Grant Hinds has captivated our airwaves for over 13 years, leaving an indelible impression on South African audiences. His debut as the tech expert on Hectic Nine-9, a popular youth entertainment show on SABC 2, firmly established his presence as an informative and trusted source for the latest in tech and gaming. Today, Grant has evolved into a renowned professional gamer and tech enthusiast, garnering a dedicated and passionate following that extends to thousands of viewers nationwide. We sat down with the creative to explore his remarkable journey as a trailblazing content creator in South Africa and uncover the origins of his profound affection for all things tech.
Please tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Grant, and I am a professional content creator from South Africa. I’ve been doing, what I consider, above-the-line and below-the-line media for the last 13 years and have transitioned from television and magazines to Youtube, live streaming on Twitch and social media.
Where did your content creation journey start?
I used to work on a television show called Hectic Nine-Nine and in a tv studio where we produced South African television. I eventually left to work at Zoopi, a digital video company. Everybody thought I was insane to leave tv and move into digital video, but I was just really excited about the internet and digital video, and that was in 2008. That is where I got my training wheels. I spent two years making online digital videos, and that’s when Youtube really picked up. Once I left, I transferred many of those skills into my Youtube channel and realised that that’s where people’s eyeballs were.
As a professional gamer and tech enthusiast, what are some of your favourite things about the work you do?
My favourite thing about my work is that I’m naturally enthusiastic and passionate about things, specifically tech and video games; I always have been since I got my first console. I was in grade 1, like six years old, when I got my first console, and today, I get to call this my job. I get to let loose and be passionate about the things I’ve been super excited about my whole life.
Being a content creator can look quite glamorous from the outside. What are some things people would be surprised to learn about your job?
Being a content creator means you’ve got to be a jack of all trades. You’ve got to understand every aspect of running a business, from financing to business models. A lot of people don’t find that interesting or attractive. When I spend time doing the things that I’m super interested in, it’s only a fraction of the time; it’s a piece of the pie. The whole machine is learning how to edit, learning how to shoot, being passionate about content creation, being your own art director, being your own director, being your own scriptwriter, and I think that’s what surprises people the most.
They don’t realise that it’s a pretty encompassing job. I’m meeting with clients, and I’m negotiating deals and contracts. I’m trying to get the most value for my clients. So you’re constantly working out what the algorithm is doing, measuring ROI for them. I believe in securing long-term relationships. So part of that is making sure your work stands the test of time, and you’re honest and reflective about it. Because even though there are more influential people out there in the world, the reason they work with you is because you’re excited about the product, you’re reliable, and you’re honest about the work you do. People are then more likely to come back and work with you, and that’s more meaningful to me because lower rates on longer retainers mean more consistent work, which means more salaried expectations instead of being out at sea with big waves and small waves.
You mention in your videos that you’re on a journey to create a Smart Home; what motivated you to undertake such a journey?
Lockdown motivated me to get on this journey. I LOVE tech, and it all started with a couple of devices like a Xiaomi smart speaker and a Google Home. I then realised that all these things could be connected with my phone as the hub. I have a sinology drive, and I’m running a home assistant and learning to code. It’s also making sure my family is safe. Our security cameras and smart alarm system is connected to our security response company.
It becomes like Lego for adults but also Lego with meaning. I enjoy things like Lego, but the older I get, the more important it is for me to have purpose and objective and smart home stuff is like that. It scratches that itch for me, like problem-solving and getting creative about it, but it also adds to my role as a provider, looking after my family and ensuring that they’re safe and have the quality of life and the comforts that smart home products give them.
What is it about the Xiaomi brand that has made you a dedicated customer?
It actually all started with my wife. With all the smart devices in my house, as much as I like putting them up, they can look untidy with all the chipsets, cables, and ugly boxes lying around, and my wife was like, “I want things to look good”. And Xiaomi does that. Everything is clean; they’re white, modern, and stand the test of time. They’re not in your face and obtrusive; I think a lot of technology tries to do that. Some tech wants to fit into your home, and I think that’s what Xiaomi does so well. I love Xiaomi because everything is easy to use. It’s plug-and-play. It solves very simple home issues like rechargeable wireless security cameras. It’s great for loadshedding, and everything just looks beautiful.
Of all the Xiaomi products, which are your favourite and why?
Yoh, this is going to be a hard one. Um, I really like Xiaomi’s bulbs. I know that sounds like it’s a very unsexy thing, but I really like them. And then a weird standout hit for me is Xiaomi’s IR blaster smart speaker. What it does is it’s a smart speaker that connects to your internet, but it’s also got IR blasters, so infrared built into the speaker. And a lot of older technology that isn’t smart technology uses infrared, like old TVs and air conditioners. With the Xiaomi app, you can program a remote control, and it’s registered as a smart device with that speaker. So with the remote, we can control really cheap old air conditioners, and they’re recognised as Xiaomi converts them into smart ones. So if I command Google Home to switch off a particular aircon I’ve named, it will recognise that as a smart device.
What advice would you give aspiring content creators eager to follow in your footsteps?
I recommend that people make content around what they’re naturally passionate about. Many people pursue content creation because there’s some form of attention that comes with it. That attention is more alluring to them than what they’re talking about, and that’s a huge red flag for me. It means that, firstly, you’re going to have a very unsustainable career. Secondly, the weight of what you’re talking about or the content you’re making is never going to be taken seriously. I think one of the reasons I’ve been doing this for so long and stayed around to do this for so long is because I genuinely love what I’m doing. I would work in any of these industries with a drop of a hat because I love live streaming, I love digital production, I love digital broadcast, I’m passionate about it, and because of that, I just spend a lot of time researching and kind of saturating myself in this. So when people ask me, I realise that I’ve saturated myself more than the average person, and I realise that that has value to the audience, and that’s why they’ve come to me.
Content creators are kind of like pastors in a weird way or like rabbis, where they’ve spent so much time learning and researching their content, and their communities can glean valuable information summarised in their content creation. So that’s what I would consider the leading desire for a content creator, is to pursue content creation with that in mind and not the other way around where it’s like if a pastor or a person in a religious authority is pursuing something for attention, they’re doing it for the wrong purposes if that makes sense.
Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like people to check out?
I recently did a birthday livestream on 26 May on my Twitch channel to raise funds for the Menstruation Foundation. It’s an incredible foundation where the organisation is building tokenised vending machines so that women in disadvantaged areas can get tokens and redeem them for sanitary products for the month, which is awesome. And they also receive the tokens and sanitary products for free. And they’re installing these vending machines all around the country, and we are raising funds for that. So I did a long livestream on my birthday, and it was a great excuse for me to play games on my birthday. But it also gave people the opportunity to donate to the fundraiser.
- At the end of the livestream, Grant raised over R18 000 for the Menstruation Foundation.
