Mary Cherry on The Reactorverse Podcast

Speaker A:
Well, I started this community for female reactors onto this discord that I created because I felt alone and I felt, you know, that I didn't have anyone to talk to in this space that really understood what we uniquely go through. It's such a unique job and it's also so isolating. And I just focus on that and I focus on my loved ones and the people who know me for me and love me for me, and that's what you need in life.

Speaker B:
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the React Verse podcast. I'm joined today by someone I personally would call a legend or an icon in the space. It is the one and only Mary Cherry. Mary, thank you so much for being here.

Speaker A:
Thank you so much for having me and I'm so sorry that it took me so long to. To finally. Yeah. To be on this show. I'm so happy to be here and I'm so happy to meet you finally, since I feel like I've known you in the REACT space for the longest time, like probably since like 2015 and now finally, like meeting you. So it's really cool and really surreal.

Speaker B:
Yeah, it's very surreal to be able to speak to you one on one, finally. We've spoken over online through text, to friends of friends, mutual friends, stuff like that. So it's, it's, it is kind of crazy to finally have you here to speak with one on one. And, you know, it's been a busy year. When I first started this podcast, I. You were one of the first people I had in mind to bring on to speak with just because I really wanted to hear your experience and your insight. But it's understandable. You know, it's. You've been moving, you've been traveling, reworking the. The whole space. And also you're currently in the future from where I am, so I understand limitation.

Speaker A:
Yeah, that's so true. I got, I've got a lot of, like, side passions of mine too, that I, I keep myself busy with as well, of course.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
So life's. Life's been busy, but I'm so glad to finally sit down with you and. And have a chat.

Speaker B:
Yeah, I'm happy to have you here. Of course, you know, as we, you know, get into the. The brunt of the channel. You just had. Have had so many accomplishments over the years. Again with the reaction to self, but just also everything else that you've done creatively abroad with other people. 
I kind of want to go over that whole experience with you as we usually do here. We start at the very Beginning, as we mentioned, you live in Australia, so that's, you know, where you're from. You're where you're currently coming in from right now. It's very early for you, so I appreciate it for joining us. You know, we. What was your sort of initial exposure to TV and American cinema growing up in Australia and your background with movies that way?

Speaker A:
Well, before I even went into kindergarten and preschool, my mom had always Bold and the Beautiful and the Days of Our Lives on tv. And I feel like I learned English through the Bold and the Beautiful and the Days of Our Lives. And then when I got into school, I, I, I was like, oh, the Australian accent, that's cool. So, yeah, a lot of people like, your accent's not fully Australian. I'm like, because you know what? I've probably been influenced by a lot of American tv, like, just growing up from, like, from literally, like, zero to, to, like, now.

Speaker B:
Yeah, that makes sense. I spoke with LM Reactions, and they live in Serbia. They're kind of saying the same thing. They said they grew up watching a lot of telenovelas, like, span channels, and they were able to speak fluent Spanish by the time they grew up. And instead of speaking a Serbian, so they could have that secret language between themselves.

Speaker A:
So.

Speaker B:
Cool. Yeah. Do you, did you have any other specific hobbies and stuff, like, growing up, you know, besides film, you know, before, obviously, you got into the reaction space just like, what you were doing as, like, for fun, just growing up.

Speaker A:
Growing up? Well, I didn't watch a lot of movies, obviously, when I was growing up, so I played outside with my neighbors a lot. I had a lot of neighbors. And after school, we'd always play and hang out outside. Had rollerblades, bikes, we'd play handball, hopscotch, netball, things like that. And I used to play with my dolls a lot. And then also, also make believe, like, pretend I had, like, Fairyland, which was like, yeah, I played like a fairy named Po. And I also played like this, I think we called it Witchcraft and Wizardry School or something like that. Heavily influenced by Mildred Hubble. 
So I was like, I was allowed to watch ABC Kids and so all the kids shows. I am totally familiar with all the Australian kids shows and British kids shows from back then. That was my bag. But, yeah, I had that kind of upbringing. And then also, like, tutoring once a week. Tutoring?

Speaker B:
You were tutoring or you were being tutored?

Speaker A:
I was being tutored, yeah. So that's what growing up was like for me, hobbies wise.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Do you recall your Sort of early exposure to YouTube and just content creation in general. Were there any specific sort of inspirations or like people you were following when you found it?

Speaker A:
Yeah, I feel like I got into YouTube probably in 2006 or seven. So this was pre monetization days because I think they started monetizing in 2010. So content was unhinged back then. Like people could make whatever they wanted to. Yeah, I, I watched all of the pioneers from back in the day, but particularly Jenna Marbles Community channel.

Speaker B:
Oh, yeah.

Speaker A:
I love her so much. She is so sweet. And I got to meet her at her 1 million subscriber party that she hosts in Sydney and she is, she is so. She's so nice. No, you know when they say don't meet your heroes, it's like it's not true in that case, because she was just the loveliest person. The community channel and then a lot of makeup channels. So Loz Curtis, Australian, Chloe Morello, Australian. Shaniko from New Zealand. 
Chrisa Pukas, Canadian, but she moved to Australia. So a lot of beauty channels. And then, yeah, we have the, I guess American YouTube pioneers, boyfriend versus girlfriend first prank channel. Shane Dawson, he did a lot of crazy skits. So I was, I was into like skits and then also makeup that genres.

