If you’ve ever wondered how someone can turn their hobby of video games into a full-time job as a content creator — you need not look further than Galaxy.
Galaxy is the alias of Steph August, a 32-year-old streamer from Sydney. She made her start streaming Final Fantasy 14 in 2019 while freshly out of a job as an archeologist. Within six months, Galaxy managed to become a Twitch partner, cementing her as one of the highest-watched streamers in the space. Six years and 10k followers later, she’s one of the biggest figures in the Australian gaming scene.
Now, it’s her full time job — one that lets her play and talk about her favourite games all day.
If there’s anything you take away from our interview with Galaxy, simply posting is the only barrier stopping you in your journey as a content creator. Make the content you want, and be honest with the people who follow you. You’ll find your version of success from it. That’s why, for this week’s Insider Trading, we sat down with the streamer herself and asked her more about her career on Twitch and the community she’s built.
Hint: if you’re looking to break into the creative industry, check out our newly relaunched Pedestrian JOBS and craft your next move.
Insider Trading: Galaxy
Hi Galaxy! Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
Okay, so I guess I play video games for a living. That’s oversimplified, I guess. I talk about games for a living. I also host and present, and it all started with streaming, which is really cool. I never intended to have this as a job. I just started streaming when I was bored one day while I was an archeologist.
What made you decide to go from archeology to streaming?
I just swapped around. When I decided to leave my archeology job, I was looking for other things and then streaming picked up before I found another job I wanted to do, so I just stuck with it instead. I didn’t realise I could turn it into a job, so I’d never meant it to be one; I was just looking for a different archeology firm to work for.
So, how long have you been streaming for?
This will be my sixth year since I started streaming in 2019. I didn’t go full-time or take it seriously until 2023. Even in 2023, I was like, “Oh yeah, I can make a job out of this”. But I wasn’t structured or strict about it until last year.
How do you get ready for a day of streaming?
I go to the gym every morning. I found that if I stay in bed past 8am, then I won’t stream for the day, even though my stream doesn’t start till 2pm. I have to get up, I have to go to the gym, and then take my time getting ready in the morning. So I’ll listen to an audiobook while I shower and do makeup or hair or whatever, whatever I want to do.
I don’t know if I’ve found a way to manage [nerves] because it happens every day, regardless of whether I’m excited to play the game that I’m playing that day. Sometimes I’ll find myself telling myself, “It’s fine, once you actually press the button and talk to people, you’re going to have a good time and you’re going to forget that you’re nervous.” I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve started streaming and told my community that I’m feeling anxious today. And the next thing you know, it’s been an hour. We haven’t started the game yet because we’ve been chatting, and I forgot that I was feeling like shit. The biggest thing is just pressing that button.
What’s your favourite part about all streaming and hosting?
My favourite part about streaming is sharing something that I enjoy with my audience and spreading my excitement for gaming with other people. It’s always more fun to be excited about something when others are also excited.
Hosting is really interesting and fun. I’ve done panel hosting or stage emceeing at PAX. I’ve also done hosting for Twitch, for their live competitions.
How does it feel to go from livestreaming to chatting in front of a large audience?
I think live audiences can be stressful. However, I was in academia, so I have done a lot of public speaking. In saying that, I’ll still get nervous before every stream that I do at home until I press the button and I start interacting with people. So it’s kinda the same thing where things are nerve-wracking before starting. But then you just go out there, and see how you go.
What’s been the biggest learning curve for you in your journey as a Twitch streamer?
Figuring out that it’s not just playing a video game. You’ve probably seen people complain on social media when streamers say their job is hard. They’re not talking about the actual act of playing the video game. Like, yeah, that’s fucking easy. But it’s everything else that’s really hard. My learning curve has been lighting, sound, video editing, and using OBS (streaming software) to start a stream and set things up.
