WHEN the COVID-19 lockdown kept millions indoors, it did more than change routines — it revealed new purpose.
For Tanaka Paula, hours spent watching online creators became the drive she needed to stop consuming and start creating.
The result is a growing YouTube channel that blends faith, lifestyle, beauty and travel into a stream of interesting real-time vlogs.
In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, Paula revealed that the lockdown period kickstarted her YouTube journey.
“I realised I was meant to be a creator too, not just a consumer,” she says.
Her channel is not bound to a single niche.
Instead, it moves with her moods and experiences.
“My content is raw, authentic and spontaneous,” she explained.
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“As I grow and learn, so does my channel — it is malleable, and that’s what sets me apart.”
Paula’s approach is simple: pick up the camera and record life as it happens.
Viewers watch her daily routines, travels, faith reflections and beauty moments as if they are tuned to a reality show.
She prefers vlogs because they require minimal planning and capture the unfiltered unfolding of life.
That style has attracted “real people” — a community she values deeply, interacting with them through replies to comments and direct messages.
Consistency and authenticity are the cornerstones of her engagement strategy.
“I engage by replying to comments and direct messages from my community,” she said.
Paula said the practice helped her to turn casual viewers into supporters who followed her growth and cheer on her experiments and mistakes alike.
“There has been some challenges along her journey, being a content creator in Zimbabwe brings specific restrictions, from infrastructural challenges to limited industry support.”
Paula admits that these constraints tested her, but she overcame them by studying the local system and adapting her methods to work within it.
“Start and figure it out as you go. Experience is the best teacher. Make the mistakes. Learn and relearn. Don’t wait until you’re perfect to pursue your passion,” she advises.
She also pushes back against a common myth: that YouTube is an effortless ticket to fame and riches.
In reality, Paula stresses that good content requires significant time and effort to film and edit.
For Paula, YouTube is a hobby that complements rather than consume her life.
She documents living as she naturally does, finding joy in the creative process rather than measuring success solely by numbers.
Her goals are quietly ambitious: to grow her platform and inspire young people to step out of their comfort zones.
She hopes her openness about trial-and-error will encourage others to start before they feel “ready”.
Her personal philosophy — “Live every day as if it were your last. Do everything you desire, love hard, laugh hard, give yourself some grace” — guides both her life and her channel.
The combination of faith, spontaneity and community-mindedness is what keeps viewers coming back: to laugh, to learn and to witness an authentic life unfolding on screen.
For those curious to see a life documented rather than staged, Paula’s YouTube channel offers a candid invitation, join the journey, imperfections and all.
