Hi there, creators. I’m Koen. And for the past six years I’ve been making video essays to do with animation, psychology and mental health. I started creating this content under the name of PhoenixStarYT. Which came about because of my fursona Phoenix Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I started making these videos in 2020, I was a very self conscious wolf. I wasn’t comfortable with attaching my real name to the content I was making. Nor was I confident in the content itself. My self esteem has never been great, and it’s something I still have to work on to this day. So instead of putting myself front and center, I decided to hide behind my fursona, and make him the star of my brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, as I’m working on improving my mental health, my confidence is also gradually improving along the way. And I knew that I would have to step out of my shell to help with that. As such, Phoenix Star will no longer be the only star of the show. So in this article, I’m opening up about my self esteem issues, and what my new brand means to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s get re-introduced; Hi. I’m Ko-Star, and this is my Journery through Content Creation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I launched PhoenixStarYT in 2020. Back then, I felt very self-conscious about the content I created and about myself. Uncomfortable attaching my real name to my work, I put my fursona front and center in my online presence, hiding the real me behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I would slowly climb out of that shell, it took me a long time to get there. When I launched the channel, I didn’t even have the confidence to show my own face in my livestreams. So the streams exclusively featured gameplay footage and my voice. And it took me a good while before I was confident enough to even show my face on the channel at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite all that, I did pull through my insecurities, and would slowly start to climb out of my shell. As I started to show my face on camera, and make my name part of my brand. This is where “Koen’s Corner” would ultimately come from. On top of it being a reference to me making my videos in a little corner in my room. And would be the beginning of my slow, but consistent growth into getting more confident in what I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
None of this is to say it was easy. I was absolutely struggling, and uncomfortable being on camera around this time. However, continuing to hide the way I was, was just not the way to go anymore. If anything, it would only lead me to never growing into being more confident, and to me still being stuck in my shell. In order to get out of there, I needed to actively do something. Throw myself into it, no matter how hard my brain fights against it. And doing so would ultimately lead to my re-brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a fun fact: I had planned this re-brand for a few months, before finally committing to it. Because this isn’t as easy as just changing my name and calling it a day. I needed a new name, a new logo, a new banner, and my old branding on all my socials and my website needed to be changed to the new branding. Which takes time to get done. And now that it is, I feel a genuine sense of liberation. Now that I’m able to get out of my shell, and put myself front and center of my own channel and content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My new brand, Ko-Star, represents something very important and meaningful. It represents me getting out of my shell. It represents me feeling more confident with my work, and with myself. It represents my pride in the work I do, and that I’m not afraid to outright state “I’m doing a good job, and I should express that”. And last but not least; it represents a long, hard, but really fun journey I took on. An endless journey where at every step of the way I got to learn more and more about content creation, and myself. Which as far as I’m concerned, is more meaningful than anything else in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My name is Ko-Star, and that’s how I see it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi there, creators. I’m Koen. And for the past six years I’ve been making video essays to do with animation, psychology and mental health. I started creating this content under the name of PhoenixStarYT. Which came about because of my fursona Phoenix Star. When I started making these videos in 2020, I was a very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"I have put together a more elaborate story of where my re-brand came from, and why I feel so strongly about it. Read all about it right here on my website","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[121,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ko-star","category-lifestory"],"yoast_head":"\n