From Africa to Germany, One Online Community at a Time: S5E11

Can social media ground us and make us feel more at peace in this crazy world? 

This conversation with Tania from Swahili Secrets will present an answer to this question that is not common but very refreshing. Tania was born in Kenya and moved around a lot. Her geographical footprint includes 4 other African countries, Thailand, Austria and Germany. Although she calls Germany home, her heart and her projects revolve around Kenya. In this conversation we follow her online journey from her first chat room all the way through to her current day Instagram world. This IG space includes the travel services of Swahili Secrets, the African inspired merchandise of Bantu Sisters, and the community oriented The Kenyan Kind. 

 In this conversation we chat about:

• her amazing geographical trajectory
• her first experiences online & her current onlineness
• private and public social media choices
• how her online posting habits have changed
• the online lessons she’s learned over time 

Original publication date: April 2, 2021

More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Hey everybody, this is Steph. We're making some changes again with all of the Geopets Podcast Network podcasts. We are recombining them into just just into the Geopets Podcast yet again. And we are switching platforms to do so. This is gonna take a few weeks to do, but I've got some new episodes that'll come out as soon as that's over. Some stuff about podcasting, some stuff about language, and um I think I even have a new coffee one. So um yeah, hang tight, and uh more importantly, please follow me on the socials, either at Stef Fuccio on Twitter or Instagram, or at Geopets Podcasts or Geopets. You'll notice the logo will match. Um it's been a while, so I've actually fallen off of a lot of the social medias because I thought that the podcast was over, but there's some new developments and some new projects and some new people I really want you to be involved with and to, you know, reconnect. I want to reconnect with you. So happy holidays no matter what you celebrate this time of year. And know that in 2022 we'll be coming back with a vengeance. Oh, that sounds that sounds bad. We'll be coming back with a delight. There. That's much better. All right, let's do that one. Okay, bye.

SPEAKER_04 1:24

So nice because it's not easy being an expat, and so I use this online platform to be able to connect and feel the struggle together. Because actually, when I moved around in Africa, it was quite easy for me, but when I came here, it was quite a struggle, and so I use the online platforms to be able to feel better.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

I've been waiting for my homemade. I've been howling at the moon.

SPEAKER_05 1:52

Hey there, this is Steph from Stefffuccio.com with another episode of Geopets Podcasting. We're headed to Germany today to chat with a social media genius. I will tell you more about her in a minute, but first I want to remind you of one quick thing. Geopets Online is not a podcast that we publish very often anymore. The Geopets podcast grew into multiple topics and they then separated out into their own podcasts, and Geopets Online was one of the ones that kind of got lost in the shuffle or just didn't quite keep up with everything else. The two main podcasts in the network are Geopets Podcasting, where we talk about podcasts, and Geopets Language, where we, well, talk about language. However, I am interested in doing Geopaths Online episodes occasionally throughout the year. So if you or someone you know would make a good guest on the podcast, do reach out to me. Also, you can keep up with anything that we do at stefffuccio.com s t e P E H F U C C I O forward slash podcasts, and that's where you can see all of the podcasts in the network. I think there's almost ten podcasts now. Again, two are very active, and the others happen when they happen. Alright, let's get to today's guest. Today I've got a conversation with Tanya from Swahili Secrets. Tanya was born in Kenya and moved around a lot. Her geographic footprint includes four other African countries, and then on to Thailand, Austria, and Germany, where she is now. Although she calls Germany home, her heart and her projects revolve around Kenya. In this conversation, we follow her online journey from her first chat room all the way through to her current day Instagram world, which is big and beautiful. This Instagram space includes the travel services of Swahili Secrets, the African-inspired merchandise of Bound Two Sisters, and the community-oriented The Kenyan kind. Her amazing geographic trajectory, her first experiences online, and her current onlineness, private her private and public social media choices, how her online posting habits have changed over time and place, and the online lessons she learned over time. All of the links to everything we talk about in this episode will be available at stephfuccio.com forward slash geopaths podcasting. Lastly, I'd love to hear from you. What do you think of this conversation with Tanya and the things that she said? Would love to hear you. I am Steph Puccio, S-T E P H F U C C I O on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and that is my Gmail address. So please do reach out and let me know what you think. Let's go over from Albania, where I am, to Germany, where Tanya is. Thank you so much, Tanya, for joining us for Geopaths Online.

SPEAKER_04 4:49

Yay! I'm excited. I'm really excited to go into this topic.

SPEAKER_05 4:53

Me too. I was telling you before we uh turned on the mics that this used to be the Virtual Expats podcast, and it was very popular for a while, and then I keep experimenting with other shows and it kind of got lost in the mix. So I'm excited to do this kind of this kind of conversation again because I miss talking about our onlineness. So thank you so much for the your interest in this. Yeah, of course. All right. So I I know this is going to be a long answer and we're ready, but can we just do a quick overview of your geopatness? Where in the world have you lived?

SPEAKER_04 5:27

Okay, perfect. So I'll try my best to go in chronological order. I'll try. So basically, I was born in Kenya. Um, at a young age, I moved to Uganda. I did my high school education in Botswana. Um, for a brief period, we went to the UK where my dad is from, and then we went back to Kenya, and then I did my uh university studies in South Africa, and then I did an internship in Thailand, and then after that, I got my first job in Zanzibar, then I continued my studies in Austria, and then I came to Germany.

SPEAKER_05 6:02

Oh, that I'm sorry, you don't qualify for this podcast. We have to kick you off. No, just I was like overqualified, overqualified. Wow. Okay. And where in those locations did you start doing stuff online?

