Creating Art Income Streams on YouTube With Becky Tregear

There’s a very specific kind of exhaustion that comes from building a life around a job you don’t love...

The kind where you can feel your creativity pressing up against the edges of your routine… but your time, energy, and income are all locked into something that doesn’t leave much room for it to breathe.

And for a lot of unconventional, witchy women and gender-diverse creatives, the dream isn’t just “making art.” It’s figuring out how that art becomes something more sustainable. Something that actually supports your life!

That’s where art income streams start to matter.

Creating multiple art income streams is a real, layered, practical way of turning creativity into income. You can do it as just a side hustle or as a full-time thing. It can be done through platforms like YouTube, through affiliate links, through small digital ecosystems that grow slowly over time, almost quietly at first… until one day they don’t feel so small anymore!

And this is exactly what I can help you do as a marketing mentor, so I wanted to share the inspiring story of a friend of mine who did just that in the time I've known her over the years.

In this conversation, Melbourne-based artist Becky Tregear shares what it really looks like to build those income streams from scratch.

She shares how she started with no perfect strategy.

Just a LOT of creative passion, and a long stretch of showing up, experimenting, filming, creating, and gradually learning how platforms like YouTube turn creativity into cash!🪄💸

What makes her story so powerful is how well it demonstrates that you CAN do what you love and that the money WILL follow...

IF you never give up! Especially when you start to get impatient, and there is ZERO evidence that you'll ever succeed. What you should expect instead is that there may be months where nothing much seems to move. Because eventually, if you NEVER QUIT (and you keep learning!), one day, suddenly something does!

And underneath it all, a bigger thread: what it means to keep building a creative life even when your energy changes, your body changes, and your definition of success changes with it.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering whether it’s actually possible to leave the 9–5 and build something from your creative work, like something flexible, something real, something that feels like you, then this interview with Becky is going to massively inspire you to get started.

She's a perfect example of why “art income streams” aren’t just about monetisation! They’re about freedom, experimentation, and the slow, sometimes quite painful process of turning your creativity into an alternative lifestyle.

You can read the full transcript below, OR if you prefer listening, click below for the podcast version (Becky has the loveliest Aussie accent!). 🪄 🎧💫

Prefer to watch instead of read? Watch the YouTube version here to hear and see Becky Tregear herself.🪄 📺💫

Interview With Beacky Tregear on Hexotica’s Podcast ✨

Full transcript, edited for readability.

Introduction: Meet Becky Tregear, An Artist Building Multiple Art Income Streams on YouTube

Christine Rice: Today, I'm joined by Melbourne-based artist Becky Tregear, who has grown her YouTube channel to over 15,900 subscribers by sharing her love of art, experimenting with new art supplies, and inviting people into the joy of creative play.

In this episode, we're talking all about art income streams. How Becky grew her audience on YouTube, what actually helped her channel gain traction, and how she's monetised her creativity to build real income from her art and her content.

If you've ever wondered how artists actually make money online while staying creative, you're going to love this conversation!

Becky, welcome to the Hexotica Podcast! I'm so glad to have you here.

Becky Tregear: Hi! I'm so happy to be here. I'm really excited! I've not done a podcast before, so this is something new for me, and I'm really thrilled to be here.

Christine Rice: Well, I am honoured to have you as a guest.

How Becky And I Met In a Goth Club On A Vampire-Themed Night

Christine Rice: I'm just going to tell everyone how we met. We met about ten years ago in a goth club on a vampire night! (laughter)

Becky Tregear: That was so completely out of character for me. It was something I did outside of my comfort zone because I'm more of an "inner goth." I don't tend to dress up very much, but I decided that night I was going to wear a lovely black dress, and I had the best time.

Christine Rice: It was really fun meeting you that night.

Yeah, that was one of the best things about that night—meeting you and your husband. You guys were dressed as vampires, and I was there with my housemate at the time, dressed as the vampire from Only Lovers Left Alive. I was... what's her name? The blonde actress... I can't remember her name now.

Perimenopause brain! (laughter) It'll come to me.Yes, so I was dressed as the blonde vampire, and we met that night.

Then, about six or seven years ago, you decided to start your YouTube channel?

How Becky Tregear Started Her YouTube Channel

Becky Tregear: Yes, it's been about six and a half years now. The first video I uploaded was actually on Christmas Day in 2019.

I distinctly remember wanting it to go live on Christmas Day. It was me painting with little inks from an Advent calendar, so I thought it would make a fun Christmas video. Then it just kind of went on from there.

Christine Rice: I've seen your channel grow from the beginning. I remember when you had your first hundred subscribers, and over the years, it's been wonderful watching you put yourself out there, create a channel, and gather such momentum now.

It's funny that you mention Christmas Day because, in marketing, one thing I've always noticed through SEO is that Christmas Day is actually a really busy day online. Everyone's off work, they're on their phones, they're browsing the internet—people finally have time. It's actually a really good day to put stuff online.