Speaker B:
Yeah, it's good combo. Good combo for. To the, I guess the performative nature of, you know, the, the space that brings me back actually. I remember I did a trailer for like a movie once. It was called Bob the Internet Assassin. It was a guy who was like, the narrative was he was going around assassinating, like all the famous Internet people like Jenna Marbles, Shane Dawson, they're actually in it and stuff and everything. And it was, it was a crazy production. It was a crazy product. Oh my gosh.

Speaker A:
I would love to see it after this. If you still have a link, if.

Speaker B:
It'S somewhere, it might be online for free now at this point. Just on YouTube. Yeah. Were you familiar with the reaction space before you got involved with it? Was that something that you sort of discovered naturally through yourself or was it something you had to look into?

Speaker A:
I had no idea. I literally had zero clue because I. I started my channel just as a way to practice makeup. So this was before I was a certified. Certified makeup artist. And also whilst I was doing that, I was studying my bachelor's degree.

Speaker B:
Right.

Speaker A:
In. In media. So it was a way for me to practice editing and producing and also practicing makeup. So it was a way. It was purely for my own learning benefits that I was producing content and then One of my friends, Waleed, he was like, oh, you love Game of Thrones. You should post yourself watching Game of Thrones. And I was like, I never thought of that. That'd be so cool because then maybe like we. I could find some people to talk about the show with. And, and that's, that's literally how and why I got into the react space. And I had no idea if there even was a community. 
Basically I woke up the next day and my video had 11,000 views. And then also my reaction was on this Canadian news website as well as like, people are going crazy over Season 5, Episode 10 of Game of Thrones. Here are all the people and their reactions. And I was in it and I was like, whoa, me, that's crazy. Why am I in this article? And that's when I really started to get a feel, feel of how passionate people are about their shows in particular. But yeah, I was just, I was just super into Game of Thrones. I was really, really locked into that. And also the books as well.

Speaker B:
All right. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's Game of Thrones, Walking Dead. That whole era of TV was sort of such a huge catalyst for the reaction space. Yeah, for a long time we had specifically sort of trailer reactions and that was the bread and butter for a lot of channels. And then around 2016 is. Yeah, like TV shows sort of blew up for the, for the reaction space. And that sort of like ushered in the new wave of people, you know, going through TV show, episode, reaction, stuff like that. 
And Game of Thrones was such a huge part of that as well as Walking Dead. Do you remember when you got started in those early years with the show, any sort of like, you know, specific cultural conversation being a part of it? Because I remember back then, like you said, just being a part of like how passionate everyone was week to week talking about it. Being part of just that conversation week to week was like the fun part of it. Being able to have discourse with everyone. Just what was that like for you? I guess getting the channel started, but then also being a part of the conversation. You'd see through the comments and through the other channels and stuff.

Speaker A:
Yeah, I, I really loved being a part of that conversation. Is I had my full time job, which was obviously Monday to Friday. Sorry, it really likes to do that, by the way. So if it does that again, I'm sorry. Yeah, which was obviously Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. And then I had this side thing which was, which I was a part of that. I just got to talk to people about Game of Thrones. And I, I actually still recognize and know the people who knew my channel back then for my reactions back then. I still know them today. I'm like, oh, that's that person.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
Who used to comment on my videos in 2016. And, and I'm like, I communicate with those people still. So, yeah, like I, I can name, I can name a few of them right now. But like, you know what I mean? Like, I, I remember those early conversations when my channel was, was like, little baby Mary Cherry channel.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Yeah. You never forget the first few that, you know, come in and really support you.

Speaker A:
Absolutely.

Speaker B:
When you, when you were getting started, did you have any significant learning curves just for the format in terms of like editing, recording, stuff like that, but also the performative nature of it, just being on camera and being comfortable articulating yourself, you know, within the reactions?

Speaker A:
Yeah, I for sure said like, Almond, like a lot. Yeah, like, like obvious, obviously. Like, obviously that's what I meant about that. Like, you know, you just pick up on these things that. Yeah. Do I talk like that and do I sound like that? Okay, I need to change my communication style a little bit. I need to talk about it for longer because at the end, that's when I got shy, I think, just talking about my thoughts at the end. 
And then I'd post these videos. I'm like, wait, I didn't even talk about this, this, this, this. Like, I must, I must have just gone blank after the show. And I think I've gotten better at knowing how to articulate my thoughts right after I watch something and also edit because back in the Game of Thrones reaction days, so like 2015-16, as I said, I had a full time job. I didn't monetize what I was putting out on the Internet, nor did I care to. So editing was not important. I'd post like a two minute. We'd, we'd have like two minutes of Game of Thrones content. And I was just reacting to that.

Speaker B:
All right.

Speaker A:
Never stopped. I was like, yeah, let's just let this roll. You know, you can't do that today. And you, you gotta like, you gotta, you gotta edit the actual, the actual footage of the, the movie or the, the TV show. So I like, I lowered the opacity. For example, sometimes I'll add like a filter on top of, on top of the actual movie or the TV show. Maybe I'll need to flip the screen. Like horizontal flip sometimes.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
Or for, for content that's tricky to get around. So I Had no idea about any of that, but nor did I care because I was like, this, this isn't a. This isn't a job. This is just a hobby for me. But now I do have to think about those things because this is the only thing that I do. You know what I mean?

