fraiman

[fraiman]

The Birthday Sign I Ignored (Until Now)

@youtube and I share a BIRTHDAY 🎉 the sign was there all along.

YouTube was created by three former PayPal employees in 2005, and the very first video ever uploaded was by co-founder Jawed Karim. It was a 19-second clip called “Me at the zoo” — just him standing in front of elephants at the San Diego Zoo, talking about how cool their trunks are. That’s it!!! No production. No polish. No pressure. Just a simple start. ⚡️🤯

For years, I knew I wanted to create on YouTube. I had ideas, vision, passion… but I also had fear. I just wasn’t ready to see it. I spent years avoiding building my YT channel @raiseupchannel, paralyzed by the fear of failing.

But for real… real real talk…

Fear of what? That my family would watch me? AND? At least I would've given them something to talk about 😅 That I’d make a grammatical mistake in front of the camera? Well... everyone does. EVERYONE. That my videos wouldn’t get views? Well... they didn’t, because I didn’t post enough 😅

So yeah, I sabotaged myself. 🥲🚨 I listened to the outside noise instead of muting it and following my own instinct.

But here’s what I’ve learned: FAILURE isn’t the end!! You don't die of it.. it's just a blessing actually..

I KNOW! it's hard to see it, but I finally see it! I see you FAILURE. 😅

So here I am, finally starting, ready to learn out loud. Grattis på födelsedagen till mig / Happy birthday to myself 😅🤙🏽🎁 and cheers 🤙🏽 to anyone choosing courage over fear. 🔥🚀

HAVE A NICE LIFE 🔥 🚀

[fraiman]

Creativity as Therapy 🎥🎚️💻🚀

No one would have thought that I have a darker side, but that’s exactly what I want to show! That even people like me, who seem happy and bubbly, can carry something heavy and dark. That the devil sometimes visits my mind and sabotages me! ⚡️

I rarely (almost never) ask for help. Which is actually insane, because everyone comes to me with their problems, but I never go to them with mine. So I started wondering: How the hell do I actually deal with my own problems? 🤯🚨

And that’s when I realized that my therapy has always been through creativity. I didn’t know it until I created my short film two years ago. The topic is a sensitive in Sweden, something I didn’t really want to touch, but my teacher at the time was incredible! (I was taking a Documentary Storytelling course.) She encouraged me and said, this is such an important topic to talk about. I looked at her and thought, if SHE says so, then it must be!

When I made that film 🎞️ , it felt like something inside me unlocked. 🔓 For the first time, I started talking about how I have always struggled with looking different in Sweden 🇸🇪 . How I’ve always had to be careful not to stand out too much (considering that my appearance already makes me stand out 😅).

With the help of that short film, I was finally able to express myself and tell my ethnically Swedish friends what it had actually been like to grow up with that feeling and how it’s a trauma I’ve carried my whole life. Oh my nature, over 30 years of avoiding these conversations! But through creativity, I took my first step toward expressing something I had suppressed for so long.

The reason I’m writing this blog is, first! to motivate myself. But maybe there’s someone out there who can relate to what I’m going through.

The reason I don’t show or express my emotions is that I want to avoid feeling sad or depressed. To protect myself, I put on a mask of happiness, which represents me, but also makes me avoid my real emotions. Over the years, these unprocessed feelings have built up and eventually, I have explode. Now, I feel it’s time to do something different.

🎬 My first short film "Casanueva / Nytt hus" 🎬 was a success. It was screened at film festivals, and I even won some awards! Which is completely crazy! And once again, it healed something in me. Winning at Swedish 🇸🇪 , Chilean 🇨🇱 and Spain 🇪🇸 festivals felt like a confirmation that we see you, Raisa!

So now, I’m in the process of creating three new short films 🎬🎥 , but I need to take it one at a time! otherwise, I’ll go crazy, haha! 😅🤙🏽

This time, I want to create a short film about something I’m going through right now. A trauma I’m dealing with right now. Since I’ve always suppressed my emotions, this time, I want to express them through creativity ⚡️. I want to see if I can release my emotions by creating this film 🎬. It’s my way of exploring whether creativity can truly help me understand and process my emotions—and stop carrying so much anger in life.

