 What is going on everybody? Welcome back to another video. I have a very special guest today. I'm sure you are no stranger to Luke Barus. We are here at the Content Creator Meetup in Salt Lake City. I have the very rare privilege of being able to talk with him and meet him in real life. It is a honor of mine. I promise you. He is a fellow data YouTuber. He is an ex Navy Submariner and someone I consider a friend. He is somebody who has hair that I am jealous of. He's one of the fastest growing YouTube channels in the data space right now. Our guest, Luke Barus. Thank you for being here. No problem at all. Thanks for having me on Alex. I was super appreciative whenever you told me about this. I'm like, yeah, I want to be on Alex there on this show. Like heck yeah, like get me on there. Throw me in coach. Well, you know, I just never get to like with my schedule. I never get to bring people on to my channel that often because either it's just really hard to schedule or like I work really late at night and no one's like wants to stay up to like 11 o'clock and do an interview. It's like most of my stuff. I only have like one interview on my channel. I think I don't even remember who it was. I only have like one. Yeah. It's like this is like a different style totally for me. And I think it's, you know, it's unique because most people when they interview you, it's it's like they don't they haven't met you. They've never usually talked to you. They're just like, Hey, would you do an interview? Right. And they ask like generic questions, which I've had a lot of those and I don't mind them at all because it's a lot of the same question. So hope I'm hoping to kind of get to know you as a person more and kind of find some more insights like into how you got to where you are and like your personal journey there. Yeah. So if you're here to like learn more about like data analysis and stuff like that, you probably aren't going to learn that much, but this is much going to be much more personal, which you know, maybe I'm just being selfish. That's like what I want to learn about, you know, Luke. So I'm just going to kick it right off. Awesome. Yeah. I just have a question for me. I'm just going to be reading out there. When I think about like my journey, I think about like who's influenced me, not just in the data space, but like in my own personal life. Yeah. Who would you say has been like your biggest influence in your personal life and in like your YouTube journey? Oh, wow. This is like a deep question. Oh my goodness. I told him beforehand this. So this is not like a shocker like. Who has been most influential? So in data and also YouTube? Yeah. You know, it could be somebody who's like a book you've read or a person you've met or a family member who's influenced. It could be anything. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'll get a little personal then. Yeah. So me. So this is, I'll get, so I'll talk more about the YouTube content creation and stuff like that. Because it's sort of, it's sort of what inspired me to get into that. Don't me. I just got to fix it. Oh, yeah. Go ahead. Well, actually, let's start with data first. So data first, I would say you and Kenji were actually some of the first people on YouTube and I was trying to actually find out. I'm not trying to suck up right now. So I'll get that. I also feel ancient when you said that you're like one of the first people I'm like. Well, I would say that you and Ken, because I was, I mean, that's one of the reasons why I started my YouTube channel is because there wasn't a lot of content. Like I was working as a data analyst, but not under that title. Right. And I was like, what, like, like, what, what am I, like, what, what do I, what am I called? What do I do? And then I'm like, like, like watching Ken's channel and your channel. And yeah, just like it was a slow realization of like, oh, this is this is what I do. That's what I do. That's what I'd like to do. And like, if I have this question of what this field is and like what tools I need to learn and I'm learning the wrong way and I need to learn in the right way, where obviously other people are going to have this question too. So that was like a big motivator for me was to get into the YouTube content creation. And I guess, personally, like why like videos and stuff like that, like when we were growing up, we were all about like family videos. And my dad was always had a camera and like filming. And I never really like noticed it at the time. But then afterwards, after the fact, like for some reason, I was like gravitated toward a video camera. And it just happened that way that I got into YouTube and enjoyed making it. Do you need help with that? You're right. No, I'm going to fix it live. Don't mind me. We have some malfunctions. Yeah, let me let me help you with that. I finally figured out which way I'm supposed to turn this thing. But okay, so like while we're fixing this, while you're fixing actually because you're better at this stuff, something that you were saying, which is you didn't really know. So it's interesting from my perspective, because I started making content and this type