Today we’d like to introduce you to Dominic Barnes.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve always been a huge anime, gaming, and sports( mostly wrestling) fan. I still remember the first time I watched Akira and was instantly mesmerized by the animation style and just the storytelling in general. Those have always been an escape for me because if just showed me that no matter what it’s possible that you can really stick to who you are creatively and there are people out there that you might not know personally but are out there that will accept and appreciate your visions and love and understand it. Getting into the sports media field began back in 2011 when my brother asked me to help him with his radio show Mo’SportsTalk as a producer and now seven plus years later we are still going strong. The first show was recorded in a small shampoo room and now we are recording in the middle of Downtown Dallas. We started off covering Indoor football league games to now covering NBA, WNBA, MLB games.
I really have to thank a lot of my family and friends though because they unknowingly ramped up my intrigue on building a brand around the anime and comic culture. Now what I mean by that is over the years I guess the more popular they became, the more people started to come to me and ask me questions about certain storylines or movies or just for recommendations on what they should start with when getting into the genres for the first time. It kind of made me realize that: 1) people actually value my opinion. 2) I felt like there wasn’t really allot of African American/minorities in that field that people in the area can come to and ask to get that information in a way that didn’t seem to overly technical ya know. Fast forward to May 6, 2017 and Euphoric Trip with my friend Anson Slaughter was created (shoutout to my friend Terry with the help on the name) and it was off to the races from there. (our first video was a Guardians of the Galaxy 2 review).. I remember starting off it use to take us literally a whole day to record 1 video and struggled to get even 100 subscribers to now being able to knock out 3-5 videos in a couple of hours and to almost being at 2k subs in that timeframe its a pretty cool thing to look at and be proud of considering we just two guys sitting on the couch discussing video games and movies lol.. So far I think out of all the events and things I’ve been to seeing my name as a media member covering Comic-Con and Dallas Fan Days has been some of my proudest moments.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s never a smooth road but honestly, I will say the main things for me is more self-doubt and dealing with rejection when it comes to an interview or getting media credentials. The self-doubt thing is more based on me not actually believing that people are actually coming to me and respecting my opinions and just me as a person as much as they do. I’ve always kind of felt like I was always in the background so I’ve learned to be more and enjoy being behind the scenes. Being in the youtube/vlogger or whatever it’s classified as it’s very hard to stand out and be different considering its millions of people who are in that field as well. So initially starting off if certain videos didn’t do well or we were denied a media credential or something I would always feel like it was my fault for some reason even if it was contrary to the case. Seeing others in the same field as you who you feel like you have better quality than or as arrogant as it may seem should be in a better position than them, you learn that with patience everything will work itself out and your time will come.. With applying for media credentials( well in life in general) you’re going to get told no allot so learning to deal with that, not getting discouraged, and continuing to work to the point to where we couldn’t be denied anymore was something that was developed over time.. Not being a syndicated radio show still brings on a lot of challenges with particular leagues and events so continuing to fight through that almost ten years later will forever be a challenge but once that I’m more equipped to handle thanks to all the love and support from friends and family.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Euphoric Trip story. Tell us more about the business.
My brand is Euphoric Trip. I have a Youtube channel with the aforementioned Anson where we react to the most recent trailers and news in the comic, anime, gaming, etc world. From lists to reviews, news to podcasts( in the works), or just going live from the couch and watching us play video games, we got something for everybody. Its built on literally years of being a fan of things and having a genuine platform to be able to express yourself when you maybe didnt want to or felt like you’d be judged if you didn’t know something about a particular character or something, because let’s be honest the “nerd culture” can be quite judgemental lol. Honestly, it can be about anything television, music, hobbies can be discussed as long as it’s something that you are passionate about. Being a regular dude from Oak Cliff, seeing something that I’ve said be the reason that someone might want to take to a new show or something is a really good feeling. What I’m most proud of is the fact that we’re starting to gain respect and a following in the fields that I’m in. Seeing people you respect give you that in return and come to you as not only a peer but a friend is an amazing feeling. What separates the brand or channel from the rest is that we’re not really critics we’re fans so any reaction we make is raw and unedited so I think that’s how we relate to our reviewers.. When people watch reaction videos, they do it to see how many fans with mutual interest are feeling and that makes it a good experience for both sides.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’d say a big part to be honest. With us being an online radio show its been a lot of luck involved when it comes to getting media credentials to the events we have been accepted to. I wanna give a huge thanks to the Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, and Dallas Wings for trusting and believing that we would take the opportunities that they have given us and run with it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClW1csO_mAOsvOfphM1M-Ow?view_as=subscriber
- Email: tripeuphoric@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3uphoricTrip/?modal=admin_todo_tour
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TripEuphoric
- Other: http://www.mosportstalkradio.com/
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