Leroy with their 2026 Shorty AwardI started on YouTube in 2008 uploading Call of Duty clips. Terrible ones, actually. Like any kid my age back then. A few years later my "Lucky Gamer" clips did millions of views — dumb luck dressed up as skill, and I knew just enough to know I didn't fully understand why.
Then I ran a gaming channel to 30,000 subscribers. Then a sketch channel that face-planted so hard it left a mark. I learned more from the flop in retrospect. But either way: I was in LOVE with creating videos, and seeing numbers on my screen go up and getting comments from people all over the world. I was addicted, and I couldn't stop.
A few years later, I met Thomas and joined CFX, making gaming films with a lot of visual effects. We did well, grew our channel, and were a well known name in the niche back then. Our videos were shown on major broadcasting channels worldwide, and we did some amazing collaborations with other creators. One of our videos got ripped and reposted on Facebook, where it did 90 million views. Ninety million. Stolen. Still salty about all the missed revenue there.
Over time, CFX turned from a simple YouTube channel into a creative agency. Eight years, fifteen full-time people, and YouTube movies made for Ubisoft, EA, Disney, KIA, Nissan and many more. Somewhere in that time period I even wrote the first big draft of an indie movie about World War II called 'Grenzeloos Verraad' that ended up on Netflix. Quite the ride!
All while this was happening, I was still helping friends who made YouTube videos with their channels. From coming up with the ideas, to thumbnails, to storylines: Looking back, I was a YouTube strategist before it even was a thing.
During that time I realized I loved helping other YouTubers a lot more than creating videos on my own channel. Instead of the mundane task of making videos in your own niche every single week, I got to tickle my ADHD brain by hopping from niche to niche, eliminating the most taxing things from my plate and working to my strengths.
After years of CFX and a sidestep with a gaming branch within CFX, I realized YouTube strategist was becoming an actual role, and I wanted back into the game full-time.
So, I sold my shares in CFX and went solo back to my first love: YouTube. After a short stint of helping creator friends for free and accumulating results, I got paid doing what I love most.
Today I work with around a dozen channels every single week. From dog rescue to wealth management to comedy, storytime channels and everything in between: You name the niche, I've probably stared at its analytics until my eyes hurt. I've been involved in billions of organic views, and I'm the first freelance YouTube strategist ever credited on serious industry awards. I counted up until 2.1 billion views, but it's quite a bit more now; I just stopped counting at some point.
After years of honing my craft, I developed the IDEAL Framework: a consistent way to grow any channel in any niche. Thousands of YouTubers around the world have used it, and I couldn't be more proud of the results it got so many people.
In 2025 I moved my family from the Netherlands to Austin, Texas to be in the timezone of the people I get to work with. I'm a husband and a father, and I've never sacrificed either for any of this.
I will probably be a YouTube Strategist in some capacity until the day I die. I would not want it any other way. :)