Streamers on the Rise: RealMamaEagle makes sure her viewers have their mental health on lock

Welcome to Streamers on the Rise, where we find streamers who are growing their channels, content, and audiences in extraordinary ways. Each week we’ll talk with a creator about what goes into livestreaming–both on and off camera.

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Every Monday, Keiana Williams sits her chat down for a serious moment. How’s their mental health holding up? she asks. Anything they need to get off their chests?

These moments have become crucial times for Williams–aka RealMamaEagle–to connect with her Twitch audience of just over 10,000 followers.

“I feel like mental health, there’s such a stigma with it being taboo. People think that you’re not supposed to talk about it,” she says. “I started these chats during the height of the pandemic, and I feel like, for me personally, I know I went through some things, but it was a time where I needed someone to talk to. A lot of us were stuck inside. You really couldn’t go out for therapy. It was either Zoom or you couldn’t go, so I just wanted to provide a safe space where I could vent and allow others to do so.”

Williams didn’t originally get on Twitch to talk about mental health. She grew up a gamer, mostly with Nintendo titles, and as an adult was into The Sims. Like many other content creators, her inspiration for starting her own channel was other creators. She found Sims content-makers on YouTube first; then, one of her favorites mentioned going live on Twitch.

“I’m like, ‘What’s Twitch?'” Williams laughs. “I just clicked on it, followed her channel, and I was like, ‘This is really cool.'” After watching a few streams, Williams figured she was extroverted and good at holding fast-paced conversations–and she liked talking about games. So why not give it a shot herself?

She launched her own channel in June 2019. In spring 2020, she was furloughed from her job, and decided to commit full-time to content.

Now, she’s a Twitch partner, and her streams have diversified into a mix of sports content (she’s a fan of all teams Philadelphia), news (she keeps up with the creator economy, just like us), games (most of which are interactive, so her audience can play with her), those aforementioned Mental Health Mondays, and more.

Check out our chat with her below.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tubefilter: Very nice to meet you! For anybody who doesn’t know you and hasn’t seen your channel, give me a little bit of introduction about you, where you’re from, and what you did before you got on Twitch.

RealMamaEagle: I’m from Delaware, and before I got on Twitch, I worked in an office. Pretty much straightforward desk work. What my channel is really about is, the best way I would describe it is “beautiful organized chaos.” [laughs] But while there’s so much fun and laughs, there’s an emphasis on mental health discussion. That’s like my baby, that’s the one thing I’m really adamant about us talking about. We also focus on streamer news, streamer stories, streamer interest stories. Just keeping people plugged into what’s going on in content creation.

Tubefilter: What led you to streaming?

RealMamaEagle: I’ve always loved video games, always, my entire life. In my friend circle, I didn’t always have people to play games with or even talk about games with, so this just opened up my haven to do so and feel like I’m not unique. I am unique, but I’m not alone in loving video games so much and them just being like a daily thing for me.

Tubefilter: When did you fall in love with video games?

RealMamaEagle: I don’t remember the exact age, but it was Super Nintendo days, Nintendo days. Well, Duck Hunt was one of the first games I played, but I was hooked from day one. Then of course, we got Super Mario Bros., which was iconic in its own right, and I’ve been playing ever since.

Tubefilter: Then how did you encounter Twitch? Did you watch Twitch content before you joined Twitch as a streamer?

RealMamaEagle: I randomly found Twitch. I’m really into The Sims. It’s one of the games I love, so I was on YouTube looking up Sims videos. One of the Sims YouTubers I love, itsmeTroi, she makes videos about mods, but one day she said she was streaming live on Twitch, and I’m like, “What’s Twitch?” I just clicked on it, followed her channel, and I was like, “This is really cool.” Then I followed other streamers based on game categories, and here we are.

Tubefilter: Do you play The Sims on stream?

RealMamaEagle: Every once in a while. I like to do The Sims with crowd control, a fun way for just the community to mess up your game. I don’t play it as much as I used to, but offline, I play it very frequently.

Tubefilter: What’s your main game right now?

RealMamaEagle: Right now, my community plays a lot of Mario Kart, but our focus is on community games. I play a lot of my story-based games off-stream. Off-stream, I’m really into Octopath Traveler right now, which is fantastic, but on stream, it’s community games. Words on Stream, Stream Racer, just ways to bond with my community, that’s really been my focus on stream.

Tubefilter: I think you’re the first person I’ve spoken to who at least directly focuses on playing games with their community. Is Twitch unique in that you’re able to play with your community in this particular way?

RealMamaEagle: Absolutely. There’s so many great games–I know I mentioned Words on Stream and Stream Racer–that are actually integrated with Steam and with Twitch for a seamless experience where all the community has to do is type in chat to interact or join in or play, so it’s the connectivity between all these games and what the creator can do with their community is amazing.

Tubefilter: Very cool. Backing up just a little bit, you found Twitch. What was the catalyst for you starting your own channel?

