Matt: We’re in this generation where everyone is filming. It’s not just an app that has kind of made a little impact. It has made an impact beyond belief. 

Spencer: I kind of wish vertical video didn’t make an existence. I definitely think some people are gonna go back to long form. 

Matt: People don’t remember names necessarily anymore. They remember like what they see on screen. Your favorite TikToker I’ve never heard of before, and you’ve never heard of mine. 

Spencer: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Creators Uncut. Super excited for another episode today. We’ve got an amazing guest. His name is Matt Stokes. Matt, thanks for being on the show. 

Matt: Thank you for having me. This is so exciting. This is my first podcast in years. So I am buzzing to be here, and it is great to chat to you. 

Spencer: Yeah, I didn’t know this was your first podcast in years, but um I do know that you’ve done some YouTube and you do uh some social media. So for our viewers and listeners who are checking out this episode who may not know who you are, why don’t you go ahead go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself and kind of what you do? 

Matt: Yeah, I’d love to. So my background is actually YouTube. Like YouTube is something I did since I was nine years old, which is crazy. Like starting just as a kid, um, all the way up until I was 21. So when I talk about YouTube to people, I’ve never really known a life without YouTube, which is why this is so interesting to me. And we’re in this generation now where everyone is filming, everyone’s talking to a camera, everyone’s a content creator, and I could not be happier. Um, and then shortly after moving away from YouTube, because I retired from that in 2021, I moved into the realm of TikTok and I became a TikTok specialist by job title. 

So that was that was that was not just what I call myself. Uh that’s my actual job title, which is cool. Um, so I basically go and help businesses understand how to use TikTok and make it work for them essentially and how I can help them get impact on TikTok. Um very fortunate to work at the UK’s biggest and best TikTok agency, which has been amazing and I absolutely love it there. So and um as of very recently, as of last Friday, I officially made my return to YouTube, which is why this podcast came at a great time. 

Um It’s my back, yeah, which is super exciting. So that’s pretty much me. Um hopefully that explains who I am just a little bit at least, but I’m sure we’ll get into it later on. 

Spencer: Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think that’ll kind of get our our listeners’ feet wet. Um, but yeah, I definitely want to dive deep into, you know, you mentioned retiring from YouTube and moving to TikTok. I think that’s super fascinating. 

So I’d love to talk about that. Um, but before we get to that, uh, you know, you said you started with YouTube around nine years old. What kind of got you into the YouTube industry? Like, was it just like a hobby that you wanted to do for fun, or were your friends doing it? How did you kind of get into it? 

Matt: Yeah, so I’ve never actually talked about this properly. So when I was nine, I remember I had a friend in school called Alex, and I I lost contact with this guy called Alex. We’ve not spoken since we were about 10. So hopefully we’ll be reunited someday. 

I have no idea where you are, but I hope we’ve been reunited. Um Alex was a good friend of mine because he started doing YouTube and he started making Club Penguin videos, and Club Penguin was an old game that we used to play when we were kids, and we loved it. And he came into school and was like, I’ve just started a YouTube channel. Um, and I was like, that’s awesome. 

So I went back the same day without asking my parents, and I was like, yeah, just sign up, I’m gonna do the same. And um, literally straight from like my old like I think it was like a Nokia laptop or something. It was so old, started literally making club penguin videos just of like recording the game, showing my club penguin toys and like basically doing all of that. So ever since I was a little kid, I’ve literally been in front of the camera, which is it’s it’s crazy because I’ve never known a life without it, which is so exciting. So that’s where it all started. And uh yeah, it just started from there. 

Spencer: That’s awesome. Uh Club Penguin is a great game. I used to play that too when I was a kid. Do you still have that that channel with the Club Penguin videos, or did you kind of like get rid of it? 

Matt: So I’ve so I’ve privatized it all, but like every single piece of content that I’ve put out there is out there on YouTube still. I’ve just unlisted a lot of it, just more so embarrassment for me because it was I was such a kid at it. 

Spencer: It’s so funny. Um, but I take on so much pride in YouTube. Like I don’t think I’ve ever deleted like a video, like as in like I, you know, get rid of this. Like I’ve I’ve kept everything there. Sometimes we’ve unlisted stuff just because I was just I was literally a child. 

Um, but yeah, it’s all it’s all out there, which is great. I’m very proud of my YouTube heritage, I guess you can call it. Like it’s such a big chapter of my life. I’m very proud of it. Yeah, that’s awesome. 

