About Rachel Oates

Education & Background

I grew up in a small market town in South Yorkshire called Penistone. That’s small-me in that photograph! Look how weird I was…

I went to secondary school (11 – 16) and sixth form (16 – 18) at Penistone Grammar School (which is not half as fancy as it sounds, and definitely isn’t an actual grammar school). For my A Levels I studied English Literature, Media Studies, Sociology, Biology and, the mandatory, General Studies.

In 2011, I moved away to live near Coventry and studied at the University of Warwick. I studied a first year of Biomedical Science with the intention to specialise in neurology, but then realised that’s not what I wanted to do with my life. That first year I got to study a great range of topics including genetics, microbiology, virology, biochemistry and physiology, to name a few.

So, I switched course to BSc Management with a focus on Marketing, however I also took modules in neuroscience, psychology & consumer behaviour, economics (not my strongest subject!), accounting & finance, morality and ethics in business, and a really wide range of different topics. Honestly, it was a fantastic course that really let me explore a huge variety of topics.

During this time I also took a year out to work as the head of marketing for an online book retailer. I returned to Warwick to complete the final year of my degree and graduated with a 2:1 in 2016.

Work

Youtube’s a relatively new part of my life. I never really expected my channel to take off in anyway – I didn’t think anyone would care all that much about anything I had to say but you guys proved me wrong.

My first proper paying job (not just the volunteer stuff I did before then) was working in a local pharmacy and photo printing lab in Penistone when I was 14. I stayed there for 4 years, also working a second cashier job while I was at sixth form, until I moved away to uni in 2011.

I did a whole bunch of jobs during my time at uni: I did some freelance photography work, worked in Leamington Spa’s grottiest bar, worked in a jewellery shop, and interned at The Student Room, to name a few.

In 2014, I took a break from my degree and moved to Oxford to take a head of marketing role for an online book retailer. It was the kind of job that taught me a hell of a lot about marketing but I also just learnt a lot from the whole experience. I moved to a completely new area and knew no one, lived by myself without housemates for the first time (which I loved!), struggled on the tightest budget I’ve ever been on and generally had a pretty tough time. 18 months later when I decided to go back to uni and finish my degree, I felt tougher and more confident than I ever had.

After I moved to London in 2016, I got a marketing job straight away but just didn’t feel like the small company I was working for was right for me so on a bit of a whim… I quit. I am still so grateful that I was in a position at the time where I could do that, not everyone gets that kind of choice, I know past and present-me wouldn’t be able to, so I was very lucky at the time. I decided I wanted to work for myself so did a bit of freelance work doing digital marketing, web design, graphic design, a bit of photography. Eventually I started blogging for fun, then started making a few Youtube videos here and there.

Mostly they were videos just for myself at first but as I started talking about more topics, people started to watch…

Youtube

Making Youtube videos has been an incredible, terrifying, fun, draining [add almost any other adjective you can think of in here!) experience which has continually pushed me to grow and be a better person.

I’ve not always made the right choices and there have been plenty of mistakes along the way but I’m continuing to learn and grown as a person and try to create better and better content all the time.

As I’ve said before, I usually make long-form and in-depth book reviews and educational content but sometimes, I need a little bit of a break and just want to make a short video for fun - usually something to do with makeup or art or my dog! I know these videos don’t get the same views as anything else but it’s not about that, it’s about giving myself time to just create something for fun and get a little creative. Some of the videos I’m most proud of or that I’ve worked the hardest one are one without many views and that’s ok. Numbers aren’t everything.

Youtube has made me question myself more than anything else in my life, but it’s also made me stronger in many ways and more considerate of other people’s feelings and lifestyles. My views and understanding are constantly evolving.

Criticism is tough to hear sometimes and sometimes it makes me sad, especially when I’m criticised for something I never intended but honestly, it has helped me grow as a person. You don’t always see the stuff that goes on behind the scenes and I don’t make a big deal or any public declarations about ‘I’m changing my mind about X’ because that just feels a bit performative and unnatural to me, but I always take people’s criticisms to heart and try and use them to grow as a person. I will always incorporate the things I’ve learnt into my new content whether this is by being more inclusive in my language, or making sure I mention points I might have missed out before, or just sharing a completely new viewpoint.

I can promise you, it is never my intention to make anyone feel left out or belittled or anything, so if I am messing up and saying the wrong thing - just let me know so I can fix it. I’m human and I’m fallible and sometimes I mess up: I don’t think things through or don’t understand how some things may be interpreted by other people, sometimes I mess up by misinterpreting others and their tone. These things happen but there’s never any malice behind them and I’m willing to work on them.