RealMamaEagle: After seeing a couple of streams, I thought, I can talk a lot, I’m very extroverted, I can hold a conversation, and I do like to talk about games with people, so why not go about it? I already had a few friends that I play games with online, so I figured they could hop in channel, hang out with me, and then it just grew from there, but that’s what made me start it.

Tubefilter: Are you full-time on this now?

RealMamaEagle: I am.

Tubefilter: When did you hit the point where you were like, “Okay, I can do this. I can go full-time”? That’s very intimidating.

RealMamaEagle: It is. It really is. People have no idea. I started streaming in June of 2019. February of 2020 is when I went in full-time.

Tubefilter: Oh, that’s so quick.

RealMamaEagle: That was actually during the pandemic, when streaming was really increased and a lot more popular then.

Tubefilter: Is that what helped you be able to go full-time?

RealMamaEagle: It actually did, because I got furloughed from the job I was at, the job I mentioned to you previously, so it opened up my entire day. It allowed me to change my schedule, because I was a nighttime streamer before that happened. Once I changed to daytime, my growth went up a lot, and once I started doing Just Chatting a lot more as well.

Tubefilter: Do you remember, rough numbers, what your viewership went to when you changed?

RealMamaEagle: Yes. Before I started full-time, I was averaging about 20, and then when I went full-time, I jumped up to about 50. Then over the next couple of months, then 60, then 70. Then partnership came, which was pretty cool, so I was like in the 80s, 90s, 100s for a while.

Tubefilter: That’s awesome. So you’ve been full-time for four years now. What’s changed in those four years for you?

RealMamaEagle: I think I’ve become less of a person that prioritizes playing games on stream and now I focus on the community experience. My whole stream is based around, we’re going to go live today, I’m going to ask everyone about their day. I’m going to ask everyone how they’re doing, how they’re feeling mentally, what’s going on in life. We’re going to talk about things that may be a little bit uncomfortable, but we’re sending important messages, things that affect us in the day-to-day world. That’s what it is now. That’s the big change. It’s become more of just a chatting conversational type of atmosphere.

Tubefilter: Why is mental health such a priority for you with your streams?

RealMamaEagle: I feel like mental health, there’s such a stigma with it being taboo. People think that you’re not supposed to talk about it. I started these chats during the height of the pandemic, and I feel like, for me personally, I know I went through some things, but it was a time where I needed someone to talk to. A lot of us were stuck inside. You really couldn’t go out for therapy. It was either Zoom or you couldn’t go, so I just wanted to provide a safe space where I could vent and allow others to do so.

It’s great. Every Monday, it’s a thing, and everyone looks forward to it, and we just get our feelings out. It’s fantastic.

Tubefilter: You have Mental Health Mondays?

RealMamaEagle: Every week, yes.

Tubefilter: Dig that. What’s your streaming schedule currently?

RealMamaEagle: Right now, it’s Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 10:30 AM to about 2:30 PM Eastern. I’m looking to add a fourth day, so hopefully, I’ll add either Wednesdays or Sundays back in at that same time.

Tubefilter: What is it like being a streamer and a parent? How do you balance your schedule?

RealMamaEagle: It’s extremely chaotic, but I will say that it is so much easier now that both boys are in school. There was a point where they were both home with me, but now there’s six and seven and ones in first grade, one’s in kindergarten, so during the day, I can actually get my stream in with that quiet. Sometimes they’d be seen on stream all the time because they wouldn’t be in school, so it was just part of the chaos. It’s a lot. Making sure they’re settled because, obviously, you don’t want to take away from what you’re doing on cam and sometimes that can happen.

Tubefilter: Yes, got it. How long are your average streams?

RealMamaEagle: Generally, about three to four hours.

Tubefilter: Okay, so not too long. I feel like we’ve probably addressed this a little bit in previous questions, but what has been your favorite part of this whole being online experience?

RealMamaEagle: For me, I have to say the community. I know a lot of people say that, but when I say that, I mean my family. This is now my family. My community, that’s how I view them. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting them. I know pretty much all of my mods personally, have met them in real life, hang out with them on a regular basis, so they’re like some of my best friends. I feel like these are friendships I never would have had if I never started. Just the people, the community, they show up every day, there’s so much love. I think that’s the best part.

Tubefilter: How did you meet your mods?

RealMamaEagle: The first time we met up was 2021. It was December, 2021. I live about 30 minutes from Philly. A bunch of us met up and some flew out to Philly, and we all just met there. Then the meetups became a yearly thing, but that’s when it started. We all saw each other at TwitchCon just in October which was great.

Tubefilter: How did you find them originally? I think one of the things that really new streamers tend to be afraid of is, will I find an audience, and will I find mods, because it’s like you’re throwing yourself out there in the middle of nowhere where nobody knows you. What was your early community growth like and how did you find your mods?

RealMamaEagle: I have a pretty big Twitter following, so I was able to build a little bit based off the Twitter following, but a couple of my mods are people that already follow me from Twitter because I have a really big sports following. That’s my other love on Twitter. Honestly, the rest of my mods are people who just randomly came in my stream because I played a certain game. Then they pretty much became part of the community, and then I trusted them enough to give them a mod sword.