Let’s go ahead and move into uh, I guess the meat of what I want to talk about. But what was the reason for you? You know, you were super successful with YouTube and you moved to TikTok. What was kind of your reasoning from retiring from YouTube and moving to TikTok? 

Matt: Well, that’s that’s the interesting part, right? So I was never necessarily successful on YouTube, like, and I’m very open and honest about this. Like I was never a big YouTuber, I never had a massive channel. Um, but where I was lucky was I just had a lot of friends who were YouTubers. So the kind of gift that I learned from a young age is networking and more importantly, making friends, like make friends with everyone because you never know, like where that’s gonna help down the line. Obviously, I never did it for like the the gain or anything, but I just I love chatting to people, I love meeting new friends, and that was my whole like the online world was my world, and I loved it. Um, so I was never necessarily a big YouTuber, but I definitely use it to my advantage. 

So, like when I’d go into events, I was always like included or on the guest list essentially, just because I was lucky to know people, and I’m very fortunate to all these people that kind of helped me over the years. So when I gave that up, it was essentially a chance for me literally just to start a new life without having that behind me. And that’s the challenge that I wanted to take on. I just wanted to be Matt. 

I didn’t want to be Matt Stokes, the YouTuber anymore because I just I’d done everything. And it came at a time where I was like, I was just like, okay, you know what? I’m like, I’m just ending this journey. I wanted to end it on a high and just be like, you know, I’ve got such a cool uh last few years. I’m going into you know, going into my 20s, or I think I was turning 21, and I was like, I just wanted to try something different. Um, but the ironic thing was I was like, yeah, no more content, no more like social media. 

I’m just gonna be a normal guy, a normal guy who you know just goes to the pub, watches soccer, as you guys would say, and like just a normal guy. Um, but that didn’t happen because within three months of me retiring, uh, I got a call, and the call was like, hey, you applied to be a uh you applied for one of the jobs at a TikTok agency, which is where I work now. And I was like, Yes, I definitely remember applying to that. 

I was just scrolling on LinkedIn, just like apply, apply, apply, apply, apply. And I was like, Yeah, sure. Um, and the beauty of that story is it actually came through on a phone call, and I very rarely answer the phone. Like, I’m just tipping I’m a typical like anxious 2020 year old who was like, any phone call must be bad, so do not answer. Um, but for some reason, I still remember it to this day. I was walking in a town called Birmingham in the UK, and I remember getting a call, and I was like, that’s weird. So I answered it, and that was my now current boss, which is like, oh my god, I’m so glad I answered that phone call because it’s been such a journey. Um, and that’s where everything started. 

The world of TikTok, it was uh completely new to me. But also I had like elements of my old life, which I brought forward to it, and I think that’s what really kind of helped me progress into this new world. 

Spencer: Yeah, definitely. So there wasn’t necessarily, or maybe maybe you can correct me, but there wasn’t necessarily any draw to TikTok, but it was like a job opportunity that kind of led you to TikTok. Is that kind of how you’d phrase it? 

Matt: Pure coincidence, other than like me and my friends would occasionally like um post on TikTok as a hobby. I remember two of my friends used to run a community, and they would just post about celebrity news, and they’re good friends, George and Geordie, the guys were cool, and they would basically would talk about all celebrity news, and they got me involved, and I’d I’d make some bits of content, but I was never as good as them. 

And then one of the one of the friends I mentioned, then he actually worked for a TikTok agency himself. So I always had that like urge, like, huh? That sounds really fun. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds cool. So when I got the job, I was like, Oh, I do what he does now. 

This is so exciting. So he was always like a like my friend is always like a hero to me, and he’s never he’s never known that. So hopefully he hears this and finds out. Um, but he’s like, yeah, he was just like kind of like a role model to me because I was like, man, I want to do what he does, it looks so cool. And now I’m in the space. I’m like, I can confirm it is very cool. 

Spencer: Yeah, yeah. So you you’ve been in both platforms now. You were in the world of YouTube, and now you’re in the world of TikTok. What like when you made that transition? What was the most surprising uh difference? If there was one from switching platforms, 

Matt: I think for me, the big thing was like this was before the like Mr. Beastification of the internet, which is obviously like the whole thing that we’re in now. So before that, the biggest shock to me was like, okay, I’ve gone from like 10, 15, 20 minutes storytelling to now one minute or even less than that. And you kind of learn naturally, like progress from doing it again, and like all content creators have experiences, they have to learn how to tell their story just as well, but in a short frame of time. And I think to me, that was the biggest shock because I was like, ah, I’m used to making 15 minute videos here. How am I meant to have the same uh emotional impact that I do? And I think it’s something that people are still trying to figure out, but there are a lot of creators out there who have cracked it who you can watch a video from so many different creators, it’s 30 seconds long, and you’re they’re crying, like, oh my god, this is crazy. Yeah, I think yeah, that was the biggest shock. It was it was the length of videos. I was like, how am I gonna do this? But thankfully, we we did figure it out. 

Spencer: Yeah, that that definitely makes sense. I don’t know if I’ve said this on our our on our show, but I kind of wish a vertical video didn’t make an existence or like didn’t come about. Uh there might be a hard take. Uh, but I feel like our attention spans have like gotten shorter and shorter because of because of vertical videos and TikToks and yeah, all of that. But you know, in another way, maybe it’s increased our ability to tell stories really quickly, which could be a good thing. I don’t know. 

Matt: Yeah, that was another thing as well. Like going from filming all my life with a camera, like a big setup to now filming on a phone. That was a big one. And like, especially in my role now, at the very start, at least, when we’d rock up to shoots with brands, and they’d be like, Oh, so how many of your production team are coming? We’re like, just one with a phone. And we’re like, What? 

What sorry, what do you mean? And we’re like, no, no, just trust us. Like, let us cook. Like, trust me, it’ll be fine. And they were like, huh, you know, we’re not sure about this. We’re used to big TV productions. 

And we’re like, well no, just trust us. And that was like the big shock. Whereas now it’s normal because everyone’s filming and it’s amazing. It’s so beautiful to see. Everyone is making content. Like it’s so exciting. What an exciting time for us to be alive. 

Spencer: Yeah, it is very exciting. Um, I feel like there’s something new around the corner every day. So a little bit more about TikTok and YouTube. Is there anything that TikTok does that YouTube doesn’t that like you saw as you’ve been kind of on the TikTok platform? 

Matt: Well, I mean, everything has changed so much now. Like when I first moved to TikTok, TikTok was still pretty new. Like, obviously, Instagram reels were kind of a thing, but they were following like quite slowly behind TikTok. Whereas now, I think even even WhatsApp has some form of like scrolling, like everything has it because of because of TikTok. 

That’s what’s crazy. Like, I know obviously YouTube Shorts and Reels and everything is the thing now. And that was the kind of that was the biggest shock to me how quickly other platforms are to adapt, normally followed behind what TikTok does. And I will give them a lot of credit because TikTok are the innovators. 

Like there’s not many things I can think of that TikTok have done that other platforms haven’t copied and been like, oh damn, we need to get on this right now. And I think that was a shock to me. It was just like, okay, so it’s not just an app that is kind of made a little impact. Like it has made an impact beyond belief. And up until that, you know, there’s pros and cons of all, like you said earlier, our attention spans are pretty bad. 

Mine especially, mine is so bad, it’s unreal. And I think that’s been a big shock for me, learning, like, especially getting back into YouTube. Like, okay, it’s not just the whole like you can tell a you know long-winded story and people can wait for the build-up because now it has to be like attention, uh, something to grab attention again, again, again, again, again, again, again. And that’s the world we live in now. 

And I actually bit of a hot take. I genuinely think we’re gonna kind of go backwards because I’ve seen a lot of creators do um more long form again and the very raw long form where it’s literally like clip, clip, clip, clip. And I think that’s the world we’re gonna slowly get back into. So yeah, that’s been the biggest shock for me. That’s been the biggest shock. 

Spencer: Yeah, yeah, that definitely I you know, I kind of agree with that. Take, you know, I think people will eventually get so sick of well, maybe maybe not everyone. Saying everyone might be a yeah even hotter take. But I definitely think some people are gonna go back to long form because they’re sick of the really short stuff. But yeah, something I wanted to add about that I’ve noticed with TikTok, you know, I scroll quite a bit. 

That’s why my attention span is getting worse. Um, but I I notice the algorithm is slightly different from TikTok to YouTube. You know, I think I I may have mentioned this on our show before, but one of the things that I love about TikTok is one, it’s authentic, but sometimes people will share like a real life story that happened with them, like them and their neighbor that was dramatic or something. 

And it needs an update, like they need to update the story. Yeah, and I don’t necessarily like follow the person on TikTok. I don’t really follow people, but as I’m scrolling, I’ll eventually, you know, TikTok will bring me back to that story and give me the updated video. I feel like the algorithm is really good at like remembering what you sat there and watched, and I feel like that’s slightly different on other vertical video platforms. 

