We were lucky to catch up with Brittany Chan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brittany thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

My husband (boyfriend at the time) and I came up with the idea for my channel together when we were still living in NYC. I’m a Cantonese heritage speaker and was taking graphic design classes at the time. My husband was working at the UN as a German translator and was looking for—but couldn’t find—fun, immersive Cantonese study material. We thought: “How can we combine our skills and do a project together?” We started with simple cartoons where he would write beginner-friendly dialogues, and I would translate, animate and record them.

After a dozen or so animated videos, I wanted to try shooting videos but was still too nervous to be on camera, so I mainly filmed our dog! I remember the first time I appeared on camera I was so nervous that I ended up having to reshoot the whole video because my delivery was so awkward. After more than a year of exclusively making content for Cantonese learners, I wanted to explore new kinds of videos and expand my audience. That’s when I changed my channel name from “Cantonese with Brittany” to just “Brittany Chan.” Now, I’ve moved on from education videos to videos that emphasize more on culture and community.

Brittany, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started off exclusively as a Youtube creator of Cantonese learning material and over time, I’ve moved towards being a social media content creator focusing on exploring my unique culture.

I’ve always been interested in languages and design, and have always enjoyed making things. In that sense, my channel has been a great outlet for my creative energy. One thing that has kept me going is all the messages I get from people saying that my channel has helped them connect more with their family or their partner’s family or just connect more with their heritage culture in general. My goal with the channel is to be a positive role model for overseas Chinese who are balancing two cultures—and have fun doing it!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve actually pivoted quite a few times. I got a Bachelor of Science in economics, then I studied fashion design in NYC, worked in fashion for a couple years, and now I’m working on content creation with a side gig in luxury home building.

But starting a new job or project wasn’t the most impressionable part for me. It was when I pivoted my channel content away from educational material to entertainment. At first, I focused on creating beginner/intermediate Cantonese learning material. After the first year, I knew I couldn’t keep on doing the same thing. My focus was too narrow, and making content was starting to become less fun. I spoke with other creators about the challenges of keeping your existing audience while expanding it. That’s when I started broadening my video topics to other things I’m interested in. Making this change took time, there were definitely people who weren’t on board with the changes, but overall, the reception was still good. I think most importantly, my audience is getting a much more authentic and real me. And at the end of the day, that’s what I really want to share with people: my unfiltered experience as a Chinese Canadian girl, exploring what it means to be Chinese, what it means to be Cantonese, and how we can make it our own.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being creative in itself is already incredible rewarding. It’s a daily act that I personally need. Through the channel, I’ve been able to funnel my creativity to entertain, educate and inspire others to learn more about Cantonese culture, and that has been incredibly rewarding for me. Hearing from fans that my channel has helped them improve their Cantonese or connect more with their families is really second to none.

I’ve also loved connecting with like-minded creators. I’ve met so many interesting, talented and hardworking people along the way who I would’ve never met otherwise. It can be lonely making content alone at home, so it’s been really fun meeting up with creators I’ve met online (shout out to Randy and Jade!)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cantonesewithbrittany.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canto.britt/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cantowithbrittany
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/canto_britt?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrittanyChan888