Kristine wanted to share a funny (and impressive) moment with friends and family members when she uploaded the YouTube video above. But that's not exactly how it worked out.
"It went viral," she says.
That the original video has now reached more than 70 million viewers illustrates the YouTube story: What connects to a few can connect to millions. Kristine's family became Family Fun Pack, which now has more than 4 million subscribers and is represented by Studio71.
"We never knew we were going get this big," Kristine says.
There has been a lot of joy and success in becoming a YouTube family, but Kristine and husband Matt had a major caveat from the start: Privacy was a must. They wanted their children to have as safe and normal of a childhood as possible. And for all of the opportunities YouTube offers, there's a well-known dark side.
"Even in the beginning, people would leave really rude comments," she says. "Really disturbing things. Is this a kid or this a legitimate adult? You never really know."
So that was the bargain. The creative, sometimes whacky and relatable family could make a YouTube life for themselves, but there was a clear privacy line they never wanted to cross.
Nearly a thousand videos and more than 7 billion video views later, Family Fun Pack does, in fact, have a enviable amount of privacy. How? Kristine says there are two key decisions they had to make.
"You’ve got to start from the beginning and not share too much [about personal details]," she says. "You’ve got to be careful.”
But there's also a matter of motivation.
"So many people on YouTube want to be famous and so you have to give your information out," Kristine says. "That’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re just trying to share happy things."
After the first viral video and a couple of years into building their channel, Kristine and Matt didn't use the children's names in videos at all and then chose to use different first names for the children for a period of time. But things got complicated when they wanted to name their fifth child Michael, which was one of those alternate names.
"It just messed up the whole thing," she says. "We decided sharing our first names was probably okay."
Beyond that one connection, the family have toiled to keep their offline lives private:
- They live in California, but that's the extent of what they'll share.
- They have all fan mail sent to Studio 71, rather than using a P.O. Box.
- They have moved to a more private neighborhood after previous neighbors recognized them and left fan mail at their door.
- They have obscured information on public websites, sometimes requesting that information be removed from sites, and placed filters on comment sections.
- Friends and family know to never make the connection between the family and their YouTube channel anywhere on the Internet.
- They use different last names at school, and in other public places, to keep the identity trail cold.
Another important strategy is to simply ask the core fanbase, the most loyal to their channel and family, to care about their privacy. So when fans start to pry for last names or locations in the comments section, it is often another fan who will respond, "Why would they tell you that?"
"Most people respect the need for privacy," Kristine says, "and the people who don't are probably kids."
By staying away from the kind of celebrity where details of personal life infuse their "brand," Family Fun Pack has become the "everyfamily." And that might explain their meteoric rise.
Socialblade currently ranks Family Fun Pack #19 in Video View Rank, counting more than 300 million views in the most recent 30-day analysis. This is achieved with the 377th Subscriber ranking, which means Kristine and her crew have become adept at creating findable content and building loyal community.
It is great news that comes with great challenges.
"There's a misconception that YouTubers are lazy," Kristine says. "We work really, really hard. We work every single day of the week."
Staying in touch with fans, creating new ideas to inspire families, thinking through business pitches for partnerships and new ventures and, oh yeah, making videos.
"By far we're both working a full-time job and then some and trying to still be parents," she says.
Parenting can also be a little tricky when your children become first-name celebrities. I asked Kristine what would happen if one of their children wanted to share their full name on a YouTube channel some day.
"I would definitely talk to them and say, 'Let's be careful.'"
