We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kali Yost. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kali below.
Kali, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
My interest in visual arts began with a photography class in high school. Learning the basics of composition and lighting were absolutely priceless as I began creating and editing videos. As soon as I got my hands on a computer, I began editing videos with basic video editing software. I taught myself by making simple videos. The main barrier at the time was a complete lack of tutorials to help as I started making more complex videos. Also, the cost of software was prohibitive and made leveling up out of reach.
Now, with the advent of online software it is much more affordable and has made creating quality videos much easier. In addition, there is an abundance of online tutorials that have made it easier to learn on the fly. Watching short tutorials definitely speeds up the learning curve, however it doesn’t make up for experience.
The reality is that taking time and creating videos, even if they never see the light of day is the best way to improve. Stepping away, like with any art form is essential. Once you feel like you’ve mastered the software, an update comes out and shakes everything up! Being self taught definitely lead to a longer learning curve. But, I do think that learning on the fly, on my own terms has allowed me to create a unique aesthetic and voice for our content.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Kali, and I am the driving force of the YouTube channel known as BigAltitude970. We are a small channel that has been steadily growing organically for the past year. Our channel has a vlog style that focuses on outdoor family life in Colorado. We began the channel as a way to share our adventures with family out of state. We decided that we should make the videos public as a way to share our passion for adventure, and the success we were having homeschooling our boys. It is amazing to look back on the videos to see all of the progress we have made in quality of camera work, editing, and comfort in front of the camera. Our biggest milestone was being approached by sponsors, to promote their products. We have successfully promoted a range of outdoor products as both stand alone videos and embedded within our content. We always do everything in our power to create a fun and unique product review when we are working with a sponsor. It has definitely been a humbling honor for our small channel to get to work with companies to promote their products on our channel. We are a family oriented channel, and we do not do any gimmicks to get clicks. Everything we put into a vlog, is something we would do off camera. I am very proud of the fact that our channel, while still small, has grown without stunts or paying for clicks. It makes the project sustainable, and viable for future growth. Also, our subscribers are real people who are getting to know us and that allows for realistic data and growth metrics. This channel has been an absolute blast to steward, and has definitely brought us closer as a family.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Imagine your whole family gearing up for an ATV ride, fully dressed and ready to head into the mountains. Off we go into the woods hyped up to vlog and share an awesome trail. Snacks are packed, and a whole day is allocated to ride, stop to talk to the camera, and extra time to film B-roll. You set your husband up in the perfect spot, perfect light, microphone in position. You turn on the camera… only to get the message: “No SD Card”. Uh. Oh. Now I have to explain to an excited group of boys that after coming all this way we will not be filming because I forgot to put the SD card in the camera. How embarrassing… and frustrating.
The good news is that we had so much fun riding the trail the first time, we went back the next day (with an SD card) and did the trail again so we could vlog it. Fortunately, everyone was forgiving of the mistake, and saw it as an opportunity to do a fun activity twice in one weekend. The best part about that mistake was that by previewing the trail we were able to make a plan before filming and we knew what we would see and what to highlight in the video. I definitely triple check now to make sure everything is properly packed!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is to share the journey of a homeschool family who is prioritizing our faith, and values. Our videos include a Bible verse to help provide comfort and inspiration to our viewers. So often YouTube features conspicuous consumption and materialism, and we want to offer a refreshing alternative. We want to show a family operating on a budget, doing things that other families can try together. We love when people comment that they did the same thing with their kids or parents. Our goal is to continue to grow the channel organically with consistent views and watch time. We want to create a community that can rely on us not only for entertainment, but information about family adventure in the Southwestern U.S. and inspiration for daily life. Hopefully, the channel grows into a full time job, featuring adventures across the world.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigaltitude970/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BigAltitude970
