We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kiya Renee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kiya below.

Kiya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

There is always a risk taken when it comes to being creative or going after your goals. You risk being publicly judged, your posts being misconceived, effects of virality, positive and negative interactions. Personally, I had to have a conversation with myself and ask if the risk is worth the reward and if my fears were ultimately stopping me from pursuing my dreams. That said, I took a risk on myself when I decided to become a content creator. I always cared about what other people thought, how people perceived me, if a post would get enough likes, engagement, etc. but I realized, I can’t please everyone and there will always be someone with an opinion. Doing content creation allowed me to be more confident, face my fears and ultimately realize if I like something and it makes me happy, it doesn’t matter what other people think. It can be scary putting yourself out there for the public to see but it’s very rewarding when you can finally say “I did it!” versus years down the line saying “I wish I would’ve.”

Kiya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Kiya Renee and I am a Content Creator based in Chicago, IL and Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in pelvic health. I’ve always been very passionate about women’s health and helping others which is what ultimately led me to pursue a career in health care. However, growing up I’ve always enjoyed documenting my travels, taking photos and creative expression.

In high school, I decided to take photography classes which floored my creative spirits and led to my art being displayed for the first time in a local bakery. After high school, I went on to get accepted to Columbia Art School in Chicago for cinematography and photography. I remember visiting the campus, being so excited and feeling a sense of belonging as soon as I stepped into the building. However, the fear of not being able to make a living off my creativity led me to pursue a more practical career in health care. I figured since I enjoyed helping people and the health care industry will always be full of opportunities, I’ll take the safe route instead. Looking back, I don’t regret any decisions because they formed the person I am today. I am a true believer in everything happens for a reason and usually things work out in perfect timing. Even though I didn’t end up going to school for art, I realized creativeness isn’t something that you learn in school. It’s ingrained in you. No one can teach you how to express yourself creatively more than yourself. Now I’m uplifting women during the day, traveling monthly, doing content creation at my leisure without forcing my creative spirit to work for me but with me. All in God’s timing.

As a content creator, my main platform is Instagram (@KiyaaRenee) and my Blog (www.kiyarenee.com). My content primarily focuses on traveling, inspiring people to live their best lives, travel recommendations, tips and the best restaurants for all my foodies out there. I’ve built a wonderful community of people who enjoy exploring the world just as much as I do and am so grateful for those following along on the journey.

Overall, never in a million years did I think I could simultaneously help others and still pursue my creative ambitions. That said, I truly hope that my story can inspire others to pursue their dreams no matter what part of the journey they’re on.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

There’s a lot of lessons I’ve had to learn over the years through trial and error; these are my top three that resonate within the creative space.

Lesson 1: Follower count does not equate to success and I can’t base my worth and creativity on how many followers I have. A lot of time in the creator world, it can be easy to get caught up in the numbers when the only thing that really matters is your happiness creating and being happy with the community you’ve build online. It’s so easy to look at other people’s success without stopping to see how far you’ve come. 1K followers might seem like a small amount of followers but imagine you packing out a stadium, standing in front of 1,000 people who chose to support you. That’s a lot of people. So I’ve learned to nurture the community I have, be happy with the content I create and the right people will follow.

Lesson 2: My friends may not be my target audience. It can be hard posting content and not having friends engage or seeing people who don’t know me in real life supporting me and my work more than people who actually do. This is a common trend within the creator world and can be due to so many different reasons. For example, sometimes your friends aren’t into social media like that and unaware that likes, comments, saves support you, sometimes the work can be taken for granted because they know you so well and your creativity is a norm now, could be jealousy, who knows. Long story short, there are so many different reasons for this. Rather than wrecking my brain to try to figure out why, I chose peace of mind and happiness within creating for those who support me genuinely.

Lesson 3: Every “No” I receive is one step closer in the direction towards a “Yes” that was meant for me. I used to get so distraught about brands not saying yes about collaborating together, getting no responses from my pitch emails or not landing the job I thought I wanted. When in reality, there are so many reasons why there may not be a fit; timing, no budget, lack of alignment, etc. So at the end of the day, whatever goal it is, I learn to trust God’s timing and know that what is meant for me will always be for me. Sometimes it’s not always a no, it’s just a not right now.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I absolutely love reading! These are three books that had me in a chokehold after reading them. I found them all to be really helpful during my time in school, my content creation journey, entrepreneurship and more. Literally, no matter what life journey you’re on right now, these are gems that you can come back to every step of the way.

Atomic Habits by James Clear: Good habits are the basis for anything you want to pursue. Motivation can only last so long until you have to dig deeper into discipline and habits. This book does a great job at helping you form better habits and solutions to get rid of your bad habits. It also has so much research and case studies to back how/why each habit method can be successful. This book is great for anyone who is wanting to make a long term positive shift in their lives.

Fear Is My Homeboy by Judi Holler: This book is talks about stepping out of fear and into your purpose. A lot of times, fear can guide your decision making without you even realizing it. The author speaks about her own experiences with fear and gives advice on how to get rid of doubt and succeed on your own terms. I found this book really helpful in shutting out the imposter syndrome noise and really taking a leap into pursuing my goals.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert: She is also the author of “Eat, Pray, Love”. Big Magic speaks about her journey as a creative, all the lessons she’s learned and general advice for those who have any creative spirit. It’s very inspiring and I learned not to put too much pressure on myself during my journey with content creation and lean more into happiness. I recommend this book for any and everyone because we all have a creative spirit, everyone just expresses themselves differently whether it’s in the public eye as a content creator or in your own sanctuary.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kiyarenee.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiyaarenee/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiya-r-b19251190/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Kiya_Renee
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kiyaa_renee?lang=en

Image Credits

Walking Photo MX