FabuRocks is a podcaster, streamer, youtuber, content creator, and has ADHD. From a young age, Fabu has had a passion for content creation. When she was younger, she was diagnosed with ADHD and speech delay. Traditional therapy did not work for Fabu; having a speech therapist did not help her overcome her speech delay. Her parents discovered Fabu’s use of Content Creation as behavioral therapy helped with her speech Delay and ADHD. Over time FabuRocks started streaming on Twitch, becoming the youngest streamer, and with that came trolls and haters. She decided to move to Mixer, a young platform created by Microsoft, becoming the youngest partner. When Mixer shut down, she was offered a partnership on FaceBook Gaming, where she was the youngest Facebook Gaming Partner. At 14 years old, she has accomplished much including participating in the Variety Power of Young Hollywood 2022, Turtle Beach’s guest for E3 2019, and sponsorships and collaborations over the years with brands such as Turtle Beach and Roccat. She is working on a book series about her life as a young content creator with ADHD, her podcast, the FabuRocks podcast, and is developing another podcast called ADHD with Fabu which will talk more about ADHD.
HI, WELCOME TO ABOUT INSIDER! THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH US! CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF? WHO IS FABUROCKS IN YOUR OWN WORDS?
I am a podcaster, streamer, youtuber, content creator, and an ADHDer. I use content creation as a form of behavior therapy to help overcome my speech delay and cope with my ADHD on a daily basis.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY AS A CONTENT CREATOR? HOW DID YOU GET STARTED, AND WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME ONE OF THE YOUNGEST FEMALE CONTENT CREATORS ON THE INTERNET?
My career started when I was diagnosed with severe speech delay. I went to many speech therapists but I was not improving, and I hated it. I blame it on my ADHD, with my ADHD I could not focus unless I was interested. I was super interested in making videos, so my parents used my passion for content creation to help me with my condition. As time went on my speech improved, and I was learning how to cope with my ADHD while creating content. Through creating educational videos I am not only able to learn about ADHD for myself, but I am also educating others. I continue to be inspired to help those like me who struggle with disabilities and would like to empower them to accept and be themselves.
BEING THE YOUNGEST GIRL GAMER ON TWITCH AND PARTICIPATING IN THE YOUNG HOLLYWOOD EVENT ARE IMPRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENTS. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THESE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE ON YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS?
My achievements just encourage me to keep moving forward. I am very proud that I have achieved so much at a young age. I think to myself if I can do great things this young, imagine when I’m older. My daily challenge is my ADHD, because ADHD is not something you can get rid of. I do many things on a daily basis, from school, which I’m in honors classes, streaming, content creation, chores at home, so I’m prone to losing focus easily, and sometimes I can be inconsistent.
YOUR CONTENT CREATION JOURNEY IS INTERTWINED WITH BEING ONE OF THE OVER 5 MILLION DIAGNOSED WITH ADHD. HOW HAS CONTENT CREATION BECOME A FORM OF THERAPY FOR YOU? CAN YOU SHARE HOW IT HAS POSITIVELY IMPACTED YOUR LIFE AND HELPED YOU DEAL WITH ADHD?
Content creation has brought many benefits to my life. As a form of behavior therapy it has helped me overcome my speech delay where I am now able to speak in full sentences and be understood. More specifically, doing unboxing videos helps with my speech delay because I start with researching and writing the script to then learning how to pronounce words that are complicated for me and then reading from a teleprompt. My ADHD educational videos help me learn about myself, helps me learn ways to cope with ADHD while at the same time educating others. Content creation has been my life for over 7 years and has for the positive changed my life completely, in the way traditional therapy was unable to. Live streaming has helped me overcome my stage fright and anxiety being around and talking to strangers.
NEURODIVERSITY IS AN ESSENTIAL ASPECT OF WHO YOU ARE COULD YOU SHED SOME LIGHT ON YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A NEURODIVERSE TEEN DEALING WITH ADHD WHAT ARE SOME UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES YOU BRING TO YOUR CONTENT CREATOR BECAUSE OF THIS ASPECT OF YOURSELF?
Being a Neurodivergent teenager who uses content creation as behavior therapy gives me a lot of unique perspectives. For example, my short content revolves around my experiences with ADHD presented in a humorous way to bring light to the situation, such as when I am in the middle of studying for an exam, I get up to walk my dog, when I get back from the walk I stop to grab a snack, then notice my headphones are low on charge and then hours and hours later remember I still have not finished studying for that exam. My short format content is presented in a relatable way to bring awareness in a humorous way to ADHD which is something I used to be embarrassed about having and did not want to talk about. When I found my experiences can help and empower others like me, I decided to embrace and talk about having ADHD. During my live streams, I connect with many who not only have ADHD but other mental health issues as well. Most of my community comes to me seeking advice or just wanting to vent about their day and I can provide helpful techniques that have worked for me, providing comfort, understanding, and acceptance. I love being in a position where I can help others.
IN THE COMPETITIVE WORLD OF CONTENT CREATION. WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO KEEP CREATING AND INSPIRING OTHERS DESPITE ANY OBSTACLES YOU MAY FACE?
So many things motivate me daily. My community are the first ones who motivate me to continue because not only do they help me but I want to continue to help encourage and empower others now and in the future. Second, are my goals and achievements I have yet to accomplish. Third, I’ve learned through my research that an ADHDer is more prone to quitting because we are so sensitive to failure. ADHDers are told that we need to work harder than everyone else and sometimes even though we are After a failure we tend to be hard on ourselves, feel hurt and it’s harder to get back up for us. I want to keep standing up because I love what I do, despite sometimes getting frustrated, I’m confident in my ability to always get back up because for me that is what matters.
WHAT’S SOMETHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOU THAT MIGHT SURPRISE US?
When I was younger, I didn’t embrace my ADHD, I was ashamed, I thought that doing therapy meant something was wrong with me, I didn’t want to talk to my community about it, it felt wrong. Over time I understood that talking about it not only helped me but helped others, which was what encouraged me to start talking about it openly. Another thing you would be surprised to learn about me is that I don’t like chocolate.
ANY UPCOMING PROJECTS YOU CAN TALK ABOUT?
Currently I am working on writing a book series of up to 4 books for ages 8-14. It will be about my life, and how I used content creation as a form of therapy for my ADHD and speech delay. It will be educational but also light-hearted, and relatable to kids who read it. These will be books written by a kid for other kids. Another project of mine is working on my 2nd podcast, ADHD with Fabu, where my mom / Fabu Mom, who has a master’s in mental health and also has ADHD, and I talk about our experiences with ADHD.
FINALLY, FOR ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS AND BOYS OUT THERE WHO DREAM OF BECOMING CONTENT CREATORS, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM TO PURSUE THEIR PASSIONS AND OVERCOME CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY?
My advice would be to embrace, accept and love yourself for who you are and secondly, don’t be afraid to ask for help, especially from your parents or another adult you trust. It will be extremely difficult without their help and support. Lastly, never give up; hard work will make your dreams come true.
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