Alonzo Lerone Is Still Here & Still Providing Good Laughter For The Soul
It’s not often that you run across someone as genuine and dedicated as Alonzo Lerone. Through staying true to himself along with relentless hard work and persistence, the comedian and avid YouTuber has risen to the top, with over a million YouTube subscribers to date. The numbers continue to prevail. However, eight years ago, Lerone had no clue that a simple rant video would lead him to become a renowned YouTube personality. The German-born comedian generates hundreds of thousands of viewers on a daily, captivating an audience, globally.
Turning to YouTube as a venting outlet, Lerone began posting rant videos back in 2008. With his raw, uncut, and sarcastic sense of humor, it wasn’t long before the viewers came. As more people took notice, Lerone’s direction shifted. In 2011 he started doing more social media related videos—which quickly brought an even bigger following. At this point it was a still a part-time grind, doing it for the love and the laughs. But, after experiencing the unexpected loss of his longtime place of employment, he was left clueless as to what the future would hold for him. So, he decided to pull his focus away from his former career and decided that making YouTube videos would be his new full-time job while attending a local community college to complete an associates degree. Though he may have taken one loss, he definitely gained so much more.
His YouTube brand expanded even further than he’d ever imagined. Lerone’s setback laid the foundation for a greater comeback. Through his strong presence in digital media, the YouTuber has been able to inspire and help many along the way. Today, he is still going strong and still providing good laughter for the soul. He definitely hasn’t even reached his peak yet.
Alonzo Lerone’s story proves that hardships can be overcome with hard work. His success didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen. Consistency is the key.
Recently, we had the pleasure of having a sit down with Mr. Lerone to take a look at his YouTube journey and how it all started below…
Parlé Mag: Let’s go back to the beginning for a second. How was life growing up?
Alonzo Lerone: I was born in Germany. I was there for no more than two years, then we went to California—Riverside, California. When I resided down here, in North Carolina, my father retired from the military. So, that’s why we went from the west coast to the east coast. But, growing up, it was nice until I hit like sixth grade. That’s when the bullying started. I was kind of an outcast; I was new to the school. Not only the class but to the school. So, it was a whole different community for me. I wasn’t used to that. Even though Goldsboro, North Carolina—where I reside right now, it’s a faith-based environment, I didn’t get that feeling that I had in Germany and California. It took me a while to make friends; if I did, I kept my list to a minimum. So, high school was kind of hard for me, socially. Like, lunch, that was crazy for me. It was kind of hard to try to sit with people because, like I said, I was an outcast.
Parlé Mag: So how did you come to start making your Youtube videos?
Alonzo Lerone: In 2008, the reason why I started making YouTube videos is because a friend canceled on me, at the last minute, and I decided to rant about that. That’s when I connected to a lot of people who kind of felt the same way—had the same notion of people canceling, at the last minute, after making plans for months and months. And, then, it just grew from there. I started with rants and then came to music video reviews because that’s my passion. I mean, I don’t sing or anything, but it just gets me through the day and hard times and stuff. In 2011, that’s when I started the ‘Dumbest Fails’. Initially, it was called ‘Dumbest Tweets’, and then Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram came along—with people misspelling stuff or saying something completely off the wall. That’s when I branched out. Now, I do hot topics. But, basically, my main niche is social media because I’m on there all the time.
Parlé Mag: It’s interesting how you got your start! So, being that you were bullied, did you have any reservations, putting yourself out there online to total strangers?
Alonzo Lerone: No! Well, the thing is, it’s weird because I’m always by myself, in my head, anyway. It was a mirror, and I remember I opened up my laptop and I just started to record because all I saw was me. It was easier to connect with people—even though they weren’t in the room. I know a lot of people might feel the same way. People are different, versus behind the keyboard, versus in real life. But, being on YouTube for so long, you get to meet people. Real genuine people. Whether they make YouTube videos or they just watch YouTube videos. I meet a lot of people who relate to the things I said and did. It wasn’t that hard at all.
Parlé Mag: Looking back, did you ever think making videos would land you where you are today?
Alonzo Lerone: No, I didn’t have any limitations or reservations of where I was going with it. I just lived it to each day because I was working as well. So, during my stint at the bakery—a bread factory where I used to work, I would always think about going back to my YouTube and engaging with the comments. That’s been my main thing, from day one, just expecting comments and me replying and just reading them, getting me through the night and stuff. Like I said, I met a lot of people through there—flying to the UK, back and forth to California, New York. But, no, I didn’t expect it to be like this; time goes fast. It’s just weird that I did hit a million subscribers and I did not expect that to happen at all!
Parlé Mag: So, what do your family and friends think about your internet success? Do they watch your videos?
Alonzo Lerone: [laughs] Yeah! I feel like my brother is my number one supporter—well, my mom, of course, because I love my mom to death. But, my brother handles the social media—not my social media. He’s very active on social media, now that he retired from the air force. I see him all the time and he’s sharing my posts—sharing my videos, and that is just great. I think it’s just clicking in that they say, ‘Oh, this is a real business! This is a real thing that my brother is doing.’
Parlé Mag: Exactly.
Alonzo Lerone: I have nephews and nieces, my dad, my dad’s doctor. My dad told me his doctor knew me and watches my videos. My mom plays bingo; when I play bingo with her, people just come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I see your videos!’ and stuff.
Parlé Mag: I know that must be a good feeling, right?
