I Had to Quit YouTube.

Four million subscribers. Fourteen years of making cartoons. And somehow, I ended up having to walk away from my dream job.

Back in 2012, I uploaded a silly little Minecraft animation to YouTube. I legit had no idea that it would eventually turn into a series... Let alone what Epic Minequest is known as today, reaching millions of people around the world, and somehow becoming my full-time job.

Although, a lot has changed since then. I'm now married, a Dad of three little girls, two stepchildren, two dogs and "Dip" the fish. The Dad chapter of my life has officially settled in. And after some dream adjusting, I'm finding my way.

I Had to Quit YouTube.

For years, I was doing pretty much everything myself. Writing, animating, editing, sound design... Which honestly is a blast... But ultimately spending months working on a cartoon that was barely five minutes long, and what's worse is I had absolutely no idea whether it would be a success or not. Success = getting paid.

In a funny way, I'm thankful for me having to quit when I did. My 'business model' for YouTube was never sustainable. Betting everything on the next cartoon and hitting dumb luck more often than I feel I deserve. Realistically, I couldn't keep working like that forever.

So over the past couple of years, I started taking on other creative work to support my family. One project turned into another, and before I knew it, my own cartoons had become an afterthought. I'm sure there's a saying along the lines of "A painter's house is never painted".

I never actually intended on quitting YouTube... It just sat in limbo for a very long time, and before I knew it, it was just old news.

These current days, I work with an Australian internet provider called Launtel (a really great company), and they trust me enough in creating all sorts of wild campaigns. I really enjoy it, especially the people... Making some really great new 'forever' friends.

I'm happy with my life. I love my family, I enjoy my work, and I wouldn't trade any of that... BUT...

I really miss making cartoons.

Now my girls are almost in school, I'm finding a tiny bit of spare time where I reminisce about what once was. Though more importantly, the urge to 'create' has been growing. I love being a Dad, but I miss having my own identity outside of family life. I miss sitting down with an idea and turning it into something people can watch and enjoy. I'm fed up with my ideas just being ideas. And there's so much still to tell with Epic Minequest.

So, I'm flipping the script. I'm exiting my comfort zone of hiding behind my cartoons, and I decided to make this little documentary to show you what my life looks like these days. I explain why things changed, and talk about what's happening next. You gotta remember, I've been dormant for a few years now, I'm bursting with ideas...

I'm not suddenly returning to YouTube full-time, and I'm certainly not going to promise things I can't deliver. I've made enough of those promises over the years.

What I do want to do is start sharing more of what I'm working on... Hopefully in fun and interesting ways (even if they're unfinished). No more disappearing for months at a time. 1st goal is to reignite the channel, I don't expect crazy amounts of views or anything, and my goal is not to become famous or anything stupid like that. I just want a solid community that enjoys the content I make. We can grow and learn together - Though most importantly, I'm able to focus the majority of my spare time on Animating/Art/Telling stories.

And to everyone who's watched my cartoons, shared them with friends, asked about Epic Minequest, or simply stuck around all these years...

Thank you. Seriously.

I'll quit when I'm dead.

- Sam