of stuff because like tutorials, I focus on a lot of tutorials. Whereas you don't do a lot of tutorials, you do a lot of like what to focus on, what to learn that kind of style. Is that is that because like what you just said, which is when you first started, you didn't really know what you were, you weren't sure and you wanted to teach people that so that I feel like that's influenced like your content. Right. Yeah, actually, that's a good point. But actually the real reason, oh my goodness, this mic is too far away. But actually the real reason why, so I started off making tutorials, but then nobody was watching. And I was like, they were pretty bad. I like go back and watch them now. I'm like, oh my gosh, these things are not good. Very awkward. Like what up data nerds? Hello everyone. Yeah, exactly. And so I was like, all right. And then I guess my first like out of the box video was how not to learn Python. And it was more instead of talking about the tutorial aspect, it was more talking about my journey about it. Right. And I actually found compared to do because I did actually had a Tableau tutorial and like a Python tutorial initially started off. And they were fine. They were good to make. But then I found like sharing the journey and I like really like telling a story. Right. And that's how the channel has just evolved because I really like enjoy the creative process and creating a story. But now you'll see like I used to be able to like with a tutorial, pump out a video and like, you know, like three, four, five days. Now with this, like trying to tell a story and make sure it's like succinct. I mean, I'm like at like two, well, I haven't made a video like three months, but I'm like, it's a much longer lead time. But I really like enjoy that. And like, it's fun. It's interesting. So, you know, it's interesting that you say that because I feel like your quality of video is high far exceeds anything that I probably ever put out like every single one of your videos, which I'm sure is why people are like drawn to your type of because it's very techie, very like really well edited was mine or not at all. So it was like that like an intentional style that you chose or you're like, did you do research on that? Or did you just like figure it out? Yeah, no, that's actually a good question. So we had talked about yesterday, you had talked about your your watch channel, right? And I talked about my meal prep channel. So I before I got into data analytics on you tell us I was doing people giving like meal prep advice because I'm like into physical fitness and meal prep. That space is like completely saturated and like there's too many people there. So I was like, I get out of here. Anyway, for that, I was making a lot of like Instagram content. And also, I was making YouTube videos of like overhead shots of like cooking and stuff. Interesting. So you can like, oh my gosh, I probably shouldn't put the name out there. But it'll be in the description. I promise. It was called, I think meal prep made healthy. And then I renamed it to macro fit meal prep. So it's like, like a super targeted niche. Yeah, yeah, yeah, very targeted. And like I was showing these videos of like, and that's where it started with like this editing. And I was picking up with my dad gave me a book on food photography. And that was like the first thing. And so I learned about lighting and a little bit about video and then getting into you. So with the meal prep, I was making that and then I gravitated into mine towards making the tutorials and very easy and super easy to shoot, right? And super easy to edit. But every time I make a video, I'm always aiming to implement a new tactic or a new thing. So if you like watch my first, like, how not to learn Python, it's like, sort of cringey. And now it's like, it's just evolved over time. It's just I always add like something, I learned something and try to implement it in the video because I really like that aspect of it. And I feel like people want a, you know, it's like, dad, it can be sometimes boring. It's like, how I completely disagree with continuum. It's always exciting. Well, sometimes I'm like in my room, like, or in my office, like shooting the shooting content or whatever. I'm like, okay, how can I get this shot of the computer? And it's like, how can I get this nice shot? And it's just funny how you can like do certain things to try to like entice people. So yeah, and, you know, honestly, like I am somewhat jealous just because if I had the skills and I have to know how or like the ability to plan ahead like that, I would try to shoot mine like yours. But now you've already done it. So like I had, I wish I'd done that before, because I would have loved to do that. Like I wish I could learn that. But now, now I feel like you and I, we kind of work in parallel. We don't cross over too much, which is, I mean, for the most part, very complimentary. Like peanut butter and jelly. Exactly. And so like, when I see your content, I'm like, dude, he kills it. I just do very different stuff. And mine is also like way simpler. So like, we have a lot of crossover, but our content that we create is