Start2Finish: Fueling Discipline, Focus and the right mindset
Start2finish is about starting a journey towards achieving fulfilment and the guidance to travel through the voyage until reaching the shores of your goals and visions. The mission is reaching the finish line in whatever endeavours of your life. Many of us lose track of our goals or abandon ship due to situations surrounding us or we lose the will power to go on. Hence regularly reminding each other of what is at stake is key to keep us going
Start2Finish: Fueling Discipline, Focus and the right mindset
Kelvin' Story: I made $10 000 in 6months - Content Creation changed my life.
What does true resilience look like in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds? Kelvin Birioti's journey from walking 8km to school each day to becoming a successful full-time content creator with over 142,000 followers answers this question with raw honesty and profound wisdom.
"Poverty will give you resilience. When you experience poverty at its peak, you can't afford to give up," Kelvin reveals as he unpacks his transformation from struggling student to digital entrepreneur. After dropping out of university due to financial hardship, Kelvin made a pivotal decision that would change his trajectory forever—rather than returning home defeated, he secured an apprenticeship with established creator Kundai Chitima, who not only supported him financially but mentored and taught him the fundamentals of content creation.
This conversation explores the critical turning points in Kelvin's career, from the exhilaration of earning his first $100 YouTube payment to his strategic approach to business growth. Unlike many who experience sudden success, Kelvin maintains a disciplined investment philosophy: "If I'm buying something, it has to be an asset." He shares candid insights about the unique challenges facing Zimbabwean content creators, including a limited online audience, and how he's navigating these obstacles while remaining authentic.
Beyond professional strategies, Kelvin opens up about integrating faith into his business practices, building a family while growing his platform, and why he defines success not by financial metrics but by peace of mind. His practical advice for aspiring creators—focusing on thumbnails and titles, remaining consistent, continually learning, and evolving your approach—offers a blueprint for sustainable success in the digital space.
Whether you're building a content business, facing seemingly impossible challenges, or simply seeking inspiration from someone who refused to be defined by circumstances, this conversation will remind you that where you start doesn't determine where you finish. Subscribe now and share with someone who needs to hear that their current situation is just a chapter, not the conclusion of their story.
Fueling Discipline , focus and the right mindset!
My first paycheck was $120. And I told myself this is possible. You know about that. Right, I said I'll do this. I said it's bullshit. What gave you the resilience? Poverty. Poverty will give you the resilience. When you experience poverty at its high peak. You can't afford to give up. You can't afford even to be depressed. I feel like hardship. We don't have to regret what we went through. We learn from that, we improve, we go forward. And today we are here sitting with Kelvin Williams. You know I'm so excited just to tap into his life as a YouTuber and content creator and you know that's how the journey has been so far for him.
Speaker 1:One thing that I can just say this man is very humble. You know why I say that? Yeah, because I gave him a call. Yeah, and you quickly responded to say hey, dude, we can sit down and we can talk. I can teach you a bit about what I know in terms of the content creation space, because I'm also interested in that space. Obviously, as I do this podcast, I want to do video, audio. So you know it's humbling when you meet someone who then just say, hey, okay, cool, let's go for it, you can pick me up right now, and then you know what I mean. One or two tips, and definitely it helped me. One I'm now using CapCut for camera, thank you very much. And another thing I'm trying to work on my thumbnails and titles. Yeah, so these are things that you have just introduced to me. Sometimes it's a little bit difficult, it's a little bit difficult to post, but it's not working. So, yeah, so, kelvin, tell us about your story. Who is Kelvin, the story behind this man here?
Speaker 1:So, for those who are watching me for the first time, my name is calvin billions and, um, I'm a content creator full-time, yeah, and I grew up in chinois, did my primary, secondary, but when it comes to you, at university level, I told myself I need to change environment. That's when I moved. I grew up in the environment. That's when I moved. I grew up in Chinoy. That's when I moved from Chinoy to Bindura. Imagine all the way from Chinoy to Bindura. I did my university there, but I had to drop out in my second year, almost Right now I was about to go to attachment and I dropped out because of financial problems at home. So, instead of me going back to Chinoia, I told my dad look you guys, I'm not going to come to Chinoia. I want to start a new life in Aral, and that's what happened.
Speaker 1:So when I was still at university, I knew content creation then, but I was not really serious about it. I was just doing it from here and there. But in my second year I started to be serious about content creation. Even when I'm in a lecture I would be watching YouTube tutorials on how to really push my game to another level. And when I was still at university I talked to other quantitative creators that we had here in Zimbabwe, and he was one of those people who told me look, you can make money from this if you start being serious about it. And I did so.
Speaker 1:When I told Kunda that I dropped out and I'm about to go back to Chimoy, he said no, you can come work for me. And from there I went to Kunda Ije Tima. And then when I started I was working for Kunda Ije Tima and I was pushing my own grind he allowed me, he gave me an opportunity and said you know what? You can work for me, but at the same time you can push your own YouTube channel. And I did, and it worked out well for me to the extent that I told him look, I can now do my own thing. I don't think we should continue working together. And he said that's what I wanted. I wanted you to do your own thing. I was just there supporting you. From there, the rest is history. The rest is history. They say, okay, tell me more about this apprentice, because it looks like you know here to, you know to, to, to, to work for someone to fully understand the space, how it works. Tell me about that. I think a lot of people we want to get into something, into business, before we even understood you know the gist, how business works, what it takes, so tell me so.