Alonzo Lerone: Yeah! It’s just so weird knowing that people are watching you and watching the same thing from either California, North Carolina, the UK. So, it’s crazy. I think it’s catching on to them now.
Parlé Mag: What can you say you’ve learned most about yourself and your craft while building your brand?
Alonzo Lerone: That I’m consistent, that I’m real grounded. I’m still grounded; I’m still genuine. I have that same mentality that I had since I uploaded my first video. It’s amazing to me. I guess it’s the way I was raised or something. You know, you have people who switch, but eight years and I’m still the same. I’m still the same Alonzo.
Parlé Mag: So, I have to ask. Have you ever reached a point where you didn’t want to do it anymore? If so, what keeps you going?
Alonzo Lerone: Oh, of course! Of course. I’ve hit a few bumps down the road. It got overwhelming. This is not just my channel; this is the people’s channel who watches me, who sticks with me—my subscribers. They give me material; they give me ideas. They’re not the only ones who gives me ideas; I get ideas from other places, but they’re my main thing because I’m always like, ‘My channel wouldn’t be my channel without you guys watching!’ So, it just got to a point—taking so many requests, and I was doing that. My father actually told me, because he watches my videos, he said, “I think you’re overwhelming yourself, son. Your mood is different.” And, a lot of people can see that because sometimes I record two videos in one day and I’m editing. The recording is the easiest part; I love the recording. It’s the editing process that takes a long time and I’m in my zone. Sometimes, a ten-minute video or an eight-minute video, takes a day or two [to edit]. It’s just that it got overwhelming, at one point. I took a break because I was still working; I took a break for about six months. One day, I just woke up and said, ‘Let me see what’s going on.’ That was in 2011. I decided to get back in the game—make my own schedule.
But, yeah, and, during that break, I mean, I went to college, I graduated!
Parlé Mag: That’s wonderful!
Alonzo Lerone: I just got my priorities in check. After that burden was lifted, I decided to get back in the game, and I kind of rebranded myself, with the banners, the logos—all that stuff. So, I took that into consideration, and I’m here now! I’m still here.
Parlé Mag: How important do you think it is for digital content creators to utilize their platforms?
Alonzo Lerone: Oh, very important! Social media is the new thing now. People connect to not only celebrities, they connect to businesses. It’s everywhere now, you know? It’s very important that people connect to their audience because they wouldn’t be where they’re at without their audience. Just don’t forget that.
Parlé Mag: I can definitely agree. Who are some of your favorite YouTubers? Besides yourself, of course.
Alonzo Lerone: It stems back to when I started, and I look at them and they’re doing their thing on The Skorpion Show. I watch them. I don’t really watch a lot of YouTubers because I have that personality where if I watch, and watch, and watch them, all the time, I start to mimic them [laughs]. I want to try to protect myself; I want to have my own individuality, my own style, and things. But, I’m the kind of person who just randomly goes on YouTube, and then I can watch something and next thing I know, five hours later, I’m watching cats do silly things or something.
Parlé Mag: [laughs] What tips would you give someone who’s wanting to start a YouTube channel but are apprehensive due to the overwhelming amount of hate that may come with it?
Alonzo Lerone: Oh my gosh! That’s going to come. In fact, if I have my comment section and they’re all good, something’s going on. [laughs] Everyone’s not going to agree with you; you have to understand that and let that be your backbone. When you get a negative comment, practice on that reply. It’s all about the reply and how you take it. But, don’t indulge yourself in one negative comment, or any negative comment, because every one negative comment, there’s ten positive ones that you can feed your energy to.
Parlé Mag: That’s true!
Alonzo Lerone: And, stay consistent! Stay consistent; don’t overwhelm yourself. Just stay grounded and stay consistent.
Parlé Mag: Where do you hope to see your channel by next year?
Alonzo Lerone: Still climbing! I’m still in that mentality—like I said, since day one, that I don’t expect anything. I just take it how it is. I don’t know; I literally see myself still on YouTube, whether I get a TV show or not. You have more freedom on YouTube, versus, all that legal stuff and contracts and things. You have more freedom on YouTube. I’ve seen a lot of YouTubers come and go because they had a project deal and now they’re on TV, and, if that TV show deal falls through, they come back to YouTube and their fanbase is gone. You know? Because they couldn’t wait that long. Me? Like I said, with that break that I had, it prepared me to make changes to my own schedule and just keep on doing what I do.
Parlé Mag: Can the fans look to any future meet and greets? What’s next for you?
Alonzo Lerone: I’ve read comments about meet and greets. I don’t mind meet and greets; I go to VidCon. I go to Playlist Live. My worst fear is of me being somewhere or scheduled somewhere—like a meet and greet, and no one comes!
Parlé Mag: Well, I don’t think you have to worry about that! You have over a million subscribers. [laughs] Alonzo Lerone: That’s not my worst fear, but that’s—I think, the thing that’s holding me back from doing official meet and greets. Alonzo Lerone meet and greets. I just don’t see it like that; I’m a more laid back person. I like to do a one-on-one or maybe five people. But, I don’t know. They can expect new videos. They can expect seeing me guest spot on television, here and there. So, I’m not going anywhere. I’m an open book to social media. The proud thing that I can say is that I’m handling my social media; I don’t have a team right now, doing my Twitter or Facebook. That’s all me; I’m happy about that.
Stay Connected with Alonzo Lerone on social media:
Twitter: @alonzolerone
Instagram: @alonzolerone
YouTube: www.youtube.com/alonzolerone
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