The path to a career in data analytics can be full of twists and turns. Along the way, you pick up tools like Excel, Python, Tableau, and R. What about learning how to use YouTube and growing an audience of 50,000+ from publishing videos about data analytics? I'm always fascinated by people who are able to combine the technical aspects of being a data analyst with other careers like science, art, and even wastewater treatment. Luke Barousse is a data analyst and YouTuber and we chatted about how he learned Excel, built a portfolio of his data work, and becoming a YouTuber.

From the U.S. Navy to Excel

Prior to joining the U.S. Navy, Luke took a C++ course as an undergrad and got a taste of coding. After joining the Navy and working in various roles, he didn't get a chance to utilize some of the coding skills he learned at university. Eventually he went to get his MBA and took an Excel course taught by Professor Elliot Bendoly (who also wrote the book Excel Basics to Blackbelt). Luke started seeing the potential of Excel as he dug into VBA and some of the coding capabilities in Excel.

Using social media to share a Google Sheets template

For the class' capstone project, Luke built a meal prep Excel file. Even after the class was over, he took the meal prep Excel file tried to turn it into an application. He transferred it from Excel to Google Sheets and it started to gain some traction. He used Instagram and created content around meal prep and drew more attention to the Google Sheet template. Eventually he started using Python and Django to try and create an application since people were always messing up the formulas on the Google Sheet.

I find it interesting that Google Sheets template become the lowest common denominator when you need to create and share a simple tool, and are ok with it being rough around the edges. It may be too costly (and frankly overkill) to create a custom application with code with a Google Sheets template will suffice.

At one point did you realize Excel was not going to be the solution to your problem, and decided to look at other tools like SQL? [Link to video about stop using Excel] With the meal prep, I knew Excel wasn't going to be good enough as a way to distribute the template. From the video, people are telling me I'm anti-Excel but I'm not. It's great for modeling and one-time analysis. When I was working on a project at work, I was working on tracking inventory from suppliers. At this point I didn't know anything about dashboarding tools or SQL. We had to ingest supplier data into Excel on a weekly basis. First problem was we realized it was hitting the row limit. Another problem was I started creating a lot of formulas that were being frankensteined together. 2-3 minutes to open the file. Went to a new role, and my old group still asked me to fix the old Excel file. Didn't have opportunity to create another solution.

When you are discussing different tools in your videos, you frequently mention the community and support behind the tools. How important is it for the software to have an active community as a factor in choosing the right tool to use? I have a video on Tableau vs Power BI and I talk about the differences between the community between the two platfoms. Tableau has amazing documentation but community isn't that great. Power BI is the reverse. Has a strong community with forums.