SPEAKER_04 6:19

I think actually I started at a very young age because I was moving around so much, it's really the only way that I could keep in touch with people. I feel like that's the reason that I'm actually using it so much is to be able to connect with so many people. So I'd say in my teenage years when I was in South Africa and there was a lot of content I could use because that country is so beautiful. So I was posting a lot. And yeah, so basically, I think it started when I was in South Africa.

SPEAKER_05 6:44

South Africa, okay. So the so the first time in Kenya, and then you go into Botswana, the UK, you weren't using or the internet wasn't available yet. Okay. No, cool. That's so much. That still gives us a lot to play with. You said that was about when you were a teenager, right? Exactly. So what did you start doing when you hopped online?

SPEAKER_04 7:05

So basically, you know, all the social media networks, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram wasn't, I don't know, I don't think it was there at the time, but mainly Facebook and Twitter because I enjoyed travel so much. So I really enjoyed photography as well. And I was posting a lot of pictures that were of the nature or the landscapes, and just letting my my connections or the friends that I knew in the other countries um what I was up to, that was the best way to keep in touch, honestly, and for them to see where I was, because then when I went to Thailand and all the other places, I was able to also just keep that up.

SPEAKER_05 7:40

Can I ask how old you are?

SPEAKER_04 7:41

Of course you can. I'm turning 31 next week. I'm 48.

SPEAKER_05 7:46

So you got the interview much earlier in your life than I did. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I did. Um, for me, it was about 30 years old, which was my last year of university, because I take forever to do everything. Yeah, so it it took quite a while to get even just email was um was was revelatory.

SPEAKER_04 8:04

I you'll find that in Africa because I live in quite a few countries there, they're actually using the internet way more. Like you'll find everybody using it on their mobiles, or so I would say I'm actually a late bloomer because I didn't use it, even though I used it early, everyone was using it earlier than me. And then I kind of caught onto the trend.

SPEAKER_05 8:21

It was like that in a lot of places I lived in Asia too, where a lot of companies would build their stuff mobile first and websites later.

SPEAKER_04 8:29

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. It's the same in Kenya. For example, now they're doing uh payments solely by mobile, and this is everybody can do it. You don't necessarily need to need a bank. So everyone's just on the internet sending each other money.

SPEAKER_05 8:44

Wait, if they don't need a bank that connects to it, how did they get the money in there?

SPEAKER_04 8:49

It's called MPESA. I haven't used it to be honest. I only go home and my parents are using it. Sure. Basically, it's just from number.

SPEAKER_05 8:56

Your number has the money. They must have to go somewhere to give them the money to put into the account. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 9:02

And you can go to many different uh tools, they're basically available everywhere.

SPEAKER_05 9:07

That's fantastic. See, and I got so used to digital money when we lived in China, like WeChat and Alipay are the two big ones, and they are connected to your bank account. But seriously, there were some places, uh, there were more and more places that would only take digital payment, no cash. So interesting. Yeah, so I got used to that, and then I kept hearing how when we were planning to move to Germany, how it was the complete opposite. Complete, yes, very much. Complete opposite. So I am a fumbler with change because I still can't. I'm like, why do you need money? What here's my too funny.

SPEAKER_04 9:42

Okay, so you went from using um like social media to I use social media a lot. I I think for me, uh it's it's the best way that I can I can connect with a lot of people. And I found that I don't know, I wouldn't say I'm a natural at it, but I really enjoy just connecting. I would say that as the biggest word. From there, that's when I went and created my webpage. So that's another way that I'm online. Also through LinkedIn, other social media such as LinkedIn. And yeah, I I think it kind of built itself over time. Yeah. And now I'm just like using so many different. So I haven't just created one account. I have so many different accounts now.

SPEAKER_05 10:25

I'm on the verge of doing that. How do you handle organizing that and and knowing who you are and which one and those kinds of things?

SPEAKER_04 10:34

Yeah, I mean, it's happened to me many times where I'm like posting my cup of uh tea over on like a business account and I'm like, that's challenging.

SPEAKER_05 10:45

How many different accounts do you have now, let's say on Instagram? Because that that's where we connected and that's where I really enjoy your posts. So, how many accounts do you have there?

SPEAKER_04 10:54

Um, so I have five accounts. That's actually the maximum that you can have.

SPEAKER_05 10:58

Oh, okay, that's really good to know because I'm about to start branching out to to different accounts there in five. Oh, how limiting. Okay, so what are the two can we go through your different accounts and and talk about it?

SPEAKER_04 11:09

Yeah, of course we can. Of course we can. So basically we have Swahili Secrets. Uh that's actually the origin, that's the one that started to begin with. Um I started off actually as a travel blogger. I was like posting all my different travel uh pictures and just trying to share tips and advice. And then I realized that's not actually something that I want. I didn't want the focus to be on me, and I just wanted to build something that had more intention in it, and I wanted to kind of help back home. By home, I mean Kenya. So yeah, that slowly grew over time, and that's actually like my little baby. I learned how to grow the audience, I learned how to engage because it's such a tough world, honestly, the online business. And yeah, and then after that, then I created uh African Abroad Block. That's where we found each other. And that I created quite a while ago, but I only just re-vamped the whole thing. I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna change everything. I deleted everything and I started over, and that's more of a blog for me. It was already tough between the two pages. So a few friends reached out to me about hey, how do how can I start my Instagram account? And I have two really good friends that wanted to start a project and they wanted my help. So together we co-founded two different pages. So one called the Kenyan Kind, where we basically share storytelling of different Kenyans across the globe and also Bantu sisters. So that makes four accounts. Bantu sisters basically is interior design, also African related, so they're all actually African related. And then um, the last one is actually my private account. That one I keep secret.

