Dani Rayner

A BIG thank you to new friends (hi!! 👋) and wonderful old friends too… we’re now a community of over 500! WOW. 🥹

The 500 milestone means ‘nothing’ in terms of YouTube (in case you’re interested, see picture 2 for “monetisation eligibility” - there’s no gatekeeping here)… BUT the 500 milestone means a *massive* amount to me personally. I started this channel 15 weeks ago as a big, scary leap into the unknown… being new to YouTube, filming, editing, and trying to figure my life out again from scratch. Together, we’ve come a really long way!!

Each week, I’m doing my *very* best to learn more about filming, sound recording & video editing, to try and improve video quality for you. I have a long way to go, but if you’ve been here since the beginning… you’ll know that things have changed a bit 😂

Thank you SO much for sticking around. I can’t tell you what it means to see likes and comments and subscriber notifications pop up. I wish you could see my face on the other side of the screen 💖

Excited for all of the adventures to come!! In the works… nature escapes (UK & beyond), gardening, hiking, dry suit diving… and some reflections on what it feels like to be chasing a dream in realtime. Here we go!

Lots of love,
Dani x

Pictured: me at my “new” standing desk (aka a little table on top of my desk). I was spending SO many hours sitting down editing the videos that I thought my bum was going to fall off. I’m now MUCH happier (as you can see) with a bit of room to move 😊

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3 days ago | [YT] | 17

Dani Rayner

friends… I can’t WAIT to share this week’s video with you. I think it’s my favourite yet 😬💖

I’m working really, really hard on editing it. It’s a complex filmmaking project (you’ll get what I mean when you see it) but I’m almost there!! As ever, it will be with you on Friday morning 🙏 expect..

✅ wildlife spotting
✅ nature photography
✅ some fun history behind a pretty *incredible* secret nature spot

While I’m here with you… a few thoughts from my heart today. Sharing in case this resonates at all with anyone out there!!

I’m learning in this strange YouTube journey that my effort “in” to YouTube video-making (the hours spent planning, filming, editing, uploading a video) does not equal the “reward” out (views, likes, subscribers, etc). And honestly? On this solo YouTube project, it can be a sliiiightly depressing realisation. The thought process is: “why did I spend 30+ hours on a video, if that video didn’t get “seen” or “liked? what’s the point of creating these little bits of art? where is it going? why am I doing this at all? Dani - quit!!!! go and find a REAL JOB.” Those thoughts come to me, most weeks. Probably, most days.

BUT!! I’m also learning that there is GREAT joy in the tiny YouTube creator journey. My aim is to focus on enjoying the process… the learning, the weekly creating, the thrill of pursuing my dream. And most importantly…. my aim is to focus on YOU!! My big, brilliant “reward” right now is the few comments that I get on the videos each week. That makes the many hours of work worth it. It means SO MUCH to hear that the videos I’m making help you to reconnect with nature for a few minutes. Everything else is secondary - and I’m working hard to detach myself from other alluring YouTube-shaped outcomes ;)

SO. Regardless of how this next video “performs” … I am SO proud of it!! And I can’t wait for you to see it on Friday.

Hope it’s a fabulous rest of week for you, until then. Lots of love 💖

6 days ago | [YT] | 14

Dani Rayner

Wow, editing this episode was HARD. Over 5 hours of footage to review, and 132 individual video clips in the final video… my limited editing skills were tested 🤣🙈

But - we made it!! 💖 so grateful to ‪@NaturalHistoryMuseum‬ for an amazing day out (even as a solo adult… it’s such a fun trip!)

Really excited to hear what you think, whenever you have time to watch.

Lots of love
Dani x

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

Dani Rayner

I was video editing this morning, and suddenly realised we’ve made it to 350 subscribers!!! 💖🙌

Thank you SO much, wonderful people. I still don’t know where this journey is going… but I’m having lots of fun learning and sharing along the way. 10 weekly videos down, who knows how many ahead. Appreciate you being here 🙏

1 month ago | [YT] | 14

Dani Rayner

Friends, we’ve made it to 200 subscribers!! 🥹💖

I know it sounds like a tiny milestone, but it feels like a really big one for me 😊 making one episode every week as a one-woman planning, shooting and editing team is WAY much more work than I’d ever expected. But I’m loving learning all about YouTube, and how to make this kind of content.

I know I’ve said it in all 8 videos so far, but THANK YOU for being here as a subscriber. Every time I see a notification for a new subscriber, and a comment from you on a video, or a message on Instagram, it gives me the boost to keep planning… keep editing… basically, to keep going. It means more than you know 🙏

I hope it’s a great week ahead for you. I’ll see you for video 9 on Friday.

Lots of love
Dani x

1 month ago | [YT] | 15