1.Tell us about your background and journey.
I was an introverted & underconfident kid who had difficulties in making new friends. I was living a life with a traditional mindset of “get a job by 22, get married by 25, have kids by 27 and live the rest of your life taking care of the child”. So by the time I was 22, I ticked my goal of getting a corporate job. But then I realised that this is not what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I was searching for other ways that can make me feel happy or let's say I was searching for my passion. So, I left my job and tried multiple fields which were unrelated to my commerce background such as interior designing, wedding planning, Bollywood choreography, law exams, IBPS PO, RBI Assistant, SSC CGL and what not.
Unfortunately or fortunately, I couldn't clear even a single exam nor any of the other career choices that made me feel happy. I was jobless and like any other jobless person, I pursued my masters.
One fine day, I was cleaning my drawer and I found a book that my previous boss gifted to me on my birthday. (By the way, I used to hate reading self-help books.) The book was “Attitude is Everything”. I thought of giving it a try and after I finished reading the book, the only question that popped into my mind was - Why the hell I didn't read this book earlier?
That single book encouraged me to read more books. So I ordered a few more books related to developing a positive mindset and the second book that I read (which also changed my life) was The Power of Subconscious Mind. Mann! This book blew my mind because it gave me a reality check that whatever is happening in my life, I have somehow attracted those situations myself.
I took a few actions on changing my mindset and it actually worked. I wrote one of my wishes in my diary that I want a job by March 2018 and this wish was fulfilled on the same date written in my diary. That day, my belief in manifestation got stronger and I started researching more on this.
When I got enough knowledge on the same I thought of sharing my experience in a Blog. I purchased a domain “personalityspeaks.com” and I used to write blog posts related to personality development. The website was live for a year, but it didn't work. I was devastated but I knew this wasn't the end.
2. When did you first decide that you wanted to create digital content and how did you start?
When my blog wasn’t performing well, I again got a reality check that I need to show my face, because the field that I chose for myself (“self-improvement”) requires a leader to show his own progress. I was too shy to come on camera and speak about everything I know, but as we say, no one grows in their comfort zone.
So, one day I just decided to give it a try and I uploaded the video online. The video got a good response and my friends (even the ones that I didn't speak to) messaged me that I did a good job. This gave me a push and I thought of starting a project called 50 Days 50 Stories, where I would narrate stories of successful people in 1 minute, just to be consistent with my content. As to grow on a digital platform - you need to be consistent with your content.
Yet again my project performed so well and many celebs like Shakti Mohan, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Diljit Dosanjh, Naveen Polishetty replied to me on my Instagram. From that date till now, I have been creating content around self-improvement and touch wood, this is just the beginning.
3.Is vlogging and digital content creation a financially sustainable career?
In my opinion, no it's not. The media industry as a whole is not financially stable at all, especially for the people who are in front of the camera. For example, an actor’s shelf life is approx 10-20 years but a spot boy can work till his retirement age as he is not working to impress the masses.
Likewise, a vlogger or a content creator has his own limitations. As the audience evolves, even the creator has to evolve just to be in sync with his audience, and this is where most people fail.
According to my, if a creator has to be financially stable, then he needs to create multiple streams of income. All the Gen1 YouTubers who are still doing well is just because they have created businesses offline, acted in movies, invested in other companies, etc. So to make your digital career stable, you need to have a strong existence in the offline world as well.
Definitely, we can choose to create content for the initial push in the personal brand, but an offline business (or any other stuff) is necessary. Don't be purely dependent on a social media platform that can be banned any day.
4.How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content?
I have multiple ways to find inspiration for my content. I read books, watch interviews online, read articles, interact with people or simply just spend time with nature. All these things help me to churn out my content.
5.What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring digital creators?
I would like to advise them that they shouldn't treat other creators as their competition. The feeling of jealousy and comparison should never come up in your mind, even for once. Instead, you should collaborate with them and build a community together. Collab is the best way to get a new set audience and to network with more and more people within your niche.
6.Which is your favourite book and why?
Although The Power of Subconscious Mind changed my life, my favourite book is The Greatest Salesman of the World. The book has 10 scrolls (lessons) with a beautiful storyline that keeps you engaged throughout the end. The author says that we all are selling something or the other in this world, an employee sells his time, an actor sells his face, a creator sells his content.
So, if we all are selling something, then how to be the greatest salesman in selling such soft skills is what the book is about. This book helped me to be at peace with my own self. There are very few books that help you to connect with your internal self and this book is one of them. Another one is definitely the Bhagwat Geeta.
Interviewed By: Namisha Saxena
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