Speaker 1:When I was looking for Kunda Ejitsima, I learned a lot. If I'm to be honest, if I had not met him, it was going to take me a while to reach a level where I am right now under him. That's when I did understand the really concept of content creation. For example, he wanted me to make like three videos a day and I thought it was impossible, but I figured you know what it's doable and I learned the first-person editing and some of the skills that I learned under him. I applied them even up to now and some of the skills that I learned under him. I applied them even up to now. Yeah, so it it worked out well for me and I learned a lot from him how to upload, the time to upload.
Speaker 1:This is how you you do your thing. This is how you don't offend other people on social media, especially when you're doing social commentary. Yeah, so back then I was doing social commentary. I was not doing like what I'm doing now. We were doing social commentary Sorry, uh, bubble gum content.
Speaker 1:Other people would say, okay, cause it loses value very quickly. Okay, it keeps you busy. Okay, it keeps you busy. But along the way, I had to change. I had to change. Okay, you pay for that. Okay, you feel good, all right, perfect. So you know.
Speaker 1:Just what I want to just say is what I'm learning from this conversation that we're having. Is you, at some point, you know you need to work under someone? Yes, in order to gain the experience be it content creation, be it any part of the you know business that interests you, that you're passionate about exactly you need to fall under a guidance of sorts. Yeah, and yeah, I think that when you're starting something, you're really excited. You're really excited and the pace that you are applying is fast, fast, fast. When you're doing that, you are going to make a lot of mistakes some of the way, but when you're working under someone who has got experience, who has been there for a while, you get to take things bit by bit and apply consistency, and that's the right way to do it. Yeah, yeah. And also what I'm getting from you this is you know, when you are getting into the space of content creation, it's for the long haul, it's not like, okay, I need to make it a quick sensation, otherwise we get frustrated. You give up very quickly.
Speaker 1:Content creation is not for the weak, because, at the end of the day, you're being attacked on social media. One thing that social media has taught me content creation has taught me is integrity. If you really want to build a brand, a recognizable brand, that will stand the what do you call it? The cost, what? The test of time, test of time yeah, you have to have the integrity. And another thing you have to be that person who knows that, no matter what you do, even if you do right, people are always going to attack you. So just be you and focus on your grind and, uh, that's it. You have to be consistent if you are not able to give up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and also, I think another aspect is about authenticity, being yourself. Thank you, as you, as you do this, or jd, you know, sometimes you're trying to make in that figure right, like, is everything working out? That's very important. That's a good point. Yeah, for me, I used to be that person when I used to stay in Genoese. I used to stay in a house that was not really good looking, okay, and it was really bad, you know. And when I was, I'll try by all means to hide some of the things and me not realizing that.
Speaker 1:Look, if you don't fake your life and be true to yourself and to people who are watching your videos, you'll see that it will be good for you, even for your health. I'm telling you, you can't fake something for a long time and if you manage to do that, it's destroying you. That's correct. It's hard to fake something. It's not easy, that's correct. It's hard to fix up. Yeah, it's not easy, it's not. It's not True and true, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, okay, going back to dropping out from college, yeah, you know, in other places, maybe the first four, they drop out because you know they want to start a business, but for you I think it was more situational, yeah. So here's the thing when it comes to me, I'm that kind of person who don't give up very quickly. But when it comes to university life, when I was told we seem to be struggling here and there when it comes to me, I said, okay, I'm going to give up. But I feel like inside me I could have done something and find the finances to finance my university journey, but I gave up to pursue this content creation. So sometimes I think I made a choice. It's not like financial problems yes, they were there, but I made a choice. It's not like financial problems yes, they were there, they were there, yeah, yeah. But I made a choice to say I love you, kichu, I love content creation, I'm going to pursue you and that's what I did. That's what I did. That's amazing Because you see, even through the situations that we experience in life, we still have a choice.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter where you are in life. You know where you're coming from. It's broken, it's not rosy, everything is bumpy, but you can make a decision to where you want to take your life. The next step of your life was where you start off. It's not where you want to end up. Amen to that. Yeah, yeah, that's what I hear from you.
Speaker 1:Zimbabweans are very strong. Truth and truth. They go through all the trouble, all the bad situations in life, but they barely reach a level where they say I'm giving up and I'm just going to be depressed and staying at home taking alcohol. The situation that we are in right now in Zimbabwe, I would say I would applaud every Zimbabwean who is really grinding, trying to make ends meet and take care of their families. It's not easy. I remember when I was still at university there were certain times that I would not go to a lecture because I don't have shoes. Like my dad would tell me a week from now he would send me money to buy shoes. It was really bad. So you see that parents, what they go through for their kids, it's a lot. It's not easy. I'm sure it also stresses them because what they want is always the best for their kids and it's very encouraging. You know, like where you're coming from and the resilience that you've shown in your journey. You know, to make your own man and to continue on this journey of content creation. Yeah, so tell me how long have you been doing it and you know, obviously I'm just wondering after you have left your apprentice and now you are at it alone. So I started to be serious.
Speaker 1:After working for Kundai, I started to be serious about content creation. That was 2021. Okay, yeah, 21. That's when I started posting, yeah, so you could see that within four years, I feel like the pace that I'm moving in right now is not fast, it's slow, but I'm getting there, yeah, yeah. So I started from.
