Meet Craig Jackson | Owner & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Craig Jackson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Craig, what’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?
We used to sell video games online primarily, and then we were buying a house and needed to come up with a few extra thousand in closing costs. So it was either sell everything we had built up to one or two other resellers and lose a ton of profit, or give up the house.

So a few weeks later we moved into our new house and we’re deciding on what’s next. We had a bunch of video equipment and streaming equipment from when we used to live stream auctions of our inventory, so let’s move to YouTube and see what we can do there until we can rebuild our inventory for sales again.

Honestly, I don’t regret it. It’s been an amazing journey and making that drastic mood has opened more opportunities than I could have imagined.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve always leaned toward the creative side of my brain. I grew up in a family of musicians, so I thought I’d go into that industry until I realized there is a ton of competition in that space. Meanwhile, I also have a passion for editing videos and photography. While I was in my early 20s, there was a website called ScrewAttack, where a bunch of guys would make silly and pre-YouTube-style videos, similar to what a bunch of my friends and I would make in High School.

Honestly, I was super nervous and anxious to move into that space, mostly because I had no idea what to talk about! Later on, I worked for a real estate photography company in the DFW metroplex, and that reignited my passion for creating content, then TikTok blew up, changing social media video, and after taking years of wanting to be apart of it, and our business changing gears, my wife and I both knew this was the right step.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We live in Granbury, so we’d start local on a Friday night. We’re likely getting a sitter, and we’d hit up Ketzler’s Schnitzel Haus and Biergarten for authentic German pretzels, beer, and brats or go to Miyako Japanese Restaurant for hibachi. Either way, we’re ending the night on a chill note at Farina’s Winery & Cafe for dessert and a glass of wine or coffee. Coming home to relax around the fire pit.

Saturday we’re going to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose. Many of our friends also have kids, and it’s a cool experience to have a giraffe come up to your car. Then, if we brought lunch, we’d go to Big Rocks Park or Dinosaur Valley, but either way, we’d end up at Shoefly on Glen Rose Square.

Then we’re on Saturday heading in town to the Stockyards. Hang out, give them a tour, and end up at Caterina’s. It’s hands down an amazing experience. It’s family-style Italian, so 5 courses, plus they take your phone, so there are no distractions.

Sundays are usually chill for us. We mostly grill out if the weather is nice or we cook at home with a pot roast in the crock pot.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife, Bethany. She is the brains behind everything we do and will be open and honest with me about my ideas and suggest things I never thought of.

It all started when I, wanted a Nintendo Switch around October of 2020. So I spoke to my wife Bethany and we were expecting our second child during COVID and did not have the funds. So we talked and agreed I could have ten dollars, and find stuff to flip. By Black Friday, I had a Nintendo Switch and 6 or 7 games in less than a month, with inventory growing.

I worked full-time for a real estate photography company and part-time flipping video games on Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces. So, several years passed, and I left the real estate photography company and had gear and equipment in my closet, just no reason to use it. We had just sold 90% of our inventory to pay for the down payment on our house, and we’re starting over from scratch essentially.

One of the biggest questions we would get is, what games are good for my kids, or how can I play a certain game I grew up with? So, my wife and I decided to go to YouTube while trying to revamp everything! We were struggling to find a niche, and her idea was hey, why don’t we, as parents, talk to parents instead of talking at parents? We could suggest games for adults to play with their kids and answer what we’ve been answering privately and publicly.

Since then, we’ve been streaming together and working in tandem on writing scripts and it’s opened the doors for conventions and expanded the media side of our business while opening other doors to expand the selling side of things. It was even her idea to highlight vendors that are other small businesses at the Dallas Fan Expo and other conventions we went to last year. Meanwhile, everyone was going crazy over celebrities. We were making connections with vendors.

She is not just my partner, she is brilliant at coming up with ideas that have helped us be successful and grow, as well as ideas to expand into the future that are practical as well.

Website: https://outtacontrolgames.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outta_control_games/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigjackson87/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outtacontrolgames

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@outtacontrolgames

Image Credits
Photos taken by Craig and Bethany Jackson, Outta Control Games/Media