Becky Tregear: Yeah, although for me it was more because the content was Christmas-themed and needed to go up then. That's when I had it ready, and I thought if I waited until after Christmas, I'd miss that little window.

Otherwise, I probably would have started maybe in the New Year. But I had this Advent calendar full of tiny inks, and I really wanted to swatch them out.

So I ended up making one swatching video and then a painting video with the inks.

I don't even remember if I got many views. I think my husband was my first subscriber... (laughter) ...and then maybe my parents.

So I only had a handful of subscribers and a few little views. But that video gets watched again every Christmas when people are looking for Christmas content, so it pops up every year. A few people still watch it.

Otherwise, it's kind of lost in the annals of my YouTube history.

Perimenopause brain again! (laughs) I sometimes completely forget some of the videos I've made, especially the early ones. Then I'll watch them again and think, "Oh my goodness, they're so cringeworthy."

Christine Rice: But that's one of the reasons I think YouTube is so good. It has such a long shelf life. Those old videos can keep resurfacing, which almost never happens on social media.

The amount of time you put into making an Instagram Reel—which disappears almost immediately—is sometimes the same amount of time it takes to make a good YouTube video, except that YouTube video can continue getting views year after year. That's pretty amazing.

Was starting your channel just a moment of creative inspiration where you thought, "I've got a good idea," or had you wanted to start a YouTube channel for a long time?

Becky Tregear: Oh yeah, definitely the latter. It had been in the back of my mind for quite a long time. It took me ages to pluck up the courage to start.

I think the hardest part was actually putting myself in front of the camera and deciding what my first video should be.

I'd been watching art YouTubers for a couple of years, and I kept thinking, "I could probably do this." But then I'd worry, "What if nobody likes me? What if nobody watches my videos?"

Eventually, I reached the point where I thought, "You know what? I'm just going to try. If it fails, so be it."

Then it just... kept going.

I think the timing was almost perfect because it was only a few months before COVID happened. Suddenly, there was a captive audience, and I think that's what really helped my channel grow in those early days when I hardly had any subscribers.

So many people were watching YouTube then, and I think more people found my channel during that time than they otherwise would have.

Christine Rice: That's real divine timing because you said Christmas 2019, right?

Becky Tregear: Yeah.

How Australian Bushfires And Melbourne's COVID Lockdowns Unexpectedly Helped Becky Grow Her YouTube Audience

Christine Rice: Wow. Looking back, that was almost the best possible time.

Becky Tregear: The bushfires had already started—you know, those terrible fires we had in Victoria.

Christine Rice: Yeah, I remember. I was actually in Bali during that - I came back, and everything was on fire.

Becky Tregear: It was just terrible. I remember the smoke haze over Melbourne. I remember recording one video where my voice sounded really croaky because of all the smoke in the atmosphere.

When I listen back to it, I mention that it's because of the fires. People commented months—even years—later saying, "Oh my goodness, I remember those fires!"

Christine Rice: For anyone listening who isn't from Melbourne, in late 2019 and into December, we experienced some of the worst bushfires in Australia that we had in decades.

I spent November in Bali, and when I came home, there was this thick brown haze over everything. I remember looking at the trees and thinking, "How are the birds even breathing right now?" It was literally killing wildlife.

We were all being advised to stay indoors because the air quality was so poor.

So yes... we were all online! (laughter)

Becky Tregear: Then, of course, rumours of COVID were starting around the same time. Back then, everyone was calling it the coronavirus. It all unfolded so quickly.

It's a little unsettling seeing some similarities with more recent virus outbreaks, although thankfully, experts say they don't spread nearly as quickly. Hopefully, we never experience anything like that again.

Why The Hardest Part Was Pressing Publish!

Christine Rice: So you just decided one day to do it. Well done, because that fear of getting started is what holds so many people back.

Becky Tregear: Oh, it really is.

Christine Rice: You just have to get started. Getting started is definitely the hardest thing.

I was shocked when I started this podcast to learn that most people who start a podcast never get past the third episode!

Becky Tregear: Wow!

Christine Rice: That's exactly it. Starting is the hardest hurdle, but then there's another challenge—staying started. Keeping the momentum going can be just as difficult. But that very first hurdle is always the biggest. Sometimes you just have to jump in and ask yourself, "What's the worst that could happen?"

Christine Rice: So, who's your channel for?

Becky Tregear: It was for myself to begin with almost.

I just thought it would be fun, a fun way, just to kind of almost, you know, when you're sounding bored, like you soundboard off someone else when you're sort of thinking of ideas, and I almost did it like that.

''But I just wanted to share in my own pleasure and joy of rediscovering art as an older person.''

Because I had done it you know sort of off and on throughout my life, but then there was a big period where I did no art, and then I just kind of came back into it that always finds me again.