Speaker 1:I started content creation in 2016, but I was doing it from here and there. I was just posting a clip here and then, after some months, I posted another one. But 2021, after working for Kundai for like a year. That's when I started to really, like, start taking it seriously and pushing it. And this is over five years of doing this stuff here, yeah, and when I monetized, that's when I recognized, like, look, I can really start making money. I withdrew like $100 a year from my first paycheck was $100 a year and I told myself, like, so, this is possible. It's not like that. Yeah, I can do this for times, I can do this for times. And I started pushing and from there, I never looked back. Okay, yeah, yeah, so, yeah, amazing. Yeah, you know, it's always the journey that is exciting. Hence this program start to finish. You know you start something but you have to see through all the way. There's always a process in the middle.
Speaker 1:Someone could have given up, but you're still standing on it and I'm sure five years ago this thing was not a joke job. Everyone was looking at content creation. Like I said, even when I met my girlfriend, when you go out, people don't look at you as if someone was going to work. They look at you as someone who's just going out there. Well, for me, this is my job. This is my full-time job.
Speaker 1:Another thing that I've noticed I could not afford to be depressed. I could not afford to give up. That's the thing, the resilience that we have as Africans. We can't give up. Sometimes we can't afford to give up. That's the thing, the resilience that we have as Africans. We can't give up. Sometimes we can't afford to give up. If you give up, then what? Then? What?
Speaker 1:I did face a lot of challenges when I was doing content creation, when I was starting, like you could post a video in 18 hours. It is like two views One is you and maybe your friend is the one watching Other people. They don't know what it is until the end, exactly yeah. So for me, I have no alternative. I have to push my grind and at the end of the day, it started paying off and I'm so grateful to God. Okay, yeah, at the end of the day, I always pray God, give me the strength and the courage to keep on pushing you. As an individual, you can't pull through.
Speaker 1:And other people what I've noticed is that they touch here. If it doesn't work, they move from that, they go and touch another thing, and I had to learn some of this stuff when I was interviewing farmers also, like, farmers have resilience and they take it down. I'm telling you they'll experience a huge loss. They will learn from those mistakes and perfect their life. So it's. I think we should do that. Yeah, we should do that. And you know, like what you're saying, that's the gen now. So it's. I think we should do that. Yeah, we should do that. And you know, like what you're saying, that's the journey now. You see, anyone who touches and give up, they are not really serious about life and what they want to accomplish.
Speaker 1:I feel like Zimbabweans, africans in general we are resilient on wrong things. We put our effort so much on wrong things. When I put our effort so much on wrong things when I say that we want instant gratification, zimbabweans have the resilience, but the resilience is being applied on instant gratification on hassles that quickly fade away. Bubblegum hassles, true, but if we can apply that resilience on my hassle that I know that five years from now, the returns are going to start coming. Five years from now, I think we'll be somewhere else. But you could see that someone focuses on a grind that won't last. They give it their all, but it's a grind that has actually been to give them less. It's a short-term thing. The resilience is there, but the focus is on the wrong thing.
Speaker 1:And as you're talking, I think knowledge then becomes power. As you are doing what you are doing, are you developing the right knowledge? Are you educating yourself in the right? Obviously, maybe you can start off in the wrong thing, but if you continue learning and developing, then that's what I did. You then get in the right trajectory. Exactly that's what I did For me when I started with content creation. I barely knew anything. As you go, you just make sure that your last video you learn from that, yeah, and your next video has to be better than your last video. So if people can apply that in everything that they do, we made a mistake there here. We learn from that and we perfect our grind, we perfect our business and we go forward. That's the best way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and no one has succeeded by giving up. Everyone has succeeded world over. They never giving up. You know, everyone has succeeded the world over. They never give up. They kept pushing, kept doing what they're supposed to do at the end of the day. And you know, the exciting thing for me about that space is, you know, there's always this sixth sense that just tells you you know, keep going, don't give up. You know, don't give up. You know one day you wake up and say I was around, but it just pushes you to just keep pushing and pushing until you know you get the results. Yeah, that's the thing that you want. Yeah, that's true. Okay.
Speaker 1:So tell me about your upbringing. And you know what gave you the resilience? You know we're talking about you saying I don't give up Poverty. Poverty will give you the resilience. When you experience poverty at its high peak, you can't afford to give up. You can't afford even to be depressed.
Speaker 1:We grew up in a household where you could see that your mother is not feeling well, but she's pushing, she's going out there grinding. You see your father like when he's standing up you could see that, hey, something is troubling him, but the effort that he puts in his grind for things to go well for him, for things to go well for you as a family. So you grow up with that mentality of saying wait, I can't afford to give up, I can't afford to sit down. When I get tired, I'll reduce the speed a little bit, take it lower and lower, and then from there I go forward. Yeah, true, I can't say that. You know, my dad was a civil servant. He retired recently. I can't say that life was that bad. Bad, yeah, but before him becoming a civil servant, life was bad, bad, bad, yeah, but before him becoming a civil servant, life was really tough.
Speaker 1:I used to walk like 8 kilometers, 8 kilometers to school. You get there, you're tired, you sleep in class. People don't know that at the end of the day it affects your mentality, your performance at school. I mean, we are not the same at school. I'm coming from a home that is eight kilometers away and barely I don't do well at school. So if I'm walking eight kilometers and my mind is slow and I'm getting there, so you could see.
Speaker 1:And teachers, they will not really focus on children who are doing well, you would be told to sit back there. Group six, group seven they focus on children, boys, adults, you would be told to sit back there. Group six, group seven they focus on those. Group one was that group that was most teaching. The focus was there, those kids who are bright. But you, you are back there.
Speaker 1:So I started to be serious, you know, about my education when I was in grade six. But you know you could be, you would be struggling from. I started knowing how to read even when I was in grade five. I would pick up papers and start reading. You know, when you start being serious about something, it goes well. It goes. Yeah, yeah, it goes well, but life was not really perfect. Perfect, I would probably say we were average. Yeah, yes, that's fine.