I’ve had to teach myself all of that, and now I do a lot of video work. Even things like scripting and talking to the camera where it doesn’t look like I’m just doing an ad, that’s all been a learning curve, and I’ve had to do it because I’ve been in the hot seat. Skills like that are really cool, though, because they’re transferable too, right? So, if I stopped streaming, I could probably get a job editing or a job ad reading or in marketing. So yeah, balancing everything else was my biggest learning curve.
Was this always your dream job?
Can you have two dream jobs?
I have ADHD, so I think my dream job changed a lot growing up, depending on what I was interested in. I gravitated towards archeology because I’m very math and science-minded, but I also really enjoyed history. So archeology, for me, was a way to combine those. With archeology, I specialized in radiocarbon dating, forensic archeology, and isotope studies, which is basically as sciencey as you can get (I was a dead body girl).
I’d probably still say that is my dream job, but I figure I can go back to it whenever I want. I have the qualifications.
I started streaming because I was sitting at home doing nothing after finishing my master’s in Archeology. I finished up with an archeology firm I was working with and was looking for other things to do. I just started streaming in the meantime and was partnered within six months of starting.
What kind of other advice would you have for people who want to work in gaming or start streaming?
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Everyone is on a different journey, regardless of what job they do. [You’ll see people] in content creation who have streamed for 10 years, and they don’t crack 10 viewers, and you’ll also see people that have just started and six months in, they’re reaching 500 viewers. Everyone’s journey is different, and success looks different for other people. So, comparing yourself to other people leads to misery. There is no point. You focus on what you’re doing, put your head down and do what you want to do, but you have to have fun as well.
If you treat it like a job, it becomes a job in the sense that it’s a slog to start, and you get up every day, and do it like you still have to love it. If you find that you don’t love what you’re doing, then there’s no point. Audiences like you because they can tell you enjoy what you’re doing.
My other advice would be to talk to the camera and to your chat. Interactive streams do really well, especially when you’re starting out, because people are often looking for community and want to chat with people.
How do you deal with trolls or bad actors that come into chat?
How I would answer [this] has changed so much over the years, especially as a female gamer. When I first started, I was a high-end raider for Final Fantasy. I was troll bait, and I was bullied a lot when I started. I used to get upset, and then I would feel embarrassed.
But now I’m very, very lucky. I’ve created a really nice space on my channel where I feel everyone feels welcomed and comfortable being in their own skin, and they don’t put up with any trolling, either. But I think I’ve managed to do that because now, if a troll comes in and they want to make a scene, I’ll give them the scene, but not the scene they think they will get.
Often, they’re going to come in and try to get a response, where you get defensive, where you get upset, where you like, “Oh, girls can game too”, or something along those lines. Now I would just be like: “We’ve got a fucking misogynist in chat. Look at that. Oh, I guess he lives in his mom’s basement”, and then I block and ban them. I guess some people can see that as antagonizing, but by saying it outwardly, they’re banned, or that was misogyny, or that’s racist or sexist, etc., the rest of chat knows it’s not acceptable. Then they see that you’ve got their back if someone also says something mean in chat.
And it has happened a lot. I have a lot of queer or trans community members, and we ban anybody that has any negativity towards that. So, by me outwardly saying it, then the people who do identify as whatever they identify as feel more comfortable and safe.
To other female streamers, I’d say know your worth. You’re allowed to be in this space. You’re allowed to game. [If] you enjoy games, play them. You just have to stick to that and not let it get to you.
Trolls aren’t reflective of you; no matter what they say, they are reflective of them. It’s indicative of their lives and their insecurities. They’re clearly upset about something, and it’s not on you to fix it, and it’s not on you to take the blame for it, either. They’re just looking to upset people. It’s not you, you can’t let it get to you and think, you can’t internalize what trolls say.
You can watch Galaxy live on Twitch at 2pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Find your dream job with Pedestrian JOBS here.
The post Insider Trading: How Livestreamer Galaxy Turned A Hobby Into A Full-Time Career appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