Speaker B:
Yeah, exactly. You got to make sure that you can keep, keep it monetized, otherwise you get nothing from it. And that, that becomes a huge problem just down the line to keep it, keep it going. I remember you had sent me once a sheet of just like, you know, the way you sort of like would like your videos to be structured. 
And I found that so as an editor, so incredibly helpful and just like impressive the way you have like a specific set of standards of how your videos should look and feel. Because it's. I've worked with a lot of people at this point and you're. You have like down to like almost like a science of just like how you want it. And like, I really love the way that you just sort of have be able to break that down. It's like, speaks to, I think probably just like an organizational skill that you might have for the channel that's like, you know, really helps you thrive in a way.

Speaker A:
I think what I've realized is I might be a type A personality. I might be. Yeah, I would say that I am very organized. I have a calendar that I open every single day. I'm about. I want to say I'm like four to five weeks in ahead of content at this point. Then it gives me time to, you know, do things like audition for voice acting gigs, which yesterday I just dedicated the whole day to just like audition, you know what I mean? And, and, and do things around the house like cook and clean and, you know, spend time with my cat. So, so I, I love to be organized so that I have time for my loved ones and for life, things that truly matter. 
So. So yeah, I do, I do have a very scientific, as you call it, editing sheet that I like to. Because I like to set my editors up for success. Like, when I find a new editor, I want, I want them to win. I want them to succeed. I want them to learn as well. I hired an editor that had no Premiere Pro experience, and I was like, you know what? 
Like, you, you don't have Premiere Pro experience, but you have editing experience and you're really determined to learn. So I will teach you. I will go through everything with you. And now he knows how to use an entirely different program, you know what I mean? And he's. Yeah, he's doing incredible. So, yeah, I think. I think it's. It's worth it if you see somebody who's, like, really keen.

Speaker B:
Yeah, of course. I. Yeah, the organizational structure is such an important part. I've spoken with other channels about, like you said, just being ahead, giving yourself that buffer in case things come up. You want to take a day, you want to, you know, just like, have something come up that you want to try, you know, on the fly. It's. Luckily, it's the best way to sort of keep your. Yourself from being in the grind day to day, week to week, that you feel, like, sort of swamped by the content you got to keep up with and, you know, for the shows themselves after, you know, you got through Game of Thrones and like, Walking Dead and Stranger Things, those sort of big, you know, stable shows. When you first started out, I believe the first show you did after that was Dark. That was like a big run that you did. And then from there. Yeah. Did you have any specific sort of like, strategy or like, you know, plan that you wanted to try with the channel after those major shows, or was it sort of just like, you know, going with what you feel?

Speaker A:
So I say that I'm a YouTuber from 2020, because that's when I took it. Like, I lost all my jobs after maybe it was a year of not posting content and when I lost my job, so I was like, okay, maybe I could make YouTube into a job because I have this channel already at the time that I thought to myself, okay, maybe I can make YouTube into a job. I already had 12, 000 followers from. From my beauty makeup days, but then also my random 7 videos a year of Game of Thrones. So I had 12, 000 subscribers. But I basically, when you don't post for a year, it's like you're starting from zero anyway, because those subscribers don't see your content because YouTube is like you. YouTube is like, you don't deserve your subscribers.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Gotta win them back. Yeah.

Speaker A:
Basically have to start from zero. So. So just ask what people would like to see and give me their recommendations. So somebody named Ron recommended a show called Dark to me. Somebody named John recommended Star wars to me. So I took on just recommendations from my existing followers. So I was really lucky in that way. Actually. They. They kind of guided me and they told me what they wanted to see from me. And I still. 
I still do that. Like, I'll read comments and I'll jot down people's Recommendations, I'll put it in a big list. Because now I have a list. It's not like back in 2020 when I was like, oh, that's one suggestion. Let's go with it. You know, now I get so many that I need to put it onto a list, and then eventually that list gets filtered down. And, yeah, that's how I. That's how I work today. But back then, I had no strategy. I was like, let's just hear what people want to see.

Speaker B:
Yeah. And the pandemic experience, you know, such an important part of the reaction format now, the genre, the whole space, because it created such a. Like you said, a captivated space for people to sit down and be like, I want to really try this. You know, we have so many channels now. Like, now the Gold Popcorn bed. People who came up through that time and they were able to thrive with it, and they're still around today. Do you recall just what that first year was like, dealing with the pandemic, you know, at large in the world, in your personal life, but also trying to sort of kickstart the channel through that?

Speaker A:
Well, I'm pretty. I would say I'm an ambivert, so I can thrive being an introvert, but I also have. I also like to go out and. And hang out with my friends and family and all that kind of stuff. So when the pandemic happened and we were all told to stay at home, I was like, this is not so bad, like, for me, Right?

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
Because now I'm just home all the time, and that's cool. So, yeah, I. I thought it was really cool seeing all these creators pop up in that 2020 period. But at the same time, because I was reacting to stuff, when I would see people pop up on my newsfeed, I wouldn't be able to click on their videos because I'm like, what if I react to that? Or, like, what if. What if I. Or if I've seen the movie before, then. Then I'd be like, okay, cool, I'll click on that. And that's how I got to know some of the creators that I know today. Just from that YouTube recommendation section.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Yeah, it's. It's a really important to be able to network through that and find. I mean, I've been able to luckily trick my algorithm into feeding me a consistent balance of reactors that I know and new faces that I can, like, look into and sort of, like, discover as well for this show. So it's been a lot of fun since then. Just like Seeing everyone sort of give it a try with the reactions itself. Do you recall any specific point maybe within that year, within 2020 or soon after where you felt like, okay, I've officially sort of tapped into something here and I, I do have a footing to keep this going. And you decided like, maybe you can turn this into like a viable career.

