10:09Jordan Pulmano · Talking Head
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October 5thThe argument in one line.
Going full-time on a dream usually isn't one big moment, it's the result of publicly committing and then shipping consistently until the new work quietly replaces the old.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You've been saying for months or years that you want to start a YouTube channel and still haven't uploaded the first video.
- You're a freelancer or creative with a day job in your craft and wondering if a channel could eventually become your main income.
- You hear a voice telling you that you're not good enough on camera and you want to see how someone pushed through it.
SKIP IF…
- You want tactical advice on thumbnails, titles, or growth mechanics. This is a personal story, not a how-to.
- You're looking for numbers on revenue or a step-by-step path to quitting a job.
The full version, fast.
Jordan Pulmano explains that a June video titled to embarrass him into working harder pushed him to upload over 45 long-form videos, which grew his channel to 54.2K subscribers. Those uploads showed him what kind of creator he wants to be, and the videos he had always wanted to make became his top performers. He signed with his first management agency and realized he'd effectively been full-time for two months, since YouTube was already paying the bills. His message is that anyone with even a small desire to post online should start, because the first upload is the part that can't be skipped.
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Create a free account →Where the time goes.
00:00 – 01:09
01 · The June video that forced the work
Why he titled a video to embarrass himself, and the 45+ uploads that followed.
01:14 – 02:22
02 · The first video in 2019
Two years of waiting, then filming a desk setup tour on a random Friday night.
02:22 – 03:43
03 · The voice that said you're not good enough
Filming the first talking head three times and uploading anyway.
03:53 – 04:30
04 · When the dream became real
Seeing the wall crumble and deciding to commit fully.
04:41 – 04:48
05 · Finding who he is as a creator
Old flopped ideas became the top videos once he had volume.
04:49 – 05:39
06 · Not a downgrade
Why leaving touring and cinematography for YouTube is a bigger dream, not a smaller one.
05:40 – 06:53
07 · Management and the full-time reality
Signing his first agency and realizing he's been full-time for two months.
06:53 – 08:00
08 · The friend video from 2018
The clip of friends tired of hearing him talk about starting YouTube.
08:02 – 09:29
09 · What full-time means for production work
Client work becomes secondary and serves the channel.
09:29 – 11:14
10 · Just start
The direct plea to anyone sitting on the same dream, plus thank-yous.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- Publicly promising to work harder works as a forcing function: a dramatic title gave Jordan no way to back out, and it led to over 45 uploads in about five months.
- The videos he'd always wanted to make, which had flopped before, became his best performers once he had enough volume to find his own style.
- Uploading a lot is how you find your voice: after dozens of videos he said he finally knew exactly who he was as a creator.
- Going full-time rarely arrives as a single announcement. He'd been effectively full-time for two months before he said it out loud.
- Self-doubt is loudest before the first upload. He filmed his first talking head three times because he hated how he sounded.
- A manager signing is a sign the channel has crossed from hobby to business, not a finish line.
- Goals keep expanding after you hit them, so leaving a respected path (cinematography, touring) for a new one is not a downgrade.
- He talked about starting YouTube for over a year without doing it, and the friends who heard it all just said: why don't you just do it?
- Taking production jobs on as secondary work can still help a channel when you can film behind-the-scenes content around them.
- The reason outside and inside voices tell you not to start is the exact reason to start.
Commit publicly, then keep uploading
WHAT TO LEARN
The path from wanting to be a YouTuber to being one ran through a public commitment and sheer volume of uploads, not a perfect plan.
- Make the commitment hard to back out of: a public promise turned a vague wish into more than 45 uploads in five months.
- Volume reveals your style. After dozens of videos, the ideas he'd always wanted to make became his best performers.
- The first upload is the one that can't be skipped. Self-doubt before it is normal, and the video can be imperfect.
- Going full-time often happens gradually. Look at where your time and income already go before waiting for a dramatic moment.
- Moving from a respected craft to creating isn't a downgrade. Goals expand once you reach them, so the next dream can be different.
- Keep older work as a support: client jobs can become content material instead of competing with the channel.
Terms worth knowing.
- Long-form video
- A standard YouTube video, as opposed to a Short. Jordan counts over 45 of these uploaded between June and November 2026.
- Management agency
- A company that represents a creator for brand deals and business opportunities. Signing one is described here as the next step after the channel became a real business.
- Yap sesh
- Casual, unscripted talking straight to the camera with no real structure.
Things they pointed at.
01:14linkThis Video Will Embarrass Me to Work Harder
01:40linkDesk setup home office tour (2019)
Lines you could clip.