And I think really it was for myself, but I also realized that there's probably a lot of other people around my age that have the same sorts of you know interests, you know, not a lot of not a lot of people in my, I guess, you know, family group, and that are really interested in art.

So it was a way for me to talk to people and find people who are interested in it.

It's really just for anyone who enjoys art, whether you're a beginner or a seasoned professional artist. It's for people who enjoy experimenting with different mediums and who love the creative process, rather than feeling like every piece has to become a masterpiece.

Just for me, making art is therapy. It's my happy place.

Especially now. Going through perimenopause has been extremely difficult, particularly over the last year, and I've had to make quite a few changes to my channel because of it.

Christine Rice: Fuck yeah. It's been hard for me, too.

It's beautiful that your creative joy allowed you to do that. I think that's such a good message because people often believe they have to start with the goal of making money.

Sometimes you simply create because something inside you wants to create.

You follow that creative spark without worrying whether it's going to become a business.

Ironically, that's often exactly what allows it to become something much bigger.

You're the example of something so many people dream about—building a business around simply doing what you genuinely love.

Becky Tregear: I think that probably has been part of my success so far.

I've always tried to stay true to myself.

I started because I genuinely love making art. Money is kinda secondary thing to that.

Obviously, we'd all like to make lots of money and be successful, but sometimes chasing money too early can actually get in the way of creativity.

You have to keep coming back to what's really important. For me, that's the creative process.

...I'm having another perimenopause moment...

What's the word? Experience!

That's the one. (laughs) OMG that is the words thing. The losing words is honestly one of the hardest parts.

Christine Rice: (laughs) I completely understand.

Becky Tregear: Yea, so the money is definitely a thing that has helped keep me going.

Because I'm not sure if I could have kept it going without earning something from the channel. It allows me to buy new art supplies, improve my equipment, and invest back into creating content.

So money is definitely important—but it's not the most important thing

Christine Rice: And if my audience doesn't know, here in Melbourne, we had the longest lockdowns in the entire world. We had a total of 16 weeks at one time, and then we had repeated lockdowns after that. We were going crazy. I understood the need for it, and I'm glad that we did it because it kept a lot of people safe and alive. But it was hard. It was hard. It was so hard.

Becky Tregear: Basically, the filming and the art just kept me going. It was the only thing I really had. My husband was also working from home at that time because he's in pharmaceuticals, so they were absolutely needed at that time. But he worked almost entirely from home during COVID, except for the occasional time when he had to go in for something.

So we basically just spent what feels like about two years at home. It wasn't quite that long, but it was a good two years until life got back to normal.

Christine Rice: Your videos would have helped a lot of people, too, being stuck at home. Your friends and family were probably watching, and you picked up new people who were experimenting with art supplies.

Becky Tregear: Yeah. It was a really good time for that. A lot of people were just starting to make art because they wanted something to do. So I think I did gain quite an audience through that as well.

It was just beautiful timing. I've had people who have watched me since the beginning, and they're still there. They are just the most amazing people. They've kept me going during the times where I've been thinking, "What am I doing? I want to give up."

But at the same time, I feel like I need to give them some videos because they're there every week watching, and I feel like I'd let them down if I wasn't there.

I just really love that I've made all of these friends who I've never met. There are so many lovely people in the art community, and it's just been fabulous.

Christine Rice: That's so beautiful. I had the fortunate experience of doing the social media management for an artist, and her community was just incredibly supportive—just incredibly beautiful.

I really loved doing her social media because being among artists sharing art was such a positive experience all the time. There was never any trolling like you sometimes get on other clients' accounts, where people complain, "Why are you selling something?" Like, why are you trying to make a living? (laughter)

People get that a lot online. If you're trying to make a living, people accuse you of being a scammer.

But the art community was just fantastic. I loved it.

How Becky Created Her Initial Art Income Streams Through YouTube Views Instead of Subscribers

So, can you tell me, when did you start monetising and making money? And what have been the real highlights of having the channel, besides the community, obviously, which would be a massive reason to keep doing it?

Becky Tregear: Well, it was definitely a really great day when I actually monetised it—when I got the note from YouTube saying, "You've reached all of the eligibility requirements."

Woohoo!

I was so happy. (laughter) So excited.

It was weird because most people get the subscribers before they get the watch hours, but I was actually the opposite.

''I reached the 4,000 watch hours in nine months.''

Christine Rice: Wow!

Becky Tregear: But it wasn't until about 12 months that I reached 1,000 subscribers.

So yeah, I was getting more watch time than I was subscribers.

Christine Rice: Congratulations!

Becky Tregear: I was looking at it every day, just watching it click over by a few more subscribers each day. When it finally reached a thousand, I was so happy. It felt like such a huge goal.

Then it took a few days—or about a week or so—to sort out my bank accounts and everything that had to connect so Google could pay me directly. There's a little bit of admin involved.

