Rising Stars: Meet Adam Young of Madisonville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Young.

Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us how you got started?
I was in jail again in August of 2017 due to meth addiction. Set in that jail cell day after day, wondering how I could keep finding myself in this place. I prayed that if God gave me another chance, I would never look back again and shoot for my fullest potential. Well, God granted me that prayer! I was only out of jail for about two weeks when I was lying in the bathtub, wondering what my fullest potential looked like when I was inspired to start posting positive videos on social media platforms. I knew nothing about content creation. All I had was an old galaxy tablet whose camera was so bad that it looked like I was using some horrible grainy filter. I soon discovered that I fell in love with content creation and started learning about video and video editing. I bought a DSLR camera and started my journey of discovering my creative flow, which took me a while to get past all the tech stuff to use to create what I have a vision for. What started as doing small videos about my faith and encouraging others who may have been on the same road I once was has turned into taking people on hiking adventures with Ashley and me. I have truly enjoyed bringing our viewers and listeners on this journey of self-discovery with us. Today I am a senior at Murray State University, and I plan on getting my M.A. in Producing. One of my passions is to help people that don’t know the tech side of things gets from vision to fruition.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. Being a full-time student in your late 30s and early 40s is hard enough without adding the process of learning about shutter speed, aperture, ISO, lighting, editing, and all the things that come with being creative. Not to mention trying to stay inspired while you’re a struggling college student. It seemed like it took forever to reach a learning curve that would allow me to free up my creative flow. I still have a lot to learn, but that is what inspires me. There was also a time that I battled with some depression at the same time Covid hit, and my camera and audio equipment were set on the self and collected dust. But coming out of that season, I found myself inspired again with a fresh perspective. That is when we decided to rebrand ourselves and focus on building a brand that could be marketable in the future.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Since we rebranded ourselves “Rooted Vagabonds,” we have started a new season on our podcast where we talk about the tough topics that involve the Christian lifestyle and culture. We also started filming our hikes and reviewing the gear we used on the trail. What sets us apart is that with every bit of content we bring to the table, we want to put something out there that will impact someone with positivity. With so much negative stuff in media feeds, we want people who listen to or watch our content to have an experience. We pray that the experience will leave you feeling positive, encouraged, educated, and inspired to reach your fullest potential.

Is something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
This is a pretty hard question because I try to live a transparent life and be as honest with my listeners and viewers as possible. If there is one thing that would probably be surprising is how many insecurities I battle to get in front of a camera and bare my soul at times. There have been times that I have set in front of the camera with tears running down my face because I couldn’t find the courage to turn it on. But I do it anyways to show that you can do anything no matter what you battle mentally.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rootedvagabonds.buzzsprout.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_young0526/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heredeems777
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1OXZjWt5Quz9pDZnKP_hrQ?view_as=subscriber