Swahiligal (@Swahiligal) is a Jack of all trades and master of living life. She is a digital content creator still looking for a suitable apartment in the internet world. In real life people call her the fixer because she knows how best to fix anything from your blender to your travel plans and sometimes even a broken heart i.e. with a lot of help from google and her connections. She is also an occasional photographer, writer, videographer and a whole bunch of other stuff.

1. Did you always know you wanted to be a vlogger?

Not at all! Actually, it came about after a while of actively using Snapchat. People really used to enjoy my snaps and my style and I loved making them so that is where I ended up.  It was a way of immortalising my snaps. Though in retrospect I have always wanted to be in the film industry as an actress or director, so that probably played a significant role.

2. What is your creative process like?

We can say my entire life is the creative process. I am continuously experiencing magnificence and my mind is always on the go. I even carry around a little notebook because even a passing cockroach can turn into something major.

3. How much do your life experiences influence your work?

My work is based on my life experiences either by living through them or vicariously through somebody else.

4. Your vlogging focuses on travel especially in Lamu. Why did you choose that path?

Wow, I have never seen it as that way. It’s more of me sharing cool experiences and coincidentally most of my dope experiences are in Lamu as this is where I currently live and this place is amazing.

5. Who are your favourite travel vloggers and why?

I am embarrassed to say this, though I do it myself, I am not much of a fan of travel vlogging. I love YouTubers in general and top on my list are Brian Kimani aka Getaway Planet and Evelyn From The Internets as my go to Kenyan YouTubers with Casey Neistat and Lilly Singh as my international favourites. For all four of them it is because of their style and vibe.

6. What are your thoughts on vlogging in Kenya, what challenges have you faced as a vlogger and how do you think we can improve on the craft?

My biggest challenge has been finding my audience. Kenyans are yet to embrace YouTube fully as a source of entertainment other than for music, make up tutorials and Nairobi Diaries. It is mainly the young teenagers that are exploiting YouTube fully because it is the one place they can consume content without being policed by their parents. It is therefore not easy churning out content as an audience rarely comes in to find your kind of stuff.

The best way to improve the craft is for YouTubers in the country to form a community and work together (@hawaanoor keeps repeating that till it has stuck in my head).  Only when we appreciate each other in this digital space will we be able to have a greater impact on the rest of society and be able to draw them in.

7. What work/project are you most proud of?

The next one. Each project I do always exceeds all previous ones because I keep mastering my craft. It only gets better.

8. What advice would you give an aspiring vlogger that you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?

All good things take time, be consistent, perfect your craft and find the online community that resonates with your beliefs and style and work with them. Please, please, please ignore the numbers because they do not matter; trust me, they don’t.

9. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Oh man! I am a free spirit, I cannot even see myself in the next 3 months and you are talking about 5 years?! Let’s just say I will be living life fully and in a whole lot of greatness, with a couple of more crazy shenanigans added to my list of ‘Been there, done that’.

Bonus Question

10. If you could work with any brand especially in the travel industry, who would it be and why?

Land rover! Land rover with wifi to be more specific. That would be a crazy experience. Can you imagine packing up my madness into a land rover and letting it out loose into the world?

Check out Swahiligal’s profile and work below.

YouTube Channel: Swahiligal

Instagram: Swahiligal

Snapchat: Swahiligal

mwendeCreative of the Weekblogger,Kenya,Lamu,travel,Vlogger
Swahiligal (@Swahiligal) is a Jack of all trades and master of living life. She is a digital content creator still looking for a suitable apartment in the internet world. In real life people call her the fixer because she knows how best to fix anything from your blender to...