A WOMAN who was bullied over her love for gaming now has turned her passion into a full-time job – and rakes £7k a month.
Natalie Barnes, from Greater Manchester, became a gaming professional thanks to her lucrative hobby.
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Natalie started her career playing video games for hours from the comfort of her bedroom in Wigan.
The 20-year-old ditched her law degree at the University of Liverpool after forking thousands each year.
Natalie told Manchester Evening News: “Turning something you love into a job is amazing. I’m incredibly proud.
“There are millions of people trying to make a career and I made it.
“I didn’t know when I started gaming at 11 years old that this would be how my life turned out, but I’m so glad it did.”
After earning millions of viewers from all over the world, she has become the most watched female player on Apex Legends in Europe.
An one of the top ten in the world.
The self-made businesswoman built her fortune after viewers paid a subscription fee to join her live-streams on Twitch.
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She explained: “I have a community of people that watch me and admire me daily, I don’t think anything beats that.”
Her popularity secured her a spot in conventions and the most important gaming tournaments in the USA.
But her rise to the top wasn’t easy as the professional gamer had to hide her hobby to avoid criticism.
Natalie claimed to have endured vile bullying at school – she was slammed by trolls for being a girl who likes video games.
She explained: “There was a group of boys that would laugh at me and call me names, saying I wasn’t meant for gaming, all the typical ‘get back to the kitchen’.
“I was bullied a lot for it by specific people and I did everything in my power to hide it from everyone.
“It was incredibly childish behaviour and I shouldn’t have been affected by it, but I was in high school and I just wanted to fit in.”
The bullying didn’t stop after stepping into a male-dominated world where she received “horrible” comments from her peers.
She said: “In college, I still didn’t promote it, but I didn’t deny it if anyone found me. I started to embrace it and people were definitely more accepting.
“But even now, I still deal with horrible comments.”
However, she said to be now able to show off her passion as fans from all over the globe admire her and even ask her for pictures.
“I get asked for autographs and pictures at events, I’ve been handed gifts and people have made edits and drawings of me.
“It still feels incredibly weird,” she added.
Natalie has now been able to built her own name as she is amassing a fortune thanks to donations, gaming tournaments and sponsorship deals.
It comes as another young student shared his side hustle that has turned into his new career.
Ciaran Finn, 25 and originally from Manchester, has revealed how he was able to pay for his university fees thanks to digital marketing.
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