SPEAKER_05 12:43

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_07 12:46

Right.

SPEAKER_05 12:46

And then there's something that's happening more and more. Um, I see online is more private accounts across the board on all social media, and private groups are becoming more and more popular. With all the projects that you have, why did you decide to have that one account private and not the other one?

SPEAKER_04 13:00

You know, some people like um showing their life or they're like an open book, but to be honest, I'm actually not like that. I like to keep a lot of things private or what I'm up to, but at the same time, I like sharing it, you know, and I want to share it with closer people, so with family or with closest friends. So I have that account at which we can kind of keep connected and so that no one sees what I'm really up to because it's just behind the scenes, pretty much.

SPEAKER_05 13:27

Do you feel that you have a very different personality on these five different platforms on Instagram?

SPEAKER_04 13:32

Definitely, 100%. 100%. And it's actually quite hard to transition between the personalities, to be honest. So I really have to be in the zone. Like I have to actually schedule times for when I'm gonna post on what platform. Yeah. Otherwise, I'll just get lost in between all of them. So Swahili Secrets is my most serious platform. I try to keep that just strictly business. African abroad, yeah, I think there people would consider me more open and transparent, but actually I just like to focus on the differences in culture between Germany and Africa. And the rest, I also just keep them strictly business. I try anyway.

SPEAKER_05 14:08

Let's go back again at the different places that you've used the internet. And let's do from country to country and see if anything falls out. What? What did I just say? Let's let's compare from country to country and see if anything transpires. So when you moved, and I know this was a while ago, but when you moved from South Africa to Thailand, what was the biggest shift in what you did online from what you can remember?

SPEAKER_04 14:32

Because I'm quite a creative person. So I really wanted to take more, I used the time to experiment more. I especially because I think for me it's easy to be online when you have a lot of content. So in Thailand, there were everything was so new to me that I was able to take more videos and I was really trying to learn how to take videos, learn about the cultures. I was also kind of immersing myself into the culture more than I did in previous countries because I was like, wow, you know, I really want to record it all so that I could put it online. So I would say from South Africa, it was when I moved to Thailand, it was more that I was using online social media platforms, mainly just to showcase like it through photography and videography.

SPEAKER_05 15:15

What were the main apps or websites that you were using online in Thailand?

SPEAKER_04 15:20

They they were very old school, to be honest, because it was quite a while back. Um, so I was using all the free apps. So I can't I can't remember what it was called. I really can't remember because now I'm using the newer ones. But I remember just editing my photos, for example, on an app called Be Funky, which is like the the most simplest app ever. Uh the videos, I can't remember. I think I was just doing it on an online website that I would just find online, and then I'll just put all my pictures together or videos together, and then just add uh music to it.

SPEAKER_05 15:54

Oh, that's fun.

SPEAKER_04 15:55

Are you are you doing videos in any of your spaces today? I'm not, but it's something that I've always had interest in. But it's it's I find it so difficult. I don't know why. Because it is difficult.

SPEAKER_05 16:06

It is, right? Yeah, because I started out doing podcasts and a YouTube channel at the same time. Yeah. Podcast I kept going with in the YouTube channel I dropped, and I I just kind of put it back. But honestly, when you edit video, you have to make sure that it lines up. Whatever you take out is incredibly invisible and really jarring for the watcher. So you really have to be very careful with that. And oh no, it's it's a nightmare. I really my hat goes off to people who do video well because it's hard.

SPEAKER_04 16:35

It is hard, and I think you need, like you said, a lot of patience. A lot of patience for it, and you have to have a good eye, and it was just a lot. It would take, I think I heard today, I I was I'm following a blogger, and she actually mentioned she was posting an IGTV and it was only 10 minutes long, and she spent the whole day editing it.

SPEAKER_05 16:53

Yeah, I was like, What? I am I I do not believe that at all. Because for audio, when I play around with the order of the the interviews that I do, and then I do some other things and some sound things, all in all, one half hour episode could take five, six, seven, eight, eight, nine hours, and that's just audio, and I don't have to make sure anything aligns because I everything I take out is invisible to the listener, but with video, you really have to make sure everything aligns. So I'm not sure I spend that time frame at all. Wow. All right, I've got an exciting announcement to make that of something that's happening in April of 2021. It's the Global Women Podcast Editors panels on Geopets Podcasting, one of the other podcasts in the network. Geopets Podcasting is an interview podcast where I chat with people around the world who are passionate about podcasts. Every Tuesday in April I'm hosting a panel of Women Who Podcast Edit, whether they do that for their own projects or for clients or for both. Basically, we enjoy podcast editing and we want to inspire other women to do the same. I recently wrote an article that I'll put in the show notes for you about online groups for women who podcast edit, and it spawned a whole bunch of conversations and a lot of enthusiasm about the topic. I wanted to keep those conversations going and in person, and that's why the panels started. And so we'll be doing that the month of April. The topics will be a little bit different from from panel to panel because, well, so are the panelists and so are their interests and and passions in that area of podcast editing. But here's a little sample of some things that we'll be talking about throughout the month. Different things like what kinds of editing they like to do, how to be more efficient in their editing workflow, their editing challenges, style choices within podcast editing, how to find and be a mentor in the space, and how to make podcast editing a more accessible space for people with different abilities. This event is 100% free. We do run on coffee tips at buymeacoffee.com, but it is free to pick up your ticket at Eventbrite. And you can find the links to all four panels that's deffuccio.com, Geopaths Podcasting. We will be live streaming the events as well over on YouTube and possibly Facebook. We'll see how the technology goes. I really hope that you consider joining us in this event, either when it's live or afterwards when it's published on Geopaths Podcasting, as well as the Geopets Podcast Network YouTube channel. Thank you so much for your support in all of this. I'm so excited to bring these conversations to a live space with a live audience. This is my first live experience like this, so this is gonna be really exciting. Alright, let's get back to the other exciting conversation in this episode, the one with Tanya. Okay, so if we go from Thailand to Zanzibar, what do you think, from what you remember, what shifted in your online ascent?

