It may look fancy, glamorous, and easy but it is exactly the opposite of that. There is a lot of hard work that goes behind what is seen. Shooting for products at a stretch in the heat, creating new content every day, establishing relationships needs patience.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
I dropped out of med school to become a full-time housewife and mother. After about nine years I started my career as the feet on the street, at the age of thirty. Slowly I moved up the corporate ladder to head regional sales and marketing in corporate giants like Apollo and Aditya Birla.
After about twenty-two years, I decided to quit the corporate scene to pursue my dreams of creating content and running my own business.
2. When did you first decide that you wanted to create content and how did you start?
There was no specific moment as such. It just happened. I had started writing my blog and I needed a platform to share my writings. My Facebook page was already active but the insta handle was absolutely dormant.
So I decided to work on it. It took me some time to understand how insta works and what is the value of good content and slowly I started working on it. Engagements took time because I was struggling to understand the hashtags and trying to find my area of interest. There would be days when I would get frustrated and think of giving up, but finally, persistence paid off.
3. Is vlogging and Instagram content creation a financially sustainable career?
I believe you can make a sustainable career in any field if you have the passion, vision, and work hard to achieve your goals. There is enough scope for work and creativity. But one thing is for sure, financial benefits will not happen overnight.
One has to work for a substantial period of time to see results. Financially and mentally one should be prepared to hold strong during this time.
4. Who is your favorite creator and why?
This is tough to say because there are so many of them creating amazing content
and I draw inspiration from them every day. However, though I am in the fashion
segment, most of my favorite content creators are from the travel, food, photography, and wildlife segment!
5. How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content?
My content is mostly about my life experiences and daily interactions with people or what is happening around me. There is so much to write about life if you choose to look around and concentrate on what is happening around you.
6. What does your typical day look like?
Post lockdown my days seem to have become very hectic. Usually, I wake up by seven am and spend some time on social media and then enjoy my morning tea with my daughter. After completing the usual household chores and cooking, I sit down to handle my business, coordinating with weavers, artisans, couriers, handling customer queries.
Post lunch it is usually a bit of Netflix or amazon prime time, then as a routine dress up to create content for the day. Editing the pictures and then writing out the content takes some time. Post dinner it is again social media and customer interaction time. I go to sleep by about 1 am. In between all this, I try to squeeze in some time for physical exercise for at least half an hour.
7. Which is your favorite book and why?
Again difficult to mention one but The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma, Secret by Rhonda Byrne and Autobiography of a Yogi have been life changers.
8. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring creators?
It may look fancy, glamorous, and easy but it is exactly the opposite of that. There is a lot of hard work that goes behind what is seen. Shooting for products at a stretch in the heat, creating new content every day, establishing relationships needs patience.
Consistency is the key. But the adrenaline rush that comes every time someone follows or when someone writes to say that they are inspired by my content is huge.
- Kakali Biswas , Blogger
- Interviewed by Shilpy Sharan
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