Mugdha Interview
Mugdha beauty and lifestyle content creator who uses her platform to champion authenticity, representation, and self-confidence, inspiring young women to embrace their identity without compromise.
Q. Before Instagram, what was your life like and what pushed you to become the person we see today?
Ever since I got my first phone, I’ve been obsessed with making videos. They were honestly the funniest, cringiest little videos ever, and I used to post them on TikTok without thinking twice about what people would say. I wasn’t trying to become a creator back then; I just genuinely enjoyed filming, editing, and putting myself out there.
Even if the videos got barely 20 likes, I still had fun doing it. When TikTok was banned during the pandemic, I switched to Instagram and kept posting there. Looking back, I think that phase shaped me a lot because I kept creating even when nobody was really watching. Somewhere along the way, I also started noticing how little representation there was for brown girls online.
At that time, beauty standards heavily revolved around fair skin, and so many girls grew up feeling like they weren’t pretty enough because they didn’t look a certain way. That realization stayed with me. I wanted to show up online as myself, confidently, unapologetically, and without trying to change the way I looked. Over time, people slowly started connecting with my content, recognising me, and supporting me, and that support pushed me to believe in myself even more.
Q. How did your journey into content creation actually start?
My content creation journey started in the most unexpected way possible, because of a college assignment. During my first year studying Mass Media, we were given a project where we had to create an Instagram page around a specific niche, post consistently for three months, and grow it to at least 500 followers.
While everyone around me already seemed to have their ideas figured out, I had absolutely no clue what niche to choose. Eventually, I randomly decided to try makeup content, which was honestly funny because I barely knew makeup myself. I only owned basic things and was super nervous.
Still, I started posting reels consistently, and after a few videos, one of them suddenly crossed 1,000 likes and helped me gain around 200 followers within a week. I still remember how shocking that felt at the time. Then slowly, within about a month and a half, my page had already crossed 2.5K followers; way beyond what was needed for the assignment. What started as something I was doing for marks slowly became something I genuinely loved.
Somewhere between filming random reels, editing late at night, and planning content ideas, I realized this was more than just a project for me.
Q. In a country where beauty standards can sometimes feel unfair, did you ever face self-doubt, and how did you overcome it?
Honestly, I never really struggled with self-doubt because of my skin colour. The funny thing is, growing up, my family used to bully me about it a lot but in a very playful and unserious way. Apart from that i really never cared about my skincare, cause it's just skin, right?
So when I started posting online and received negative comments or backlash, it didn’t affect me as deeply because I had already learned not to let those things define me. I’ve always believed confidence matters so much more than fitting into society’s idea of “perfect”.
Of course, social media comes with criticism, but for every negative comment, there were always so many more people showing love and support. The positivity always outweighed the hate for me. What truly made everything worth it, though, was receiving messages from younger girls saying they felt more confident after seeing my content. Some of them were just 12 or 13 years old, telling me how happy they were to finally see someone who looked like them being confident online without trying to change their skin tone. Those messages meant more to me than numbers ever could.
Q. What’s something people don’t see behind your Instagram posts?
I think people assume my entire personality revolves around beauty and makeup because that’s mostly what they see online, but there’s actually so much more to me outside Instagram. I’ve played chess at a national-level selection, taught Biology for two years, and I absolutely love art. I enjoy making mandala art, painting on mini canvases, and honestly just staying busy all the time.
I’m the kind of person who feels happiest when I'm the busiest, and I'm also a very spiritual person. Also, one more interesting thing about me is that I'm obsessed with space and astronomy. I genuinely love learning about planets, galaxies, and everything related to space. At one point, I was so excited about it that I literally emailed NASA asking for resources and information, and when they actually replied, I was ridiculously happy about it. And one completely random fact about me: I absolutely hate the rain.
Q. What would you say to young girls who struggle with confidence because of society’s beauty?
I would honestly tell them that beauty standards change constantly, but the way you see yourself matters so much more than trends or society’s opinions. Growing up, especially as brown girls, a lot of us were made to feel like beauty only looked a certain way, and that can affect your confidence without you even realising it.
But over time, I understood that confidence doesn’t come from fitting into beauty standards; it comes from accepting yourself as you are. The moment you stop trying to become someone else’s version of “pretty,” you start becoming more confident naturally.
There will always be people who judge you no matter what you do, but there will also always be people who feel inspired just by seeing you be yourself unapologetically. That’s why representation matters so much to me. If my content can help even one young girl feel comfortable in her own skin and a little more confident about herself, then honestly, that means more to me than anything else.
Bio
I’m a beauty and lifestyle content creator who loves expressing myself through makeup,
fashion, and creativity. My journey started as a college assignment during my Mass Media
studies and slowly turned into something I genuinely became passionate about. Beyond
content creation, I love art, books, astronomy, and constantly learning new things. Through
my platform, I hope to make young girls, especially brown girls, feel confident, represented,
and comfortable in their own skin.
Interviewed By - Sabhayata
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