also very different, which lends itself to not making us like hate each other. Because we make very similar, we're in the very small niche. So it absolutely could happen. But it hasn't happened yet from what I know. I think it's great. It's like, oh, I may make a video on how I use Power BI, but then it'd be like, oh, check out Alex's tutorial on Power BI, because it's really great. And you get even more in-depth into it. But yeah, no, I think so too. I like I really enjoy your channel and I mean, I've learned a lot as far as the different tutorials as well. So I really like how you do it. Oh, man, I appreciate that. So you've been on YouTube doing data analytics for what, two years? A year and a half, two years? Yeah, a year and a half-ish too. So what's wild to me is like, YouTube is like a really advanced, really fast-paced world. You get into it and you're like, oh, it's slow, slow, slow. And then it like hits you. Right. And you go like warp speed, right? Correct. That's how it's been for me. And I've seen it with your channel. You know, two years is two years to get to where you are. It ramps up. But now you're at the ramped up phase. Like what do you see? Where do you see your channel going? What do you see yourself doing for let's say the next five years? Like, do you have any goals or ideas of what you want to accomplish with what you have right now? Yeah, I want to go full vlog style and just vlog my life. Do you really? No. I'd watch it. No. Actually, yeah, me and Tina were talking about this recently as well for your content shift, if you will. My goal, I would like to, I want to continue to grow the channel. I want to try to, so right now, really focused on data analysts. And I really love data science and I love how much it's helped us and how it can help companies. And a lot of the stuff that we're doing is mainly trying to help like some company or some business, if you will. I don't really feel like it's for individuals. It is individual development, but I don't feel like it can be used for individuals. So what I would like to shift to is like, sort of back to my meal prep thing, but shift to how can you use data in your personal life and to basically reach sort of a bigger audience to see like, hey, this is what data science is. And this is how you could potentially use it in your life. So maybe you some like, oh, like I like to track myself on my Garmin watch, maybe something along that lines of how I can use that data to improve my lifestyle. Yeah. No, that's interesting. I mean, like you said, it's hard to think of like personal ways. I've done it with maybe my finances. Yeah. That to me is like maybe one of the only ways that I've used it like really genuinely. I can find other ways. Right. But that's one that I've actually used. Yeah. So yeah, and there are people who are super into fitness or health or like all these other things. And you can, I'm sure you can use it. I just haven't really thought about that. It sounds like you have. Yeah, I mean, like, well, I, yeah, I'm like trying to brainstorm and like how actually I'm like, it's like testing me. And that's what a lot of my videos do. Oh my goodness, I'm trying not to burp. That's what a lot of my videos do, like I'm learning on the spot too. And I'm like, oh, like that we have this good data, like how can we use it? Like I want that analyst, I should know. Something you just said and something I asked a lot, which is do you, how do you learn? So you said, I'm learning this on the spot, right? Which prompted me just to say, when I make my tutorials, I don't know everything perfectly. Right. I usually know, like if I make like I'm doing like a Power BI series, I know like 90% of that 80%. Some of those topics I'm like, I never use this or I haven't used this in a long, long time. I kind of forgot and I have to like research it. Is there like a portion or a lot of research that goes into it? Or do you know most of the topics that you make when you're making them? Yeah, I would say a lot. And I'm actually curious to hear about your prep period. A lot of like, so like my, what I do? Oh yeah, my recent Excel video. That one, I knew, I would say basically being in our job, we've been able to be exposed to a lot of things. So we know, hey, what are the main things? So for example, this Excel video, what are the main things people should focus on? So now I know high level what I want to focus on, and that's going to get us there. But then when it comes time to like actually make it, now I'm diving into power query and what's the functionality of power query? It's like, Oh, I got to do some prep work for this, because I got to make sure that I get it right, that I don't say anything wrong. So like that, that Excel video actually was a little bit too excessive, that probably took me about two weeks to write to write. And I still had to shoot it and then edit it for another week. So a lot of prep work. What about for you? I would say pretty similar. I mean, you know, like you said, we get exposed to a lot of things. But you know, when you really want to like teach someone something, you don't want to mess it up. And you don't want to forget