The payments started the following month, so I'd say I started properly earning after about 13 months.

At the time, I think you had to earn $100 in a month before it would be paid out. If you didn't reach that amount, it would roll over into the next month until you reached the threshold.

That very first month I earned about $80, and I was so happy. I couldn't believe I'd earned 80 bucks!

But of course, I didn't actually get paid out yet.

So that rolled over to the following month, and then after that I kept always, you know, getting above $100, and then it started to rise. It's one of those things though, it's not always stable. Some months are better than others, especially around maybe November, December, which is usually the best time to get a lot of money and views. And then people are on vacation, they're online. I've noticed that with SEO.

Yeah, it's a great time to put out content. And then sometimes, usually March and May, I tend to get better views as well. And then other months, you know, it sort of slumps down.

Although I've never had it so bad that I've never, you know, not earned something.

How Do You Know What YouTube Content Will Pay Out?

But it's just a little bit of, um, it's sort of hard to know what's going to kind of pay out as well...

It's like I'll upload a video thinking, "Oh, this is really good, and everyone's going to watch it," and hardly anyone will watch it. And something else will come out, which is just like, you know, a silly little video or something, and for some reason it gets so many more views.

So it can be quite hard to predict what's actually going to be successful. So I really just try to do the videos that I want to do because I know that I can be more authentic in it, and I'm going to enjoy it as well as putting it up, rather than thinking of the money.

And yeah, it just, it's going to do what it's going to do. I can't control it once it's online as much. You know, it either gets picked up by the algorithm or it doesn't, and people decide if they want to watch it or not.

So yeah, there's a little bit of a gamble in that and a bit of luck as well.

Why You Should Create The Content You Want Because You Never Know What Will Pop Off!

Christine Rice: Yeah, I think it's so important to just do those videos. Like the two videos that I did that were just kind of like, "I just want to do them for me," which were on American being an American in Australia and another one on manifestation and trusted housesitters, because I was so angry about it (laughter)—perimenopausal rage—and those two have done the best on my channel.

I'm like, I do all this business and marketing channel for creatives, but those two that were just done like, "I just want to do this for me," are the most popular, you know? So there's something to that, I think.

Becky Tregear: Yeah, yeah, that's definitely the way.

And it can be so frustrating when you've put your heart and soul into something and it just tanks, and it's just like, I just want to give up. It's like, what am I doing here?

But then, um, like my most recent video, I did just a bunch of cheap Kmart art supplies. And for some reason the Kmart videos do really well, even with Americans.

Although a lot of them, and I need to actually explain it in a video, that Kmart America is different to the Australian one because Americans tend to go, "I didn't know there were Kmarts still around." But actually it's a totally different company now.

But yeah, for some reason the Kmart videos are just really popular, especially with the Aussie audience. And whenever I do anything that's Australian related, I do get quite a, you know, a lot of people coming to see that.

Although my audience is, you know, a lot of it is at least half would be American.

Christine Rice: Yeah, yeah, interesting.

How Becky Created Additional Art Income Streams Through Affiliate Marketing

So, YouTube—your YouTube income was first, I mean, the payment from YouTube—and what came second after that? Did you then start to add on other income streams?

Becky Tregear: Yes. So even now, YouTube tends to be my primary one, that is, you know, just constant, like I'm getting paid out every month.

And because I review a lot of art supplies and things like that, I also got into Amazon affiliates.

So I've got affiliate links going for Australia, but also the USA, because the USA is my best paying one, because I have the most audience there, and the UK, which is not as good as the other two.

But I get regular payouts from both Australia and America as well. And America started, you know, they were able to pay into an Australian bank account, so that's why I thought I'd hook that up.

So that's kind of little streams coming in sort of join up to make, you know, a bigger chunk of money, and you just make the content that you want that makes you happy, and then you're getting paid from people finding those links.

What Are Affiliate Links?

Christine Rice: And if anyone doesn't know what affiliate links are, what you do is you sign up to the Amazon affiliate program, and then any products that you buy or use that you want to share how to use them, you can put the link to it under, and it's got a little bit of tagging to link back to you.

So you get a small little tip, a little commission, and if a lot of people buy those products that you recommend, then it can add up over time.

So that's what affiliate income is, and it's one of the most passive ways to make money online. If you can recommend software or products, or anything that you buy or use with a link, every time someone uses that link, you get a small tip. (laughter) So it adds up.

That's great.

Becky Tregear: And I'll also mention that it doesn't actually cost the person any extra money to do that. That's really important, because I know that if I was clicking on an affiliate link and knowing that it was going to cost me extra, I would be less likely to do so.

But because it is completely free, it's okay to click on that. And it just gives your favourite creators that little bit more money, and it really does make a huge difference. Honestly, it has made a big difference for me.

