAS
In the beginning, Soh only posted workout videos, but she soon realised that fitness is not all about exercising. That was when she created videos — on fitness tips, healthy recipes and anything related to fitness.
Soh did everything on her own, from generating ideas to scripting and recording herself. “Sometimes I write creative blogs,” she says, adding that now she has a team to help produce the videos.
Soh came back to Malaysia three years ago to try her luck here.
“With the Internet, I can work anywhere in the world. I can find more opportunities here because the fitness industry is still growing in the country.”
CHALLENGES
Starting a YouTube channel and having to do everything on her own was challenging. “You won’t get any views and subscribers initially. Later you may get 10 views, but then slowly your subscribers will increase. The slow process is a challenge at first,” says Soh.
It is also a challenge to continue to upload content every week. “There were times when I failed to upload a video because I was on a holiday or too busy, and my subscribers, who were expecting videos, would query.”
It is this feedback that keeps Soh going to create content consistently because she does not want to let subscribers down.
Being a YouTuber sounds like a cool thing, and many think it’s easy and fun, but video production is very different from, for example, taking pictures.
Soh says many newbies lose interest when they fail to garner audiences.
“For me, it’s really about knowing your values, and not doing something to look cool or popular.
“Know why you want to create videos and what you want to change in people’s lives,” she adds.
FEMALE-RELATED CONTENT
After a while, Soh realised her audiences were 80 per cent female, so she decided to work with this and create more womenrelated content.