Meet The Man Behind The What Yuh Know Series, Daniel Loveless.
For those of you who may have never heard of or seen videos from the What Yuh Know series, it's a series that was created by Daniel Roberts where he travels around Trinidad and Tobago asking questions in an attempt to find out exactly what the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago know. The series has become extremely popular on Facebook with some videos amassing over half a million views, the page has also achieved over one hundred and fifty-thousand likes. The series is well known for it's ridiculous and for the most part humorous responses and it's what draws most individuals towards the series, including myself. Daniel is a young individual that I believe a lot of people look up to and adore and I just personally wanted to hear his story. Daniel and his team work hard to put out new videos every single week for his enormous fan base and I truly believe that being able to learn about his story and his passion could inspire other young people to pursue what they want in life. Life has a lot to offer and individuals like Daniel are grabbing life by the throat and making sure that they get everything they want from life. He may be a young man but he is already building a legacy that could live on for generations to come. With all that being said I thought it only made sense for me to try to get to know the man behind the project and find out how it all began. I recently got the opportunity to interview Daniel and learn about him and series. I hope you guys enjoy the article, leave a comment and share it with your friends so they can do the same. I also wanna let you guys know that there will be new articles very soon. Anyone that has individuals that they would like to see an article on or poetry that they would like to submit to the website can email me at ricardobarasa98@gmail.com or just message me on Facebook and we can discuss what you guys have in mind.
1. Could you tell us about yourself such as what schools you went to and so on?
My name is Daniel Roberts, I go by the alias Daniel Loveless on Facebook and I attended the Sangre Grande Educational Institute. I'm currently pursuing my business management degree at the University Of The Southern Caribbean, I'm in my third year there.
2. Who or what inspired you to start the "What Yuh Know" series?
The first reason I decided to start the series is because I always had a desire to interact with people and make people laugh. Secondly, I attended a church in Arima where a guy approached me and told me that we should go on the road to do interviews. I told him It was a great idea and we decided to call it "What Yuh Know" because I wanted to find out what people knew about the country. From there I registered the company and continued producing the show.
3. How old were you when you first started?
I was seventeen years of age when I first started the series.
4. Was your family supportive when you told them you wanted to start the series?
Yes, I come from a single parent household and my mom was and still is very supportive of my decision to start the show.
5. Have you ever felt like giving up? If the answer is yes then how did you overcome that feeling?
Indeed! I have felt like giving up in the past because of the fact that it's a bit difficult to deal with the negative aspects of people who dislike the show, so yes, at times I have felt like giving up. The thing that stopped me from giving up and pushes me is the fact that I have a very large following of over one hundred and seventy-thousand people that love me very much and are waiting for a new episode every week. I decided that my supporters were more important to me than the critics
6. Was it hard for you to get comfortable behind the camera and maintain high energy while being entertaining or did that all come natural to you?
It did come natural to me because that is essentially how my personality is 24/7. Anyone who deals with me can testify to my personality being very open and I'm always a very vibrant individual.
7. Do you think people give ridiculous answers on purpose in an attempt to end up in an episode?
I've had people give ridiculous answers just to be seen as ridiculous or funny on camera. I don't have an explanation as to why someone would want to do that but what I can guarantee you is that 90% of the content we generate are authentic answers and these people do believe that those are the answers to the questions presented to them. However, what I do to bridge the gap between the not-knowing and the knowing is try to educate them and teach them the answers. Our mission is to educate through entertainment.
8. Now that the series is so popular, is it hard to get genuine replies that the series has become known for?
I think people are indeed cautious as to what answers they give now that the series has become so popular. However, it isn't that hard to get genuine responses from people. Due to the kind of personality that I have it's easy to deal with people and make them feel comfortable behind the camera to give genuine responses.
9. How do you manage to focus on both school and the series?
I manage to focus on school and the series by just basically prioritising and good bit of time management.
10. How long did it take to actually experience success with the series?
I believe it took about a year or so for me to actually experience success and prosper in a financial manner with the show by getting sponsors on board.
11. What was the most challenging part for you when it comes to running the series?
I think the most challenging part of running the series is the editing, getting the content is not really that difficult but when we as a team sit and get into the editing process it becomes difficult to find reaction to put between responses especially due to the fact that there isn't an infinite amount of reactions to put and there is only so much times you can use a reaction before it becomes boring. Another difficult part is trying to decide what would be funny because we can't assume what would be funny to the audience. Sometimes we as a team may think something isn't funny and when the episode is released it's extremely funny to the audience and goes viral.
12. Did you start the series on your own or did you have a team?
Yes, I did start the series off on my own but it has since grown and we now have a team of individuals who are responsible for every different aspect of running the series. We have an editor, a graphic designer, a creative director and I also have a manager who deals with the administrative aspect of the business.
13. Where do you see the series in five years time?
I see it growing into something major internationally, I have a goal where I would like to take the show country to country instead of location to location within Trinidad and Tobago. I would also like to bring some more esteemed clients on board as part of the show within the near future.
14. What is the most memorable moment for you with regards to the series
In all honesty, it's what is most memorable to the viewers that ends up being most memorable to the team and I but I think the most memorable moment would have to be when I asked an individual "A person from Trinidad is called a Trinidadian so what would you call a person from England?" and the person responded with
"An Englanian." Another memorable moment is when I asked a person "What does the K in KFC stand for?" and he responded with "chicken."
15. How do you respond to people that say you profit off of uneducated and uninformed individuals?
Usually I respond to people like that by listening to their concerns and then try to make the show better. I cannot stop producing the show because people dislike it but I can take people's concerns into consideration and try to improve the show in some way or another. My best response to people like that is that I listen, I learnt through reading that you must seek to understand then to be understood, so I try to understand people'e perspective then I use that intel to improve upon the show.
16. Do you have any major plans for the series before the end of the year?
Indeed, we are working to take the show on a regional level rather than a local level so before the end of the year viewers can expect to have the show on a regional level and well from there we would like to take the show international.
17. Do you have any advice for the readers when it comes to achieving success?
One of the major lessons that I have learnt while producing the show is that on the opposite side of fear there is nothing. People often hold back due to fear but you can never know if you will succeed unless you try.
For those of you who have never seen or heard about the series you can check it out on facebook at the link below