something that's important. Because early on, I kind of, I was like, this is what I know. This is great. But then I would be like, someone would write in the comments like, Hey, what about this? And I was like, I absolutely should have included like, how could I not include that? I just didn't do enough research. So now like, I learn a lot about these tools from teaching other people. And you know, it's always like the best student is a teacher. Like I fully believe that because, you know, when you're teaching, like you don't want to, I don't want to give people bad advice. You don't want to give people bad advice. You want to make sure you're giving them a whole complete view of it. And so you really dive in super deep, more deep than I probably did when I was even like studying it or like using it in my job. Now I'm like, I don't want people to be like, dude, Alex, you don't know what you're talking about. Like you totally missed this like crucial piece. Oh, yeah. That's the worst feeling. Oh, it is completely that. It's like, that's like, will probably hold me up the worst because I'm just like fact checking, trying to fact check everything, double checking everything. I'm like, I do not want this to be wrong. Because to your point, I think of vivid example, I did a comparison to Tableau and Power BI, like a year and a half ago, completely didn't talk about DAX in Power BI. Yeah. And everyone wants to know about DAX. And it's like, this is actually pretty major that I didn't talk about this one aspect. Yeah. Same things happen to me. It's like, it's not uncommon. But it's like you get so wrapped up and then you're just like, Oh my goodness. Yeah. And you also, you know, you try to teach the things like that you use in your job. Like for me, I didn't use a lot of like, like just like random, like in a sequel, I don't, I didn't use a lot of like store procedures. But I'm like, Hey, people need to know about this. They need to learn about it. I've done it to this extent. But, you know, if I don't use it that much, I may not even think about adding it to like my content. Right. You know. Yeah. And it's like, that's an also a problem I run into because I'm like, I don't use this, but I need to like go research to see if other people are using it. So if I need to talk about it still for others to know about. And usually you can find something online. So you're 100% right. All right. Let me see. In your life, is there somebody who just like knows you better than anybody? And how would the, how would that person, if they were here, how would they describe you to like everybody out there? Oh, really? Well, just because I asked that because, you know, we, we, we create these videos and sometimes we share about about our lives. But we definitely are like, we talked to a camera, right? Right. Yeah. So it's very different than like a best friend or like a partner or whatever. Right. It's very different how they view us because my wife views me completely different than everybody out there. I promise you. Yeah. And so I, you know, I'm curious like, is there anybody, anybody who like knows you better than like probably anybody else? Yeah. Yeah. No, I would probably go with my, I have two Navy friends. They'll probably be watching this. Yes. Alex and Dave. And they, it's funny because they're just like, like you're completely different on camera. This is not your person because I'm, I'm like, yeah, I'm an introvert, but like if I, especially with people I know, I'm very talkative and I feel like sort of outgoing and probably say very inappropriate jokes and just like, like always messing around and just like trying to have a good time with people I don't know so much and not the, not the same. But I would think, yeah, I would say that's how they would probably describe me. I'm definitely like a little bit, a little bit different and like socially awkward around people that I know and maybe enjoy drinking the wine a little bit too much whenever I get around my friends. Okay. All right. No, that's great. That's great. I love that. All right. We don't have too many more. I'm trying to keep this intentionally like not super long because like we're in a house with a bunch of creators and they all want to like come get breakfast. So I'm like, you know, I'm trying not to be crazy long with these. So you were in the, how long were you in the Navy? And like, so I come from a military family. Yeah. I know that how much they travel, the type of work is involved. You know, how has the Navy impacted your career and just like your personal life and also like YouTube journey? Like how big a part of it is it played in your life? Yeah. So I was, I was in for seven years. I was in the submarine force of the Navy. Did you actually in submarines? Yeah. Yeah. I spent like two years of my life underwater. That's why I'm also socially awkward too. That's great. How many people, how many people are like down there in the submarine? Like a little over a hundred. So it's, there's a lot of you. Yeah. Okay. There is. Yeah. And you're just like working shift work and you'll go out for, I mean, I would go out for like three or four months at a time, not have