Julia from The Little Adventures is the next feature in our spotlight series. Read on to find out more…
For our spotlight series we wanted to highlight incredible women who are changing the lives of guinea pigs.
Our second content creator is Julia. You may recognize Julia from her YouTube channel The Little Adventures. Julia documents her journey with her 5 guinea pigs creating cute and entertaining posts and videos following their lives. Her videos focus on care, diet and health as well as fun activities. Julia started making YouTube videos whilst still in university, mainly as a creative outlet and for her mom to follow along.
We caught up with Julia to find out how they fell in love with guinea pigs and began their incredible journey on YouTube!
When did you first fall in love with Guinea Pigs and Why?
I’ve loved guinea pigs ever since I can remember! My parents got me my first guinea pigs when I was around 5 and I’ve been obsessed ever since! I love their big personalities - for such a tiny pet, they sure know what and when they want something! They’re such confident little goofballs.
What do you think the future of the Guinea Pig space looks like and the role of women within it?
I think the guinea pig space will continue to grow and become more diverse! With more and more platforms emerging for content creation I feel like there’ll be more and different formats that educate, and show what guinea pig care looks like.
People commented saying: Really, guinea pigs? Isn’t this something for children?
What are your future plans and goals regarding your career?
I want to keep making videos that I hope will bring people enjoyment. If my videos get only one person to throw out a tiny pet store cage and get a big enough cage I’m happy.
I’m also currently pursuing a doctorate in English and American literature. I’m almost done though so I’m hoping to dedicate more time to my channel and guinea pigs in the very near future!
What advice would you give to other women wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Always be 1) consistent 2) persistent and 3) stay true to yourself!
With the Guinea Pig space being so niche, what challenges have you faced and overcome in your career?
The guinea pig community on YouTube used to be much smaller. As my channel grew I became very much aware of how much I was sharing and how much I had opened up about my private life. Also there’s this weird stigma around making YouTube videos outside of the creator bubble! In the time period where I had just graduated from university and had started a new job I felt very uneasy with showing my face online and telling people that I spent considerable time making videos about my guinea pigs! Saying this sometimes led to smirks, like: Really, guinea pigs? Isn’t this something for children? You make videos about this?! It took me a while to learn to deal with this, or rather to develop the confidence to outright say that I make these videos, that I love making videos and guinea pigs, and that I am proud of this! I don’t mind showing my face anymore or sharing about my personal life.
Making guinea pig videos, being invested in guinea pig care and loving these furry potatoes isn’t childish!
What barriers do you feel are still left to overcome personally as a woman in business and in the Guinea Pig space?
Making guinea pig videos, being invested in guinea pig care and loving these furry potatoes isn’t childish! There’s some weird infantilization happening - both around advocating for small pets and making YouTube videos!
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Don’t apologize for pursuing what you’re passionate about! I used to oscillate between over
explaining what I’m doing on YouTube and hiding it. Now I just say: I make videos about guinea pigs and advocate for their care.
Quote or statement you live by? What is the most important piece of advice you have been given?
The poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost! If you ever feel like ruminating about a decision made in the past and wonder about what could have been- go read this poem!
CONCLUSION
We absolutely loved interviewing Julia for this feature and we wanted to say a huge thank you for taking part! To see more of Julia visit her platform Julia from The Little Adventures.