Speaker A:
Yeah, I, I do remember there was a specific month and it was September and, and I think I made like a thousand dollars and I was like, wow, oh my God, I can make this a job now. Yeah, it was like, it was Patreon, I believe that at that, that I hit that goal and I was like, oh, wow, I can buy like, I can buy gear, I can buy proper gear now. I can, I can expand. 
I can maybe buy a webcam as well. Or no, I had my webcam at that point so I can put that into my camera. And then I ended up buying a Sony, a 6600. So it was a really, really exciting, exciting time for me because yeah, I would just put that money into production and I was really excited about seeing how my new studio would look like.

Speaker B:
Right, yeah, just investing back into yourself to keep it growing, Expanding. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And at the same time, you know, you mentioned, you know, getting into gaming and live streaming, stuff like that, that's such a important part of the reaction experience too. A lot of channels have that now where they're able to, to put out the reactions but also live stream on weekends or whatever they can. How do you compare those two experiences? The live stream experience versus like the pre recorded experience and be able to put out a video, you know, when it's ready.

Speaker A:
Well, I absolutely love live streaming and I've made so many friends through live streaming, like who are part of my community and that I play games with to this day. So it, that's been really cool. That's been awesome. So yeah, I love live streaming on Twitch. That's my favorite platform to live stream on because I feel like everybody's focused on games, right? Specifically and they're, they're locked into games because Twitch is for, is it's predominantly for gamers even though they're our other broadcasts, like just chatting and like hot tub streams, things like that. There's definitely other categories and metas, but it's predominantly for gaming. And so I really loved discovering Twitch and that was really fun to just like learn games. 
While I was broadcast, I was broadcasting it and learning at the same time. It was quite challenging. And you know, sometimes, sometimes people be like, hey, didn't you pay attention to that part in the game? I'm like, there's so much going on, over stimulated that, yeah, I might have missed something in the game. But it doesn't mean that I. I'm not having fun or I don't love it. It just means that I am overwhelmed.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
When you're neurodivergent and there's just. You've got a lot of stimuli and. And it's just a lot. For me, at the beginning of that journey, it was quite a lot. It was a lot. There was the learning aspect, there was the gaming aspect, but then there was also wanting to chat to people and. And add to them. So. So there's a lot going on, but I. I find it's more manageable today.

Speaker B:
Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Getting into that format is like something I've personally been interested in, but like you said, it is daunting to think of, you know, just like, how to set that up, all the bells and whistles to get that going, and then just like you said, being sort of in the zone when you're actually doing it. It's. I've spoken to some people who do reactions and streaming and they say, like, I kind of like, black out when I stream. I just are like, I go through it and then when I'm done, I'm just like, whoa, like, what just happened? Like five hours. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A:
And. And like, because I've talked to people who have just started streaming or they've done like one stream or two streams, and after an hour they're like, wow, I don't know how you do it for like, five hours. I was so drained after just one hour.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
And I just thought to myself, yeah, that that actually was what it was like when I was first starting out. It's very mentally and emotionally exhausting to put yourself out there live because you're also conscious of, like, this is live, this is. This isn't edited. Do you know what I mean?

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
Anything could go wrong.

Speaker B:
Yeah, it's kind of like. Like a. Just like a live improv show. Like, you got to sort of be on your game, you know, got a yes. And with the material and like the audience and everything going on. So, yeah, I could. It's definitely taxing in its own way. And. Yeah. Were you a big, you know, gamer before that? Or is it some video games something you grew up with? Or was it something you sort of learned, you know, as you started getting more into live streaming?

Speaker A:
I wouldn't say I was a big Gamer. But the only game that I ever really played played was because we had a, we had a pre loved computer when I was growing up and that computer had this game called Renegade Command and Conquer. All right game. I think it was released in 2002 and so I played the. Out of this one game. Sorry for saying, I don't know if I'm allowed to say that.

Speaker B:
You can say it's no problem.

Speaker A:
Yeah, so I played a lot of that. And there was also a PC game called Dangerous Dave that I really loved. And then my brother got a PS3 and he had the Tomb Raider game, Futurama. I wouldn't play the games. Like I would never finish a game. But like he, sometimes he'd hand me the controller and I'd be like, oh cool. Jumping around doing things. But I'd never like complete anything, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't have really call myself a gamer, but that's my background and my experience. 
So when I picked up red Dead Redemption 2 for the first time, that was my first proper game with good graphics and like I feel like it. Everything was so much more complicated in this game compared to Renegade Commander Conquer from 2002. There was so much to. To do in this game and it was so big and it was very overwhelming, but it was really cool. I got into it instantly and I loved it so much and it was always something that I wanted to one day pickup, but I, I never really had the time.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
Working nine to five, studying my bachelor's degree, studying my tafe, my TAFE course in makeup, working a lot. And then also, you know, then I picked up my masters. So it was a very busy time that I just, I never found myself with enough time until the Pandemic.

Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, like you mentioned though, I can, I can relate to the Pandemic experience. I said it wasn't, it wasn't too bad being inside because that's. I met my partner through the Pandemic. We both worked for the same game show that she was a competitor. I was the editor for the show and she came to stay with me just to crash for an event we were going to hold in March 2020. And then everything shut down and so she's like. I was like, just stay here for a couple weeks, it'll blow over by then. And so now she's still here, essentially.

Speaker A:
Wow, what a beautiful story.

Speaker B:
Yeah, it was, it's really great. So the Pandemic was pretty nice to the both of us that would. We say we Know, it was a terrible time in general, but it was. Yeah, of course, not a bad experience for us.

Speaker A:
Yeah, yeah, I. I always. I always have to say that as well. I always have to say, like, obviously it was really bad. I personally liked staying inside. I felt really safe and. And I picked up a lot of fun hobbies and interests.

Speaker B:
Yeah, same here. Yeah. But in the. In that time, you know, the space itself blew up so much, as you mentioned, and yourself, you've, you know, over the years, been able to collaborate with a lot of those people from people that I know personally, like cinepals, Cinebench, who we've had on as well. Ashley Burton. I always love seeing, yes. The collaborations between channels, just because I love connecting people through the space and seeing that sort of, you know, community grow between one another. 
I interviewed Camila from her channel Centane and last year, and she even mentioned you specifically as someone who welcomed her into the community, and she really, you know, appreciated the insight and help that you gave her. So just being that sort of, you know, person and having that sort of position in the space, I guess. What has it been like for you over the last, you know, few years to be able to connect people like that and just like, share those experiences with your peers? Yeah.

Speaker A:
First of all, shout out back to Camila because she's awesome. But, yeah, I met Camila because somebody in my community had mentioned to me, had. Had told me about her, and I was like, well, I started this community for female reactors so that we could all. I think I started it in 2021, and I just started, like, adding all of the female reactors that I could think of onto this. This. 
Onto this discord that I created because I felt alone and I felt, you know, that I didn't have anyone to talk to in this space that really understood, I guess, that understood what we uniquely go through in terms of, like, the bullying, the objectification. But also it was really nice to create a space for women where we could also talk about things like demonetization and strikes and. And things like that. We also talk about things like that, and also we talk about collaborating and new things that are going on. 
So I wanted to create a space like that, and I welcome female reactors in that space very happily. And Camila was one of those people, and I. I think she's so nice. I'm so happy she's part of it as well. But, yeah, through that is where I collaborated with Vicuna and also Ashley Burton. I've played some games with Natalie Gold as well. We've all played together through that community that I, that I built in 2021. So, yeah, it's been really, really cool and there's been a lot of great benefits to it. Mainly, just, mainly friendship. 
That's what I, that, that was like the big thing for me because it's such a unique job and it's also so isolating. And I, I used to come from like a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday job and I was very social and I loved talking to people and then I just didn't have that at all. And it was quite sad.

Speaker B:
Right? Yeah, yeah. Like that community that, that. Yes. Like social interaction you can have with people in the work, about the work. So that way it doesn't feel overwhelming in itself, you know, just the subject matter itself. My good friend Iman Snow, she also mentioned, you know, your help that you've given, given her over the years.

Speaker A:
I love her.

Speaker B:
Yeah. I still work for her. She was, she's who got me into the reaction space. She's the first person ever gave me editing job for a channel.

Speaker A:
So that's how I, that's how I knew you, I think. I think she told me about you and then that's how we started to talk.

Speaker B:
Yeah. So, yeah, having that discord, I know is so important because of the stories that she's told me about her experience, you know, with her channel getting started and like, you know, how hard like you, like women can have it in this space. Not just in the Internet in general, but like also specifically in this space and how much you put yourself out there for that stuff. 
I really admire your presence in the space because over the years that I've known you and I've seen your work, you really do sort of put your foot down when it comes to, you know, the kind of interactions that you want to allow in your community, in your comments, and you don't really, you know, like, let things slide. I think the issue that I really bothers me with a lot of online culture is, you know, oh, just ignore the haters. 
Like, don't feed the trolls if someone's rude. Just like, you know, ignore them. That's going to be part of the job. That's something you just have to kind of deal with and you really haven't really let that, you know, roll over you. You've kind of, like, really stood up for yourself in a way that I think I wish a lot of people more could have the, you know, courage to do. But that's really scary to do sometimes, especially when you Feel like your livelihood's on the line, just approaching that, you know, sort of mindset of, you know, being able to understand your value and like your self worth. How do you, you know, combat those, you know, elements, you know, comments and like, just like, you know, the aggression that women can get in the online space.

Speaker A:
Yeah. I think from a societal point of view, I think women are expected to forgive and let things slide or laugh off inappropriate comments and like crack a smile. You know, we've all heard that. Just smile, you'd look better or like it was a joke smile, stop being so serious kind of thing. Even when boundaries are being pushed and we're being trolled online. Any. If I was to pass on any advice, it would be to make your boundaries known and to have a support network, whether it be family, friends or your community. I'm really lucky because I have all three and I just focus on that and I focus on my loved ones and the people who know me for me and love me for me. And you know what? That, that's. That's good enough, right? And that, that's, that's what you need in life.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I mean, yeah. When, you know, I talked to Iman and others in the space, like, I think the hard part, like you said, with the Discord community, you feel so alone when you have to face these things and you feel so, like, isolated. And if you don't have peers to talk to, you can feel overwhelmed by the negativity that can come towards you. Yeah. There was a channel that, you know, popped up several years ago during the Walking Dead era and the final seasons of it. 
A young girl called Naomi E. Reacts and she reacted to like some of the big episodes and she like quickly got like up to like 30, 000 subscribers over like a year. But I would constantly see her post on her community tab, like, hey guys, like I, you know, was really emotional last episode. Could people not be so mean about like me crying, stuff like that. And it was really hard to see. And eventually she just ended up closing the channel down because it was just too much for her to, you know, get through and like that. Really. 
Yeah, that's the hard part of when I see people in the space and it's like really hard to see people who are starting this and like, they are hip with those things. It's like a big sort of culture shock of being involved in the space and not being able to have people to support you and tell you, like, you know, how to navigate those elements. So I'm really appreciative that you have that space and that you have that discord for people because I think it's a, it's a really essential part of growing this community and making sure that it stays as positive as it has been over the last, you know, several years.