SPEAKER_04 20:10

I if I can just like talk about uh my personal life as well, because when I went to Zanzibar, I ended up working in a boutique resort that was kind of in the middle of nowhere. Oh. And I what I mean like nowhere, it literally was there was there was nothing around for like maybe an hour's drive. It was just like bush or a village. So yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:32

So were you saying you spent a lot of time online in Zanzibar then?

SPEAKER_04 20:36

Actually, no, I wanted to, but internet was quite scarce. Oh no. Yeah, which was quite a pity because for me, Zanzibar was quite the paradise, and that's where I get a lot of my content from because I I like to post a lot of travel photos or anything to do with travel, and it was quite difficult because I was always in the middle of nowhere. So it was quite a challenge for me because that's how I connected with in any uh destination that I've been with, it's mainly been on my own, and so I've had to use the online world to connect with people so that I don't actually feel alone. And so when I was in Zanzibar, I was then initially alone and I couldn't connect with people, so it was quite the learning experience for me that you know I can't rely too much on the online world, that I had to kind of dig deep within myself, and yeah, it was quite the challenge. But yeah, well while I was in Zanzibar, I didn't use so much online, I didn't have a big online presence.

SPEAKER_05 21:30

What did you end up doing with the free time that you would have spent online instead?

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Yeah, so I did a lot of reading, a lot of walks. You say that so sadly.

SPEAKER_04 21:42

I read because I'm like I know, I know, because actually, yeah, I know. It's it's funny that I say it that way because I actually love I love reading, but yeah, it was it was it wasn't the happiest moment for me because I really I really did feel alone. I really did feel like I didn't have I couldn't connect with my family. So yeah, while I was in Zanzibar, it wasn't the happiest time for me to be honest, because I had a lot of learning to do. And so reading wasn't something that I actually enjoyed at that time because I felt I was forced to do it, you know? Just to try and find things that I would yeah, it was it was just a difficult time. So I did a lot of walking meditation meditation and stuff like that.

unknown 22:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:21

And I'm sorry to tease you. I just I I love books and that that tone, I was like, why, why? But I understand that. I understand. Because when I'm reading too, if I can't post something that really, really strikes me and like share it online, I kind of get sad because I'm like, well, I'm glad I'm enjoying this, but I'd like to share it. So I I do I do understand that. Okay, and then if we go from Zanzibar to Austria, what's the biggest shift then?

SPEAKER_04 22:46

Yeah, so I think that's when I kind of jumped back online. So I was actually in another city called Salzburg. I don't know if you've heard or you've yeah, but it's like it's it was a different space for me because I've never ever seen it was like a f living in a fairy tale pretty much. So I used that time again because a lot of my uh connections are in Africa, so I wanted to show them a different world, different space. So I did a lot of uh blogging while I was there, what it's like, the food, the scenery. It it really just felt like a fairy tale, honestly. So I did a lot of writing while I was in Austria. I did a lot of blogging. I did this on the typical social media network, so Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. That's when I think I started with Instagram most. And yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:37

And any shift when you moved from Austria to Germany on what you did online?

SPEAKER_04 23:41

No, it pretty much stayed the same, but that's when it just started to grow more in terms of what I was putting as content.

SPEAKER_05 23:49

So it sounds like you have an internal drive to share these things.

SPEAKER_04 23:54

Yeah, that's actually true.

SPEAKER_05 23:55

Because one of the questions uh one of our previous guests wanted us to ask people is if they feel a pressure that they have to share. But I feel like I might know your answer already, but I'm gonna ask anyway. Do you feel like there's a pressure from other people for you to share?

SPEAKER_04 24:10

Yeah, somewhat. Definitely, I'd say in the past I did feel a lot of pressure. I that's that's I think why in Zanzibar I had that moment. But I've learned now, because it's not good to feel that pressure. It really isn't. But I've learned now not to feel that pressure and to post when I feel like and what I want to. But before, yeah, I did feel a lot of pressure to post.

SPEAKER_05 24:30

The people that you're talking to online now in these different outlets, is it the same people you were talking to throughout all of these country changes, or has that changed?

SPEAKER_04 24:41

Yeah, that that changed quite a bit. Um so when I came to Germany or Austria, rather, then I tapped into this world of expats. I was like, wow, I never even knew there was such a huge uh niche for it. The the groups did change before I always focused on uh African content, or now I see that I'm really connecting with expats and like with from all over the world. Because at the end of the day, I feel like we can relate in one way or another.

SPEAKER_05 25:13

Definitely, definitely. So, this is a good time to mention your recent episode with Sean from the Germany experience. And uh, and yeah, there's a there's a lot more information on there that we're not covering here. So if anybody is interested in hearing more from Tanya, go over to Sean's go over to Sean's podcast and have a listen to that.

SPEAKER_04 25:32

But it was really nice, by the way. I I didn't realize that there is this world of expats out there, and it's so nice because it's not easy being an expat, and so I use this online platform to be able to connect and feel the struggle together. Because actually, when I moved around in Africa, it was quite easy for me. But when I came here, it was quite a struggle, and so I use the online platforms to be able to feel better, can I say?