Speaker 1:You know, there's always something that pushes you. You know, just remind me of a story I have a friend of mine who grew up in Bali. Right now he's a Tambinga, exactly, you know, tambinga, joguti Jogtunau. You know he stays where, he stays here. No, no, he's now in Mount Pleasant, boruto, somewhere there. But you know when he was telling me his story and how they used to stay. You know and how, luckily enough, when he went to school they were still paying people at Polytech, you know to get some money and that sort of thing. So from there you would walk from the valley, go to school, clean up your shoes. Everyone people would not even notice that he's coming from that place. So the little money that he was making then he was now saving it up and started giving my loans. You know there's always someone who wants a dollar, two dollars. Then they will pay you back at the end of the month when they get their allowances. So they're building his income that way Eventually. The rest is history.
Speaker 1:Life is amazing. What I've noticed in life is that poverty will make you appreciate small things in life. Yeah, true, that's really. I feel like if you go through that and when you grow up you gain exposure, it's, it's really good. Yeah, someone told me that I watched someone who said that you are poor today so that tomorrow you'll know what it means to be poor. Yes, when you see someone you can clearly relate. Other people who were born with a silver spoon. When they see someone who is experiencing poverty, they don't know the feeling, they don't understand. When they see you cry, they can't relate, they don't feel anything. But if you have experienced poverty when you were young, or even when you were an older person, when you see someone without food, you rush please, this is it. I want you to eat. So you appreciate.
Speaker 1:I feel like, actually, we don't have to regret what we went through. Yes, we don't have to. We learn from that. We don't have to regret what we went through. Yes, we don't have to. We learn from that. We improve, we go forward. We appreciate people, but we make you appreciate people. You barely see someone who will experience poverty at the end, and the thing is, where you come from is not where you're going to end up. Everyone is tight. You know I always talk about time. I like that subject so much because everyone is tight, you see. So the the guy who has they may not know how to use their time, yeah, and the one who doesn't have, and they know they want their lives to change. You know, every minute and every hour is used to generate value for them.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I've recognized here in Africa that used to not to be there is that we are now living a life where everyone for himself, or us, all of which is a wrong mentality. Goma, you are blessed so that you can bless others. True, true and true, but right now we're living in a world where we don't sympathize or have mercy on those who don't have. It is really bad. When things are going well for you, you should not be in a comfort zone and say I can relax now. Things are going well for me. Look around you and see who is in need. It's now your responsibility to uplift those who are around you. The end of one is the end of all. That's how it's supposed to be, but I don't think it's still the same. We're losing our way, we're moving away from God. I'll probably say these are our days, so it's bad. No, you know, I mean, there's a lot of selfishness in the world. Very true.
Speaker 1:I'm sure Eugene could have been difficult if Chiti might not given you the platform. Sometimes it's about. It's not really about maybe giving money, but just finding other ways of just supporting. He was renting for me, buying me food. He was doing everything. One of the days he came, I think it was 11pm. He drove his car. He came to where he was renting for me and said young man, as I'm looking at you, you don't have any responsibility yet and I encourage you to put your things in order. That's when he told me to reach to read this book, which then what? I read the book and it opened my eyes in different ways.
Speaker 1:So having someone who can guide your steps in different areas, that's a blessing that we underestimate. Yes, yeah, and it's bad. It's necessary to have someone in your corner who then directs you, who gives you the right foundation. Yeah, now you're introduced to books. Yeah, you know, you're introduced to learning, and I'm a big advocate for learning. I don't think we give ourselves so much to learning. Just who was either? You know, we are always like if you're on YouTube, you're most common. If you're on YouTube, it's not really anything that's really infallible.
Speaker 1:I used to be that person who don't like reading, but now I changed my perspective. People think that after finishing school, you are not supposed to read, you are not supposed to increase your knowledge. But I beg to differ, because reading books, especially books, it will open your mind. You will not be that person. When people are arguing, people want to beat each other. I mean, I always tell people that when you are seeing two people fight like it's each other's throat at each other's throat, and if you are given an opportunity to talk to them and ask them if they read books, you barely see they won't even tell you they don't. They don't People who have gained exposure, who have read books, who are trying to increase their knowledge. They will not just speak, they will not just get into fights. They are very organized, even if they don't have money. If they can afford $100 a month, you would see that they are not greedy and they don't speak better about other people.
Speaker 1:I encourage people to read. It's a gateway to success. We don't understand how reading and just learning. I'm not talking about having a degree or some accolades, I'm just talking about proper learning. You want to learn a skill. You don't have to learn a new skill. You want to learn a new level. It has been so easy now to learn back in the day, now to lend and make it a day.
Speaker 1:Another thing that I want to talk about is that people of today underestimate God. I interview a lot of people. I've interviewed people who have money and what I've noticed is that those who have lived in poverty sometimes, when they get an opportunity to be rich or to be financially stable, they forget about God. They focus on their trying to assume that they no longer want to include God in their lives. I've met those people. Then I met people who are wealth, people who have like wealth. What I've realized is that they put God first.