Well I will let you know!

HAVE A NICE LIFE 🤙🏽

[fraiman]

Lost in the Algorithm Noise 😱

So I was just scrolling, letting the algorithm throw things at me to get inspired and maybe spark some new ideas. And wow… it was a lot. 🤯

It felt like getting ready to play some music, and instead of picking one genre, I just hit play on everything at once. R&B, house, reggaeton, rock all blasting together. And in that mess, what sticks? 🫥🫨 📻📀

And that got me thinking 💭

I know there are so many talented people out there. People who commit to their craft, who actually have something to say. But the way these platforms work, it’s not always those creators who get noticed.

So, I’m asking myself: How do real creators those who put in the work, who actually care, and who want something bigger than just making noise cut through all this chaos?

That’s when I came across a conversation between Colin and Samir and their guest, Jack Conte. And he said something that really stuck with me:

"Hands down, NOW is the best time EVER to be a CREATIVE PERSON. I just want the internet to be better." 🎆

And I couldn’t agree more 🤙🏽

Right now, creators have more opportunities than ever before. We don’t need permission to create. We don’t need to wait for a record label, a publisher, or a producer to say yes. We just do it. 

But at the same time, the platforms that were meant to empower us? They’re all blending into each other. And that’s not the point! 🙂‍↔️

As an audience and also us creators, we choose what we want! WE know what platform will give us what we are looking for. If I go to TikTok, I know I’m there to discover new people, laugh and to support everyday people. If I go to Instagram, I know I’m there to see creators, to connect with and like more professional content. YouTube, you know you’re getting into storytelling, documentaries, deeper content.

So here’s my take: When every platform tries to be everything at once, it mixes the roles of audience and creator.  When all content is forced into one format, it just feels messy. It makes it harder for us to engage, and it makes it harder for creators to stand out.

And that’s where I think the platforms need to do better. 🤖

We all creators have a love and hate relationship with Instagram. We love how clean and easy the navigation how you could just look at a profile and instantly get a feel for who someone is. Then suddenly, they made everything more complicated trying to be everything at once.

They want to be TikTok and took stuff from Snapchat and they wanted to be YouTube added long form. Oh, and let’s throw in community groups while we’re at it! Olololo what a crazy mess IG is now… But hey, at least it looks beautiful.

Facebook it just wants to own every platform. And that makes a mess too because they’re not focusing on what they’re actually good at. You can’t be everywhere. Period. Snapchat? They’re doing their own thing, and honestly, it’s working. They’re not bothered by other platforms, and I love that.

YouTube, caught between long-form and short-form content. And look, I get it!!! I’m not delusional, change is part of the game. But I still believe YouTube’s strength was always in long-form content. 

The point is: every platform is blurring into each other, all chasing the same trends instead of focusing on their own strengths and being Unique!! (Funny how the platforms always telling us to stand out, be different, and not copy others… yet they’re the ones doing the exact opposite 🤡.)

And who gets lost in that? Us, the creators. ☠️

Even if someone follows us, it doesn’t even count in the end. I still have to send private links to my closest people just so they see my new video.

Instead of making it easier for creators, it’s making it harder.

I feel people just don’t want to spend time there anymore. 

I don’t have all the answers, but this is where I’m at. Figuring out this new journey I’m diving into with our YouTube channel, Raise Up. Just sharing thoughts along the way while I build my channel… so I don’t forget. As many creators say: Trust the process 😅🏆 Well I'm!

What do you think? Are all platforms starting to blend into each other? And as creators, how do you deal with this chaos? 🚨🚀

HAVE A NICE LIFE 🤙🏽

IG: @raiseupchannel

Youtube: Extreme Athletes with Extreme Stories

Tiktok: Raise Up

(Image: This is me , this is a screenshot from one of our thumbnail we created for our youtube channel and the feeling of this blogg reminded of of this image)

[fraiman]

The Fear of Going All In 🏆

So I was out walking today, listening to Colin and Samir’s podcast, and out of nowhere, this thought hit me, oh my oh my, I’m spending SO much time on my YouTube channel raiseupchannel, my social media, all of it. I’m giving it everything, 100%. But there’s no guarantee it will work.