How to Use Affiliate Links to Support Independent Artists And Creators

Christine Rice: I, when I go to buy anything that I know is quite popular, or if I want to sign up to a software, I will actively go out and find usually female or gender-diverse creatives who I feel like need a bit of support in the world.

I'll go and find their affiliate link.

Like, I just paid for a year subscription for GoHighLevel, and I got an affiliate link from a friend of mine so I can support her, and she's been giving me marketing support. So yeah, it's a great way to support people. It doesn't cost you anything.

And there's quite a few other companies whichI've had art supplies from that do affiliate programs as well.

So I've signed up to a few of them, and yeah, some of them paid out quite well.

At one point, there was one particular product—it was a, I wouldn't even know what to call it, like a little painting pot, but it also had a little section that you could put paints into and things like that. It was just an all-in-one carry kit, really.

And quite a few people bought that, and that, you know, was quite a lucrative thing. It was only for a little while that that sort of paid out until the video disappeared into my pile of videos.

But it was, you know, a significant amount of money. It was a couple of hundred dollars just for putting up a link and doing literally nothing else.

It was worth the money for sure. It's really passive. It's so simple. Just a link there.

And the commission payouts can be so good. Sometimes they can be up to 40%.

Christine Rice: So 40% of the pay that someone used to buy the caddy is going to Becky, which is, that's, yeah, that's a really good payout.

Some of it, if it was that high.

What is Becky's Number One Tip For Creatives Who Want to Start a YouTube Channel?

Becky Tregear: My number one tip is you're going to be in it for the long haul if you want to make money out of it.

It's probably not going to happen straight away. I mean, there are a few people that are instantly successful, but they're kind of at the top of that bell curve. Most people are in the centre, and it is going to take quite a lot longer.

And I think really it's just being consistent, showing up.

So at the moment, I'm putting out a video every single week. I don't think I've missed a week since I started.

But when I began in the pandemic, I was doing two videos a week.

And as I got about three years into it, I just started to get really tired, especially when everything opened up and I wanted to go out and do some other things as well.

I just thought, you know, this is getting too much. So why don't I move it down to one a week and see how I go?

And sometimes I'll do two a week if I've got a bit of extra content.

But particularly this year, when perimenopause has really kicked in for me and I've been exhausted, one a week is more than enough.

You know, I've struggled a little bit to meet that, but my top priority was to keep the channel going because that's really important.

Being consistent—showing up every week, or whatever schedule you choose.

Some people do it every day, and I don't know how they do it, but good luck to them if they can manage that.

One a week is a huge accomplishment. That's amazing.

And that is enough to keep you bumped up every week, to keep new subscribers coming in, and it helps to give a little boost to all the other videos that are on there when you put new fresh content on there.

''Do You SEO Optimise Your YouTube Videos?''

Becky Tregear: I guess I go through when I fill out all of the information online—the titles and the description.

I also go through, and there's a little box there that says "tags," and I fill that up.

Now some people say it's not worth doing because it doesn't do anything, but I'm always of the opinion that I'd rather do it now rather than all of a sudden these are really important and I have 500 videos that I need to tag.

So that's pretty much all I do. I try and tag as many keywords as I can, and that's pretty much it for me at the moment.

I haven't done a great deal off YouTube. Everything I have gained so far has been from YouTube, and posting a few links up on my Instagram and Facebook.

Christine Rice: I was about to ask you,

''Where else do you market online?''

So Instagram and Facebook...

I've seen you post them on your personal profile a lot too—not a lot, but occasionally.

Becky Tregear: I used to a bit more, but Facebook has gotten a bit too difficult to see people's posts, so I'm kind of pulling away from Facebook a little bit.

Although I am still posting on my Becky Tregear art page.

But I definitely get most of my audience from YouTube, and I thought it would be better to focus just on one thing rather than trying to do lots of different social media platforms, because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it.

Christine Rice: They often say if you can do it—it's hard for us ADHDers (laughter)—but if you can focus down on one, that is a very good strategy.

Do you do any YouTube Shorts?

Becky Tregear: I've tried a couple.

My most recent one was at a Chinese New Year celebration. They put on this amazing show at the Glen Shopping Centre, and I just followed around with my camera, filming it.

I thought, "I'll turn it into a Short and put it up," and it was quite a bit of fun, but I found that Shorts haven't really taken off the same way.

It feels like it needs to be either Shorts or long-form content. It's quite hard to do both, and Shorts really don't make that much money. They only make like cents.

I had interesting millions of views for them to be worth something.

Long-form content gets paid much higher.

Christine Rice: I didn't realise that. That’s interesting.

And I did notice your titles and the things you do are very specific. I know with YouTube, one of the top pieces of advice from experts is that if you answer a very specific question that nobody has answered—something like "how to peel an apple" (laughter)—those can get massive amounts of views because people are searching for very specific things like how to tie a tie or how to peel an apple.