SPEAKER_05 25:55

Yeah, no, you can because that's one of the reasons why when people say the internet's bad, social media is bad, I kind of go, ah, but there's a lot of good support networking stuff that can happen, especially when you're transitioning from one place to another.

SPEAKER_04 26:10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 26:11

Why do you think it was so much harder here than moving from one African country to another?

SPEAKER_04 26:17

Well, in general, because of the cultural differences. Definitely wasn't easy with that part. Um, also because I feel like so. I'm an easygoing person. I've always been that way. I'm always, I mean, within traveling with other countries, I've always been able to connect with people. But when I came to Germany, it just wasn't that easy. Um, and so I guess that's also why I kind of built that online presence to be able to connect with other people because I wasn't connecting with anyone here. Yeah, so that was a big struggle for me, I'd say.

SPEAKER_05 26:45

It definitely is a I don't want to say closed-off society because for me, most of my time here so far has been in COVID. So that's a very unrealistic uh viewpoint. But it is more of a slower to get to know someone, society. Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 27:01

And I I don't think it's coming from a bad place either. I think it's just um, you know, they just need time to trust someone, and then once they do, they're very loyal to that person. Whereas back home, like you just from the get-go, you just meet somebody, you talk to them, and you don't necessarily have that loyal friendship, but you are friends with one another. But here you definitely have that loyalty.

SPEAKER_05 27:23

Do you keep that immediate friendliness with people when you meet them online?

SPEAKER_04 27:27

Yeah, definitely. Honestly, I I love, love, love, love, love. I'd say Instagram the most because I call it a community. Like I am friends with them, like they're the online friends that you have, right? And I feel like anytime I have a question about Germany or if I have a question about anything, pretty much, I just ask about it online and then I get all the different answers, and they're always so helpful. And I feel the same. Like if I see something, I'll definitely engage with it, I'll definitely uh do it with intention as well. Definitely. I feel like I have more friends online than I do actually in this city.

SPEAKER_05 28:00

Since we're talking about communication styles, I have to ask you about languages. What languages do you use?

SPEAKER_04 28:07

Uh, mainly English. Actually, English is my mother tongue. That's from my dad because he's English. And German, very rarely. I'm not so comfortable speaking the language. But I have thought about it actually, because I am in Germany and I plan to stay longer that I I will uh probably branch off into German as well. Probably on my web page, also on my Instagram platform because I do have a big German following.

SPEAKER_05 28:33

Have you ever met anybody in person that you've encountered online? You're smiling really big when I ask this question. Do you meet everyone in person that used to meet online?

SPEAKER_04 28:44

I would love to. Actually, I haven't. I've only met a few, but I I keep like I'm always like, is it weird to ask someone if we can meet in person? Because I would love to. I don't think so.

SPEAKER_05 28:56

I don't think so. Well, depending on when they like how the interaction starts, and if it's if it's a friendly interaction, I think it's a natural progression to meet.

SPEAKER_04 29:04

Right? Yeah, I mean, I because I moved to Frankfurt recently, I did reach out to one person and we didn't meet almost immediately because I saw we had the same interests. In fact, we never even really engaged online, but I was just like, hey, I'm new here. Would you mind going out for lunch? Um, so that was my first ever time meeting someone online.

SPEAKER_05 29:23

Oh, well, just recently. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

Yeah, just recently. So I was like, wow, okay, cool. I guess I can do this more often.

SPEAKER_05 29:31

Wait, but you were online pretty early. Why why did you wait so long to initiate like an online to an in-person? I I have no idea.

SPEAKER_04 29:40

I have no idea. I have really no clue. I would encourage it. It's really nice. You get connected in real time. So yeah, I would do it more often. I just did it recently and I was like, wow, okay, I think I'll try this out again.

SPEAKER_05 29:52

In your current day, online-ness, you've got the five Instagram accounts, you've got a website, and are you still on like Twitter and Facebook and all kinds of okay.

SPEAKER_04 30:02

I do go on LinkedIn quite often because I realize that when I'm when I'm online, I don't want to just use it aimlessly. I don't know what what how else to use it. So I do go on platforms where I feel like I might gain something from it. So I do use LinkedIn as well to connect with other professionals across the globe as well. And yeah, so I do actually promote my social media networks on my LinkedIn profile.

SPEAKER_05 30:26

Do you do that in like a personal account or do you have a separate account for one or many of your projects?

SPEAKER_04 30:32

Yeah, so I do have a personal account and I do have one for Swahili Secrets actually. So I do post on both. In fact, I'm a regular poster. I'll post things maybe twice, three times. Because I realize that when you're doing things online, sometimes because I'm working or trying to promote a business, so I realize that you need to promote it more than just once or like just so people can see it or see that you're there.

SPEAKER_05 30:57

It's tough because there's there's a lot of different opinions out there about how many times to post stuff, and they're like, okay, so some people say post things once and let people interact with it, and some people say you have to post at least five times before you're called to actual work. And then some people say you have to like if you post too often, or if you post like use an automated thing like I'm using, that it's tone-deaf and insensitive, and you're not talking to anybody. Because people are online at different times. How do you find that that happy space where you're telling people what's happening without hitting them over the head with what's happening?

SPEAKER_04 31:31

Exactly. That's totally true. I mean, I went through all these different transitions. So I did post a lot in one day. I did just post post one post in a day. I did try literally everything, and now I think I found what's right for me. So I don't actually the only thing that I automate is the business profiles. But my personal and the African abroad, I don't automate. So I actually just post when I feel something. So if something comes to mind, I'll just post it. And I try to keep it as intentional as possible, just because I feel like people will then see the intention in it and want to interact with it. Otherwise, if I just post so just for the sake of posting, I I tried that in the past, it didn't really work out for me.