any communication with the outside world and come back and it's like, just hear crazy news stories and like try to catch up because you don't have that much communication with the real world. Okay. So I cut you off. That's wild. It's definitely, yeah. It's definitely a shock because it makes you, somebody whenever I was first getting into the submarine force and this will lead into your question too. When I was first getting into it, they, you know, I was going through it and they didn't want to say like it sucks. They were like, Hey, you're going to learn to appreciate things more. And I did. And I'm like, what? And now I get back and like, like I have in my office, I have to have a window. I have to see outside. I like, I want to be outside. I want to see the grass. Like, I'm like, I have to see the outdoors. And like, I appreciate the outdoors now from being in this metal tube. So that's what one is giving me an appreciation for that. And then obviously the military aspect of like structure and getting a job in a task done, sometimes without clear instruction has really propelled me in like just getting my, just getting YouTube and also my job done. It's giving you a little bit more of a self motivation, you would say? Yeah, exactly. And just understanding like, like, like making the YouTube video, like that you were talking about earlier about like, oh, like the editing and stuff. It's just like, okay, I just do one small task at a time. I have little small goals along the way. I don't actually write up my goals, but little small steps along the way that I know I need to hit. And then eventually I'll just get to the goal. And it's very much what I've learned from the military and it sort of drew into YouTube. Yeah. No, that's awesome. Again, I didn't join the military, but I come from military family and they all are very similar things. Like my dad, my dad was is like the person who I am probably closest with who's in the military. And he'll talk to me about it all the time. He's done several tours in Iraq. I ran Kuwait. And he will always tell me he's like, when I got back to the US, he's like, I never appreciated things more than I did then. The military just gives you an appreciation for like the simple things. He's like, it was like 125 over in Kuwait. He's like, we didn't have our own bathrooms, our own showers. When I got back and I took a shower in my own shower, he's like, it was like the best thing he's ever experienced. So I totally understand that idea of that. But that's, I mean, that truly is like a pretty life-changing, like not a lot of people can say they've done what you've done. Yeah, I mean, I mean, nobody else who's ever done that. I mean, I highly recommend it. I mean, I love being in the military, but I definitely had to get out. I wanted to, I have like more of a creative side and that definitely military very structured. Yeah. All right. So totally like last question, I'm not going to keep on you. This is like just kind of an open ended one. Okay. Like what is something that people don't know about you that you think is like really interesting that you're like, you know, I've never talked about this, but I actually think this is really interesting about me. Oh, wow. Really? I don't really know that. There's nothing. It's actually nothing else. What is really interesting about me? You should have saved the food prep stuff. What did Ken say? I didn't ask him this question. I told you, I have individual questions for every person. Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, there's like a two or three that I overlap, but I did not ask him this. Really interesting about, I don't think actually, I don't, I would say actually I'm actually very boring and I don't know if this is actually an interesting answer. This is actually the worst answer possible God, but I'm, yeah, I'm actually pretty boring and I guess this will be my answer. I like to, I have a certain like, I guess routine, if you will, every single day. So I like to make sure I try to get seven, eight hours of sleep every night, work out at least one hour a day. And then from there, I base everything on my day around it. And I really feel like it's helped me in my life with having that structure of sleep and activity. Right. And then it's fed into my creativity and also my work as a data analyst. So I hate to say that. That's like the interesting thing about me, but that's like the interesting thing about me is like, I really like fitness and I really enjoy like getting outside mountain biking and using those activities to like fuel ideation and also my work coding or whatever it may be. So I'm actually, yeah, I'm pretty boring, but I mean, I like to mountain bike. I think that's pretty neat. You should just live with that. My bike by itself is pretty unique. All right. Well, Luke, thank you so much for coming on to the channel, doing this interview. Guys, if you have not checked out Luke's channel, which I'm sure most of you guys have, but if you haven't, I'll have a link in the description. Go and check him out. He makes fantastic, fantastic content all around data analytics. So again, Luke, thank you for being here.