With millions of people having YouTube channels nowadays, it’s no simple feat to achieve even one-hundred subscribers. Due to this, some may be intimidated by these internet figures with thousands of followers; they may believe that these “e-celebrities” are stuck up, cocky, or are overall mean-spirited due to having huge fanbases. However, not all sizable YouTubers fall into this stereotype. Enter: Mondo Cool.

Mondo Cool is the screen name of a particular content creator who I’ve known personally for several months and has gathered over 140,000 subscribers in his approximate four years of having a YouTube channel. His content revolves around others’ fan-created webcomics set in or based upon the famous Japanese franchise, Dragon Ball. However, this was not always the case.

Initially, Mondo created and uploaded his own “what if” scenarios based on the Dragon Ball series. This continued until he realized how “… people have much better stories than me and they have illustrations!” He tried covering an existing story, which worked out for him, eventually resulting in him not producing his own stories anymore. He admitted that as much as this change was due to private reasons, he also stopped writing due to the difficulty of it. Mondo continued by saying that he also likes being able to give back to the community; he works with the creators to get their stories on his channel and pays them accordingly. “Well, if I’m getting paid for these at this point, I definitely want these people that put pen to paper to get their fair share of it as well,” he stated.

When it came to answering what his favorite part about being a YouTuber was, instead of a typical answer regarding his content, Mondo instead summed up his response into a single word that immediately made us both laugh: “Traffic… Getting out of traffic, not having to deal with rush hour.” This answer was more evidence pointing towards Mondo being a relatable, down-to-earth person. Additionally, a typical channel of his size is rare to interact with it’s fanbase, but Mondo talks with his fans on his official Discord server very frequently. In it, Mondo treats his fans like an actual person and not faceless statistics; he’ll converse with them as if he were talking to a personal friend.

As the interview progressed, his humbleness and honesty continued to present itself. When he noticed his channel was starting to grow, he stated, “… I wish I could tell you that, you know, I partied, and I was so excited! But I was kind of just eyeballing it, like, ‘is- is this a prank’?” He didn’t celebrate his success, he simply took it as it was: a number was rising faster than before. From speaking to him originally several months ago, his success hasn’t changed him in any way. As the interview showed, he’s still very humble; he could very well be a role model for other YouTubers to remember that they’re still humans like the rest of us.

“I’m just a lucky guy, that’s all it is,” was Mondo’s explanation as to his humble attitude, “… just being away [my old job], being serious for so many years… All that pretentious nonsense, man, it’s a waste of time. Let your ego go.” 

He clearly learned from his experiences and evolved as a person because of them. He isn’t some fame-driven internet celebrity, as anyone can see from his mannerisms. He’s just a man, like the rest of us. No amount of success could change that.