We’re looking forward to introducing you to Nayla Seda. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Nayla, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day for me at the moment involves my internship, YouTube, and a lot of driving. Typically, I wake up around 5 am to get ready for my internship. I work eight hours at my internship, and commute an hour to and from work. When I get home, I am always doing something related to my YouTube channel, whether it’s editing videos to schedule out or streaming on Twitch. After that, I try to leave an hour or two for self-care and relaxing before bed.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Zakkiyah Z, I am a KCTJ & LGBT content creator, which means I do all types of content revolving around asian and queer media. I have three separate channels: my main channel, my gaming channel, and my editing channel. I am also a published writer and Twitch streamer. My brand is basically keep it weird, which is why I call my community the KIW crew. Growing up, I was constantly told I was weird due to my music taste, the YouTubers I watched, the interests I had, the books I read, you name it. Instead of being insecure about it, I decided to embrace it because I didn’t want to be embarrassed about what made me happy. I created my channel to hopefully give some comfort and happiness to people who share my similar interests, and give them a safe space to go to, like YouTubers did for me when I was younger.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
I have a ton of people who have influenced my work ethic and how I view work in general, but if I had to choose one person, it would have to be my mother. She raised me on her own for most of my life and has to be one of the hardest-working people I know. She also started her own business, and even presently is constantly shifting what she does, growing her business, networking, and growing her education to expand her everyday tasks and career in the direction she wishes to go. She is truly my inspiration to keep going and growing, and I know I can always come to her when I need advice, especially when it comes to my career.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
My younger self is very similar to how I am now. We have the same major issues when it comes to our mental health, but when I was younger, it was so intense that it felt like the only thing I could focus on. If I could say one thing to her, it would be to trust the process and tell her she’s doing amazing right now. I struggled acknowledging things that I did growing up that other people considered great accomplishments because I felt responsible for doing them. It was more of a checklist than a milestone, and I didn’t feel much joy in getting good grades, or being active in clubs and organizations, or even getting my first job. I think my younger self would really appreciate the breather and reassurance to keep going forward.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
The media and content creation industry has two sides: authentic and fake. There are people who are authentic and pursue careers within the industry because of true passion and to reach their individual goals with good intentions, and then there are people who are fake and will do anything to succeed. Personas, chasing trends, clout chasing, trying to be the best or perfect in all aspects, these are all things multiple people in the industry experience or have come across. Especially as it becomes more common to be a content creator, I think it’s important for people to analyze why they’re doing it and try not to lose who they are in the process.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I thought long and hard about this question, and the only thing I could think of is that I would try to stop having so much anxiety about the social aspects of my life. It kinda made me happy that my day-to-day life responsibilities and hobbies are not anything I would change. I post every day on my main channel, which means every year there are probably over 365 videos that I create, due to some getting blocked and my exclusive content. Even though this can get tiring when piled on top of finishing college, working, and maintaining other aspects of my life, it would be the last thing I would ever drop. As of right now, I can see myself making content forever until I physically cannot.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://patreon.com/zakkiyahz?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weirdlyzakkiyah/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naylaseda/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/weirdlyzakkiyah
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZakkiyahZ
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