SPEAKER_05 32:13

Not that what do you post, but like how what is the system that you've come up with?

SPEAKER_04 32:17

Okay, now I'm using an app called Combin. I don't know if you've heard about it. I don't know if I'm even pronouncing it right. But it's like one, it was started off as a free app. Now I now they're actually no, it started off as a limited app. So you could post three times a week and without tagging, for example, but now it's completely free. So I use that and I just post on the business accounts. Uh just like for the Kenyan kind, there's nothing about it, it's people's stories. So I just schedule those in. This is easy, it's really easy. And I used to before use Hootsuite. I don't know if you've heard of that. And this kind of posts on all platforms. So the convin only posts on Instagram. Hootsuite posts on all different platforms, but I don't use it so much. Actually, not anymore. How do you spell con convin?

SPEAKER_05 33:04

Yeah, C-O-M-B-I-N. Okay, and that's for Instagram. Yes. Because I use social bee and it does everything except Instagram, except you can use buffer through social bee to get to Instagram, and that's too many steps for me. I'm like, that's yeah, I've never gotten that set up.

SPEAKER_04 33:21

So you should try this app. The only thing that's wrong with it is that you can't use it on your phone, you can only use it on a laptop. That's fine. That's fine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:29

Because Instagram on my phone is so easy that I don't mind if I can if I can set up some stuff to do ahead of time, especially when I start splitting the accounts up, um, then that would be kind of nice just to have some come in occasionally, especially at the beginning. So yeah, thank you for the tip. I don't know. Have you ever gotten any I don't want to say weird, but any surprising feedback and on any of your accounts or anything that you've yeah, let's just say the the social media accounts. Have you ever gotten any interesting or surprising feedback or interaction?

SPEAKER_04 33:59

Uh it doesn't happen too often, but what I used to do on Swahili Secrets and I do sometimes on African Abroad on the blog, basically I would really tap into controversial topics to do with Africa. And so there were some people who would give me some feedback because I mean at the same time I didn't want to generalize. For example, there was a time where I said Africa isn't safe. I mean, is safe, sorry. And then a person actually came in and was like, no, Africa isn't safe. And so we had like a little debate about it. But there are moments like this where I'll I'll mention a topic, I'll say my view about it, and then I'll get a few people in saying, like, hey, I'm not sure about that. I think differently. Mainly happens when it's controversial topics, but I don't tap into that so much, to be honest.

SPEAKER_05 34:44

Are you finding that you've you've done those kinds of posts less and less over time?

SPEAKER_04 34:48

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 34:49

Have you ever deleted a post after you put it out there?

SPEAKER_04 34:54

Yes, I have. I do this quite often. Oh, really? Why? Not deliberately though. Recently I was trying to revamp the page, so I did archive a few. I don't delete because I think, oh my gosh, why did I post this? And oh, I don't know what people are gonna think. No, it's just because I want to put new content on and I feel like there needs to be like a sort of aesthetic almost. So I'll just remove a few photos or whatever posts.

SPEAKER_05 35:22

Since you're mostly on Instagram, do you I don't even remember what it's called. I'm I'm such a bad technical person when it comes to Instagram, but when you go to something view that I can't think of where it shows all of your posts, there's a name for this. What is that called? Sorry, is that like the feed or it's like when you go to your profile, you see all of your posts, but it's in this form where it's all of them at once. But I'm not sure what I recently heard that there are people that specialize in helping people get this part of their Instagram aesthetically pleasing. And I had no idea that that people actually went in and viewed it like that. I just thought they would view it in the in the regular timeline and view one post at a time. Do you pay attention to how your I guess we'll just call it checkerboard, how your checkerboard looks?

SPEAKER_04 36:08

Yeah, definitely. I do. Um, that's the reason why I delete some posts. There is actually apps. I I don't use them, but I know a lot of people who do. I think one of them is called Preview App, and you basically already put all your posts into that checkerboard, like you said. Yeah. And then you see how it looks like, because it's it's uh sometimes I feel like it's like an online portfolio almost. So then people just like to make it look pleasing to the eye. I think that some people do click on the profile and then just see that page and it's like, oh, that looks nice, I'll follow. Otherwise, some people are just like, uh, I don't know. I I don't I don't do it in advance. I just try to keep mine is very colorful anyway.

SPEAKER_05 36:48

I don't pay too much attention. See, one of the things I've been thinking about in my own social media is when I do post repeatedly, I kind of want there to be a thing where I can pull some of the post. Like I want it to go out, but I don't necessarily want it to stay there because I'm I'm playing with the idea of the post being more like something that builds up to more of a collective conversation or a collective thing than being repeated things. Sort of like what you're talking about with the checkerboard being like being different things and and and telling kind of a story. I I kind of want my post to be that, but they're not because I've posted so much in the past year that it's a lot of screaming the same thing over and over. So I'm thinking of going back in and deleting a lot of stuff and kind of shaping it in that way. But I just I wonder if that would actually have an impact. I wonder if people need social media that way.

SPEAKER_04 37:39

I wonder as well, to be honest. I think that's a very good question. But that's what a lot of uh can I call them influencers, because I I don't I don't really like tapping into that world. I don't yeah, but I I think they often really pay so much attention to their aesthetic. But I don't know how important it is. As long as your content is appealing or you find the right audience, then if you want to say stories, then go for it, you know?

