MANILA, Philippines — Creating her own YouTube channel was a revelation and a getting-out-of-the-box moment for Judy Ann Santos. The actress revealed that it was kind of breaking free from what's expected of her.
"For someone who's been working since eight years old, it's different to be able to do without waiting for instructions or following commands or kasi nakakontrata ka dito or ganyan. Nakakahon ka kasi ng ganoon katagal and then you discover YouTube and do and say what you want," revealed the actress at last March's "Digiskarteng Pinay" webinar organized by Google Philippines.
Judy Ann or fondly called Juday by fans is the face behind the eponymous channel, Judy Ann's Kitchen. It currently has 1.54 million subscribers.
It was born out of her frustration, not because of the current fad where some celebrities jumped on the bandwagon of creating their own prank or daily update channel.
"I got frustrated with one project and I wanted to divert my attention. Ayoko na ng negativity kasi so I had to do something. So ginawa namin ang cookbook ('Judy Ann's Kitchen') and finished it in a month. Published it and give it to people. After a while, the name Judy Ann's Kitchen just sounded so right because it was me behind the kitchen and preparing recipes. Kasi mahilig talaga ako magluto. That's why I took culinary," she shared.
Juday's channel is a showcase of her culinary skills. She graduated with honors at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies in 2006. She took culinary because she likes cooking. In fact, whenever she has her bad days or is frustrated, she goes to her kitchen to cook. There are days that she's in her favorite spot the whole day just cooking.
Now that she got the hang of cooking and is a certified YouTube star, Juday shared that she's found a way to be true to herself. She gets to cook, dish out her favorite dishes, take on the challenges posed by her fans, and even answer to some bashers.
"With bashers, natutuwa ako sa kanila. Sinasagot ko sila. Pinapatulan ko sila," she quipped.
Amid all these, she shares that she is fond of her fans who made her feel special and useful especially amid this pandemic. There are those who confide in her that though they do not know how to cook or they do not have any intentions of learning how to cook, they still watch her channel simply because they find her genuinely funny.
Juday does not edit out her mishaps or quirks in her videos. Her most favorite pandemic story is of a guy who messaged her that he and his sick mother binge-watched her channel until his mother's last breath.
"A guy messaged me during this pandemic. He and his sick mother binge-watched my channel until her last breath. Grabe, totoo ba ito? There was never a time na hindi kasama sa prayers ko 'yung gratitude kung paano ako tumawid sa tao. That little smile means a lot. That tinge of positivity that I could give to people, daig na 'yan lahat ng acting awards," she shared.
She has pieces of advice for those who would want to be content creators.
"Create your content but be sure at the end of the day, you are still you. Hindi ka bubuiin para maging ibang tao because hangga't hindi mo nawawala ang sarili mo, you'll be able to inspire more people. Just don't lose yourself in the process because if you do, 'yan 'yung part na mapapagod ka na. You won't be inspired to create content anymore. Mapipilitan ka na and your followers will feel that and you don't want that."