And I did notice with yours that they are very specific to the products.

Becky Tregear: So, that's probably a real strength there—mentioning the brand and the products. It's really important to make the title actually about the video.

Like sometimes you'll see videos with really clickbaity titles, and then when you get into it, it's absolutely nothing like what you're expecting. And I really hate that deception.

So I want people to know exactly what they're getting. So I try to make my titles as specific as possible.

And it's funny now you're mentioning it—sometimes I'll look up a product that I've used, and then the first video that comes up is my own, and I'm going, "Oh, look, there's my video!"

So I do get that, on some subjects, my videos will pop up first, especially if it's a product that not many other people have reviewed or talked about.

So yeah, occasionally I'm sort of at the top of the SEO line there, just randomly.

Becky's Lifestyle Goals as a Monetized YouTube Content Creator (And Her Amazingly Strong Growth Mindset!)

Christine Rice: So what are your aspirations for the channel? What are you hoping that it will continue to provide for you or your lifestyle?

Becky Tregear: Well, I definitely like it to continue to grow. You know, I'm six years into it. I can't quit now. (laughter) I just really want to keep going.

I mean, there is quite a lot that I want to do, but at the moment it's been very difficult because I am a one-woman show.

You know, I'm making art, I'm filming it, I'm editing, I'm uploading, and just doing all of that has taken all of my energy, especially lately.

So I would like to branch out into selling merch and maybe getting some paid sponsorships eventually, you know, other ways that I can increase my revenue.

The Specific Ways Becky Creates Art Income Streams From her YouTube Channel

I'd like to maybe sell some prints, and these are all things that I've been wanting to do for a while, but I'm just a bit scared, or it's, you know, I'm exhausted, and getting to that next step has been quite difficult for me.

But I'm hoping to get there one day. I know if I keep trying, I will.

''My first thing was to actually build an audience.''

I didn't want to try and sell something before anyone knew who I was, because I figured that would probably fail and I would get very discouraged.

Whereas if I have an audience of people who know me, then when I do put out a product, I might get a bit more interest, and hopefully it will be more of a success that way.

So just doing baby steps and figuring it out as I go along.

Christine Rice: I think you have the absolute perfect mindset for long-term success, which is that everything you're doing—like you mentioned with the tagging of your videos—has a long-haul mindset.

You're not waiting for things to happen overnight. You know that everything, growing and expanding your income, is going to be baby steps all the way.

And it's just about continuing to take those baby steps and work through feelings of fear or imposter syndrome, step by step.

You don't have to make any huge changes, but you do have to think long-term. It's like climbing a mountain, right? One step at a time. Just look at the next step in front of you, and eventually you'll be at the top. (laughter)

Becky Tregear: Yes.

And not everything is going to work—that's the other thing. I've had plenty of little failures and videos that have just completely flopped, and I just go, "Oh, I feel like such a failure."

But I also tend to, once I've got a video uploaded and have watched it once through myself just to make sure it gets an extra view, I basically forget about that video, and then I'm on to the next thing.

I find if I spend too much time looking at the analytics page, I can get quite depressed or start questioning myself—what am I doing wrong?

And I do look at the analytics for ideas and things. For example, a video a few weeks ago didn't do very well, and I'm thinking, why is this video just not working?

AI has started appearing in YouTube, and there's a feature where you can ask questions. It looked like it was analysing my video, and it said, "Okay, this video actually got less reach, so YouTube didn't push it out as far."

But it said that the people who did watch it were your loyal viewers, and they actually watched it for a longer time. So it did give some positives—that this video got more engagement, but it just didn't get seen by as many non-subscribers, and that's why it didn't do so well.

And I was like, okay, so it's not my fault as such. It's just the way it is. And I felt a bit better about that.

But then I just thought, okay, let's get on to the next one. Keep going.

Christine Rice: Such a good mindset!

What Annoys Becky About Being a YouTube Content Creator

Becky Tregear: Those analytics—you know what annoys me about them is that they want you to check them every week, right?

But week to week, you're going to see a lot of downturns, little red notifications—"this is going down, this is going down!"

I refuse to look at them every week. I do check analytics weekly, but I keep the mindset that it's more important to look at what happened over a month rather than week by week.

And it's so important not to be attached to those numbers.

Don't be attached to the numbers—be attached to your vision, your creativity, your inspiration, and who you're serving.

''Those loyal followers—they were there. That's what's important.''

They showed up and they enjoyed it, and they're the most important people, really because they come back every time.

And I've just treasured that so much, as well as gaining new subscribers.

It's always lovely when someone says, "This is my first time watching you, and I'm a new subscriber." That always makes me feel really great too.

So it's a combination of all the people I already know plus all these new people I haven't met yet. I love that.

Christine Rice: And it's often those things that make it so worth it—when somebody says they listened to an episode and really enjoyed it, and got so much from it.