Speaker A:
Yeah, I wish I had the discord when she was around because I would have been like, come join. Exactly that. Yeah. I mean, that's really sad.

Speaker B:
Yeah, it's a hard part to see. That's why I really like doing this. I like reaching out to people to hopefully connect them with one another, to make them feel not as alone. And for you, just like over the last several years that you've been growing the channel, you've reached 200k and so on, you've had a lot of accomplishments to be proud of. 
But we were talking about this before off camera that you like to diversify yourself creatively. You like to do live streaming, you like to do the different types of things. Voice acting is something that you're pursuing. And I just saw this week that you had voice acting lessons that you got through. What has that, I guess, journey been like to you to like continue to grow creatively, even off camera and just try new things?

Speaker A:
Yeah, I love trying new things. I finished, I finished improv as well. Like I think it was. Yeah. In November last year or December last year I did my performance for improv and I was, I was wanting to do the next step but then I thought to myself, wait, I really, really want to have a crack at voice acting. So I joined Chris Carr's class at Speakfriend Studio and I did the intro to voice acting class that she offers and then I did the advanced voice over a class that she offers as well. So in total, it was 12 weeks of voice acting lessons. 
How to audition for game roles, ad roles, like promotional content, commercial stuff, how to do audiobooks, mocap lessons. So it was really, really, really cool. And I, I was so shy at first because it's, it's a class. So basically there's like four, four or five other people there. So you're just like when, when you're voice acting you kind of like, you're kind of acting physically as well.

Speaker B:
Right.

Speaker A:
Because you have to get your body and your breath in in the right way in order to put on a new voice. So that was what I learned in, in the class and it was, it was really cool to learn that. But I also figured that I have done quite a lot of voice over when I do commentary for My. For my channel, which I never even thought about, but commentating, that's voice acting in a way.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
And like, all of the promotional ad spots that I do for. For videos, like, you know, the ad reads that, you know, YouTubers or. Yeah, all that stuff. That's voiceover work. So I learned this through her class. I've actually got some experience in voice over already, and so I just want to hone in on that now and try. Try and get some gigs because I find it really, really refreshing because it's something new and. And really fun. 
And I think, like, in my career, when I. When I used to work an office job, I. I always wanted to keep learning and keep doing new things. So after like a year or two, I'd be like, what's the next thing that I can learn? Because I feel like I've learned everything already. Let's do something new. So, yeah, it's. It's been really cool. It's been really fun, and I'm excited to dive into it more this year.

Speaker B:
That's awesome. Yeah. Do you.

Speaker A:
Have you.

Speaker B:
Do you feel like the improv and voice acting classes have, like, you know, impacted the reactions in any way? Have you brought anything over from that, like, lessons or just, like, sort of.

Speaker A:
Tactics to it in terms of voice acting there? Yeah, a little. I did. So you know how popcorn in bed does the poppies? Yeah. So she'd reached out to me and she was like, hey, do you want to do. Do you want to be a part of poppies? And I was like, hell, yeah. That sounds so fun.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
An opportunity for me to work on a skit. So I worked on a skit, and before I sent it to Cassie, I sent it to Chris, my voiceover teacher, and I was like, how is the inflections in my voice? Am I doing okay? And she was like, yeah, it's really good. Like, I love the way you did this and this. And so, yeah, I would say that it is kind of seeping into my work car, like my current work, because I'm like, how can I do a little bit more voice acting in the work that I already do?

Speaker B:
That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, I love the poppies. I love seeing everyone sort of come together for that. So, yeah, actually, I remember that skit when that happened.

Speaker A:
Oh, yeah, yeah. The. The Mikey Madison thing. Yeah. I was like, what can I do? What's a good skit? What's. I think this is topical because I keep getting told that I look like Mikey Madison. So let's go with that.

Speaker B:
Yeah, I definitely see the, the similarities. I remember when I first saw her in what's Up Tom? In Hollywood, obviously, like a lot of people did, and I was like, I remember thinking like this, this person looks like Mary. Mary Cherry in theaters.

Speaker A:
That's so funny.

Speaker B:
You know, over the years with the channel, what would you say has been the most consistent obstacle that you faced with it? It.

Speaker A:
Probably the copyright stuff, which is probably the. I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna guess that if, if you ask other people this question, they're probably gonna say the same thing. It's got to be the copyright. It's. It's always copy. Right?

Speaker B:
These usually copyright or time management. That's the two big things, right?

