How Safaricom YouTube Shorts inspired me to change my career

I have been such a bachelor and I’d never thought I’d enjoy cooking. In the past couple of months, however, this has changed drastically.

Well, not to mean I found a better half, I’m still searching for my perfect match or at least one who equals the kitchen skills I have now acquired.

Let me give you the story that saw me transition from the aforementioned group of bachelors to an almost award-winning chef.

I lived in Nairobi for the better part of my life until a workplace transfer sent me to the City of Champions, Eldoret.

In Nairobi, I was used to the city’s fast food and only did a little cooking at home.

When I got home the routine was simple, quick eggs or very basically made beef and it was a wrap.

That however changed when I moved to Eldoret, life in the vibrant city was great I walked to work and back to my place which gave me a lot of time to pass through the market and I had more time to select preferred groceries mostly indigenous vegetables which we from the village call ‘kienyeji’.

Two months in, the first short video of my new colleagues and I bonding at work uploaded on YouTube reached a couple of my friends who were surprised by the sudden change of things.

Ugali and scrambled eggs(411 Kenya) Pulse Live Kenya

READ: Tough times but what can Sh10 bob do for you?

I had a natural glow and my body was similar to that of a fitness trainer in your local gym.

One of my friends on her tours in town paid a visit and in just one minute she had unearthed why I was the talk of our circle.

As I made her food like my mother does for any guest she recorded the process which she shared with me. To make the video suitable for bachelors, I trimmed it to one minute and uploaded it online under hashtags I picked from similar videos.

In just a day the reactions had overwhelmed my gadget which was even now low on power.

And just a week later the video is now in a competition to win up to Sh1.2 million courtesy of the YouTube Shorts Creators Challenge.

The challenge has put people like me to compete and see who can create better short content.

Even better, there will be more categories for those that don't find the kitchen a place they enjoy being around.

Dance, travel, comedy and more categories are open to Kenyans from across the country.

I am now on the hunt for more likes on my video just to raise my stakes to win the weekly top prize of Sh120,000 and ultimately the grand prize of Sh1.2 million.

If my video gets to win me the grand prize, I am going to quit my job and venture into full-time content creation and work to reach the prowess of Chef Ali Mandhry who is one of the judges in the competition.

Well don't be left out, I am almost conquering the kitchen and you can be on your way to conquering comedy, dance and whatever else you love.

If your dancing skills can’t last an entire song then go the first minute, after all, shorter is better.

Upload that video with the hashtag #ShorterisBetter and have your online followers like it. If you impress Azziad Nasenya who will be judging the dance category or Chef Ali Mandhry who will see whether your meal is well seasoned then you make the top 15 weekly videos list that will stand to win cash prizes.

Besides dance and cooking you can also crack ribs and if you meet judge Mammito Eunice’s standards, count yourself in. Daddie Marto will also be looking to see whether you can get techy and have your name in the competition.

As you create remember Shorter is better.

#FeatureBySafaricom