00:44
“I'd rather look back on this time and fail, but know that I put all of my efforts into it than look back now and see that I uploaded maybe two videos.”
09:29
“If you've been sitting on something that you've wanted to do and there are outside things and inside things telling you you can't do this, that's the exact reason why you need to do it.”
05:42
“Your goals don't stop once you achieve them. They're always expanding and moving on to bigger and better things.”
Word for word.
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I posted this video back in June titled, this video will embarrass me to work harder. And it actually worked.
I don't know what this video is going to be. It's probably just going to be a yap sesh from me, but I just posted something today that kind of got me a little sentimental and I just felt like I needed to talk about it. Back in June, I uploaded a video titled, This Video Will Embarrass Me to Work Harder.
Now, this video was obviously, you know, the title is dramatic for sure, but I uploaded this video because I was sick of saying I wanted to do something and not actually going through with it. Sick of having a dream and not putting everything that it takes to achieve that dream. So this was my one way of just forcing myself to really go for it.
And I said in this video, I'd rather look back on this time and fail, but know that I put all of my efforts into it than look back now and see that I uploaded maybe two videos. I ended up uploading over 45 long form videos between that time period and today. And the growth on the channel from doing that has changed everything for me.
i've talked about this before on the channel this channel is technically 20 years old and i've posted kind of periodically throughout that time but really i never started this channel until 2019. it took me two years from 2017 to 2019 to actually post that first video and it all started just one random friday night in 2019 i decided i was going to take this cool overhead shot of my desk setup I remember spending all this time just setting up the shot, having fun creating my own content.
And it was in that moment that I realized, all right, this is the time. This is when I finally need to start this channel. I've been talking about it for too long.
I just need to go for it. So I filmed my first home office setup tour and... I'll never forget just how difficult it was to film this video Just thinking about how long it took me to film this video like to film that talking head set up I think I filmed it like three different times because I hated how I sounded on camera I couldn't talk to the camera to save my life and while I was trying to film that video I had these circulating thoughts going on in my head.
You're not good enough to make YouTube videos There's a reason why other people can do it and you can't like all the stuff that was just in my head That self -doubt telling me I couldn't do this So I said, f*** it, and I uploaded it anyways. And that was just the start of this long journey of getting the channel from where it started to where it's at today.
And ever since starting that channel in 2019, I always had that reoccurring thought in my head, that dream of becoming a YouTuber. I always knew it is going to happen. I don't know when, but it's going to happen eventually.
But that dream was never going to happen if I never uploaded that first video. One of the many perks to filming YouTube videos is getting to hang out with your dogs during the day. So eventually years down the road, I get to a point where it was no longer a what if maybe one day it became a thing where I'm actually seeing opportunities in front of me that if I actually lock in on this right now and just go all in on this, it's going to work out.
It's I can feel it right there. There was like this wall that was just crumbling down and I could see everything on the other side. And that was the point where I decided I just need to fully commit to this if I'm actually going to turn this into the dream that I've always had.
So that's what I did this past June. When I uploaded that video, I decided there's no more excuses. I've been working so long and I've worked too hard to build this channel to a point where there's actual potential to do this.
I'm not going to let this slip away like I have every other year that I've had this channel. After I posted this video, it just meant that I had to start uploading more and more. I had all these video ideas kind of stockpiled, things I wanted to do, things I wanted to try out that I've never brought to this channel before, or if I have brought it to the channel, they never worked out.
And that was exactly what I did. It was just about uploading and trying things out and just seeing where all this went. all of the videos that i truly have always wanted to upload on this channel videos that i've done in the past that just didn't perform well they ended up becoming the top performing videos on my channel and what i found in this time of uploading as many videos as i have is i've been able to just find my bearings i feel like for the first time on this channel i know exactly the type of content i want to be posting i know exactly the type of youtuber i want to be i feel like i finally know who I am as a creator for the first time in my career.
These are all a bunch of photos I've taken throughout my career, just fun little key moments. I'm actually going to make another video just talking about these. But these are reminders of kind of what I've done throughout my career, reminders of what can happen if you just don't stop working towards a current dream.
And there's probably people out there who are like, well, Jordan, why would you give up the dream of touring with artists? Why would you give up the dream of being a cinematographer to be a YouTuber? Some people see stuff like that as like a downgrade, which I think for one is just complete bullshit.
People are so locked into the idea that video has to be one way and that's it. It has to be like the traditional filmmaking route. That's the only way to actually be someone who's doing something in video.
And I couldn't disagree more. For me, this has always been the stuff that's the most fulfilling type of work for me. Yeah, I've been able to shoot cool projects and be on big sets, film big shows, all of that stuff is amazing.