Speaker A:
Well, personally, I'm fine with time management, except for I probably don't have a, the most time to stream these days because that's, that's like, you have to be present for X amount of time in real time. So I'm, I'm kind of like, I guess not as consistent there, but in terms of like copyright. Yeah, yeah, it's. It's still a B word. I, I'm finding I'm getting hit by Universal and dreamworks quite a lot for my past videos quite frequently. 
That's been the big, the big ones. And yeah, we, we, we speak about that in the discord that I have. And that is, it's not, it's not just my experience like that that's going around with the other reactors too. So. So yeah, I, I don't know what's going on in the studios over there, but we have to fight it. Yeah, we did.

Speaker B:
Yeah. They're up to something. Yeah. I did a reaction edit for someone this past week and I uploaded it and it got dinged. And you know how it usually tells you, like it's from this source, like this studio that like, you know, has like this specific, you know, time frame. This is the first time I saw one where it said the source unknown. The provider has not made the material public yet. Even though it was copywriting was dinging like a, like a 10 section section of it.

Speaker A:
Yeah, it was from false ones going around too.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Yeah, I've definitely heard of those as well. Yeah.

Speaker A:
A false one that's been happening quite a bit is AD Rev has claimed your video. And I'm like, who's AD Rev? Like, what? No, that's another one.

Speaker B:
Yeah, I've seen a handful of those as well this year. How do you feel you've personally grown over the years with the channel?

Speaker A:
I'd probably say I've grown from a technical point of view. I listen and watch my older videos back and I just think, what the hell was up with the audio? But yeah, I, I ended up getting a Go XLR and this mic. But the GOXLR was end of 2022, and I think end of 2020, I might be wrong with the dates, but there was a certain point where my audio just suddenly got really good compared to what it was in the past. And then also, like, from an editing point of view as well. In 2021, I wasn't checking editors edits to me, which sounds really bad, but I was posting seven videos a week.

Speaker B:
Right.

Speaker A:
And live streaming. So it was, it was a very busy time for me. And I was just like, you know what? I've. I've hired these editors and, and I've given them a blueprint to set them up for success. So I don't need to check their work. I have checked their works and they do well. So I, I'm just gonna trust it all. So now I, I make sure to check everything, but also I post less so I have more time to thoroughly check things. 
And yeah, my audio's improved, hopefully my lighting's improved as well. My background, I think this is the best background that I've had maybe in a while. Yeah, so. So I, I would just say, like, from a production standpoint, there's definitely been things that I've noticed have improved.

Speaker B:
Of course. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And obviously, like you've mentioned before, like, this is a new studio setup. So just being able to put that together how you envision it is like a great thing to have. And beyond any monetary or financial value, what has been the most rewarding aspect of the channel?

Speaker A:
I think I would have to say my Discord community. I think we have a really welcoming and lovely community full of people that have. They're just so funny and they talk to each other, they talk to me. And I feel like I can, you know, just pop in and just like, react to their posts and like, you know, it's just a really. It's a really cool community that, that we've got over there. And it feels really personal too, I would say that. And also just like hearing from people on Patreon too. Like, I'll be like, what do you think of this thumbnail compared to this? And then I, I will hear feedback directly from right from people. So I would say the community aspect has been so good because I never really feel like I'm alone, even Though I have a very isolating job.

Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Being able to. Yeah. Lean on them for important subjects and times and questions like that. For sure. Yeah.

Speaker A:
Totally.

Speaker B:
Great benefit. We do our final questionnaire that we give to everyone. It's just 10 questions down the line for everyone. First question being, what is your favorite TV show of all time?

Speaker A:
The Simpsons.

Speaker B:
The Simpsons? Really? Wow. That's the first one we got, which I definitely agree with. I love the Simpsons so much.

Speaker A:
Yeah. I've. I've actually been re. Watching it.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
And it's. It's. As an adult, it's just so much funnier.

Speaker B:
Do you have like a cut off of where you sort of stop watching it or do you like the whole. The whole series?

Speaker A:
I've started. I started at season 10 and then I went back to season three. So I watched season 10 and 11 and then I've gone back to season three. And it's just. There's like. There's like wider messages going on that you wouldn't have clued in as a kid. And so that adult experience is so much better.

Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's your favorite film of all time?

Speaker A:
The Princess Bride.

Speaker B:
Oh, that's a great one as well.

Speaker A:
Yeah, I watched that like almost every year. It's so good.

Speaker B:
Yeah, I think I watched it. I just did edit for it, actually, for a preview last year. So that was to get through. Yeah. What stresses you out?

Speaker A:
Probably the news. The news is really sad.

Speaker B:
Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, it's very fair assessment. What helps you relax?

Speaker A:
Probably a nice jacuzzi or like a bath bomb. I love lush bath bombs and like a good book and a nice glass of red wine whilst I'm in the bath.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
You know what I mean? That's. That's like ideal way of relaxing.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Sounds very relaxing for sure. What hobby or passion do you currently have outside of TV and film games?

Speaker A:
Voice acting. And I want to get back into improv again. So, like, do level two.

Speaker B:
Okay. Yeah, yeah. That's the thing that is that you need to fulfill. Like you have to go back into like the first classes again. Or you can just jump right into it.

Speaker A:
Yeah. So there's levels to. To improv. I completed level one. And then it gets more complex as you progress. And I think there's seven levels.

Speaker B:
Oh, wow.

Speaker A:
And then after the seventh level, you. If you want to. And if you're good enough, you can do your own shows.

