Sevendash
Sevendash is an intriguing streamer who has a keen interest in the mechanics and behind-the-scenes workings of content creation and event management. His Twitch channel serves as a platform to promote positivity and raise awareness about mental health. With a remarkable 3.2k followers, Sevendash shares his passion for Pokemon, Animal Crossing, and various other games and aspects of his life with his online community. In this interview, we'll delve deeper into Sevendash's journey and discover how he built a thriving community on Twitch.
Sevendash's love for gaming dates back to his childhood, where he first encountered the classic NES game, Mario Brothers. “I have a VHS recording of me trying to play that game,” Sevendash reflects. He feels fortunate to have experienced these iconic games during their prime. Sevendash fondly recalls being so engrossed in his gameplay that he would physically jump when his on-screen character did.
One of the most important individuals in Sevendash's life is his mother. Recently, he had the opportunity to live with her and care for her when she contracted Covid. “Since I moved back to California she’s been a really good support system,” he explains. She is a staunch supporter of Sevendash's streaming career, even having her own Twitch account (which the password was recently recovered). She tunes in to watch his streams and offers unwavering encouragement.
Sevendash is a driven individual with a passion for helping others achieve their goals. “I’d much rather watch other people grow,” Sevendash explains why he is not as an active streamer as he used to be. While many people recognize him as a successful streamer, he really admires being the support in his peers' streaming journeys. Sevendash finds fulfillment in guiding and supporting others who have the drive, focus, and determination to improve their lives.
While Sevendash has yet to find a streamer he aspires to emulate, he admires the dedication and hard work that content creators like TyphlosionTycoon, Pokeeo, Smarpy, and others have put into building their own niches and achieving success on Twitch. “There aren’t any streamers that I watch and say that’s what I want to be. I feel like maybe when I was a younger stream I did at the time. Once I realized streaming was really whatever you wanted it to be, I kind of got out of the routine of grandstanding who were streaming,” he explains “but I do have appreciation for (the smaller streamers) who have established their space. I look forward to seeing their success.” As a small streamer, Sevendash has faced the challenge of discoverability. To overcome this hurdle, he focused on creating a community that leverages the tools and platforms his audience already uses. For example, he utilized reddit and the users that were already there looking for Pokemon content. “I ended up doing something that made sense for my platform,” he explains. This strategy also enables Sevendash to reach new users on Reddit. He wanted to be visible to the people that were already looking for similar content that he was putting out.
Another key aspect of Sevendash's community building strategy is maintaining a consistent schedule and a clean and organized Discord server. “I didn’t have 20 million things going on, kept things really simple. I wanted to make sure people knew what I was posting and that it was easy to find,” Sevendash explains how he made his Discord server more successful “I think Discord these days has kind of become a catch all. That kind of becomes distracting. I think that it’s better for streamers to focus on what their stream is about and keep the community to the niche.” By doing so, he provides his audience with a clear understanding of when and where to engage with his content. Moreover, this approach has fostered a sense of community among his followers, enabling them to get to know each other better through the shared experience of engaging with Sevendash's content.
Streaming is an endeavor that can yield surprising outcomes, regardless of the size of one's following. For Sevendash, the most unexpected aspect of streaming was the personal growth that he experienced. “I learned a lot more about my self confidence,” he reflects “I realized that I had way more ability to do things that were streamer related.” Through content creation, he was able to enhance his speaking, instructing, and teaching skills, which in turn helped him become more comfortable taking on challenging tasks outside of his streaming endeavors. “I feel more confident in my ability to do anything in my life,” he states. Additionally, Sevendash was taken aback by the potentially dangerous nature of the internet. “I made sure to learn a lot more about what was going on, like to women online,” he stresses the backlash of female streamers that they receive just for going live. While he hasn't experienced hate raids or harassment firsthand, he has heard about their occurrence and has become interested in learning more about the demographics of streamers and the criticism they receive.
During periods of more consistent streaming, Sevendash found himself filling spare moments with creating Pokemon images to discuss on his stream. He was so dedicated to this task that he even worked on them during his lunch breaks at work, excited to post them on his subreddit and chat with his followers about them when he went live later that night. When the pandemic hit, Sevendash found that streaming became a source of ease and comfort in an uncertain world. As many other content creators can attest, streaming during the pandemic provided a sense of structure and consistency during a time when external circumstances were in flux.
A memorable moment for any streamer is getting their first raid. When you're used to having only yourself or another person in your stream, it's exciting when another person shares their community with you. Sevendash's most memorable moments were when large streamers recognized him and shared their community with him through a raid. One that he particularly remembers is when Wallstreetsbet raided him, and he found many friends he could relate to. When asked what advice he has to offer new streamers, Sevendash suggests that they should know their niche and focus on working with others in a similar position. Don't try to take on tasks alone; it's always good to have a friend to bounce ideas off of. Sevendash says, "Work with other people who would be interested in helping you with those other tasks. Don't be afraid to seek support, but in the end, you are the manager. It's a business, so make sure you're taking small steps forward and constantly checking your progress. You must be an entrepreneur if you want to be successful."
Sevendash has been on Twitch for 15 years as of Valentine's Day 2023. He has seen the website change and evolve into what it is today. He reiterates that if you wait for something else to be ready before taking that step, it will never work out the way you think it will. Do it the way you want to and the way you think is right. There are people who will identify with you. Nobody gets where they want to be by waiting for something to be ready. Do it in a way that feels most authentic to you. If you're interested in learning more about Sevendash and his work, please view the links below and follow him on his journey.
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