Tubefilter: Perfect. That leads right into my other question, which is, I know that you’re very big into sports, and you work with Catena Media.

RealMamaEagle: I actually do freelance writing with them. It’s pretty cool.

Tubefilter: You’re also very big into sports.

RealMamaEagle: Yes. Actually, during football season, I do one stream a week talking football, so that is part of my content. Since football season’s over, it’s slowed down a bit, but I do freelance writing a couple of times a week.

Tubefilter: Did you build your Twitter following before you got on Twitch?

RealMamaEagle: Yes. I actually built my Twitter following organically. I just randomly started a Twitter, started giving sports opinions. Then little did I know it began to build, and I gained more followers and even more followers. That’s actually how I got into the freelance writing, because I became a bit bigger, and they reached out to me because I guess they liked my content and how I interacted. Then eventually, I used that base to build up the Twitch audience a bit.

Tubefilter: I know that you also have a YouTube channel. You have done some longer-form content on YouTube. Is that something you’re looking to get more into, or have you considered a podcast or anything else that you’re looking to expand into?

RealMamaEagle: I have taken a break from YouTube. I mainly do Pokémon content on there, which is my other love, so just fun videos about Pokémon. Hot takes, things like that. I do want to get back to videos. The hiatus, it’s long overdue, but I also, I want to create a second YouTube channel that I do dedicate to just NFL and football discussion. That’s something I’m hoping to launch next football season, so hopefully, in the fall.

Tubefilter: Mainstream sports is becoming more and more of a thing on Twitch. Do you do esports at all too?

RealMamaEagle: I don’t. My main focus is just commentary around the actual sports. I’ve gotten a little bit into sports betting so a lot of the discourse is around that including fantasy football, so it’s pretty fun.

Tubefilter: I know the site that you write for has to do with some sports betting stuff too. When you’re writing for them, what are your general topics?

RealMamaEagle: It’s usually like promoing for a game that’s coming. It may be a March Madness promo. Kind of like giving a preview and listing the odds for the game. Yes, odds and stuff like that.

Tubefilter: You have such an interesting spread of things that you do.

RealMamaEagle: Yes, I’m all over the place. In a good way, though. [laughs]

Tubefilter: What do you feel like the most important thing has been for you in terms of building your community? If you were to give advice to a younger streamer who’s looking to build their own community, what advice would you give?

RealMamaEagle: I would say utilize the tools that are there for you. Social media is more important than people think. Twitter is important because if you’re not vocal or active on one space, it’s almost like you don’t exist. Having a voice and being vocal and being engaged in gaming and streamer conversations on Twitter will get more attention, will add to that. I would also say utilize Discord. Hang out with your community, build those connections because those are people that will be there. I think lastly, I would say that the most important thing is to be transparent. Show people who you really are. Vulnerability is fantastic. I think people want to see a real human being, real emotions. There have been days I’ve gone live where I didn’t feel the best, but I was transparent with my community. They’re like, what, Kee, I’m having that type of day too. I feel that way too, and they love seeing that human side. Just be you. Be organically you.

Tubefilter: Perfect. You’ve come a really long way in four years. The fact that you went full-time on this in like seven months is huge. Then what did you make partner?

RealMamaEagle: Okay, so started streaming in June of 2019. I was full-time for about a year, so from February 2020, and then March 2021 is actually when I started applying. I got partner in May of 2021. Right before my two-year anniversary on Twitch.

Tubefilter: Congratulations. That’s huge. In terms of growth trajectory from here, what do you see yourself doing? I know you want to do, like you said, football streams for the next season, but anything else, any cool projects?

RealMamaEagle: No projects at the moment other than really just keeping up. I just really want people to be informed as far as what’s going on in the content creation community. Whether it’s with YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Kick, it doesn’t matter what the platform is, but I want us all to be informed, know what’s going on in the streamer space. Always talk about upgrading our content. I do want to keep that focused on mental health. That’s really it for now. I just want to keep having conversations. I think that’s the most important thing to me.

I think that a lot of people don’t realize that when you are in content creation, especially if you’re full-time, you are, essentially, a businessperson. It is, essentially, your business. There is definitely a way that you can run your brand, and it helps you, it helps your growth, it helps you get opportunities, even paid ones. It can be very beneficial if you go about it the right way.

Tubefilter: Have you thought about doing something like coaching or a course in terms of that particular aspect?

RealMamaEagle: I would love to. That would be a lot of fun. I don’t think there’s a linear path to grow in streaming, but I do think that there are things that we can do to aid ourselves in improving, so that is definitely something I’d be open to exploring.

Tubefilter: Is there anything else that you would want people to know about you? Anything else that you want to say about the industry or your experiences?

RealMamaEagle: I think that when it comes to the industry, it’s best to know who you are first and foremost, and never compare yourself to someone else because someone else’s journey is not going to be yours. I know someone that got partnered in six months, I know someone that it took five years. It took me two years. Comparing yourself is just going to bring unnecessary stress because you need to understand that you’re unique and what you’re doing matters. Someone doesn’t do the same content you do. I think that that’s something else I’d want people to know.