Interview: Kalei Renay

Over the past decade, streaming has moved from a fringe interest to a significant part of many of our lives. A great way to share one’s experiences playing video games, streamers have managed to build tightly-knit communities around them. In our effort to shine the spotlight on members of the streaming community, we discovered Kalei, who uses her favorite hobby to entertain both herself and others.

She was kind enough to answer our questions about her experience as a streamer so, below you’ll learn about how she started out, what are some of the challenges she faced as a streamer, as well as why she may or may not have broken a desk at one point.

NoobFeed: For anyone who isn’t familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Kalei: My name is Kalei and I’m a Twitch streamer! I’ve been streaming in Twitch since I was 15, currently 19.

NoobFeed: What determined you to start streaming on Twitch?

Kalei: I was playing with my friends one night and they told me about Twitch; I had no idea what it was. I’ve always been into gaming, but I had NO idea there was an entire online community on social media. I only knew about online party chat and YouTube –stuff like that–, but I didn’t even know there was a thing called “streaming”, so I made a Twitter and Twitch account and my first streamer I ever watched was SJ, also known as Vindictive. She inspired me to become a streamer. She had such a loving community and everyone was so welcoming and nice, and I really wanted to be involved in something like that.

NoobFeed: What are the challenges that you faced when first starting out as a streamer? What advice do you have for others looking to give it a shot?

Kalei: Challenges I faced when I first came into the community and I still deal with today is rude comments, vulgar comments, etc. Over the years I’ve gotten used to it. I always told myself I have more supporters than haters. My community loves me and people look up to me, so don’t pay attention to the negative. I’m grateful for the people that dislike me; because of them I am who I am today. I have tough skin and stuff that I was told when I started off first in the community wouldn’t even phase me today.

Advice I have for people starting off in the community is, if you come across someone being rude, ignore and block! That’s something that I’m still trying to learn today! Don’t waste your energy fighting with a random troll that wants to make you feel bad. Because in reality, they wouldn’t say it to your face, so just ignore what others say about you and block it out! Always stay positive and don’t feel discouraged as a streamer or YouTuber if you don’t see yourself growing right away. All the biggest YouTubers and streamers have been in the game for a VERY long time, everyone’s had to deal with ups and downs as a streamer, you aren’t the only one. So ask for advice from other streamers, don’t be afraid to ask for advice. Also remember everyone grows at their own rate! You are YOU, and nobody else so don’t compare yourself to another person.

NoobFeed: How did you get into gaming? What are some of your favorite games?

Kalei:  I grew up on Nintendo, playing a lot of Animal Crossing, Mario, and Zelda, and using our little family computer playing a lot of Oblivion. I played a lot of simple games growing up. I never had an Xbox growing up, outside my brother, but he never let me use it. Surprisingly I didn’t get my own console till I was 13, which was a PS3. And that’s when I got into Call of Duty and a whole bunch of other games. I remember spending all summer babysitting and saving up for a PS3 and when I got to GameStop with my grandma, I didn’t even realize that I didn’t have enough to buy a game; thank god grandma came into clutch, she bought me MW3 (i.e. Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3). My favorite games to this day are Oblivion and Skyrim. I love the Elder Scrolls series, Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, Kingdom Hearts and my favorite FPS is MW3 because I met some amazing friends on there and have the best memories in that game.

NoobFeed: Rumor has it that you once broke a desk. How did that happen?

Kalei: I did/do have a huge rage issue when it comes to videogames. I do curse a lot and get very aggravated when things don’t go my way in a game; either dying or technical issues. I have been known for breaking mice, keyboards and, yes, my desk. I was playing H1Z1 and that game is known for its amazing glitches. So I died because of one of the main glitches in the game, shooting a shotgun point blank in the chest and it just being a blank, and after a very bad day gaming on H1, I lost it. I just started punching my desk over and over and over and over again. In the process I broke one of my keyboards and my desk had tons of dents in it. I was surprised I didn’t break my hand.

NoobFeed: The internet can be a rough place sometimes and live-streaming makes it so that you’re exposed to an audience in real time. How do you handle rude or negative comments?

Kalei: Like I said earlier when it comes to rude comments, I just block people. It’s not worth the time or energy trying to make everyone like you. There will always be someone that dislikes you no matter what, so I just block people and ignore it. I have an amazing supporting community and I like to focus on that instead of the negativity.

NoobFeed: You also play the piano. How did you discover the instrument?

Kalei: Outside of gaming I also do play piano. When I was younger I actually wanted a violin, but my dad didn’t want to listen to it, so I got a piano for Christmas because I could put my headphones! I’m actually glad I did because I truly love the piano, it’s so beautiful.

NoobFeed: Our playlist could always use a few suggestions. What are some of the artists that you enjoy?

Kalei: I listen to a lot of Metal and Rock. I would say you could never go wrong with System of a Down and Five Finger Death Punch!

NoobFeed: Aside from video games and playing the piano, what are some of your other hobbies?

Kalei: Aside from gaming and piano, I do a lot of hiking. Hiking is my favorite thing to do, I love taking in nature and discovering the beauty that the world has to offer. It’s a nice break from being cooped up inside and streaming all day!

NoobFeed: What does the future hold for Kalei?

Kalei: I have no idea what the future holds for me, I hope a few years from now I’m still gaming with my friends and still involved in the community.

NoobFeed: Anything for your fans at NoobFeed?

Kalei:  For my fans at NoobFeed thank you for supporting me! You have no idea how much it means and thank you for taking the time to read the article to get to know me more! 

Many thanks to Kalei for taking the time to talk with us! We wish her all the very best. If you want more from Kalei, keep up by following her on Twitch and Twitter.

Note: The interview was lightly edited for readability purposes. Nothing pertaining to meaning or nuance was altered in the process.
 

Bogdan Robert, NoobFeed
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