And that’s always been my biggest fear. I don’t want to give my all and end up with nothing. That fear? It’s what held me back for so long. It’s why I kept working for other companies because it was safe. 

We pitched this idea to a company we were working for, and they didn’t believe in it, they turned out to be a blessing. Because when we left, we finally had the opportunity to develop this idea ourselves. I truly believe everything happens for a reason. Maybe this was it! to do it on our own. It feels like everything has led to this moment, pushing me to go all in. But at the same time, I can’t stop thinking about the time, the hours, the days I’m spending on this.

I’m still working on the side as a freelancer for different clients, which gives me the freedom to do this side hustle. But there are days like today, where I spent the entire day working on my social media and YouTube channel. And it was an AHA moment realizing I didn’t make any money today and then reality hits: "What if this doesn’t work? What if all this time is wasted?”.

Like, in neither of those cultures, there's really a mindset of "take the risk." In North America, it's more like all or nothing. But in Swedish culture, it's about security having a stable job where everything is predictable. And in Latin American culture, it's all about hustling, but often in a way where you’re just trying to survive and pay the bills, even if you don’t like what you’re doing. So you’re trying to unblock those mindsets and just go for it without overthinking too much.

But still it’s scary. People seem to like the channel so far, but I need more subscribers. And I keep asking myself, "What else can I do? What else should I try?" And then the doubt creeps in "If I don’t grow, where does this go? Does it all lead to nothing?"

But then I remind myself and my small team why we’re doing this. This is a long-term goal. It’s not about overnight success. I have to slow down, take it day by day, and trust the process.

I TRULY BELIEVE IN THIS CHANNEL IT’S JUST KEEP REMINDING MYSELF, TRUST THE PROCESS.

HAVE A NICE LIFE 🤙🏽

[fraiman]

Why It Took Me a Year to Post a Finished Video

Why did it take me a whole year to post a short documentary on our YouTube channel when it was already done? Yes, that is the right question. 😅

I had so many excuses floating around in the back of my mind: “Maybe it’s too late to become a YouTuber. I just turned 30.” “Maybe no one will watch it.” “Maybe I’m the only one who enjoys these kinds of stories.”

But the real reason? I didn’t like seeing myself on camera talking.

I can be on camera just for fun, showing my personality, no problem. But as soon as I had to speak? That’s when insecurity hit. Because, yes, I have an accent when I speak English. And no, I don’t like it. I know some people find it charming, but listening to my own voice, seeing myself talk, that was tough.

Luckily, I had a team. A scriptwriter who never even questioned my voice or my accent. The people around me didn’t care about how I sounded, they just cared about the story we are creating. Sure, I had to work on pronouncing some words (world was a nightmare). But in the end, That gave me more confidence and I realized this was a new challenge. A new journey.

Once the editing was done, I sat down to watch the final version. And that’s when it hit me: wait, this is actually amazing. Why am I taking this so seriously?

Specially that I'm not a "serious person" , I’m fun. I’m wild. I’m crazy. But I’m serious about my art and work

But then... just when I was ready to post, life happened. I got really sick for 5 months. Moved to a new place. Had to catch up on work. Find new clients. Be social. Try to live life. And the longer I waited, the harder it got…

That’s my only regret: I should have just posted it immediately.

If there’s one thing I learned: TO NOT TO WAIT, THERE'S NO PERFECT MOMENT, TIME, you have something! show it.

But here we are now 2025. It’s FINALLY UP Raise up Channel Extreme Athletes with Extreme Stories 🌎🥊🤿🛹🏂⛸️🎿🛼🪂🏄🏽‍♀️🤺🧗🏼‍♂️🚵🏻‍♂️ .

I’m so HAPPY. This motivated me like crazy. I’m not thinking about my accent anymore.

This is part of every YouTuber’s journey. I’m no different. And now? Let’s see where this goes.

Have a nice life! 🤙🏽