Everyone is Worthy. A moment with Simarchy

Simarchy’s streams are unforgettable experiences. Upon entering one of her high-energy streams, viewers are met with a welcoming community that is full of sunshine and wonder. The unique Simarchy community loves to express their authentic selves through art, builds, and crafts. They play Sims, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, make crafts, and complete jaw-dropping builds with Lego sets.

Simarchy herself, a dedicated Floridian who sometimes sports mermaid-like pink hair and showers her community with love and affection, is equal parts bubbly and business-oriented. Over the years, she has transformed her passions into a lucrative juggernaut of a brand that many gamers instantly recognize.

Beyond even this, Simarchy often shares her hard-won knowledge of social media, marketing, andgeneral business savvy with her supporters. She not only encourages everyone to follow their owndreams, but she also supports their growth with actionable takeaways and tangible support.

Sims Nation Magazine sat down with Simarchy to find out what sustains her even during challengingtimes. That is, how do mermaids keep swimming even in the most turbulent of storm-torn seas?

EVERYONE IS WORTHY

A MOMENT WITH

SIMARCHY

INTERVIEW BY ALAERYN EMLU' RATHIAN

Alaeryn: Simarchy, it is so good to finally sit down with you! I’ve been a big fan for quite a while. Your streams are so high-energy and welcoming! How is life? How were your holidays?

Simarchy: Thanks for having me! Everything is going really well. I've been having a lot of fun live streaming with friends while exploring a variety of games and hobbies, and I have been working on balancing a healthy work/personal life. I couldn't be happier! The holidays were great; I did a celebration stream to keep my viewers company if they didn't have any holiday plans: we opened the presents they sent me and built Christmas LEGO sets. I also spent time with my family and friends.

Alaeryn: Tell us about you! How did the place you live and your upbringing lead you to the Sims? How did you come up with your name?

Simarchy: I didn't discover the Sims until 2016. I was obsessed with an Animal Crossing spin-off game called Happy Home Designer, where you would decorate homes for villagers, and had played through two copies of the game and started getting bored of the furniture. That's when I decided to look for other games where you could decorate houses, and I stumbled upon the Sims. It took a bit for me to get into it and figure out what to do, but I quickly fell in love and spent the majority of my time learning how to build and watching other content creators. I then created a YouTube channel so I could share my builds with other Simmers and make new friends. I came up with my channel name, Simarchy, by combining two words - Sims and Anarchy. The freedom Sims gave me to escape my life, be super creative, and create any life I wanted, seemed like the perfect fit.

Alaeryn: You are well-known as a Sims streamer, but you do not simply stream the Sims by a long shot! Viewers can also find you crafting, playing Animal Crossing, enjoying Stardew Valley, or even building with legos! All of these pastimes have enjoyed quite a boom during the pandemic; what draws you to them personally, and what do you think your viewers get out of them?

Simarchy: I've created thousands of builds in The Sims over the years, including over 1,000 YouTube videos, and more than three years of Sims-exclusive streams. Naturally I started running out of ideas and started looking at other ways to express my creativity. When the new Animal Crossing came out, I took that as an opportunity to vary my content, and my streams really took off from there since it seemed like the entire world was at home also playing along. Once the hype died down, I started exploring other hobbies including crafting and really got into making custom 3D floral greeting cards. My viewers enjoyed the varied content, as the crafting streams tend to be really calm and relaxing, [...]

and I take custom requests from viewers so they're involved in the process. Then for my birthday, we spent the entire month exploring other crafting hobbies. A friend sent me a LEGO kit to try out. I instantly fell in love and wanted to build a ton of houses. It's a huge passion of mine now and made sense to share with my viewers who also enjoy building and interior design. It's been a perfect fit for us! We recently got back into Stardew Valley as well and decided to do an evil playthrough where we choose the Joja Mart corporate route over the community center. It's been interesting, that's for sure!

Alaeryn: You are also well-known for being incredibly positive and mermaid-obsessed. How do you remain positive even during challenging times? How do you keep the positivity alive amongst your audience? Why mermaids?

Simarchy: Honestly my viewers have helped me be more positive. From the moment I started creating content, everyone was so kind and supportive. We created our own community full of love, support, and creativity. When I started streaming I was going through a really rough time in my life, and the friendships I made really helped pull me out of a dark place and gave me something positive to look forward to. It brought a whole new meaning and purpose to my life, and all I want to do is give back to those who also need a friend. Anytime I have a rough day, I know they'll instantly cheer me up, and I do the same for them. As for my channel theme being mermaids and seahorses, I've always been drawn to the ocean. I moved to Florida from up north to escape the cold, and when I was surrounded by water I felt like I came alive for the first time.

