BIG Ideas with Fenitas

We caught up with Spotter Studio member Joey a.k.a “The Smoothie Guy” and creator behind Fenitas to learn more about his creator journey, learnings, and big ideas he gained along the way to 1M subs and over 1B views. After reading this piece, If you want learn how to make the best smoothies in the world, learn more about Joey’s journey or just say hi and connect dm him on Instagram at @fenitas.nl.

Fenitas’s Creator Journey

Q: Tell us about your channel! What niche are you in, and what type of videos do you make?

A: Fenitas are basically a combination of my surname which is Fenema and then the word, the Latin word for health is senitas. So I kind of combined my last name and, and the Latin word for health. That's kind of how I came up with it. I'm in a kind of a niche of its own, I guess, which is satisfying smoothies. It's kind of like asmr but then with smoothies I guess. I have a very expensive blender. It looks very satisfying when I blend my smoothies and then I add natural food coloring, basically freeze dried food or plants and it just really looks satisfying when the colors blend in.

‍

Q: Let’s start at the beginning: why did you first start creating YouTube videos? What inspired you to hit publish for the first time?

A:  So for me I had an E-commerce brand. That's kind of how I started. So Fenitas was first an E commerce brand actually because I just wanted to do something in E commerce. That's something I was passionate about when I was young, when I was like 22 and I was selling those powders that I use in my videos now as I was selling basically freeze dried dragon fruit and freeze dried matcha, stuff like that. And I was kind of making YouTube videos to promote my E-commerce store basically. So I was like, maybe if I make these videos organically I can sell my products without having to, you know, pay Facebook, pay Google to get my product out there. And then those videos completely exploded and now I'm a full time YouTuber and I don't even know how it happened basically.

‍

Q: If you achieved everything you’ve ever wanted with your channel, what would that look like?

A: So for me, last year was kind of like my dream come true in terms of how big it became in the social aspect. I had over 1 billion views in a year and I reached 1 million subscribers and I went close to 2 million subscribers. So it was like I basically achieved all of my goals in terms of how many people viewed my videos. But I didn't start this to get viewed across the globe. I did this because I wanted to show people that healthy foods can be fun and colorful. And everyone was watching my videos, but no one's really making them. So I was like, for me it's like my biggest dream is that everyone actually makes my smoothies as well. 

So this year I was like, I don't care about views anymore. I'm just going to make videos that I'm way more passionate about. So that's why I've been making more Dutch videos with voiceovers which are actually recipe videos. And now I get so many DMS of people like oh, I made this smoothie. It was so good and I'd rather have one person sending me a dm like “oh, I made your smoothie was amazing” than like a billion views. That's like this has way more impact with this. And so for me that's like the biggest dream. AndI would love to do like maybe one day have a smoothie pop up bar somewhere and you are in a crazy place. Like let's say I go to New York or Los Angeles and there I just have a pop up smoothie bar. I can make them for all of my followers and really meet them in real life. And I just want to inspire people to live a more healthy lifestyle.  

‍

Q: Help us fill in the blank: “The best ideas come when I’m______”

A: So for me that's when I'm in nature. 

So I try to be, you know, hiking as much as possible. Last year for example, I went on a camping trip just by myself. I'm just in the middle of nowhere in the woods. Basically. I'm just sitting behind a big tree, stuff like that. And then I'm just thinking and not just about YouTube but my head tends to go to YouTube a lot. So then I come up with the best recipes and video ideas and then I don't have my phone with me so I can't really put it anywhere. But it's all in my head. And then the days after that I really benefit from that. So try to spend as much time in nature and it tends to be really good for business as well. 

‍

Q: How has Spotter Studio helped your channel? What do you love most about it?

A: So for me it's super difficult to be successful with long form because I'm a shorts creator. 

I was very successful with shorts. And then you're like, oh, I get so many subscribers now. Let's make long form videos too. And then you're like, you're uploading your first video and it flops completely. It's like no one watches it basically. So I think Spotter Studio really helps you focus on packaging. And I didn't really think about packaging, I was like, people watch my smoothie videos so they will watch the long form version as well. Which is true if you package it the right way. So I've really noticed a huge difference if I really think like the more time I spend thinking about titles and thumbnails and the better it performs. So I mean, for a video that I don't spend a lot of time on, it might get like a thousand views. Whereas if I spend a lot of time on the ideation, then it might be like 20,000 views or maybe even 100,000 views. So it performs way better. And when I don't use Spotter Studio, for example, my last video that I uploaded, I didn't use Spotter Studio because I was like, oh, I got this good idea. Like, I kind of just found something on YouTube itself that I was like, oh, let's try this Idea, but didn't put that much thought on it. And then it kind of flopped. And the video before that, I actually used hours and hours of product Studio and then it got over 100,000 views. 

