Meet Armani Bristol | YouTuber/Graphic Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Armani Bristol and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Armani, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started my YouTube Channel, Armani Bristol, because I have a different outlook on life since both of my parents were incarcerated. My life up until that huge turning point was very luxurious and I wasn’t living in reality.

Armani Bristol is a lifestyle channel that consists of videos about a variety of lifestyle topics. Mainly, I wanted to authentically document my process of learning how to be an adult. The highs, and the lows. I didn’t have older siblings that went to college, got an apartment or even been qualified for one, and just navigating student loans and credit cards. I know there are other people with incarcerated parents and think that because of their circumstances and their familial background that they can’t have nice things or go places and that isn’t true. You just need the information to start with.

Long-Term goal for my channel is to create a growing community of young people who share the new information that we learn throughout experiences, in order to help other peers that are of color. I feel as though there is so much information gate kept nowadays because people have this inherent fear like there isn’t enough room for all people of color to pull each other up.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Although I am a growing Vlogger/YouTuber, the biggest challenge I’ve had to overcome would be mindset and editing.

My mindset started shifting when I started focusing on being mindful and more present. I started therapy in college and found an AMAZING WOC therapist on campus that was able to understand the pressure I had on my shoulders around freshman tear – my parents incarceration was still emotionally fresh. This entire subject is something I want to share on my channel but I am still healing and want to make sure that I’m fully healed so that I can share openly and authentically without listening to people who chose to judge me or my family by past actions and not by our character.

Editing has been hard because I set very high standards for myself with anything that I do. In all honesty I hate the first two videos I edited because I have gotten so much better! It’s so hard learning this part of youtube because you have to learn the technical part of it. Does your computer hard drive have enough storage to edit your videos? If your recording on your camera how are you uploading it from your camera? Learning about pixels, frames per seconds, different lenses, etc. It is so much to learn about that it is definitely overwhelming at times. When the computer starts to lag and delete content I get so mad I have had to wait a day and then come back to it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I was born in Charlotte, N.C. but raised in Weddington, N.C. Needless to say if you know where Weddington is it’s about 40 minutes from the heart of Charlotte. So I didn’t go out much when I was younger because it took too long to go anywhere. Now, I use TikTok to hear about the new lounges and bars that have opened since the Epicentre shut down a few years ago.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to take a moment to recognize my immediate family, my friends, my boyfriend and his family. They’ve been so supportive through the mental break downs during college, a lot of me being stressed out, and giving me advice when I need it. Family isn’t always about who’s blood is in your veins but it’s who can pour into your cup and support you when can’t pour from your own cup anymore to give to others.

ersonalArmaniBristol_

Website: www.illustremedia.com

Instagram: @armani.bristol

Twitter: @BristolKartel

Facebook: @lifewithbristol

Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/TheStylishBookworm