The saying, “Behind every successful man, there is a strong woman,” rings incredibly true for Jessica Blevins. Wife and manager to Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, the most famous streamer with 40 million fans worldwide and featured in many accolade lists including Forbes “30 under 30,” Jessica is an influencer in her own right with 1.2 million Instagram followers and 466,000 Twitch followers.
I sat down with Jessica and Tyler to learn about their daily lives streaming to their fans and how they are taking the entertainment and gaming industry by storm.
Kate Talbot: You manage your husband, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins. What does that look like on a day-to-day basis for you?
Jessica Blevins: Every day is different. Right now, during COVID, it's more steady because we haven't been traveling. I start my day pretty early, much earlier than Tyler, because he's normally up very late. When Tyler wakes up, he usually likes to get on stream right away.
I always ask for 10 minutes to get answers and input from my morning calls talking to publicists, lawyers, or any new opportunities. While he streams, I do the exact same thing.
We try to have him get off-stream around 6 pm and spend time together as a couple watching Netflix or eating dinner. As of late, there has been a lot of contracts and deals going on. Our personal life sometimes takes a backseat, but we always try to make sure we make up for those busy days with what we call date days where we take the entire day off, both of us.
Talbot: What have you learned managing Tyler?
Blevins: What I've learned is truly endless. I'm super proud to have learned to negotiate not only contracts but multimillion-dollar ones. I'm a small-town girl. If somebody would've told me this would be my life when I was young, I would've laughed. I'm very proud and happy to have learned that skill.
I've also learned to communicate with pretty much anyone and everyone from producers, actors, musicians, tech companies that set up Ninja events, sponsors, agencies, lawyers, the list goes on and on. Because my college degree was in communications and it's one of my passions, I love that I've grown with who and how I communicate. Talbot: Tyler, what do you admire most about Jessica's ability to step into the role of your manager?
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins: What I admire most about Jessica’s ability to step into the role of my manager is how flawlessly she did it. She immediately played hard ball with the big boys and acted 10x more professional than I ever could at the time. She was so eager to learn about the space and always was asking for advice from more experienced people and still does. She wants to be the best at what she does and continues to work toward it.
Talbot: Back to you Jessica, gaming is a very male-dominated industry. What advice do you have for a woman wanting to enter into that world?
Blevins: Don’t let the thought of being a minority keep you from doing what you're passionate about. You will be stereotyped. You will be torn down. But if you can block out the negativity, there's a whole lot of positivity floating around the world of gaming as well.
This world is also overdue for even more awesome, female gamers who compete alongside the best of the best. I know they're out there. I know more are coming. And I cannot wait for that. The world of streaming has seen many females come in and start dominating. That's evened out the playing field a bit more, even though it's so male-dominated. With Esports and competition specifically, I want to see even more amazing female competitors come into that scene.
Talbot: You're also an influencer with like 1.2 million Instagram followers and 466,000 Twitch followers. What’s your favorite part of having that reach?
Blevins: I love just getting to show people the real me — especially now that Tyler is as big as he is. There are still so many people that have a stereotype about me, and all somebody would need to do is pop into one of my streams or start following my Instagram to understand who I am and see the real me.
I love that I have these platforms hold me accountable and keep me down to earth. I'm not going to start posting Gucci bags, and 'hey, we're here at this huge Hollywood event." That's a fun, exciting thing that we get to do. However, I don't want that to completely take over who I am at heart, which small-town girl from Wisconsin. I love that I can use my platforms to give back to animals and the environment. I love being able to share exciting, incredible, authentic things with my community.
Talbot: Tell me more about your passion for philanthropy.
Blevins: My main goal when I got into philanthropy was to help out the average person with unexpected expensive vet bills. What I started doing was vetting people on Twitter asking, "What's going on right now? Who has an animal that's sick? Tell me your story."
For the environment, I am pretty close to an organization called 4ocean. They sell bracelets, and for each sold, they pull one pound of trash out of the ocean. They then make different colored bracelets from the recycled garbage materials that they find in the ocean.
Talbot: Lastly, Tyler, what do you think the next five years will look like for you two?
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins: I think the next five years for Jessica and I will look like a lot of gaming, flying, a bunch of more “firsts” as a married couple, and maybe an extra puppy or two!
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