From Building Brands to Building My Own: How I Turned My Fitness Journey Into Hit Videos

From Building Brands to Building My Own: How I Turned My Fitness Journey Into Hit Videos

By Alyssa Amandla

I’ve spent my entire adult life in social media marketing—managing accounts, crafting content strategies, and building audiences for major entertainment brands. I’ve worked with companies like BET+, LOL Network, Paramount Studios, and even managed the YouTube channel for The Real, a Daytime Emmy-nominated show. I knew how to grow brands. But for years, I put all that energy into building things for other people.

Until one day, I asked myself: What if I applied all of that to myself?

That’s when everything changed.

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My YouTube Origin Story

Like so many creators, my YouTube journey started with something deeply personal. I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, dealing with numbness, and feeling disconnected from my body. So I signed up for 75 Hard—a grueling mental and physical challenge—and documented the entire journey on YouTube. I lost 22 pounds. Then 70. And I kept going. But more importantly, I built a mindset that could sustain it.

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This wasn’t my first YouTube channel. But it was the first one that felt like me.I wasn’t just building an audience. I was reclaiming my life.

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Shooting My Shot

Everything accelerated after I attended a YouTube event hosted by Think Media. I had my employer pay for the ticket (pro tip: always ask), and it completely rewired how I thought about YouTube.

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The night before the event, I stayed up revamping my channel—updated banner, new video, the whole thing. They were offering a chance to feature your channel in front of hundreds of attendees. I didn’t get picked, but that video? It popped off. That was my first taste of how quickly things can change when the right idea meets the right packaging.

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Discovering Spotter Studio

I heard about Spotter Studio from the creator community, and honestly, I wish I’d started using it sooner. At first, I underutilized it. But once I dove into the thumbnail feature—everything clicked. I’m a visual thinker. I’d always had strong ideas, but I struggled to bring them to life in a way that matched the energy of my videos.

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With Studio, I was able to input a title and instantly get a range of thumbnail concepts. I gravitated toward the concept art—it just felt more “me.” For my bikini transformation video, I generated three options: one showed me at my heaviest, another at my fittest, and the third merged it all with a beach background. The moment I saw it, I thought: That’s the one.

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I A/B tested them on YouTube and watched that video become a 33.5x Outlier. It wasn’t just a win—it was validation.

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The Journey From Aspiring Pro to Professional YouTuber

I’m not full-time on YouTube yet. But I tell my husband all the time: YouTube is my way out. And I believe that. Spotter Studio has helped me get closer to that reality. The thumbnail generation gave me confidence. The ideation tools helped me structure new video formats. The community made me feel like I wasn’t alone in this climb. And the data? That made me feel like a strategist again.

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I’m competitive. I want to win. And even though there’s no podium on YouTube, I treat every upload like a race.

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BIG Ideas

Share a few of the ideas that changed everything, the habits that made the difference, and the ideas I'm still wrestling with that the community can help support:

What’s one idea that helped you grow in your creator journey?
Apply what you’ve learned elsewhere to your own life. I spent years building brands for others. Once I started building mine, everything aligned.

What’s one idea you wish more creators understood earlier?
Thumbnails are half the battle. Don’t just make one—make three. Test them. Studio made this easy for me, and the results were undeniable.

What’s one idea you’re still wrestling with?
How to evolve my content without losing the heart of it. Vlogs feel tired. I want to find a new format that lets me expand without leaving my audience behind.