Alpana Sharma: Feminism Isn’t About Putting Women Above Men but About Expanding Choices [Humour, Social Commentary, 154K Followers]

Alpana Sharma Interview

Alpana Sharma left a high-growth corporate career not because she lacked success, but because success no longer felt aligned with purpose. Through sharp social commentary and honest storytelling, she challenges women to stop waiting for permission and start building lives they don’t need saving from.

Q. Leaving a ₹32 LPA corporate career is a decision most people would hesitate to make. Was there a defining moment when you realized financial security was no longer enough and that your purpose lay elsewhere?

I don’t think there was one dramatic moment. It was a series of ordinary days during which I realized I was succeeding on paper while feeling increasingly disconnected from the life I actually wanted.

For the longest time, my life followed the plan almost perfectly. I got into SRCC, secured one of the highest placements on campus, climbed the corporate ladder faster than I imagined, and became one of the youngest senior managers in my organization. Every five-year goal I had set seemed to be happening on schedule.

But somewhere along the way, I found myself asking an uncomfortable question: If I’m not fulfilled now, what exactly am I waiting for? Would I suddenly be happier after the next promotion? When I became a Director? After an MBA?

Deep down, I knew the answer was no.

There was nothing wrong with corporate life. I genuinely enjoyed it, worked with incredibly talented people, and learned more than I could have imagined. I simply realized that this wasn’t the ladder I wanted to spend the rest of my life climbing.

Around that time, I was working with students from around the world who were building startups. Watching 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds take enormous risks with no guarantees made me reflect on my own choices. I had spent years encouraging others to bet on themselves, yet I was hesitant to do the same.

That question stayed with me.

I was fortunate in one important way: I had spent nearly four years working, saving, and investing. I made sure that even if I earned nothing for two years, I could sustain myself. I also didn’t have anyone financially dependent on me, which gave me the freedom to make that decision.

It wasn’t an impulsive leap. It was emotional, but it was also carefully planned.

Leaving wasn’t about rejecting corporate life—I still have immense respect for it. It was about choosing a path that felt more aligned with who I was becoming. For years, I had helped businesses grow and encouraged others to build their dreams. I finally wanted to find out what would happen if I spent that same energy building my own.

In many ways, my corporate career didn’t take me away from my purpose—it prepared me for it.

Q. Your content often sparks conversations around feminism, gender, and social norms. When you challenge deeply held beliefs, criticism is inevitable. Has there ever been a moment when public backlash made you question whether speaking up was worth it?

Criticism doesn’t bother me as much as being misunderstood.

I’ve had videos where people assumed I hated men simply because I encouraged women to build fulfilling lives beyond romantic relationships. That has never been the message.

There are certainly days when it becomes overwhelming. I’ve received everything from hate comments to death threats. During those moments, I return to one question: Did I say something inaccurate, or did I simply make people uncomfortable?

If it’s inaccurate, I learn and correct it. If it’s uncomfortable but honest, I’m okay with that. Meaningful conversations rarely happen when everyone leaves feeling completely comfortable.

What keeps me going isn’t a philosophy—it’s people.

Women who tell me they started earning and investing their own money. Young girls who convinced their families to let them finish college before getting married. Women who found the courage to leave relationships that were hurting them. Sometimes, it’s simply someone who says a video made them laugh during a difficult week.

I’m not taking credit for their choices. Those decisions were entirely theirs. But if something I said reminded them that they had agency over their own lives, then I believe the discomfort of speaking honestly is worth it.

Every single time.

Q. The word “feminism” remains one of the most misunderstood terms on the internet. If you could erase one misconception about feminism from public discourse forever, what would it be?

That feminism is anti-men.

Even today, if you stopped 100 people on the street and asked them to define feminism, a surprising number—both men and women—would struggle to answer.

To me, feminism is not about putting women above men. It’s about expanding choices. Your gender shouldn’t determine the kind of life you’re allowed to build.

It questions why women are judged for ambition and independence, but it also challenges expectations that men should suppress emotions or carry every financial burden alone.

I think the misconception persists because outrage travels faster than nuance online. Extreme opinions are amplified, while balanced conversations rarely go viral.

Q. As a creator discussing complex social issues, where do you draw the line between simplifying ideas for social media and preserving the nuance those conversations deserve?

This is something I’m actively learning, particularly because I use satire and humour to discuss serious topics.

I’ll be honest—there have been moments when I’ve been tempted, and perhaps even given in, to using more controversial hooks because I knew they would capture attention. That’s the game social media rewards.

But as my audience grows, I’m becoming increasingly aware that reach comes with responsibility.

We also need to remember that a reel isn’t a thesis. My job isn’t to explain an entire social issue in 60 seconds. It’s to start a conversation that encourages people to think differently without sacrificing accuracy.

The line I constantly try to walk is simple: simplify the idea, never the person it’s about.

Q. Conversations around gender equality and social justice have become far more visible online. Has that visibility translated into meaningful change offline?

I think about this often, and my honest answer is that the visibility is real, but unevenly distributed.

The people engaging with these conversations online are often those already open to having them. The people who most need to hear messages about financial independence, emotional labour, or gender equity may not be consuming feminist content on Instagram. They’re making decisions about their daughters’ futures, leading organizations, or shaping family dynamics elsewhere.

So yes, important conversations are happening. But social media can create the feeling of progress without the friction required for actual change.

We can all agree online that something is wrong and still go home and repeat the same patterns.

The shift that interests me most isn’t a viral moment. It’s when a woman watches something, puts her phone down, and makes a different decision than she would have before. She negotiates her salary. Communicates differently in a relationship. Stays—or leaves—with greater clarity.

That’s where online visibility either becomes meaningful change or remains content. And I think we’re still figuring out which side of that line we’re on.

Q. If the corporate version of Alpana Sharma met the creator you’ve become today, what would surprise her most? And what impact do you hope your work will have a decade from now?

I think she’d be surprised by two things.

First, that I’m comfortable not having everything planned.

Second, that simply being myself turned out to be enough.

Corporate Alpana loved certainty, structure, and five-year roadmaps. Creator Alpana has learned that some of the biggest opportunities come from following curiosity instead of certainty.

For a long time, even as a creator, I believed I needed to fit into a mould. I thought I had to look a certain way, speak a certain way, follow trends, and satisfy the algorithm.

Ironically, the moments that resonated most were the ones where I simply shared my own thoughts and experiences, trusting that honesty would find the right audience.

Millions of people have connected with my work not because I became someone else, but because I became more myself.

Looking ahead, I don’t want to be remembered as someone who made viral videos. I want to build a body of work that helps young women think more critically about the lives they’re building—not just their relationships, but also their careers, finances, confidence, and sense of self.

If, ten years from now, a woman can look at her life and say, “I built a life I don’t need saving from,” and my work played even a small role in that journey, it would mean more to me than any follower count ever could.

Bio

Alpana Sharma is a content creator, writer, storyteller, and SRCC alumna who left a
successful corporate career to build one of India’s most distinctive female-first voices
online. Across her two Instagram accounts, @alpana.sharmaaa and
@alpana.unhinged, she reaches over 10 million people every month through honest,
witty and thought-provoking conversations about modern womanhood, dating, financial
independence, and the lives women are actually building versus the ones they were told
to want. Through humour, storytelling and social commentary, she creates content that
encourages young women to think more critically about the lives they’re building.


Instagram


Interviewed by Irene Elina Eldhose