It's that one person that matters so much more than all the numbers.

If all the numbers are in the background, it's that one person who made their day, helped them feel inspired, or take action—that's what it's about.

That's what I feel like I'm here for. I want to inspire women and gender-diverse creatives to take action and make money from their creative dreams, or just have the courage you've had with starting this channel and having this passion project.

I love it. (laughter)

Becky Tregear:

''It's been scary, but it's also been amazing.''

I just feel like I'm actually where I'm meant to be after a lot of years of trying different jobs and not being able to hold onto them because I got bored or it just wasn't right for me.

And now this feels like I've finally found my niche. Here I am, and I'm just going to keep going with it as long as I possibly can.

How Undiagnosed ADHD Forced Becky to Find Her Own Path In Life

Christine Rice: You said earlier that you thought you might have undiagnosed ADHD. Which would explain why it was so hard for you to find your place. That was exactly my experience, too. Going from job to job, not being able to stay in long office jobs. I'd get really bored after about nine months.

I felt like I just couldn't find my place.

But having my own brand and creative vision, I feel like I finally have a purpose. I feel like I'm on a mission now.

Is that how you feel with yours?

Becky Tregear: Definitely. It's like you've been a compass going all over the place, and then suddenly you find true north, and you can just keep going in that direction. It feels so right once you find it.

But it can be really hard to find that.

And I think only since going through perimenopause have I realised I may have masked ADHD symptoms for most of my life.

I'm kind of on a journey at the moment. I haven't been diagnosed or anything like that, but I've been reading a lot about it, and a lot of it makes so much sense—even from childhood.

There were things I just couldn't do. It took me years to learn how to ride a bike. Everyone else could do it, and I just could not.

Then one day, it was almost like something switched on, and I could ride a bike. It just came to me suddenly.

I've had that happen many times, and I've also had interests where something switches off, and I'm no longer interested.

''It doesn't seem very "neuro-normal" because other people seem able to hold jobs for years and years without getting bored, whereas I just keep flipping from one thing to another.''

Even in my art channel, that's why I do lots of different things—I just can't do one thing all the time.

Christine Rice: Yeah, the ADHD brain needs novelty, it needs change, it needs challenges. We get bored so quickly.

So it's about pursuing those different interests and having a space or a brand where you can explore lots of ideas on your own terms.

Becky Tregear:

''I guess that's the biggest reason why I love doing this—the freedom of it.''

I think going back to a job for me now, where someone tells you when you have to work, I just couldn't do it. No way again. (laughter)

Because there are some days where I just cannot face people, or I just want to be in my slob clothes doing something on the computer and not seeing anyone. Being a YouTube content creator lets me do that.

And then other days I'm really wired to get a video done, and I might get a whole bunch of stuff done in one day.

Then other days I'm just really tired and I need to take time for myself. So mental health days are super important, and I do take those more regularly now because of menopause symptoms, which really took over my life at the start of the year.

Since starting hormone replacement therapy, it's made a big difference. I've started to get my life back, and that's been a huge help.

Christine Rice: I haven't gone on it yet, and I am falling apart—the lack of sleep, the hot flashes, the itching, the brain fog.

I know I need to get on it, but I just haven't done it yet. (laughter)

Struggles With Perimenopause, HRT, and Suicidal Ideation

Becky Tregear: Yeah, it's kind of scary to go on it as well because there's so much misinformation out there—people saying "don't go on HRT because of this, that, and the other thing."

And there was that study done, what, in 2000, that said it causes cancer, and that was completely, you know, that's been completely debunked since then.

But a lot of doctors, I think still carry that fear. They can't prescribe it because it's going to cause cancer. When actually, you know, probably plenty of other things are causing the cancer, not actually the HRT.

And so I think it's really only just starting to become something that, you know, I guess we're talking about as Gen Xers and millennials now that we're going through it.

Our mothers, our grandmothers, never talked about it.

And I went through this knowing nothing.

Christine Rice: I think back, and I'm like, "Oh my God, my mother was going through this and I had no idea!"

It was only just an article by, um, what's her name, that writer Moran—I can't remember her name, (Caitlin) Moran—a couple of years back, and I was like, "Wow, so this is what perimenopause is?!"

I had no idea.

It's like a switch in your brain that switches off the serotonin, and suddenly all the resilience that we had to put up with men's or our children's screaming or crying is gone, and it's like the rage comes forward.

Then your hormones are like a roller coaster, and it's like so angry for a while.

Becky Tregear: I was having these terrible mood swings, and I was snapping at Nick, and I feel really bad because he was just doing nothing other than being a man, you know, and he's such a good man.

He's been so supportive. Oh, he's just helped me get through this quite a lot as well, because he's actually been interested in the subject.

So, you know, being a scientist himself, he's got a bit of knowledge, and so he's kind of been on this journey with me.

