From producing for National Geographic to voice acting on “South Park,” Mickey Ramos does it all and her latest endeavor takes her to the last frontier—Alaska.
After the cancellation of National Geographic’s “Life Below Zero: Port Protection” in 2024, Ramos took it upon herself to revive the show on YouTube. She now runs the one-woman ship that is her YouTube channel, “Alaska-Vibes,” which has gathered nearly 20,000 subscribers within a year. With an extensive background in the industry, Ramos provides her insight into the entertainment industry and is looking for Bruins who may want to join her in growing her channel.
Stepping back onto campus, Ramos spoke with BruinLife’s Birka Chen about “Alaska-Vibes” and the business of entertainment.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
BruinLife: How did your YouTube channel, “Alaska-Vibes,” come to be?
Mickey Ramos: I worked on the TV show, “Life Below Zero: Port Protection,” which was one of [National Geographic’s] series. They had a bunch of series and there were five of them and they all got canceled, but we still had an audience. So I decided to gather that audience and go out in Alaska and try to keep it going in a YouTube format.
BL: What does a typical day on the set of “Port Protection” entail and how does it compare to your on-set duties for “Alaska-Vibes”?
MR: So on the TV show, I was in charge of a team. It was me and two other people: a director of photography and an assistant cameraman. I would come up with the schedules of what we were going to do every day and we generally had four days to be able to tell a story. It was up to me to figure out what those four days entailed. Now, since I’m the only one out there, I do all of it. I’m the one that has to come up with the stories and develop them with the cast. I also have to shoot. I have to put mics on people. And then after I’m done with all that, I still have to ingest all the footage and edit it and then I have to switch to social media and upload everything. So I’m doing probably about the work of about 13 people, whereas I used to do the job of one.
BL: Other than running “Alaska-Vibes,” you’ve had a lot of experience with your background in TV producing and voice acting. How does your work in content creation compare to the other roles that you’ve been in?
MR: I use some of those things, like the voice work that I’ve done as a voice on “South Park.” I have found [that] I have a rather unique voice … so if I need to get from one story point to the next and I don’t have a cast member that has created that bridge, I can do it with my own voice. Then as far as my production jobs go, I’ve learned a little bit here and there from every one of them and it’s all coming together into this one job.
BL: How did you get into the business of entertainment?
MR: I had no idea what I wanted to do when I got out of college. No idea. I was a history major and I did what a lot of people do and I started waiting tables. There were a couple of waiters at Gladstones over there on PCH and Sunset who suggested I see where they volunteer at a public access studio. Then as soon as I walked in there, the light bulb went off and I was like, “This is what I want to do.” Then, I learned how to do public access television. It was awful, but I learned how to do it. Little by little, I got better. I would wait tables, make money, buy gear with that money and teach myself how to shoot with cameras. I bought an iMac. I taught myself how to edit. It was just stair-step on stair-step until I got to this point.
BL: What would be your advice to students who would like to get into the entertainment industry?
MR: Oh, man. Right now, the entertainment industry is going through probably the most massive shift that it’s ever been in since its inception. It’s falling apart. I’m not going to dissuade anybody from following their dream; that’s what I’m doing. I’m also going broke following my dream. … I think our parents grew up with the ability to work at a place and have a pension and all that kind of stuff. That doesn’t exist anymore. I think for students now, looking at the job market, I think it’s all about not necessarily one career for your entire life. I think it’s about looking at multiple options and always looking at side hustles for everything.
BL: Are you intending on staying with “Alaska-Vibes” or do you see yourself branching out into something new on YouTube?
MR: I would like to get “Alaska-Vibes” self-sustaining. I would like to eventually take over the entire “Life Below Zero” universe, which is all the shows that Nat Geo did. I want to take all of them, get that up and running and then I would like to see about possibly being a production company for YouTube-type content. I want to employ other people. I wouldn’t mind throwing it out there that I am definitely open to younger Bruins getting in touch. I need younger points of view. I need younger people who are more up on social media than I am. I need people who are willing to sign on with me right now because they believe in it and they have faith and those people are going to rise with me. So. I’d love to get some young and hungry Bruins, who might have some advice, to get in touch.
