1. Tell us about your background and journey.
I am just another girl with big dreams. I started off my YouTube journey as a kid back when I was in my 11th grade, and have been creating content on and off since then.
2. When did you first decide that you wanted to create content and how did you start?
I decided I wanted to be on YouTube in school. I was suffering from depression and came across Lily Singh's channel and book "How to Be a Bawse" there were these segments in the book called the blue pages.
In those segments, she did a comparison of her old self suffering from depression and where she is now. The book taught me a lot and made me realize that I'm not alone, and maybe starting my channel will give me a platform to prove myself to the people around me.
For me, my YouTube channel eventually became my escape. When I started it the motive was to be happy and to be able to make someone watching my videos smile.
3. Is vlogging and YouTube content creation a financially sustainable career?
Honestly yes it is, but only if you're a well-established creator. The industry now is supersaturated and extremely difficult to fit in. Nevertheless, it's a great way to earn money by doing what you love but it requires a lot of effort and hard work.
4. Who is your favorite creator and why?
I have a lot of them, but if I had to choose one it has to be Lily Singh. Though, people now have different opinions about her. And though her content has drastically changed. I love her because somewhere unknowingly she gave me the strength and hope to believe in myself.
She made me normalize mental health issues and taught me how to hustle. Also because she's a woman of color doing such great things, things not many can think of.
5. How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content?
Anything and everything around me gives me ideas. The thing about being a content creator is you're never on a break. You're always planning and ideating. I also luckily have a few great friends who keep giving inputs on what kind of content I should produce.
But mainly I keep figuring out how I can use small things as content. For example, I am a huge foodie. I love momos, so I decided to do a momo eating competition back in the day with a friend and it's one of the most viewed videos on my channel!
6. What does your typical day look like?
I am a student along with being a YouTuber. So a day in my life is rather normal, just like that of a college student. Except, that I am mostly vlogging through most of my days or editing videos along with college work.
These days thanks to quarantine, my routine is much more relaxed and I'm back home with my parents and my pets. Usually, I browse through YouTube and Netflix, creating content, and taking occasional breathers!
I think the one good thing quarantine has done for us content creators is - it's allowed us to take things slow.
7. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring creators?
Please Promote Yourself. I cannot stress how important it is to keep promoting yourself. For the first 2 years, I didn't talk about my YouTube Channel with anyone. Only my family and 2-3 close friends knew about it. I felt shy and conscious of promoting my channel.
So all the subscribers I had were strangers. One fine day, my best friend pushed me to make it public to my acquaintances. It took me a lot of courage but I did it. And the response I got, was the opposite of what I had expected. People were so supportive and encouraging.
If only I had done it earlier, I feel like my YouTube channel would've done way better than it is now.
Another thing I'd say is please start with whatever you have, and be original. I know it sounds cliche but people will choose to watch you for 'You'. So be original and make sure your videos show who you are. Give your audience a reason to subscribe to you.
- Arushi Sharma
- Interviewed By: Soumya Jain
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