SPEAKER_05 38:05

Yeah, well, I think that the word influencer has a has a slight connotation of fakeness to it. So it's it's kind of unappealing. But there are influencers who are probably genuine at what they're doing. It's just they're kind of overshadowed by the other stuff. So that's one thing that I'm thinking of that's in the forefront of my social media mind right now. What's something that you're thinking of doing differently online?

SPEAKER_04 38:27

Yeah, I wish I had more time to be honest, because I really want to connect genuinely. Like I kind of like the idea of being other people's voices, to be honest. That's also a reason why the Kenyan kind was created. It would be nice to be able to actually make an impact for other people. That's something I've always wanted to do online because I feel like I have that talent, I guess, to build a following or people are interested in it anyway. So I would love for it if in future I could basically help others through it.

SPEAKER_05 38:58

Have you ever followed a Rokor account?

SPEAKER_04 39:01

No, um okay.

SPEAKER_05 39:03

I just found out about it a couple of years ago, it's R O C U R, and there's a lot of them. I can send you some examples, but what they basically do, Rokor is a rotating account, and so usually they switch people every week. So for expats, we are expats, is one of them I follow. And so every week a new expat somewhere in the world takes over the account and posts about the place they're in, their life there, that kind of thing. And then the next week a new person, new person, new person. And so there's a variety of different ones throughout the world. I think they're more on Twitter than Instagram, but I don't see why you couldn't do it on Instagram. Yeah, that's such a great idea. I like that. It's really cool. There's a another one in Tokyo that I follow, and oh gosh, I don't know. There's there's so many of them. I'll send you some examples, but that would be really fun to see on Instagram too. Yeah, and it would be other people's choices. The trick is organizing it so that you have people lined up to do it every week, otherwise, there's a likes.

SPEAKER_04 39:56

Exactly. I did actually on Swahili Secrets do an Instagram takeover. So I did have a couple of people on my page and they were just posting what it's like in Kenya because I'm mainly focused on Kenya, and that was so interesting for me as well because I got to see their content, their life, but through my platform. It was so nice.

SPEAKER_05 40:16

With all the places that you've used the internet, do you feel like the place that you're living in has a direct effect on what you do online, or do you feel like it's more of what's available online at that point in time?

SPEAKER_04 40:31

Yeah, it definitely has a direct impact because I I noticed that when I was in countries where there was a lot to see or like a lot to travel with, it then focused on more of just expressing travel content. Whereas when I came to Germany, I really then tapped into this whole new topic like uh with expats. So definitely it was the fact that I moved here that it encouraged um the topic of being like an African abroad or living this expat lifestyle.

SPEAKER_05 40:58

What are some questions that I haven't asked you that you would like to know about other people, how they changed, how their online-ness changed when they changed places?

SPEAKER_04 41:09

Yeah, um I would love to know how uh expats connect with their families. Um, do they do it through social media or do they do it like, for example, via WhatsApp or Skype? How do they do it, to be honest? Because I've always actually just done it through Instagram. If my family doesn't see me posting on Instagram, they'll worry. They'll be like, uh Tanya, are you okay? Oh I know, no, no. Of course I keep in touch with them, but if they anybody who sees me not posting, they always think something's wrong.

SPEAKER_05 41:39

Sure, sure, sure. Does that lead you to post like when you know you're gonna take like a day or two and not be online? Do you kind of post a hey, I'm gonna be absent for a while kind of post?

SPEAKER_04 41:48

I have to, yeah. I I normally also tell my friends and my family so that they don't worry in advance. Oh, that's just yeah. Otherwise they'll be like in a panic mode. Hey Tanya, is everything okay okay? You haven't posted your breakfast.

SPEAKER_05 42:02

I must not be following enough of your accounts because I don't remember seeing and I feel very neglected right now.

SPEAKER_04 42:07

Oh no, I love I I mean I I wouldn't say I post breakfast every day, but I do love posting a lot of food. I always post food.

SPEAKER_05 42:15

Yeah. Which account do you primarily post the food stuff on? Uh African Abroad. Okay, I'm gonna have to double check and make sure I follow that. Please. That's amazing. Okay, so let's let's take this last bit of time and go over the different. You have so many, so many hands and so many different projects. Let's break them out a little bit and tell people the accompanying uh social media place or the the place online where they can find what you're doing.

SPEAKER_04 42:43

Of course. Okay, so basically everything is on Instagram, they're under different platforms. So Swahili Secrets is basically a Kenyan travel service and also offers um African accessories. And then we have the African Abroad blog, which is basically just me expressing my differences uh since living in Germany and just my my life in general. And then on Kenyan, the Kenyan kind, this is basically storytelling from different Kenyans across the globe. And then we have Bantu Sisters, which is interior decoration that is also focused with African uh artisans.

SPEAKER_05 43:23

And that's B-A-N-T-A-N, right?

SPEAKER_04 43:26

B-A-N-T-U sisters.

SPEAKER_05 43:29

Bantu sisters. I just followed the wrong person. I'll keep them and F U. B-A-N-T-U.

SPEAKER_04 43:34

Yes, and then sisters.

SPEAKER_05 43:36

Okay. Do you and you already have five going on, but do you envision creating anything else online in the future?

SPEAKER_04 43:44

I think I'm gonna just focus more on the webpage, and I think I'm gonna try to blog a little bit more, but I don't think I will focus on Instagram. I think I've kind of reached the limits.

SPEAKER_05 43:53

And I kind of forgot to ask this, but I can imagine the listeners going, why didn't you ask that? Why did you move around so much? From country to country, like all of the like Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, UK, South Africa, Thailand, Zanzibar, Austria, and Germany.

