At a very young age, this teenager from Makati City experienced hardships in life. Growing up, she has only one goal: to earn money so their family can live together under one roof.
With hard work and perseverance, she was able to achieve her dreams despite the ongoing challenges brought by the pandemic, thanks to her subscribers on YouTube!
“Nung bata pa po, ako mina-manifest ko na po na magkaroon ng bahay, and maging isang YouTuber,” Love Marie Sabas Pugal told The Philippine STAR.
“Tatlo po kaming magkakapatid, ‘yung Mama ko po walang trabaho. ‘Yung Papa ko, supervisor lang po siya sa cafe, pero nawalan po siya ng trabaho and wala po talagang, bawal po magtinda kasi nasa pandemic nga po. Naisipan ko pong gumawa ng content and napaedit na rin po. Hilig ko naman po siya pero naganahan na po talaga ako magvideo kasi para makatulong na po sa magulang ko,” she continued.
“Squishy Crafty Slime po ‘yung pangalan po ng YouTube ko, nagsimula po ako 2020.Tungkol sa Gacha life po, animation po siya sa YouTube. Nung December 2020 po, 100 followers pa lang ‘yung subscribers ko and ngayon po nasa 181k subscribers na,” she added.
Since their house was too small for their family, Pugal, along with her two siblings, stayed at her grandparents’ house,
“Gusto ko pong sama-sama na po kami manirahan po sa bahay tapos para hindi na rin mahirapan ’yung magulang ko sa paghahandle po samin kasi dun po kami natutulog sa kabila po, sa lola ko. Wala na po kaming panahon po para minsan magsama po sa isang bahay,” she said.
In July 2021, Pugal started monetizing her channel. During that time, she received P8,000 on her first payout. Then the number of her followers eventually grew while most of her videos garnered millions of views.
Her monthly salary from being a content creator helped her achieve her dream house and make their life comfortable.
“In September 2021 po, dun po namin napagdesisyunan na ipatayo po ng bahay ‘yung mga earnings ko sa YouTube. Nakatulong po talaga siya kasi nababayaran po namin ‘yung mga gastusin po namin. Lumakas po bonding naming magkakapamilya. Nakakain na po kami sa isang bahay tapos lahat po ng mga gusto po naming kainin, nakakain na po namin,” she said.
Pugal also received a silver play button from the social media platform in April 2021.
According to the young YouTuber, the modular learning amid the pandemic helped her in crafting her content for her new channel.
But despite her success, Pugal still wants to focus on her studies while producing content, saying that she wants to be an engineer someday.
“Gawin po ‘yung hilig at i-prioritize pa rin ‘yung pag-aaral. ‘Wag po talaga pong pabayaan ‘yung pag-aaral. Wag po sila maggigive up and wag po sila magpapa-affect sa mga hate comments kasi po napagdaanan ko po ‘yun. and alam ko naman po natin na Malalagpasan natin ‘yun and in the future alam ko pong mararating nila ‘yung pangarap po nila,” Pugal noted when asked about her message to fellow young Youtubers.