Speaker B:
Oh, cool.

Speaker A:
And you know, people would then buy tickets to your shows and you could be on the Comedy. Yeah, the comedy shows. So, yeah, I mean, I think that'd be really cool. It's a way to skill up in terms of your presentation.

Speaker B:
Right, that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. What is your guilty pleasure? Show or film?

Speaker A:
Guilty pleasure? Would. For shows, I would probably say Jane the Virgin. Niptuck.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
And MILF Manor.

Speaker B:
Yeah. My partner watches Bill Fanner.

Speaker A:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I only watched one season because that's the. That was as much that was available for me in Australia.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Okay.

Speaker A:
Yeah. When I watched it, I was like, holy crap, this show is so. This show is so bad. It's good.

Speaker B:
Exactly.

Speaker A:
Yeah.

Speaker B:
What fictional character do you relate to or just care deeply about?

Speaker A:
I'm gonna go with care deeply about because I don't think that I relate. I don't think I fully relate to any one particular character, but I really, really care about Jon Snow and the star kids.

Speaker B:
That makes sense. Yeah.

Speaker A:
Yeah. They. They'll always have a place in my heart.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Yeah. They were there from the beginning. For the channel. Yeah. What show or film gave you your favorite reaction experience with the channel?

Speaker A:
For film, it's probably going to be Revenge of the Sith. That is my most viewed video to this to this day. But it's also such a great film and probably my favorite Star wars film.

Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah. It's my as well.

Speaker A:
Yeah, yeah. It's so good. And then for the show, I mean, you already know it's Game of Thrones. Yeah.

Speaker B:
It's one of those shows it's hard to beat. It's just like forever have that special space for you.

Speaker A:
Even though the last few seasons were rough.

Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah. It's still. It's still special in some way. What or film do you wish you could erase from your memory and react to again for the first time on camera?

Speaker A:
Well, I'm going to be so real with you right now and just say I've got the shittest memory of anyone that I know. So I could probably watch Iron man again, and I've reacted to that, and it probably all be new to me because I haven't seen it in four years.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
And I cannot tell you what happens in that. I can't tell you. I'd need to. I. I would need to watch a recap video.

Speaker B:
All right. If.

Speaker A:
If I was to watch something like, if there was a Marvel movie coming out and it would include Iron Man Law, I would have to watch a recap video on YouTube in order to understand the new content, because I. I think it's because I consume so much That I just, I just have to like, I just forget.

Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah. It's kind of like that thing I mentioned. Like some people just sort of like, you know, they feel like they black out once they're done with it. Like it's like a whoosh, you know, recorded. Yeah, yeah. My mom's the same way. My mother actually, she can watch a movie and then like six months later we could just watch it again. And it's a whole new experience for her. She just like gets seeing it for the first time.

Speaker A:
That's what I'm like.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
I'm so embarrassed by it. But at the same time it works well for my channel, of course.

Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah. It's funny when I had to catch her up on like a show that's you say been gone for like a while or something. I'll actually show her reaction edits. I'll show her the compilation edits that like from like J2O or something to catch her up on the episodes that she had to remember. We did that for Squid Game, you know, getting into season two.

Speaker A:
So forgot Squid Game because I just. And they had like a three minute recap. I was like, thank God for God. I forgot everything.

Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah. It's very helpful.

Speaker A:
Yeah.

Speaker B:
And the final question we have here is what advice would you give to your past self if you can go back in time when you started the channel?

Speaker A:
Probably if you're going to do collaborations, make sure that the other person has their own mic as well. Because I, I watch some of the past collaborations that I've done and I'm just like, I can't hear the other person. Like, what are they saying? What the heck? And even though, like I'll have the mic in the middle when I do a collaboration, an in person collaboration, I should say, yeah, probably that. And then I would say, don't do seven videos a week. That's crazy.

Speaker B:
Like, good advice all around.

Speaker A:
But in 2021, we had four months of COVID lockout law, so again, we were home a lot. So it was, it was easier to go crazy.

Speaker B:
Yeah.

Speaker A:
And just lock in.

Speaker B:
Yeah. Which a lot of people did.

Speaker A:
Yeah.

Speaker B:
Yeah. But great advice, Great advice all around. I'd say for anyone who's getting started nowadays. Mary, thank you so much for being here. Been a long time coming, but I'm really, really happy to finally have you on for, for this.

Speaker A:
Thank you so much for having me. I feel honored to be included.

Speaker B:
Yeah, no, it's an honor for me to have you on. And as part of the collection of people that we've had so far. You're definitely again, like to me icon in the space and everything you're doing is so helpful and important and I really appreciate everything you've done so far.

Speaker A:
You're too kind. Thank you.

Speaker B:
Yeah, where can we find you on social media? YouTube. Otherwise.

Speaker A:
YouTube. Mary Cherry official, I think. Yes. Mary Cherry Official and then everywhere else. I have not been able to get the normal spelling of Mary Cherry. Like just M A R Y C H E R R Y.

Speaker B:
Right.

Speaker A:
So I have a double Y at the end of Mary and another Y at the end of Cherry. So that's where you can find me on all of the other social media platforms.

Speaker B:
Perfect. You can find me at Chronic across social media. You can find us at the reactiverse across social media as well. You'll find links to our Discord and Patreon down below and we'll catch everyone on the next episode.

Speaker A:
Bye, guys.