5 years ago, I hit the publish button on my first ever YouTube video from Pondicherry – Tanya Khanijow

5 years ago, I hit the publish button on my first ever YouTube video from Pondicherry! You know how in interviews, you are asked where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I feel like today is that moment for me where I can clearly see and tell you what I saw and if it did come true! But before that, I will also say, that it has taken so many sleepless nights, constant work on myself, expanding my body and mind at 500% at all times, and just putting in that effort every single day whether you’re in a good/bad mood. I didn’t know that when I started, but I am so happy that I did hit publish on 1st Sept 2017!

Read more: The Economics of Content Creation – Tanya Khanijow

Today, I’m in New York City, living in a high-rise hotel (not a dorm room), I traveled on a business class flight, I have saved enough in the last 5 years and somehow I’m still working on myself with the issues such as sleeplessness and expecting the best in everybody around me – like my team. Haha! Today as I lay in bed after waking up and I was thinking back, I feel so grateful for this journey because:

1. As a person I feel so self-assured and confident than when I had started off! I feel like I can visit any place and make conversation and even speak to the camera without any hesitation! I can clearly see the personal growth in my journey and that is beautiful.
2. I have been able to grow my channels and build a loving audience that I truly cherish! Every nice message or dm from a subscriber or a business owner that I have been able to help, it feels like I’ve done something great!
3. Our YouTube channel is almost at 1M! What?
4. I have travelled to some of the most exotic locations across the world and continue to do so! And this just makes me the happiest because that was the objective of starting off with a travel channel.

But having said that, in an age where everything moves fast and social media growth is 10x propelled by reels/shorts. If I have to be honest, I feel happy that I took the time to build myself.

I will say this without a shadow of a doubt, that I’m a YouTuber first and it’s what made my last 5 years truly challenging and exciting because it’s hard to grow a travel channel organically.

Tanya Khanijow

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