Valkyrae before she was famous: From GameStop to gaming, the incredible story of Valkyrae's rise to fame

Rachell "Valkyrae" Hofstetter is an inspiration for countless females trying to make it big in the world of streaming, esports or gaming. She might be the first female to join the esports organization 100 Thieves as a content creator or the co-owner of 100T, but it wasn't always rainbows and unicorns for Valkyrae.

In fact, right up until last year, Valkyrae struggled to establish her presence in the streaming community. Her sudden move from Twitch to YouTube had her starting afresh and she, on many occasions, thought about giving up. However, Valkyrae's passion for gaming drove her to keep up the grind until she got everything she ever desired.

Valkyrae rising through the ranks ever since she first started streaming Fortnite full-time in 2018 is a story everyone is well versed with. However, very few know the life and struggles of Valkyrae before she entered the world of streaming.

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What was Valkyrae like before becoming a streamer?

Valkyrae was born in Washington, USA, and before she became famous, she worked at GameStop, a car wash and a bank to help her get through community college. It was GameStop where her passion for gaming was nurtured, which also inspired her to turn it into a profession.

Being around games all the time, Valkyrae decided to start recording some clips and upload them to her Instagram account. She also used her access to information from GameStop to inform fans about upcoming releases of other information from the world of gaming.

Fortunately, Valkyrae soon shot to fame on Instagram, reaching 15,000 followers within a short span of time. This encouraged her to upload videos to YouTube, shortly before her fans encouraged her to give Twitch a go. Valkyrae was immediately hooked to the idea, because it meant no editing or thinking of content ideas. All she had to do was stream.

Unlike other streamers following the Twitch meta, gaming was always an escape for Valkyrae. In an interview for 100 Thieves, Rae opened up about the troubling family dynamics at her home and how her alcoholic father was always fighting with her mother. To keep her daughter happy, her mother encouraged her to play games, and naturally, Rae played whatever made her happy.

From Dark Souls to The Walking Dead, Valkyrae streamed a variety of content on Twitch before she finally stumbled upon Fortnite, and the rest is history. As of now, Valkyrae sits close to 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 3.5 million followers on Instagram.

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