It was the fall of 2018 when Lionel B, 38 at the time, sat in his car on the streets of Tampa chatting with his friends over FaceTime, careful not to allow the background and clothes in his backseat slip into view.
Lionel B had been jobless and was now broke and living out of his car. His son was hungry, and his hopes of making it were shrinking.
Three months later he would be living in a huge home, earning a six-figure salary as a popular YouTuber on the Lionel B Show on YouTube. This is the story of how he turned his life around with dedication and determination.
Lionel, the son of a registered nurse and a school principal, was born in Panama City, Florida, and raised by a single mother who moved him and his siblings from Guam back to Panama City when he was a toddler. He attended several different public schools growing up because they often moved around a lot.
After taking interest in computers, he found a job working in IT for several different employers. At first glance, it seemed like a dream job at the time, he said, but what it really actually amounted to was low-wage, drone-like work with little chance of advancement.
He was living with his then girlfriend in 2018 when he was let go from his IT position because he was racially discriminated against by a company called Comanco and decided to go back to doing what he does best, creating. He briefly attended IADT 13 years prior but said he didn’t learn much, so he dropped out and instead started learning on the job as a music producer, engineer and videographer.
That was when his girlfriend at the time leveled with him — she wanted him and his young son to move out and to start a life with her pastor she was secretly seeing.
“And that’s the point when I went into critical thinking and I was like, what could I carry, where will I put my things, what do I need, how am I going to survive, what are my short-term goals, what are my long-term goals?” Lionel B said.
Riddled with debt, and having to provide for a son, that he’s had fully custody of ever since he was 3 years old and deflated by a series of dead-end jobs, Lionel had to do something fast.
Homeless in Tampa
Lionel B to his surprise had $38 in his Google account, and became inspired that he hadn’t uploaded any content on YouTube in close to 5 years and he actually had funds.
But Lionel had no place to sleep or enough money to store his belongings long-term. He had family in the city, but nowhere to go.
“My first three days I actually slept cramped up in a two door Mercedes Benz,” Lionel B said.
He stored his belongings in a storage facility, which was risky because the storage company would auction of units, if tenants fell behind on payments.
Next, he needed a bed, so he started making calls, to look for a shelter but no shelters in Tampa or Hillsborough County would accept a man and his son.
Rock bottom came when he video-chatted with his family outside in a hotel parking lot. Pride ate at him, and he held back the truth.
“I didn’t want to face the embarrassment of my family finding out I was homeless,” Lionel said.
In his vehicle while using a store’s Wi-Fi connection, Lionel B noticed a problem: The urban news videos on YouTube that he watched the most, wasn’t really that creative or interesting. Then it hit him — most of the people that are watching these types of video, would possibly more than likely want to see higher quality content.
“I started creating videos directly on my phone, by editing video clips, pictures and speaking into my voice recorder,” he said. “I think that was the start of my career, actually.”
He quickly rose to fame on the YouTube platform with several viral videos that he actually recorded in his car. His voice was welcomed, warm and friendly, however the audio quality was poor.
After purchasing a small microphone, he began working harder on his channel, and increasing the production quality. This continued from October through February.
YouTube started recommending his videos on the platform and he quickly pulled in over triple 6 figure income in 8 months.
“I was applying for other IT jobs before I took YouTube seriously and it took about a month to get my first check,” Lionel B said. “Then I called all of the companies, that turned me down from employment, and told them thank you for not hiring me. I would’ve missed my amazing blessing.”
Lionel B remembers the day when he moved out of his car and hotels, and into his brand-new home. “I felt great,” he said. “I told them I was the new viral YouTuber, but I didn’t want to give too many details.”
To some, Lionel B’s story may resemble a rags-to-riches tale likened to Will Smith’s portrayal in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” or Tyler Perry but Jennifer William’s from the Basketball Wives insists that it’s not that kind of story.
“He does not fit that concept,” Williams said. “He was already super sharp — he was made to do exactly what he does.”