It was a very clear difference. And now I know that I need to stick to it. 

Fenitas’s BIG Ideas

Q: What book, resource or creator expert have you recommended most to other creators, and why?

A: I recommended the book that I read right before going to VidSummit and it was... what was the name again… Hyperfocus from Chris Bailey. I feel like it's undervalued. A lot of people talk about that. And for me it was really viable because it talks about productivity, but also how you can be productive by taking a break and by doing certain things that help you relax a little bit more. One of the things he talked about was doing things that are fun, that kind of stimulate your brain, but not too much. So for me, actually I started playing cozy video games, but it helped really well for me to kind of relax. And that was one of the things that were in his book. For me, that's been a game changer. It sounds small, but for me finding such an easy way to relax where it's not like really being in the forest, but like just playing a cozy video game, that's been kind of a game changer for me, actually. 

‍

Q: What $100-or-less creator tool or purchase has made a surprising impact on your channel? 

A:  Good question. So actually I went to the store. I'm not sure what the equivalent of that in the US would be, but it's like where you buy furniture. And I bought some kind of flooring for your kitchen and then kind of like fake marble. And I use that to fill my videos basically. And it really helped to kind of create a studio, like a small kitchen. I have a very ugly kitchen, so I can't really record my smoothies there. But now I have like, suddenly I have like a small piece where I can kind of record my videos where it looks really fancy. And it gave me way more options in terms of recording something. 

‍

And it was like $20 or something. So sometimes something very easy can make your videos just look a lot better, giving you more freedom to record stuff that you prefer. And sometimes you don't have to get, like, a $10,000 kitchen. You can just find something easy like this, and it just works. 

‍‍

Q: What’s a video flop that taught you an important lesson on your creator journey? 

A: Yeah. So a lot of my long forms at first were flopped because I didn't focus on packaging, but I feel like that's not really been a super important lesson. Of course it was an important lesson, but maybe for me, one of the most important lessons is that if you're successful at a certain format on your channel, you kind of have to stick to it a little bit. Because what I did when I really started growing, I was like, okay, people love watching my smoothie videos. So now I'm gonna make, like, recipe videos. I'm gonna do voiceover stuff like that. But people subscribe to my channel because they just want to see satisfying smoothies and kind of like a song behind them. That's kind of the format that works. And then you just have to double down on that. And whenever I want to do something that's different, so I want to use a voiceover or I want to really make an actual recipe video, then I have to put that on a different channel because people didn't subscribe for that. So I wish I could, but I just have really found that it doesn't work. So this channel is just satisfying smoothies, kind of like asmr. It's kind of like a faceless channel, I guess, in a way. So now I'm just having. I just have separate channels for, you know, more videos that have, like, more value. And that's something that's really been impactful for me. 

‍

Q: If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it (metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions of Creators) what would it say and why? 

A: For me, like, the biggest mistake, I guess, that I've ever made is just really isolating myself from other people. I was like, if I really focus on getting, you know, working as much as possible, then my channel is going to grow. But you have to work with other people, you. That you learn so much faster. So basically what I would say on that billboard is “just get out there”. 

‍

You know, find people. Go to Bali, go to Los Angeles, whatever. Go somewhere where there's other creators. You know, I went to Vid Summit and it's been a life changing experience for me, for example. And if I didn't do that, then I probably wouldn't have made it. If I would have done it eight years ago, I would have been even further, I think. 

‍

Q: What’s a unique aspect in your creative process that works for you even if no one else gets it? 

A: All right, that's cool. I would say lately it's been that I basically upload every video that I make. 

‍

Whereas before I was very selective. And this is not really long form, but more like short form. But because sometimes it's like with a smoothie, sometimes your blender doesn't work. Sometimes the color that I add, it just doesn't look good. And I'm like, you know, that's actually a funny story as well. I can kind of talk about that. And I think yesterday I made a video where I added these beautiful colors, like added blue and pink and it turned out great. You know, when I combined it was completely gray, looked like shit. And I was like, you know, this video is gonna go down the drain. Not gonna be able to use that. And then actually made a voiceover. I was like, you know, sometimes videos don't work out. And actually it performed really well. So this is on my Dutch channel. So now it's like, you know, if video doesn't work, it's a cool story too. It gives me ideas for, you know, for voiceovers, for, for script writing. 

‍

Q: What idea, habit, or mindset shift that had the biggest impact on your channel growth? 

A: So I don't do this anymore now, but for me last year, when I really liked some months last year I grew by like 200,000 or 300,000 subscribers in just one month. And that was just because I was posting every single day, like no exception, basically the entire year last year. 

