Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarafina Tsehaye. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sarafina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

One of my unexpected. problems was that I had no idea how much inconsistency may rapidly affect your platform. Since I lost my father at the age of 13, I’ve had no idea how to deal with my mental health, and being in an East African family, mental health is seldom taken seriously. However, the death of my father struck me hard during quarantine, just after I began making content. What I didn’t understand was that it was far simpler to create videos and conduct online courses while still experiencing mental breakdowns. However, now that life has returned to normal, everything seems much more difficult to do. So I thought to myself, there must be a way for me to take my short breaks while still putting videos out there. What I do today is set aside 1-2 days to create a batch of content that will last roughly 1-2 weeks. Sometimes I get too enthused and publish a lot at once, which leaves me with insufficient stuff. However, that is the strategy I’ve discovered, and it seems to be working far better than not posting anything at all for two weeks.

Sarafina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Sarafina Nahom Tsehaye. I go by Sarafina Christina since I am Sarafina on my father’s side and Christina on my mother’s side. I was born on March 17 in Asmara, Eritrea. I came to Canada at the age of ten. I was exposed to a gadget at the age of eight, which was a NintendoDSi. It had a camera, and I honestly believe that is where the trip started for me. I would take advantage of every opportunity to create a little vlog. Then I moved to Canada, and in seventh grade I received my first iPhone. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to keep the phone for long since I was being punished. When I was 13 years old, my father died, and I had all of my electronics taken away until Grade 12. But it didn’t stop me from purchasing new gadgets and posting on social media. I was a Snapchat vlogger at the time, so I made sure to post at least two snapchats about what I was doing each day. I’d have one gadget taken away, and then I’d locate a new device to repeat my punishment, which I was ready to accept. In May 2019, I made the decision to focus my efforts on YouTube. Although it was considerably more difficult on YouTube, it was not a major issue for me at the time. Then, just before quarantine, around January/February, I had a TikToker friend who was continuously trying to get me to create a TikTok, to which I always said, “Ew, it’s a kids app, what would I do on there?” Sure enough, I posted in February of 2019, and since then, I’ve fallen in love, and not only that, but I started posting a lot, which is when the trip began. I never understood how much I loved social media until I began TikTok, which kept me thinking about what to do next. “What’s my next post?” was my daily query. However, after the quarantine was released, it became much more difficult to release content regularly. Not only that, but my mental health hasn’t been great up until now, so I post a lot less because I don’t believe going in front of the camera when I’m not feeling well is useful. People can read energy, and the majority of my videos, particularly on YouTube, require me to be energetic. So I keep my fans updated on what’s going on, and I simply take my time and get back on track. However, I make sure that my hiatus isn’t too lengthy, so I’ll upload some stuff to keep my fans engaged. I believe that exhibiting vulnerability with your supporters is essential. That is something I will continue to do on rare occasions in order to demonstrate to others that life is not always pleasant. Personally, I believe that social media decreases people’s self-esteem by causing them to compare their lives to those of others. I am guilty of this, but I do not want to be the creative who only sees the positive. I will raise awareness of my father’s death, my suicide attempt, and my sexual assaults via posts on my Instagram carousel, my story, or even TikTok. When I talked about my sexual assaults, I received an astounding number of messages from young women and men telling me about their experiences and how much I motivated them to share their stories. People can connect with you more easily when you are vulnerable. I would honestly say that my vulnerability is my proudest moment since it was precisely what I set out to do when I first started creating content. My objective was to make a difference in the lives of a few young women, particularly black women, and although I was overwhelmed at the time, I appreciated every message. Some letters moved me to tears, but the fact that they had the bravery to tell a stranger meant the world to me. I mentioned particularly black ladies because when I was 12, I remember telling my father, “I don’t like my skin tone and that I want to be lighter,” and of course, at the time, everything he said went through one ear and out the other, but now I realize what it means to be black. That is what I want for other young black ladies. I want them to feel attractive regardless of what. I now have three jobs, two of which involve me dealing with black teenagers. I’ve given a few courses on how to care for their hair and led talks about what it means to be black. Their own experiences and strategies for dealing with certain circumstances. It’s important to educate young kids especially when they’re at the age of 12+.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My father is the driving force behind all I do. Yes, it is something I enjoy, but my father is what motivates me. He always said to me “it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you love it but if you also love it, you gotta be the best at it” . That is why I often find myself obsessing over things because once I start anything, I have to finish it. So my motivation stems from my father. He died when I was little, but he was my best buddy. He altered my life during the course of our three years together. While there is my father, I also set minor goals a few times a year. For example, in December, my aim was to achieve 20K on Instagram by December 31st, and I ended the year with 22K. I usually have sponsors send me PR packages so that when I set a goal, I know what I’m going to share each month.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

It’s funny because I started university in September 2019 with an undecided major. My family would not have allowed me to take a year off to sort out what I want to do. So I went with undecided major, but converted to Educational Studies after the second semester. We went into quarantine shortly after that, and it was then that I learned how much I enjoy creating videos, doing get ready with me, skits, and so on. I’m still in school for the same program, but it’s simply a backup and something to make my family happy. So, in a sense, I did pivot during quarantine. I moved from wanting Educational Studies to be my profession to having content creating and modelling be my career. Even though I’d always known I like making videos, quarantine was the catalyst that made me realize, “Wow, I could do this every day for the rest of my life.”

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saarrafina?igsh=MW51Z3lnZTAyZnpyOQ==
• Twitter: https://x.com/saarrafina/status/1625666142562881536?s=46
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@saarrafina?si=oG4mA8uvFNS9srPX
• Other: Pinterest: https://pin.it/6CzgPaoN9 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saarrafina?_t=8kCDaSGsbH3&_r=1

Image Credits
@stephenbambo_ @berhano @queenmelvisuals @oceandurhamphotography