If I Had to Start My YouTube Channel Over at 40
If I were 40 today and thinking about starting a YouTube channel, I would not start the way I did in 2007.
Not because I failed.
But because I learned.
I started YouTube almost 20 years ago while running my brick-and-mortar yarn store. I thought YouTube would be a smart way to explain products we carried online. Knitting tools look confusing to new knitters, so I filmed videos explaining what they did.
Later, I hired an employee to create yarn-focused content. Years after I closed both stores, I went all in on blogging and YouTube and started posting more consistently.
But here’s the honest part:
For years, I misunderstood what actually makes YouTube grow.
If I were starting over at 40, here’s what I would do differently.
1. I would stop trying to win search
For a long time, I was told that YouTube is a search engine.
So I made search-based videos.
“How to knit a scarf.”
“Best knitting needles.”
“Yarn review.”
That’s fine content. It works. But it doesn’t build momentum.
The real shift happened when I realized something most people don’t understand:
You don’t grow because people search for you.
You grow because YouTube pushes you to people.
Browse.
Suggested.
Homepage.
That’s where growth lives.
And YouTube pushes content that keeps viewers watching, not content that matches keywords.
The day I stopped asking, “What are people searching for?” and started asking, “What would my ideal viewer actually click?” everything changed.
Instead of filming:
“How to use circular needles”
I started filming:
“5 Things Expert Knitters Know That Beginners Don’t”
That’s not search content.
That’s curiosity content.
That’s viewer-first content.
If I were starting today at 40, I would:
Pick a clear niche
Identify exactly who I’m talking to
Create videos she would feel pulled to click
Search is fine.
But connection builds channels.
2. I would deliberately ignore perfection for 90 days
Trying to be perfect is the biggest delay tactic I see.
Lighting.
Camera.
Backdrop.
Weight.
Wrinkles.
Voice.
None of it matters as much as you think.
I still film on my phone.
I use a portable tripod.
A $12 mic.
Inexpensive umbrella lights.
What matters is showing up consistently.
Mr. Beast says your first 100 videos will be bad.
He’s right.
My early videos?
Bad angles.
Bad thumbnails.
Slow pacing.
Product-heavy.
Overly instructional.
Worried about equipment.
Worried about how I looked.
The only reason I improved is because I kept going.
If I had to start again at 40, I would ignore:
Perfect lighting
Perfect branding
Perfect editing
View counts
Early growth
And I would focus on publishing consistently for 90 days.
The algorithm takes time to understand you.
A friend once called it the “ghost town phase.”
That phase is normal.
You’re publishing videos but YouTube is still trying to figure out your channel and who to serve you up to…and that takes time.
It is not proof that you’re failing.
It’s part of the process.
3. I would choose one lane and geek out on it
Trying to be everything to everyone kills momentum, and it confuses the algorithm.
If you’re over 40 and thinking about starting a channel, you probably already know a thing or two.
You don’t have to be the top expert in the world.
You just need to know more than the person watching.
Or—
If you want to learn something new, take her with you.
Documenting a journey works beautifully:
Learning to sew.
Learning to travel solo.
Learning to cook.
Learning to build something.
What matters is clarity.
Who is this for?
What does she struggle with?
What would help her?
I wasted time early on making content that was technically correct but emotionally flat.
When I shifted to making content that spoke directly to one type of knitter, engagement changed.
If I were starting at 40, I would:
Pick one niche
Study the audience deeply
Create content that feels like it was made specifically for her
Not the algorithm.
Not the internet.
Her.
What interests her? What is her day like? What makes her happy? What makes her mad? What are the things she’s struggling with? What are the things that would make her feel accomplished?
4. I would batch from day one
I used to script my video, get everything setup, to hair, makeup, outfit, film the video, edit the video, create the thumbnail and title…it took all week and to be honest, it was a slog.
I felt like I couldn’t do anything else but film the one video in a week.
My, how things have changed.
Now I batch all my work, and it has allowed me to be much more productive with less effort and mental strain.
This is non-negotiable now.
Filming takes effort.
Hair.
Makeup.
Lighting.
Setup.
Mental energy.
There is no world where I would film one video and call it a day.
On filming days, I film 4–5 videos.
Then I don’t think about filming again for weeks.
I separate my work into:
Research days
Script days
Film days
Edit days
Upload days
Not rigid.
But organized.
That pipeline is what keeps everything moving.
Without it, YouTube feels chaotic.
With it, YouTube feels manageable.
5. I would stop worrying about being seen
This is the one I care about most.
Women over 40 hesitate to be on camera.
I see it constantly.
“I don’t look good enough.”
“My voice sounds weird.”
“I’ve gained weight.”
“I have wrinkles.”
A friend of mine is an incredible cook and refuses to start a channel because of how she thinks she looks.
What she doesn’t see is that those “flaws” are what make her relatable.
YouTube is not about you.
It’s about the viewer.
The moment you shift from:
“How do I look?”
To:
“Is this helpful?”
Everything changes.
When you focus on solving her problem, teaching her something useful, or taking her somewhere interesting, the spotlight shifts away from you.
It becomes a service.
If I could tell 2007-me one thing, it would be:
You have something to offer.
Why are you hiding it?
6. I would accept that growth takes time
I didn’t understand how long everything would take.
Researching.
Writing.
Filming.
Editing.
Thumbnails.
Titles.
Packaging matters.
A lot.
I wasted time focusing on the wrong things:
Content that didn’t invite curiosity.
Thumbnails that didn’t stand out.
Titles that didn’t spark interest.
If I were starting today, I would treat thumbnail and title creation as seriously as the video itself.
Because that’s the first impression.
But I would also accept that speed comes with repetition.
Editing used to take me forever.
Now it doesn’t.
Confidence used to take forever.
Now it doesn’t.
The only difference is volume.
If You’re Over 40 and Thinking About Starting
You are not behind.
You are not too late.
You are not less relevant.
You likely have more perspective, more experience, and more clarity than you did at 25.
You do not need permission.
You need momentum.
Start messy.
Stay consistent.
Serve one woman well.
Everything else can improve over time.
And if you’re waiting for perfect…
You’re going to be waiting a long time.
You can do this!
