YoAnty Kicks<\/a>. \u00a0If you aren’t already subscribed – do it. \u00a0Great reviews about products and great conversation are a staple in his videos along with some comedic staples like his cat, his love of Jet-Fuel (iced coffee), and a beard that is one of the best in the game.<\/p>\nDespite\u00a0generating great content, working with major brands, retailers, getting to hang with athletes, Anthony is still as humble as they come. \u00a0Great people doing great things!<\/p>\n
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Matt Halfhill:<\/strong>\u00a0First things first, please introduce yourself for those who are not yet familiar with YoAnty<\/span>.<\/p>\nYoAnty:<\/strong>\u00a0My name is Anthony Bartoloni. I am known as YoAnty<\/span> on social media. I have been making sneaker videos on YouTube for 4 years. I love sharing my passion for sneakers and bringing my personality into my YouTube videos.<\/p>\nMatt Halfhill:<\/strong>\u00a0You started vlogging a while back, but started a sneaker dedicated channel.\u00a0 What was the “ah-ha” moment to separate the two and start a sneaker channel on YouTube?<\/p>\nYoAnty:<\/strong> I\u2019ve learned a lot about YouTube over the years and am still learning. I watch a lot of vlog channels and got inspired to start vlogging on my channel. What I noticed though is there were people who only wanted to see sneaker videos and not videos of me drinking iced coffee and running around Target doing random crap. So I decided to make a separate sneaker channel: YoAnty<\/span> Kicks. It turned out to be the right move. I can now post whatever the hell I feel like on my YoAnty<\/span> channel and keep all my sneaker videos on YoAnty<\/span> Kicks.<\/p>\nMatt Halfhill:\u00a0<\/strong>Between the start of the channel and now, you’ve gotten to do a lot of cool things associated with sneakers.\u00a0 What has been your favorite experience?<\/p>\nYoAnty:\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019ve had the chance to do things in my life because of sneakers and YouTube that I never could have dreamed of. I am a huge sports fan so the fact people believed in me and trusted me to go interview athletes such as Blake Griffin, Steph Curry, Julio Jones and Jamaal Charles is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.<\/p>\nMatt Halfhill:\u00a0<\/strong>I am sure you get noticed in public due to how many people see you online.\u00a0 What has that been like?<\/p>\nYoAnty:\u00a0<\/strong>Getting to meet people that watch my videos is also up there with getting to meet and interview athletes. Anytime a viewer has come up to me they have been nothing but extremely kind and supportive. That truly drives me to continuing to make content. If you know anything about me I am a wear your heart on your sleeve type of guy. I get plenty of hate comments and people always tell me to ignore it and I do for the most part but it\u2019s important to know the core of my audience are nice people who just want to enjoy sneakers. During All Star Weekend in NYC I did a viewer meet up with Kustoo, Mr. Foamer Simpson and Kick Genius. I don\u2019t want to speak for them but I think its safe to say that was one of the coolest experiences we have ever had. Getting to interact with awesome people who enjoy kicks. Doesn\u2019t get any better than that.<\/p>\n“Getting to interact with awesome people who enjoy kicks. Doesn\u2019t get any better than that.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Matt Halfhill:<\/strong>\u00a0Being from Boston, you seem to have a lot of love for the hometown brand of Saucony and New Balance too.\u00a0 What are they doing that you like the most?<\/p>\nYoAnty:\u00a0<\/strong>I am a huge Saucony and New Balance fan. Personally I think we have seen a shift from people wearing on court basketball sneakers casually to wanting to wear a more low profile comfortable runner. Saucony and New Balance are at the top of their game right now. Brandon Williams at Saucony has been generating a ton of buzz around the brand. They have had some of the better collabs in \u00a0the last year than any other brand.<\/p>\nMatt Halfhill:\u00a0<\/strong>I’ve noticed that you are a big fan of shoes that are inline and not just the collabs from these brands.\u00a0 Which brand do you think is doing the best consistent job in terms of releases?<\/p>\nYoAnty:\u00a0<\/strong>Saucony has been putting out some of the best inline releases out of any other brand. I\u2019m the last person to go after a shoe just because its limited. Sneakers aren\u2019t baseball cards to me I don\u2019t buy them to collect or because they are rare I buy them to wear. Saucony put out a Grid 9000 in a Tiffany\/Mint CW earlier this year and it blew up. There were so many people buying it because it was just an overall good looking shoe. It was just an inline release no hype, no collab, not limited just a dope kick. I can\u2019t express enough how good it feels to branch out in the sneaker world. A lot of people don\u2019t like change and just want to stay in one lane. While there is nothing wrong with that I just personally know they are missing out on some great sneakers.<\/p>\n Saucony Grid 9000 “Mint”\nMatt Halfhill:\u00a0<\/strong>How do you handle the balance of seeded product and your reviews? Many people have questioned the authenticity of the validation from YouTubers who are seeded shoes.<\/p>\nYoAnty:<\/strong>\u00a0I made a video about my thoughts on seeding that I felt got a great response. A lot of people try to tell me who I am and what I should like. Personally I think that’s bullshit. The one thing I love about my YouTube channel is at the end of the day I truly make videos because I want to. No company can tell me what to do or how to feel about a product. That’s the whole fun in having your own YouTube channel you get to be your own boss and create any content you want.<\/p>\n