Speaker 1:I went to Lutera Falls and I met the owner of this beautiful restaurant and she was talking about God, god, god, god. In my mind I was like this person has got money and they're putting God first Me. I don't have. Has got money and they're putting God first Me. I don't have money and I'm not putting God first. It's like she realized that I might have these riches, but if I don't have Jesus Christ, I'm lost. So our focus, sometimes as poor people, we focus on wrong things, and yet the Bible says seek ye first the kingdom of God and everything will be added unto you. We forget that aspect. We focus on our grinder, our grinder, our guide, not putting him in front of us to help us in our grind. We forget so quickly. I've met not only her. I've met a lot of people who are wealthy. When we are eating, they will pray. They will pray first. They will pray first.
Speaker 1:I went to Vumba. I met the owner of this hotel. I will say his name because he is a brother of mine. He is the owner of King's Qu at Wotel in Womba. You know, dessert came. What do you start as the game? He prayed Me. When I'm eating, I just eat, you just dig in there. He's the owner of this beautiful, huge restaurant, but he's praying. But Peter, when he's eating, he barely's praying. But Peter in Chitunguism, when he's eating, he barely prays.
Speaker 1:People forget that in every situation, you need God. That is why, if I'm not mistaken, the Bible says pray without ceasing, which means all the time when you're eating, pray. When you're walking, pray In your mind. You are able to pray. Right now I'm able to pray and talk to you. It's possible.
Speaker 1:But we don't do that. We focus on wrong things. I I urge people to focus on god. Yeah, and you know where do you find your faith? How do you develop faith? Obviously, you know from what you're talking about. You develop it by believing in something, in a higher power. In our case it's Christians, you know, believe in God. So you know, we look up to that and we look into this word and what this word tells us. Faith is the subject of things, or for the conviction of things, not sin. How do you arrive there? You arrive there by trusting in that higher power to say you know, I know you will take me to where I want to get to, what I do for me.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, before YouTube, before I really started doing well on YouTube, I used to sit down and think about what God has done for me. You know all the hardships, all the near-death experiences. However, I'm sure a lot of people went through that. I encourage people that sometimes, before you pray, you think about what God has done for you. I used to be.
Speaker 1:There was a time that I experienced hardship in my life and I started asking questions to God. I was crying why is this happening to me? I was blaming God. Why am I experiencing this? That moment I felt something like I'm always going to be there for you. I have been there for you. From that moment, I told myself I will never blame God for everything that I went through. So I'm now that person who says, whether God helps me or not, he is my God, whether this happens to me or my family or in my world, it doesn't change. He's my God, I worship him, I will pray to him, it doesn't change.
Speaker 1:Other people are moving. If bad things happen to them, they say God is not there. We should be careful of the things that we say. God is not a small, small, small, I feel like we don't know God. If you know God, if you read your Bible very well, you will be afraid to make you make a mistake. You fail it. These things are not supposed to do these things, but people that are drifting away from God's soul. This is really bad For us humankind. It's really bad. Wow, this is a conversation and now we are preaching, but at the end of the day, I think it's the word that people need so that they find their footing in the presence of God and in the righteous life. Yeah, we should do that.
Speaker 1:The mistakes that we are making is that we face hardship and then we think that God is not there. We think that God is not there. We think that God is not there, but he is there. Give him an opportunity that he opens your eyes. Where is this person in the Bible who was opened, is it? I think he was with Elijah. Elijah, elijah, you were afraid. Now we are panicking. And all the children little friends, they are bigger and greater.
Speaker 1:That's what I always say say this People underestimate the power of God. One. I'll give a good example. I think Elijah. Elijah was not. Elijah was the one who was taken to heaven. Elijah was the one who died. Someone was killed and was thrown in the grave of Elijah and this person was dead. But the moment that this person was in contact with the bones of Elijah, what happened? They rose back to life. Thank you, dry bones will rise again. So the hints are everywhere in the Bible.
Speaker 1:If you read your Bible and you are looking at your business and say things are not going well, me, I have experienced the power of God. Things are down there, you just received a call and you are just revived, just like that. That is the power of God. So we should look at the bigger picture and start even appreciating God and thank you, jesus Christ. Even things are not going well. True, there's a certain transformation that happens, as you've rightly said, when you believe in your higher power, when you believe in God, when you put all your trust in Him, jesus Christ, the game will change. It changed for me, it will. Yeah, it changed for me. Yeah, it changed for me.
Speaker 1:And another thing um, we and we, you know, we don't practice grateful. You know, gratitude, thank you. You know, um, we are always like you know, why didn't you do this for me? Now, you know, you know god, but you don't look back from where you've come from, what god has taken you through, the places he has taken you out from. I think at some point it's important just say, okay, fine, no situation in genre this is where I am today, but you know what? Thank you, I'll still trust in you. Yes, I know, back then I was in this trouble and you took me out of it. So gratitude becomes very important to practice. Every other day, when you wake up in the morning, when you look at your family, you're breathing, you're alive. It's good to be grateful.
Speaker 1:People underestimate being healthy. Yeah, they underestimate the value of health. We underestimate Baba, god, we should stop. Yeah, true, tell me about. You got married. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I did what you did and you, as a content creator, this is your livelihood. Yes, yeah, exactly. They're looking at my in-laws. What do you do? I'm a content creator. People don't understand. How does that work? So you're jobless. People don't understand. But my in-laws never say that. But you can see that they don't understand. Yeah, but they never really like look at it and look down upon it, but they just look at you as a ghetto youth, because here in Africa we need to see you wearing a suit to actually pinpoint and say, oh, how he's doing. Because when you see me like this, you barely think that he's got a business that is doing well. Yeah, so for me, I now have a family. By God's grace, things are going well. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:At the end of the day, when you have a family, when you're trying to build a family, you receive a tax from every angle. Most of the time, marriages break because of simple misunderstandings. So, praying for your marriage, praying for your family the devil doesn't want to see a happy family, a successful family. He's always going to come and attack. He's always going to find the weakness Either you as a man, your weakness and your wife's witness. So, praying for your witnesses as a couple, that's one of the important things, because if you don't attack from every angle, one thing that I've noticed is someone who now has got a family, a wife. When you get married, your wife comes with certain blessings. When you are struggling in certain areas, you see the things start going off for you. That's your other half. You are now one, which means you are now stronger. Two are better than one. It is so powerful.