But with anything in life, your goals don't stop once you achieve them. They're always expanding and moving on to bigger and better things, or at least what you truly think are bigger and better dreams for yourself. And that's exactly what YouTube is for me.
After touring and traveling and working in the capacity that I have over the past few years, things shift a little bit. And now it was how can I figure out how to do this dream that I've always had of being a YouTuber. So as of today, I signed with my first management agency.
I've been able to build this channel to a point where having a manager is just the next step for me. But that today was a big indicator of where I'm at with this YouTube channel. I always thought that the day I would become a full -time YouTuber was going to be this big ordeal.
It was going to be the one day where I'm like, all right, everything changes from here. Now I'm only doing YouTube and this is it. But the reality of the situation is I've been doing this full -time essentially for like two months at this point.
When I look back at the last like production jobs that I've done, I haven't been on set shooting a commercial since like May. I've done a couple jobs here and there. And then since then, I've just been making these videos.
And the schedule has gotten to the point where I just keep doing YouTube because YouTube is what is taking all of my time. It's what's paying the bills. And I think that's what makes this video so easy because it's not like there's this huge change happening in my life.
It's not like anything's gonna be different from what you're seeing on the channel here. It's just, I'm realizing that, I am doing this full time.
Back in 2018, I was hanging out with my friends and I remember they recorded this video of me after like over a year of me just yapping their ear off about wanting to start YouTube. All I did was talk about it and I never did anything. And they were so just sick of me talking about it because every time they told me, dude, why don't you just do it?
You need to do it. You're the perfect person to do YouTube. I just never did it.
So then a few years ago. My friend sent me this video and I've always just kept it in a folder. If I do it full time, I've always just had this on my phone.
And I always told myself the day that I post a video about me going full time as a YouTuber, I would play that video. If I could build an audience of 1 ,000 people. If I can build an audience bigger than my Instagram on YouTube.
So yeah, I guess this is me saying that I'm officially a full -time YouTuber. And this doesn't mean I'm just abandoning production as a whole. I still have a production company and I still have clients where taking their jobs is actually beneficial for this channel because I can bring the camera along and kind of weave in and shoot YouTube content around what I'm doing with them.
But more so what this means is I'm not freelancing the way that I used to. I'm not booking as many jobs as possible with various projects just to keep myself busy and paid. That stuff is all secondary now and this is now the main focus and I'll just be taking those jobs whenever it makes sense to, whenever I have the time for it, or when it makes sense for this channel to do so.
And that's exactly where I've been wanting to be. It's always been the dream to be in this office, make videos day in and day out, be able to be home. That's huge for me.
I love to travel, but to be able to be home, spend more time with my wife, to make these videos. every day in my office and not have to just be traveling all the time, it's a huge blessing. And I've realized in this past few months of doing this, I haven't been more fulfilled in anything I've done in my career than when I've been making these YouTube videos.
For the first time in my career, I feel like I truly have a grasp and a hold on what I want to do with my work every single day. You just gotta go for it. you have to do it if you've been sitting on something that you've wanted to do and there are outside things and inside things telling you you can't do this that's the exact reason why you need to do it looking back at 2019 jordan who had a dream of doing this but never did it and was watching all these other youtuber videos of them going full time and thinking one day that could be me i cannot imagine what it would have been like if i just never started if i never uploaded those videos So if this is something that you want to do, if this is something that you have even just the smallest interest in, the smallest desire to post videos on the Internet, I'm telling you, please start.
Like, please start that YouTube channel because you never know what it could do for your life. It's completely changed my life over the past few months. You just got to do it.
Life is crazy. Life's a blessing. You just got to do it.
So I don't know what this video is even about. And some of you may care. Some of you may not.
But I just felt like I needed to upload this. I felt like I needed to put up the camera and just talk and upload this video because I think this looking back years from now will be one of the most important videos that I've ever uploaded for myself, at least. So with that, thank you all so much for supporting this channel over the past few months, supporting this channel over the past few years.
If you've been with me that long, I appreciate you guys for riding with me. sending me comments taking time out of your day to watch these videos of me talking to a camera that's just it blows my mind still, it means a lot. I couldn't do it without you all truly and I thank you all so much for helping me get to this point to be able to do this as my job.
That's it back to regularly scheduled programming soon. Have a good one.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
In June, Jordan Pulmano published a video designed to embarrass him into working harder. Five months and 45 uploads later, he sits down to say the thing it was all building toward.
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
09:59next-video
“If this is something that you want to do, please start that YouTube channel.”
An emotional plea made after the personal story, rather than a product pitch.
Visual structure at a glance.
