Pavani Kothalawala’s journey is one of bold reinvention. Coming from a deeply musical family – her father is a musician – creativity was always close to her heart. But life first led her into banking, a path that soon felt too routine. In 2022, she made a life-changing decision to leave it behind.

Starting as a content creator, Pavani quickly grew into an art director and founded her own creative agency. Today, she produces short films, photography, and videography while travelling and living life on her terms.  

You have worked with over 50 elite brands. How do you stay authentic while balancing commercial collaborations?

I started my journey in 2022. While doing everything alone up until now, I have faced the same problems that women usually face.

I have also met many interesting people during that time. Many people helped me get to where I am and I met very supportive people.

I also gained a lot of experience, so when I work together with others, it is very easy.  

How has your identity as a Sri Lankan woman influenced your creative voice in a global digital space?

Sri Lankan society is very different from other countries, our thinking pattern is different, and our way of seeing is different. When we live in such a country, we have to be very careful when posting our content.

No matter how many positive things we do, there are still many people who perceive it in a negative manner.

Therefore, when we try to be monotonous, we get stuck when creating content. When that happens, we won’t reach our target audience. We need to show our own creations to the world and everyone who does creative things should have that creative freedom.

In a world that’s constantly online, how do you stay grounded and protect your inner creativity?

At present, we all have a lot of competition. No matter what field we are in, no matter what we do, it’s competitive. But when you do things in a new and different way, that competition is less.

Because once you create your own unique brand, it’s hard to damage it. Most people just watch what someone else is doing and try to do the same thing. In such a society, when we do different things, the way we look at things may change. 

However, it’s not that there are no people who really enjoy such content. There are many people on social media who like such kinds of content.

So when I take videos and photos, I try to capture that moment in a way that gives a unique vibe.

What’s a moment in your journey where you felt like giving up and what pulled you through?

Most of the time in our field, we meet a lot of people with many different thinking patterns. For example, when we create content for a certain brand, the brand gives us a guideline on how it should be. Personally, I don’t like that because we know our audience better.

In situations like that, most of the time we lose creative freedom. When that happens, it can be really hard.

Your work captures luxury and travel, but what does ‘luxury’ mean to you on a personal level?

That’s actually a very good question. I mainly create content related to travel, hotels, food, and fashion. Content creation involves creativity that must come from the soul.

Also, our audience comprises people of different ages and different mindsets. Therefore, it is not a good idea to present ‘luxury’ in the same way, since it may not suit some people.

I want to make my audience feel as good as I possibly can, to share the experience of travelling to beautiful places with them. I actually receive messages when I go on trips and  share my vlogs; the people watching feel like they travel along with me.

My overall goal is to inspire the entire community to go out and experience the beauty of the world and live as the best versions of themselves.

What advice would you give young creatives trying to break into content production without compromising who they are?

This is something many older content creators experience; there are many social media influencers in Sri Lanka, but they don’t know what they are doing. As soon as they finish their O/Levels or A/Levels, they start creating content with fake followers and without any reach.

There are also various brands with various mindsets and thinking patterns. Some brands know who they want to hire, and whether the person selected will have an effect on the brand. However, some brands are unaware about the audience and the reach, so they hire content creators with no budget for their content and fake followers. These brands don’t consider views, they just need the job done.

However, the difference is clear to anyone, except perhaps the client. Content creators like us don’t create content solely as a source of income; we always try to provide the best product for the money we receive.

What I have to say to those creating content is, if you are going to earn something, do the work properly and always be unique.

How do you envision the future of digital storytelling and your place in it?

If we are not updated with the world that is constantly updating, it will be difficult to remain in the field we work in. We have to be careful about everything all the time. Even taking a photo or a video is not the same as before, because there is a lot of competition.

Therefore, I make changes periodically to suit my style and my audience.

If your life were a visual campaign, what would be the title and what’s the message you would want the world to take away?

I spend my life with one theme – taking it one day at a time. We will leave all this behind one day, so we should make the life we ​​have beautiful. It is very easy if we are grateful for everything we receive. 

In a world that is constantly updating, we also need to update ourselves. 

We should also live our lives in a way that does not harm anyone. We should all work hard for ourselves. We should be happy no matter what job we do or what background we are in.