Speaker 1:People should not underestimate the power of marriage and marriage is truly an achievement. People underestimate it and say I want to die as an achievement, baba. Marriage is truly an achievement. People underestimate it and say I want to die as an achievement, baba. Marriage is an achievement. People underestimate being lonely. Being lonely is not good, but having a partner that you laugh with, joke around with, troubles will come, troubles will come, but just having a partner growing old together.
Speaker 1:I'm in my third year now and, yes, we did face our challenges. But what I'm happy is that we are learning from our challenges and you could see even my wife. She's saying now, we faced this before, we don't want to go through it again. We should not use our emotions here, we should use our brains and it's working well for us and, by God's grace. And why did you marry her? You are on your way to. I want to see my kids grow. How old are you now? I'm 27, now I'm 27, now 27,. Okay, I'm 27 now. No, it's a good time to get married. Some of us we got married at 30. Oh, it comes with all the baggage but, like what you're saying, you want to see your kids grow. Yes, you know you walk the journey Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not easy, honestly, getting married at a young age. But there is maturity. You know, what I love is when you get married in your thirties. There is sort of like that maturity that someone is in their twenties and you don't have when you are in your twenties.
Speaker 1:I think that's one of the challenges that I faced Like there is not that maturity to really handle situations. We learned it the hard way but by God's grace, we did not really face deeper challenges. It was those simple challenges that those who are in their, those white athletes, when they hear those challenges, they say, ah, you kids, you call this a challenge. It's not like someone, one of you, is cheating or anything. You're fighting over peanuts. So getting married young comes with challenges. One of those challenges is lack of maturity of how to handle situations, how to handle situations, how to handle finances. But it's really good for me. I would say it's an achievement and I love it and I'll do it again if I have to. That's good, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, I think, at the end of the day, one of the most important things is also, I think, mentorship. Yes, the day, one of the most important things is also mentorship. Yes, you'd rather have people like now you have people that you spoke to. I know it also helps to share with you. That's the left in the family. Trust me, when you include family in personal issues and the problems, they will use that against your partner and you might get along with your partner. But their relatives when you tell them your problems, they will always think that the problems are still there. So there is always going to be that negative aspect. When they look at you, they say, ah, that person. So we learned that also. Like, we have to. If we want to find someone who we tell our problems, it has to be someone. Yes, yeah, outside of, yeah, in most cases, outside of family maybe, but you always want, you know, a couple that is really grounded. That then don't. So, exactly. So now, for me, especially now I'm a public figure, I would say I'm not that person who even finds people out there to tell my problems. I'm just going to keep it to me and my wife and say you know this is out, because you don't know what people are going to do. Tomorrow they will make a video about you and say you see that Kelvin video? I know everything about him. I will tell you so I, that girl will be videoed. I know everything about you. I will tell you so. I don't want that.
Speaker 1:Then what about putting your family on the spotlight? How are you balancing it all? So for me, it's business. For me, honestly, people say don't put your wife on social media, they will snatch her from you. Content creation is business. If I'm showing my wife on social media, it means that man is being generated and there is a certain procedure that I am following and it's going well for me. For me, and there are boundaries. If my wife understands how it works, I taught her. At first she did not understand how even social media works and how even I'm getting paid. So she was like hesitant, but I'm happy that she never really questioned it much, much, much but when she started seeing the manual. So tell me, tell me more. I need to know, because content creation is funny. You can make money like. You can make like $200 in five minutes. Yeah, someone calls you. I want you to your project that you did. Can you include it in activate for me? And here is $300. Just mention me like 10 seconds and I'm editing. I'll just put my phone here and record. So this company is that and that and I'm done. Okay, and then I'm done.
Speaker 1:I love the flexibility with my job. I can leave whenever I want. If I want to move to Ritira Falls tomorrow, I can go there. So the flexibility, I can go there and work there. So the flexibility, I love it. I'm grateful to God. Okay, and you know, obviously you know.
Speaker 1:When I look at you, I think, just from talking to you before this interview, I think you were staying in Chittumweza. You showed your story. You moved into a new apartment, but it's not all flamboyance. You don't have a car right now. I'm not just saying this, you know to. No, I want you to say it. But, yeah, you know, but this is where you are Eventually, I know these things, you, you, you get Exactly, I think we're talking.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, so this car, what does it work? You're asking questions. Yeah, I was asking questions, you know, I think You're asking about the house. Yeah, yeah, yeah, how much does it cost, exactly, exactly. So that's the thing For me. I have to make sure that if I'm buying something, it has to be an asset. So now, the reason why I was asking for a car like the prices and you have got I was asking, the reason being that now I need a car, now it's an asset. Yeah, it's going to be an ability, true. And now I'm also looking at my family. Like I've got a family, now I have to look at a house also. So if I'm to look at me myself, I'd rather invest back in my business rather than anything else. For example, I'm using like the 60. I was like you can't buy 16 promax and yet you are your body economy.
