It’s a Saturday afternoon and YouTuber Brianna Arsement’s latest video goes live. It’s a real-life version of the viral game Among Us and within three hours, it already has over 60,000 views. Brianna Arsement, professionally knows as Brianna, started her YouTube channel just over a year ago with the goal of bringing people joy, and within that one year, she’s amassed more than four million followers. But her success doesn’t come from the fact that she’s married to one of YouTube’s highest-earning creators, Preston Arsement; it comes from her innate ability to bring a smile or a laugh to every subscriber’s face by always pushing the envelope with her daily challenge and gaming videos.
Today, she’s pushing for more representation in gaming, and wants to break the mold by encouraging more female gamers to invade the YouTube space. “Have confidence in yourself! If you love gaming, your viewers will see that, and they’ll love watching you game,” she says. Brianna also hopes that by putting herself out there she’s offering a positive example for the next generation of female gamers. But this multi-faceted YouTuber is passionate about more than just gaming; she’s also a nurse, and happens to have a budding music career, too.
Helping people is her main goal
Back in the day, Brianna attended Texas Christian University, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in nursing. “I’ve always loved helping people,” she emphasizes. When she met her husband, she was immediately immersed within the YouTube community, and started thinking about her own YouTube channel. “I grew up doing theater, so it was definitely a good pairing for me,” she adds. It wasn’t a hasty decision, though. Brianna spent a long while praying and weighing out her options, wondering if a switch to YouTube would still align with her goal of helping people. Eventually, she made the switch, deciding to do YouTube full time. “YouTube is so international, and I realized that I’d be able to reach so many new people and bring them light in the world, and just make people smile,” she says.
Brianna also hopes that by having a mix of videos she appeals to all sorts of age groups and genders. “My number one goal is to be a positive role model,” she says. She loves creating content that makes her viewers happy and adds a little fun to their daily grind. “We just had the world’s strongest man do a video where he destroyed a car, and that’s the kind of video I hope any age can really enjoy,” she says. But her favorite videos are the ones that help her make a tangible difference. “Last Christmas we did a video with Toys for Tots, and I bought out all the toys from stores like Target and Walmart and then gave them to children who wouldn’t be getting Christmas presents,” she says. Whenever she has an opportunity to give back, she hopes that she’s also encouraging other YouTubers to do the same.
She loves trying new games
Brianna has been making viral content ever since she was introduced to the world of gaming, and there’s a lot she loves about it. “There’s a game for everybody. You can find something competitive or you can just sit back and play some Sims. I think everybody can really enjoy gaming,” she says. She also believes gaming is a great way to connect with people all over the world, especially with quarantine measures still in place. “This way we can all still hang out, I just love that!” she adds.
The most prominent game on Brianna’s channel right now has to be Minecraft, but she loves to try new games and is always excited about new releases. “I’ve been playing Among Us a ton right now, and it’s so much fun! It’s also another great game to hang out with friends over the computer right now,” she adds excitedly. She also hopes to add newer games to her channel and expand her gaming horizons. “There’s a new Call Of Duty that just got released and I’m excited to try that. There’s always new fun stuff to find, because gaming is always changing and evolving.”
Representation in gaming is changing
There’s a smaller population of females gamers on YouTube right now, but it helps Brianna feel closer to them. “We’re almost like a family, and we’re all working to push that boundary and change the gaming landscape,” she says. Her main aim is to reach out to the next generation of girls and show them that they, too, can make their own YouTube channels, and become female gamers if they want. “I’ve had a bunch of parents comment, ‘Hey, you’ve helped my daughter or son make their own YouTube channel,’ so instilling that confidence is what I hope to keep doing.” She also thinks it’s great that female YouTubers stream all sorts of games, whether it be narrative-based or first-person shooter. She believes this is the first step to reducing gender biases when it comes to gaming. “We can be competitors with our male counterparts as well,” she emphasizes. Her one advice to new gamers is to be yourself and stay confident. “If you enjoy what you’re doing, your viewers will see that. Just enjoy what you’re doing, especially if it’s something you’re passionate about,” she says.
Gaming avatars are also something she hopes will keep evolving. “Fortnite does a great job of having a wider variety of female avatars with different outfits and different body types,” she says. But she hopes other games will adopt a similar viewpoint. “We as women shouldn’t be singled out, we’re on an even playing field. More games should have ‘normal-looking’ avatars out there.” She also hopes that gaming advertisements will see a shift. “Advertisements are typically geared towards males, so changing that would be a start,” she says. She does, however, think that in the past few years the gaming industry has been moving in a positive direction. “More gaming companies have been reaching out to me lately, so I think they know this is an area they need to be working on.”
The future of her channel
With a channel that’s only been around for about a year and a half, Brianna hopes that in the future, it’ll continue to grow and showcase her full self. She’s also extremely passionate about music and has a new single in the works. “I’m hoping to integrate more music into my channel sometime in the future,” she says. She also knows she’ll be true to her goal of helping people even if her channel does undergo a content switch. “Helping people is always going to be my main goal.”
Follow Brianna on YouTube to be the first to know when her new single releases, and enjoy her new Among Us videos – I know I did!