Yeah. I think YouTube long form is kind of similar, like it checks out like what you watch and kind of recommend similar stuff. Uh, but that’s that’s just something I’ve noticed with TikTok that I I really enjoy. 

Matt: Yeah, it’s true. Like, um, I think the the beauty thing that I say to a lot of people is I’m like, your favorite TikToker I’ve never heard of before, and you’ve never heard of mine, because that’s not a bad thing. That’s because we’re in a generation where there are so many, and I mean so many different content creators now. Like it’s not a thing where we’re all synchronized and obviously there’s good and bad things about it. Like, I would love that like we’re in that stage where like everyone kind of watched the same thing again, and it was like, oh my god, did you watch the latest Casey Neistat video last night? And everyone’s like, Oh my god, yeah, it’s amazing. 

Whereas now everyone has their own Casey Nice that I find that so fascinating. Like, everyone has their own heroes that they come back to, and TikTok in this in particular, you follow these creators and these influencers, and they are your big role models. But like they’ll say the name when you’re like, uh I don’t know who that is, but then they might give a prompt and say, Oh, it’s the guy who makes videos with his cat where the cat does funny stuff, and you’re like, Oh, yeah, yeah, I’ve seen him, yeah. 

I watch him all the time. And that’s the crazy part now. People don’t remember names necessarily anymore. They remember like the connotations and like the the like what they see on screen. And I find that so interesting when you’re having these talks with people, they’re like, Oh, yeah, I do know that guy. Yeah, I watch him all the time. And it’s like, mate, I’ve said his name so many times, and you didn’t you didn’t recognize it once. It’s so interesting. 

Spencer: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Uh, I think that’s partly why, you know, YouTube used to have the YouTube rewind. I think that’s why they got rid of it, is because there’s just so many creators that it was like impossible to include everyone. Yeah. Um that everyone watches. So yeah, that that makes sense. Speaking of YouTube, you said at the beginning that you’re making a comeback to YouTube. Is that right? 

Matt: I did. I made it, it was on Friday, my official return in nearly five years, which is crazy. 

Spencer: That’s awesome. So, what made you, I guess, come back to YouTube? 

Matt: Oh, I’m so glad you asked because it’s a yeah, really interesting story. So, in Jan, in I think it was January 2025, there’s a YouTuber I watched, and he basically disappeared from YouTube for a while, and he made a comeback to YouTube and he’d done a body transformation. So basically came back jacked, which I was like, man, that is so cool. 

Like, I would love to be jacked, you know, really good shape, fitness-wise, and everything. And it always stuck to me, and I was like, this is my favorite video I’ve probably ever watched. Um, and the brand behind it were called Zila, the guy was called David Obreck, and like two of my favorite creators and like brands, like, I love it. Anyway, a few months later, I was on a working holiday uh in Malago with a bunch of other founders, and there was a guy there who kind of specialized in fitness and transformations and stuff, and I was like, huh, that’s interesting. Like, I was obsessed with that a few months ago. 

That’s crazy. Um, and then a few months on, we became close. I started working with him doing like storytelling for his brand. And he was like, Hey, do you want to be a client of mine as well? 

And like we can help you do some form of transformation. And I was almost like, what? I was like, Wait, I was like, you don’t understand how badly I’ve wanted to do this. So I was like, man, if I was ever gonna return to YouTube, I don’t think there’s anything better than documenting the next six months of my life to see if it’s possible or not. If I can go from like being fairly out of shape to in pretty good shape, and I was like, I’m gonna I literally brought a camera for it, and I was like, if I’m gonna do this, we’re gonna do this properly. So I documented every single day of the transformation whilst having a nine to five, whilst running a business on the side, whilst traveling to different countries, events, you know, trying to like um eat go on dates with my girlfriend and go to nice restaurants and eat out and have takeaways and also follow a football team very closely. And I wanted to capture everything, the ups and downs and everything. So I spent those six months literally telling everyone under the sun, like, oh, I’m filming my transformation video, do you want to be in it? 

Sort of thing, telling everyone about it. And the beauty of that was when I released it on Friday, it was finally done. Transformation was complete, the video was out. 

It took me an ages to work on because it was terabytes worth of footage, like nearly three terabytes worth of footage. Oh every single person that I told the video about, like in person, in passing, came back to watch it, and they were like, Matt, of course we were gonna watch it, and I could not believe it. And it kind of showed me the beauty of like networking and marketing and and putting yourself out there and talking about something you believe in. Um, and I like to obviously don’t want to spoil it for people that haven’t watched it, but the video is somewhat of a success. I was very, very happy with like not just the performance of the video, I was very happy with the actual video itself. And I was just amazed by the the personal hype that you can do from yourself. Like I just mentioned it in passing to people, and yeah, they all came back to watch it. 