‍

So just 31 videos or 30 videos per month every day was posted and really helped with consistency. Not just, you know, YouTube can tell that you're really consistent and passionate about your channel, but also just you're forcing yourself to be creative. There's so much output and you know, every short form video is kind of like a lottery ticket. So that's been really impactful for me. Like that really sparked my growth and sometimes some months were uploaded a little bit less than I grew like way less than when I was uploading every single day. So I don't do it anymore because it was not sustainable for me. But to really get to this point where I am now I'm kind of like, it doesn't matter if I have like 1.8 million or like 5 million. It's like, it's still a lot of subscribers, so it doesn't really make that much of a difference. So now I don't post that much. But last year I really wanted to grow as much and then that was really great for me, just posting every day, being consistent and showing up. 

‍

Q: What’s the BEST advice you'd give to a smart, serious creator just starting to post consistently? What’s the WORST advice they should stay away from? 

A:  Oh, the worst advice is always when people are hyper focused on the algorithm and on hashtags and all of these strategies and it doesn't really matter. It's just all about consistency. And the, basically the best advice that you can give is just tell my own story of which is I started making videos eight years ago. I started going viral three years ago. So it was basically five years of posting consistently where no one was watching, basically. But I was just every, every single week or day I was uploading. And it just takes years for you to grow a channel.  And it's kind of like, it's just kind of cheesy to say, but I feel like people overestimate what they can do in one year and they kind of underestimate what they can do in five years. And that's what I always say to creators. Like, if you make really good videos for five years, there's no way you're not going to be successful. No way.

‍

Q: What's the biggest challenge you’re facing in your creative journey right now? How can the Spotter Studio Community help support? 

A:  Yeah, great question. Well, I'm definitely going to break 2 million subscribers this year and I think I have like 1.9 billion views on YouTube now. It sounds like it's all like so crazy and I'm making money, I can do this full time, but it's like so lonely, like every day I'm in my own studio basically recording videos and I'm in a small city where there's not a lot of YouTubers so it's just so lonely. So I'm really looking to connect with other creators as much as possible. 

‍

So you know, if someone's going to be reading this, they can just always DM me on Instagram @fenitas.nl. And if you're a YouTuber, it doesn't matter if you have 500 subscribers or like 5 million. But if you're just doing this consistently, like anyone can send me a DM and I'd love to connect, like have a call, whatever, just share ideas. I think that's so valuable and like we have so many colleagues but we don't see them. So I think that's crucial for success. 

‍

Q: What idea are you most excited to create next? 

A:  So my main channel is going really well. It's getting consistent views and I'm still posting on it, but I've kind of put my focus away from that because, like I said, I wanted to really have an impact and I can do that better with my new channels, which is, for example, my Dutch one that's been really growing super fast lately, which grew basically my YouTube channel from 0 to 10,000 subscribers in just a few months. 

‍

And then on TikTok, the same thing as well, from 0 to now 30k which is great. And the exact type of videos that I love creating. So I love just making videos that are really impactful, like I said, making videos that are going to be inspiring people to make smoothies themselves. But I really want to finally make the actual step to long form because I've been doing long form on my main channel, but then it's kind of like compilations of shorts. So I don't feel like a YouTuber if I don't crack like the real long form code where you see my own face. And then I really feel like a YouTuber. So that's why on my Dutch channel, that's what I'm focusing on now, making long form videos. And then hopefully when that works, when I crack that code, I'm going to translate that to English videos as well. I'm very excited about all of those basically. And they're all in Spotter Studio, of course, all of those ideas. 

‍

Q: If you had a million dollars to make your dream video, what would it be? 

A:  Yeah, so doing YouTube has to be something that gives your dream life basically. And right now that's not really the case. Like I said, I'm just making videos in my studio. So if I have a million dollars to make my dream video, it's something that not just is really fun to watch for my audience, but also just for me personally, it's just really fun to make. So for me, I love traveling, I love going around the world and I love making smoothies. So if I can combine those two, that would be great. So for me it would be cool t, like make a smoothie with an ingredient from every single country. So basically from every single country in the world or something, you get one strict ingredient that's typical to that country and you add it to one smoothie. Basically blend like hundreds of ingredients in there. And the thing, there's an outlier as well that I found that has something like adding every fruit to one smoothie. So it is kind of like playing on that outlier as well. So I think there's some backing that it could be a high performing video as well. So I think this would be great, but probably it would cost a million dollars so I would actually need it as well. 

‍

Final Note

Joey’s story reminds us that success isn’t just about getting lots of views: it’s about impact, creativity, and staying true to your passion. From building Fenitas into a global brand to inspiring healthier lifestyles one smoothie at a time, his journey proves that consistency and authenticity pay off. Whether it’s refining ideas with Spotter Studio or connecting with other creators, Joey’s path shows that big ideas often start with something simple, colorful, and satisfying.

‍