Speaker 1:Yeah me, I'll bought a tractor while using a simple mask, because this is an asset. That's your asset to you. It is generally. I bought it, like last year. It has generated more than more than I had bought it in december last year. It is. It is generated, if I'm not mistaken, almost to 9,000 to 10,000 US dollars. So that's an equal asset to me, you see.
Speaker 1:And my equipment if you see my rig, you would see that probably we are sitting on 4 to 4.5 US dollars. The only equipment I've got like a computer like this, and I bought it like 1.6. At first my wife was looking at me like computer like this and I bought it like 1.6. Yeah, yeah, at first my wife was looking at me like hey, this man is buying me a lot of these things. But I'm happy that she understands and she's now using the same equipment. She's now even telling me I think this one is no longer good. I think we should upgrade it.
Speaker 1:But now for me, I now need a car. I'm always more than that, more because there's certain areas that I need to go to and I can't with the company, with the company, but you know. So I just want to just, um, uh, a follow-up question. Yeah, what is your mindset? You know, obviously you, you're not going luxurious, but you are making the money. You're talking about the phone, yes, yeah, yeah, 10k exactly, which means you would have decided to buy a car like it's. Just like that, exactly. You can decide to move into an expensive, just like that. What is the mindset like? So here's the thing last year, how is that kept you grounded, you know? Or having this objectivity to just say know, this is where we are, yeah. So the thing is, I have told myself that everything that I'm going to involve myself, it has to be an asset. If I'm buying something, it has to be an asset. If it's a phone, it has to be an asset.
Speaker 1:Last year I traveled to Malawi, zambia, and I invested in that. I wanted to buy a car. When I came back, I wanted to buy a car. When I came back, I wanted to buy a car. I was telling myself on my way from Malawi to Zimbabwe I get there buying a car. And then I realized I'll be traveling soon, I'll be going to Kenya, ghana and I'm going to spend like six months traveling. And then I said, if that money that I want to buy a car, if I invest it back, because if I invest it back, because if I buy a car and leave it in Aral and then travel, it means that six, seven months no one is driving the car, yeah, it's not even generating me revenue. So I said you know what, I'll invest it back and then, when I'm settled out, then buy a car.
Speaker 1:So the mindset now is it's really complicated. The way I do my things I don't do like God yeah, it's God and I always pray for consistency. I always pray for the ability not to give up, because sometimes what we go through is condolence. It's not easy, the reason being that, if I look at the situation here in Singapore, what I do, the kind of content that I create I interview farmers, I interview viewers, but with where things are going right now in Singapore, no one wants to come on social media. Hey, I've got a business and it's going to work for me. They're afraid, I don't know why. But so to really find people to work with and even to interview, it's now starting to get hard and I'm even thinking of going abroad, like even europe, and spend like two, three weeks a day, interview diasporans and interview other people who've got businesses there. That way it's easier. That is why, you see, on my channel the bigger chunk is diaspora From UK to opening a business.
Speaker 1:Someone who is doing business here in Zimbabwe will never come on camera and say this is my business, even those famous people that you see who've got business that you know. But for them to actually invite a content creator or allow a content creator or allow a content creator to say can't I be into? Yeah, nah, they won't do that. Okay, yeah, yeah, and you know, when talking about investing back in business, I think it's one of the most noble and important things about growing your brand. It's the biggest challenge with Africa, or Africans, you start making a little bit of money from your business Number one, maybe women. Number two you just start spending, build a house and take the money you know the income from the business and do other things that you're not supposed to be doing, you know.
Speaker 1:So I find that to be very important as you are establishing a business, just to make sure you know, plow back, yeah, make an extra, put it back, sorry to cut you. Yeah, sure, there are seven quantum generators here in Zimbabwe. They cut like more. Do you know? When you're growing, when you reach 10,000 subscribers, you now have to have equipment that goes along with the level that you are now. You can't have big, huge subscribers and you're still using the same equipment that you were using when you had 1,000 subscribers. Yeah, we have people who are still doing that. That is why you see that the channel can have like the subscribers that I have and they are having like less than 5,000 views on a video.
Speaker 1:That is a very wrong concept. People don't want to. People don't want to learn. They don't want to learn. You couldn't question business. We are growing. Invest back in us, find people who can help you. So we're getting there bit by bit. I think it's always putting back. I think it's very important Any business anyway, you know. You just want to make sure you make the necessary improvements that allow your business to grow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what are some of the challenges that you faced on this journey? I'm sure we've touched on it a number, but they're specific to you that you think maybe another quoting creator can learn from. And how do you pivot to make sure the biggest challenge is not having the ability to learn and improve. People are scared to learn new things that can help their channel or their business to grow. That's number one. Number two, the biggest challenge is that Zimbabwe has a population of less than 20 million and the bigger chunk probably like 70-75% they are not on the internet, which means if I create a YouTube channel, it will grow fast, and yet our population that is on the internet is small. Even when you are creating good content, there's always going to be less people watching content. That is why you see, a lot of people are not creating. When you look at Zimbabwe and pinpoint and say, oh, we've got a big content creator, even a musician, we don't have a musician that has one million subscribers on YouTube and yet we are saying we have big musicians as well, that is to tell you something. So imagine a mere quadrant grade. So it's not going to be easy. So the actual challenge is for the bigger chunk of Subambu is that we are a small population, okay.