Every sick, every single person who watched my video. Thank you. Because there was no better return to YouTube I could have asked for than you seeing my journey on the pretty much the biggest journey of my life. 

Spencer: Wow, that’s awesome. I need to go watch this video now. Is this is this on your main channel, or did you start a new channel? 

Matt: I started a new channel, it’s called Be More Matt, and I actually thought about this a lot. There I wanted to post it on my old channel, but after thinking about it for so long, I was like, that channel is something I’m so proud of. I’m so proud of where it is, and I just wanted to leave it because it’s got so many beautiful memories, and literally my whole like even all my teenage years, like everything is on that channel. 

I’m so vulnerable, happy moments, sad moments. And I was like, that chapter’s done, and I’m very proud of that chapter. So let’s start a new chapter where you know I’m I’m an adult now, I’m you know, I’m 26 now, I’ve got a cat, I’ve got a girlfriend, like I’m an entrepreneur, I have a I mean, like all these things. I was like, this is who I am now. So I kind of wanted to start from scratch and be like, this is me. So channel is called Be More Matt. Um, which yeah, just had a nice ring to it, so I just kept that. 

Spencer: Awesome, awesome. Cool. Well, make sure to go check out that video. I know I’m gonna check that out after this. Uh it sounds really good. Please do. Yeah, Matt, thanks for being on the show. You’ve had a lot of great insights on TikTok and YouTube, and I’m excited that you’re you’re making a comeback to YouTube. Um, I’ve got one more question for you, and this is kind of one that I ask all of our guests on the show. Throughout your career on YouTube or TikTok making content, has there been a mistake you’ve made that you’ve learned from that maybe our audience could benefit from? 

Matt: Yeah, oh, that’s crazy because it came to mind straight away. I mean, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my in my life. I’m very open and honest. But in terms of content, the biggest mistake I ever made, uh, it’s when I was 17 and I was on a really like consistent streak, and my channel was growing like crazy, and like I was very proud because I was getting getting good numbers and everything, and numbers aren’t everything by any means. But for you know, after year, nearly 10 years of graft, I was getting nice results. And I said to myself, okay, I’m gonna take a break, I’m gonna do my exams, da-da-da-da-da, then I’ll come back. And I was never the same after that break, not for anything bad that happened, but because I lost momentum. So, my advice to anyone out there, especially in the short film world that we’re in now where you know consistency is encouraged, never let momentum die. Keep building, keep building. 

Obviously, look after yourself and prioritize. But if you want to make content your career and like something, you know, that if you want that to be your thing, follow that momentum and keep chasing it and keep pushing it and just see what you’re capable of. And that’s one thing that I will like, I’ll never like kind of regret necessarily because I don’t really, you know, everything happens for a reason, but yeah, that’s one thing that will always come to mind. I’m like, damn, if I would have just carried on posting, you know, things could have been very differently. Um, but yeah, so that’s the thing. So momentum, keep it up. It’s like it will be worth it. I promise you. 

Spencer: Yes, I really like that. I completely agree. Habits are are great, especially for making content. So thank you for sharing that. Anytime. Um, and Matt, thanks for being on the show. I really appreciate it. Anytime. 

Matt: I’ve absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for having me. It’s been so good getting the chat. And uh, who knows? Maybe we’ll do this again in a year’s time and we’ll see where we’re both at, and it’ll be uh be fun to do a comparison. 

Spencer: Yeah, that would that would be awesome. 

Matt: I’d love that. It’s awesome. Well, thank you so much. 

Spencer: Yeah, if our viewers want to reach out to you, uh, what would be the best way to do that? 

Matt: This is really niche. LinkedIn. I love LinkedIn. It’s just my name, Matt Stokes. I love LinkedIn. It’s such a fun platform for me. So yeah, reach out to me at all. Yes, I never thought I’d say that. Like so. 

Spencer: No, I I use LinkedIn too. I think it’s uh it’s great as well. So yeah. Make sure to check out Matt and his new YouTube video. Um, and thanks to our listeners and watchers for taking out this episode. Really appreciate it. Uh, make sure to like and subscribe for more content like this where we talk to real creators. And a little plug for ourselves if you need help making videos, feel free to reach out to us at creatorluxe.com. And we’ll see you in the next one.