SPEAKER_04 44:07

Um yeah, it actually started off with my dad's work. Um, so the African countries, that was through him. So we were like the serial expat family. Um, and because he moved around so much, it kind of triggered me to keep on moving. So uh that's when I studied tourism management, and I thought my my reason for studying it was actually because I wanted to travel more. So that's how I ended up in the other countries. That's fantastic. Can I ask what you do for living in Germany? Actually, I just decided to take on Swahili Secrets as a full-time role, but before I was, yeah, before I was working in hospitality as well. So more like guest relations, uh customer relations.

SPEAKER_05 44:50

Oh, okay. I gotta ask the following question. Are you more nowadays, are you more of a mobile phone person, a computer person, or both?

SPEAKER_04 44:59

I'd say both. Although I really love that you can use the mobile almost for anything. I love that. Um, but I still remain with both just because you can access more on the computer, like it's just a wider screen. Yeah. It's more pleasing. But I I use both actually.

SPEAKER_05 45:15

I look forward to the time when you can project like onto a wall for a mobile phone. Wouldn't that be great? That would be amazing. I don't want to carry around a foldable screen that makes the internet like a big experience, but I would like, like you said, a wider screen for my mobile phone, which is just to do that any on any blank wall or any sidewalk or anything. That'd be great. Somebody please make that. I know, I know. Is there any tool or thing that you kind of go, oh, I wish this would exist to help me talk to the people I'm talking to online?

SPEAKER_04 45:45

Oh, maybe because I also get tired of typing. I wish I could just like say it into my like say the caption out, and then it just types everything out, so my thoughts just go basically into the caption or onto a blog.

SPEAKER_05 45:57

Have you tried to use any like type to text kind of apps or anything?

SPEAKER_04 46:02

No, no, no. Is there? I would you recommend any?

SPEAKER_05 46:06

No. I occasionally, because I used to teach language, and so I would play with a few to to see if they worked very well. But some words just come up really bad. And I there's one thing I hate more than than spending too much time online, and that's editing. And so you have to do like you do it, but then you have to go back and read it and edit it. And I'm like, no, never mind, I'll just type it, because at least that way I know it's generally more accurate anyway. I'm sure it's it's gotten better, and um, but I want to wait until it's perfect. Yeah, I don't want to miss that. Yeah. Thank you so much, Tanya, for this walk through your global experience online.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 46:52

Thank you so much to Tanya for taking the time to have this conversation with me m months and months and months ago. This is another one of those episodes that took a little while to get out into the world. Yeah, I'm hoping by 2022 that the effect of 2020 will be non existent in my podcast anymore. But admittedly, this is one of those conversations that should have come out months and months ago. But here it is. And I'm glad it's here, and I hope she likes it, and I hope you like it, because I think the gems of wisdom and the thoughtfulness that Tanya puts into her online life is something that we can all learn from and be inspired by. So thank you, Tanya, for coming on here and for being patient. Well, it took me a while to get this ready to go out into the world. Also, thank you to all of you, the listeners, who listen to this podcast, even though it's not terribly frequent. There is a backlog of episodes for you to listen to until you wait probably months again for another episode to come out. But do dig into those because a lot of the guests that I've had on Geopets Online have been really inspirational in how they consciously think of their online life, the decisions they make, and what they choose to do, which is something I think we forget when we get our phones in our hands. I feel like we get caught up in the digitalness and we stop making our own conscious choices. And this is not to be preachy, this is to be decision-y, which technically is not a word, but I mean, shouldn't it be? Anyway, also thank you to Damon Castillo. You have been listening to his music throughout this podcast episode, and you will hear the entire song that you've been listening to in just a second. But first I want to say that you can find all of his information, including his music, and when we get back to having live events, his live events at DamonCastillo.com. So again, you can find all the information about this episode at stefffuccio.com forward slash geopaths online. So here is Damon in three two one.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

I've been wasting all of my time standing at the back of your eye, trying not to lose my mind Yeah, when all I'll ever be is your some type guy. I've been waiting for my moment I've been howlin' at the moon, I've been living with this torment, cause there's nothing else my heart can do. Well I've been wasting all of my time Standin' at the back of your line trying not to lose my mind Well I'll ever be sometime guy, your sometime guy Oh yeah, yeah, you're sometime guy Oh yeah, yeah, yeah Will I put my foot down like the man I am You won't stream make me dance I can't believe the shape you got me in All these thoughts could drop them back Well I've been wasting all of my time Standin' at the back of your eye And trying not to lose my mind Well I'll have on me It's just something I'm like Just sometimes Bye Oh yeah Just on time All if they want it something coming back and wasting all of my time Standin' the back we're lying at the beat is your stomach Oh my god When I clock out of the hospital at 6 p.m.

SPEAKER_06 52:39

I'm not done for the night. That's when gamer nurse 40 clocks in and she's got orcs display. Sure, I'm playing a 13-year-old in Scranton, but he's a level 53 mage with a filthy mouth. So I need to stay on top of my game. What you call me? That's when I crack open a Heineken Zero Zero, zero alcohol, but just as refreshing. So I can focus on stealing his gold before his mom tells him it's bedtime. Take that, kids. Heineken00, 0.0% alcohol. Now you can. Must be 21 plus to purchase. Enjoy responsibly.

SPEAKER_00 53:08

Membership fees apply after free trial. Cancel any time. You know what's wrong with health and fitness? You weaponize it against yourself. Why didn't you go to the gym today? You're so lazy. Ah, why did you eat that? You have no self control. Stop it. At Beachbody, we think training and caring for your body in a way that works best for you should be about loving yourself. Let us help you without all the judgment. Here's how. Go to BeachBody.com to claim your free membership and start feeling great.