The name "Rezy" was one that I adopted in 2012, when I was in middle school, originally using it as my "gamertag" on X-Box and username on YouTube.
From 2012 to 2016, under the name Rezy, I published well over one hundred YouTube videos, received hundreds of thousands of views, and even launched my first company, Exruse, a sub-network of an MCN called ContentPixel.
As funny as it may sound, there was a time when I genuinely enjoyed my life more as "Rezy" than I did as Calvin Hamilton. Whereas Calvin was a struggling student who couldn't find his purpose in the traditional education system, Rezy was a fairly well-respected gaming content creator and entrepreneur. And, frankly, I built some of my closest friendships online by playing video games, learning new skills, and building things.
However, I stopped using the name around my sophomore year of high school - largely because I would get embarrassed if anyone found my YouTube channel and called me "Rezy" at school, poking fun at the fact that I made YouTube videos.
Now, this isn't to say that my friends and peers intentionally bullied me - or at least I don't see it that way - they were just trying to be funny and thought I would appreciate the jokes. But unfortunately, in practice, I became incredibly self-conscious.
This self-consciousness led to me giving up YouTube, my biggest passion and hobby at the time, and ultimately scrubbing the name Rezy off of all of my social media profiles... Until in 2022, when I decided to bring the name back almost a decade later.
Why?
Well, for starters, I like the name; it's short, sweet, and easy to remember. But, beyond the name itself, it brings me a weird sense of fulfillment – it takes me back to when I was a kid sitting in my bedroom in Phoenix, wanting to do nothing other than have a good time, learn, and create things.