#84 - Life of Riza - The Pursuit of Creative Balance

In this conversation, Kariza Santos reflects on her journey as a filmmaker and YouTube creator, discussing the realities of building a creative career while trying to maintain balance in life. She shares how freelancing, experimentation, and years of learning eventually led her to develop a cinematic storytelling style on YouTube, while also navigating the constant pressure to produce content in a fast-moving digital space. Kariza talks about the importance of structure, boundaries, and time-blocking to avoid burnout, as well as the role of mentorship, collaboration, and community in helping creators grow. Ultimately, she emphasizes that creativity is a long-term pursuit built on persistence, curiosity, and self-awareness—encouraging creators to focus less on algorithms or perfection and more on finding their voice, continuing to learn, and creating work they’re genuinely proud of. - 00:00 – Introduction & Kariza Santos’ Creative Path 04:45 – What Fulfillment Looks Like as a Creative 09:10 – Freelancing, Burnout & Creating Boundaries 14:20 – Forcing Creativity vs Letting Ideas Develop 20:35 – The Pressure of Uploading on YouTube 27:50 – Mentorship and the Importance of Creative Community 35:40 – Dropping Out of School and Entering Freelance Work 45:15 – Finding Her Voice on YouTube 55:20 – Building Season 2 and Working With a Team 01:03:30 – Advice for Creators and Final Reflections - Switch to Musicbed and start your 14-day free trial today: https://musicbed.com/tcgp Sign up to Milanote for free with no time-limit: https://milanote.com/carlostigs Learn more about Nanlite & Nanlux Products: https://nanlite.com/ // https://www.nanlux.com/#/en - FOLLOW KARIZA ► https://www.instagram.com/lifeofriza/... SUBSCRIBE ►    / lifeofriza   ✅ Support The Podcast:   / thecreativegappodcast   ❤️ Enjoy the show? Rate us on Apple Podcasts & Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6yWlxm2... https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... ________________________________________ 🤝 Follow The Podcast & Carlo! The Creative Gap:   / creativegap   |    / @creativegappodcast   Carlo:   / carlostigs   | ⁠    / @carlostigs