Speaker 1:And what is your definition of success? Peace, okay, corporate peace, okay. I know that people success. For me, yes, you can have the riches and but not have peace of mind. For me, honestly, if I can be able to put food on the table for my family and have peace of mind and someone told me that the richest man on earth is a man who has got a happy family and is able to put food on the table for his family, who is able to take care of his family it doesn't have to be much, but just making your wife and your kids laugh, spending some quality time with them, other people out there. The reason why I'm pushing so hard to make this money that I want to make is I want to reach a level where I will be able to take care of my family without raising so much so a finger. So for me, to me, being rich, being successful is having peace of mind. A lot of people underestimate peace of mind, so for me, peace of mind is huge. Yeah, it's huge. Okay, it's huge, wow.
Speaker 1:So, and you know what are your parting words to someone who wants to try the space of haunted creation? Maybe just uh, one or two lessons that you can just tell them? Yeah, you know, in terms of uh tips, guys, you should say focus on your thumbnails, make sure that you upgrade them, make sure that you perfect them, focus on your, your titles, your title and your thumbnail. They have to create suspense to make someone click. You see, because they are very important. They are like 70% in terms of importance and consistency. Give your time to learn and be creative. Always be creative.
Speaker 1:Three, four years down the line. Make sure that you evolve as a content creator. If you don't evolve, you're going to struggle, and even less, two years, evolve. For example, you are into podcasting. When you're evolving, you don't have to move away from podcasting, but maybe you have an move away from podcast. But if you're, maybe you have effect checker. Now we're sitting here and she or he is contributing also. So we have to make sure that we evolve. We have to make sure that the way we do things, we improve. So those are my words of input confidence. Honestly, that's the most important part. The things that we regard as not important, as not spiritual For example, social media we think that it's not spiritual.
Speaker 1:Those are the most in life. Everything that you look at and say, ah, this is not spiritual. Those things are very spiritual. Things are very spiritual. They are very spiritual. I'll give you a good example. Let's say you have an idea and you say I have this idea of buying a car or of buying a hotel. If you tell me, and even if I feel jealousy, and if I look down upon it and say, ah, that idea might not come to life, it's true, because I think it's something that is wrong. Even without telling your spiritual, I don't buy the message. So put God first in everything.
Speaker 1:Pray for your videos, pray for your viewers. God, when people are watching my videos, may they learn, may they come back. Yes, so yeah. May they land, may they come back. Yes, so yeah, yeah, okay. Thank you very much for an amazing interview. I'll say thank you for the opportunity, thank you for taking me into your life, yeah, and where you are at the moment, and currently I think you are sitting on over 142,000 followers, yeah, so, yeah, this guy is gunning for big things, which is amazing, and you know, continue to support each other in the space. I think it's very important. True, that is great, and I was doing my research.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you know this the content creation space in Africa, the market. You know the market size right now, 2025, is sitting at 5 billion US dollars. That's how big this space is Growing at about 28%. People don't know that. Even here in Zimbabwe, there are people who are making like on YouTube. There are people who are making like 10,000 years on YouTube. They are just posting on YouTube. I don't know People who are making like 10,000 years old on YouTube. They are just posting videos on YouTube. So people underestimate social media.
Speaker 1:I always look at business people, companies. They barely understand how powerful social media can be to push their business, their brand. Yeah, it's true, and if they got an opportunity to work with Brad, for example, if it's a farming company, they work with skit makers, which means, which is to show that they don't understand how social media works. They look at a skit maker and say, oh, they've got like 600,000 followers, let's work with them, maybe we can get clients. You are a farming company. Why are you working with a skid maker? And then they look down upon a content creator who has got 10,000 followers, who is into the same niche that farming content. You can get a lot from that content creator, more than someone who is big, who is doing different things.
Speaker 1:So I feel like now we need to expand in terms of how we approach social media. It's big business and for those who want to be part of the whole market, I think there's always something. Maybe you're not a good orator, but there's always something you know. Right now, in the States, there's someone who just does thumbnails. That's their business.
Speaker 1:Me, I'm looking for an editor, someone who knows how to edit. We don't have those. We have people who went to school, yes, for media and that kind of stuff, but the way we want it done, I feel like they've learned. Yes, they went to school for it, but the way we want it done, I feel like they have learned. Yes, they learned, they went to school for it. But they have learned the technique of media. They have learned how to work with those big cameras in the formal way. But look at me, I'm going to be a boss, yes, but it has to be casual. We need it. I know how it starts.
Speaker 1:So it's hard to find someone who can work with you, because I think it's important to find someone with vision and who buys into what you're doing and it's always for the long term. Imagine someone who makes stuff on your website, just making a lot of money doing that. Just a picture. So I always tell people that everyone can be a content creator. I always tell people everyone is a content creator. You know you can have your business. It may be a farm.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just wake up and say hi guys. You know it's not hard to find markets. Oh, yeah, definitely Hi guys. So, as you can see, these are my pigs. Yes, and I'm selling them maybe a month from now. So for those who aren't, who are interested, just get in touch with me.
Speaker 1:A mouthful now. This is how I take care of them. As you can see, the food that I've fed them it's all gone, the reason being that when you are eating you, I will always want you to eat health. So by doing that, you are emotionally connecting with the client. When the client, when they want to buy, they'll think about you, they'll come. Yeah, because right now content is king and the world has changed. A billboard no longer sells. You know where are people hanging out? And most times they hang out on the social platform, yeah. So if you place yourself there and start giving the benefits of your business to all this, to this bigger market, and eventually it starts paying off. Maybe it may not pay off in the short term, but eventually you start seeing good results out of it. Anyway, thank you very much for joining us at Start to Finish. We hope to see you next time and we truly believe that this conversation has changed your life. If you've seen to the end of this video, so do like, subscribe, share peace out, yeah.