And you know, I have to thank him profusely for putting up with my absolute nonsense, but I couldn't help it.

You know, I was waking up in the night full-body sweats at one point.

Christine Rice: I'm going through that now.

Becky Tregear: Oh, it's just awful.

And it was like my skin felt like it was crawling off me, and I was waking up in the night, going into panic—I just want to pull my skin off.

It was terrifying.

And you know, it's a really hard time for women, and so many just don't get any support that they need. It's not good.

''The rage is, unfortunately, not even the worst of it.''

The worst of it is the depression, and the fact that most women committing suicide happens between the ages of 45 and 55.

Because we get to some of those days where we're just like, "This is not worth it."

You know, my body's falling apart, I'm getting older.

If you have certain circumstances in your life, like if you're in survival mode, it's going to be really hard to get through those days.

So I absolutely think if the support is out there, if you're feeling that you cannot cope with your body or with the thoughts that you're having, go and get HRT.

Because other studies have shown that it's actually really good for bone density, for a lot of different things.

So yeah.

And estrogen really affects the brain as well, so it's super important for all parts of our body. It's not just a reproductive thing by any means.

Christine Rice: Hair, skin, collagen—my hair, I've been losing my hair in chunks. That's another symptom.

Becky Tregear: Yeah.

And you know, it's like you mentioned that it's a time when women tend to take their lives, and that actually happened to someone I know in January...

''She took her own life, same age as me. It was absolutely—it just came out of nowhere.''

Although there were signs, you know, she'd mentioned a few things on Facebook, little comments that she wasn't doing well and things.

And you know, I sort of feel like maybe I should have reached out, you know? She wasn't a super close friend, but I was quite friendly with her.

I was thinking, "Oh, I wish I could have reached out and just said, are you okay?"

That's something that I'm sort of carrying and trying to work through.

It's like no one could have known, because even her closest people just didn't realise it was going to happen.

It was very sudden.

And I think she might have been going through some perimenopausal symptoms as well, and she'd had a lot of other—I think she was getting arthritis and things like that.

And I've read that menopause can kind of bring these things on as well, and I started to get that.

Yeah, I'm getting a lot of it.

And I'm wondering if maybe that led to her severe depression and ending her life. It was devastating.

So you know, I'm still devastated months later. I think about her and just think, "Oh my goodness, that could be me if I don't do something about dealing with my thoughts and feelings," which were just sort of getting out of control.

So, I had to change doctors.

And I had to find someone that deals in perimenopause, and that made a big difference. They actually listened. Yay.

I'm lucky—I do have a good GP, and I know that she will help me when I go and get it, because I am planning to get it.

So, I do strongly encourage any women who are going through it to get help, get HRT, because you can't really trust your thoughts right now.

They will take you to dark places, and a lot of it has to do with hormones.

And you know, I didn't even realise for quite a few years that that's what it was, because I've had symptoms for about five years.

The first thing was severe anxiety, and I just started having panic attacks out of nowhere.

And I'm going, "What the hell's wrong with me?"

But now I know it must have been the start of it. I'm looking forward to getting past it.

Christine Rice: We're going to get through it.

And in the meantime, if we can just keep our creative businesses going, stay consistent, stay making the content.

Where to Find And Follow Becky Tregear Art Online

So thank you so much for your time, Becky.

Before we finish, can you tell everyone where to find you online?

Becky Tregear: So you can find me mainly on YouTube at Becky Tregear Art. That's where I usually hang out.

And I'm also on Instagram, Becky Tregear.

You might find me on Threads as well. I'm in there somewhere.

And also on Facebook at Becky Tregear Art.

So I'm in a few places.

I haven't got a website yet—that's something else that I want to build in the future.

Christine Rice: See, that's great. See, she's making money, she's got this channel, and no website!

I'm often telling people, you don't have to have a website to get started, and you're an example of that.

Becky Tregear: No, I think if you focus just on one thing, it's actually usually better than trying to do too many things at once, because that's going to lead to burnout very quickly.

Christine Rice: Absolutely.

I'll leave the links to all of those in the show notes so anyone who wants to find Becky can do that easily.

Just finishing off now—Becky,

''Do you have any finishing thoughts you'd like to say about creative passion, pursuing creativity, or just living through perimenopause?'''

Becky Tregear: I think if I just say three words: never give up.

There's always a way around it. If you need help, please go and look for it. We have everything at our fingertips.

If you look at the Menopause Society, that's a really good place to start for something like that.

''And if you're starting a YouTube channel, just expect to make a few terrible videos to begin with, because we all do.''

Everyone who starts off—it’s not going to be perfect, and you're just going to learn as you go along.

So I just say stick with it and enjoy the ride.

Christine Rice: Good advice! Thank you so much, Becky.

Becky Tregear: Thank you! Bye!

Christine Rice: Bye!

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