I knew I had to live here. I had always loved seahorses and mermaids. I thought seahorses were mythical from seeing them in the movies, pulling the mermaid's chariot - So when I saw one for the first time when I was 16, it was like seeing a unicorn!

I started researching them and instantly fell in love. Mermaids and seahorses have always been so special to me, so it made sense to theme my channel around them. I call my viewers seahorsicorns which is a combination of seahorses and unicorns, and of course, I'm the mermaid!

Alaeryn: Sims Nation Magazine highlights body positivity this month. How do you incorporate body positivity in your own life and the lives of your Sims?

Simarchy: I suffered from a horrible self image most of my life. As I got older, I started to realize looks aren't everything, and as I became more comfortable in my own skin and grew as a person, I put less focus on appearances and more on who I am as a person and my self-worth, which everyone has. I stress to my viewers that everyone is beautiful and everyone is worthy, and we should be proud of who we are and embrace the differences that make us unique. It's so important to be comfortable in your own skin, and I encourage others to work on feeling the same way.

As for The Sims, I mostly build houses, but anytime we use characters it's important to me to show diversity so I often use my viewer's Sims to showcase all different types of lives and tell their stories through our builds.

Alaeryn: Before we part, I must ask: who is your favorite Animal Crossing villager and why? Are you enjoying November’s update?

Simarchy: I have two favorite villagers - Rosie, a peppy blue cat - and Daisy, a normal yellow dog. They were my neighbors and best friends in Animal Crossing New Leaf, so I was very excited to have them as my neighbors again in New Horizons. The November update is what pulled my back into Animal Crossing. I'm still shocked at how many incredible things they added, it's like a whole new game.

The introduction of Happy Home Paradise, which is basically Happy Home Designer on an island, is very special to me since it's the game that got me interested in designing. I'm so happy we have a new version to enjoy!

Alaeryn: While you are enjoying enormous success as an EA Creator, beloved Twitch Streamer, and dedicated YouTuber, you are also a well-respected mentor to many other Twitch Streamers and YouTubers! What is your best advice for a streamer who is just starting out? How do you so deftly maintain your Simarchy empire?

Simarchy: Thank you for such kind words! My best advice to a streamer starting out is to just start. You wouldn't believe how many people are interested in streaming and are just too afraid to take that first step. You have to try it to know if you'll enjoy it, and I highly encourage you to start with what you have. I started with an old laggy laptop and used the awful built in mic and cam until I knew I was serious about streaming, and later upgraded to something better. Don't take it too seriously when you start out - Focus on having fun, enjoying yourself, learning as you go, and hanging out and forming genuine friendships with other streamers and communities that share your same passions.

That's how I started out, and once I saw this could be a viable career for me, I started treating it more like a business in terms of my commitment and consistency. I made sure to focus on why I started, for the incredible friendships through shared passions, and found ways to make my viewers the stars of the show by showing off their creations and really making them part of the experience. [...]

I make sure to always have fun with what I'm doing, and as my own passions grow and change, I have taken risks to allow my channel to also grow and change. Keeping this balance of what makes me happy along with what my viewers enjoy watching has allowed me to live out my dreams with people I love. They support me 100% and I literally couldn't do this without them.

Sidenote: It's ironic that you used the word empire, because my mother, who is sadly no longer with us, once wrote me a letter during a very pivotal time in my life when I decided to go into business for myself. We were all stressed, but she told me not to worry because I would create my own empire one day. Those words instantly remind me of her, and how much she believed in me, and how fortunate I've been to have the unconditional support from my family.

Alaeryn: Is there anything else you’d like ourreaders to know? How can they best remain incontact with you?

Simarchy: Thank you for reading about me and my journey. If you take anything from this, I want you to know that we're all incredible and unique individuals who have something to offer the world whether we believe it or not. Especially if you're in a dark place or going through hard times, or don't believe in yourself, you have to take the time to find the things that make you happy in life, no matter how small they are. Surround yourself with people that support you, and don't be afraid to go after your dreams. You're worth it and can do anything you put your mind to!

If you want to hang out and talk about or play any of these games/hobbies with me, I'm live Monday through Friday from 11am to 3pm Eastern at

Twitch.tv/simarchy - We have a very loving and supportive community who loves making new friends and welcomes anyone who wants to join us.

You can also watch my Sims videos, including an extensive library of building tutorials for both beginners and advanced players, at

Youtube.com/simarchy - and I'm on most social media platforms @simarchy