1. Tell us about your background and journey.
I am a B.com(Hons.) and I completed it from Delhi University, then I did my PGDM from IMA. I was born in Amritsar but brought up in Delhi. I live in Delhi. I worked as a Business Research analyst for 3 and a 1/2 years. I quit my job back in 2018 and decided to give full-time travel a try.
I thought of doing it for 2-3 months to see how it will go. So I started working on my YouTube and blog channel in 2018. It picked up for me luckily and I've been traveling for 2-3 years ever since March 2018 as a full-time traveler.
2. When did you first decide that you wanted to create content and how did you start?
I never really planned on becoming a content creator. It happened automatically to be honest because when I quit my job I was like I'll do this for 2-3 months, maybe do freelancing and find some freelancing jobs. I also thought of becoming a trek leader and tried to find some travel-related job.
I had absolutely no idea about this content creation field, even in 2018 back then it was a very new thing for all of us, at least for me it was a very new thing. I had no idea about this industry. I was working on my blog until 2019, doing freelancing and creating content on Instagram, not creating actually but posting my travel pictures on Instagram.
In October 2019, I went full force like I started doing YouTube completely and there was this video that picked up for me where I talked about how you can learn surfing in India for free and at that time brands started approaching on Instagram and for YouTube. Growth started to happen in December 2019, and this was my start to YouTube and content creation.
3. Is it financially sustainable to be a video creator these days?
Yes, very sustainable, more than what people imagine but if you're doing it correctly. If you know how to market yourself well, it is a very good industry to be in. You can earn as much as a B-school student is earning to be honest, and I am very, very happy with the returns. My family wasn't very sure about it when I quit my job but right now even they are very happy.
4. How can someone become a successful video creator?
I think they just need to start, even if you are not a video creator just start. I am a B.com(Hons.) student. I have done finance. I've learned finance all my life and I had absolutely no idea about shooting videos and editing, and how to make videos basically. I started learning through YouTube.
There are so many YouTube videos where you can learn the basics of shooting videos and of editing. I started learning and then of course practicing helped a lot as every week I had to release a video. So you are working on a video every single week, you're practicing and with practice your skills improve, your storytelling skills improve, your editing and color grading skills improve.
It's majorly about practice. Of course, many people join video editing schools, take courses, that is another way to go about it but you can learn on your own as well.
There are many creators I follow and they inspire me in some way or the other. For example, if someone is into diving, I follow them and they inspire me to be a better diver. If someone is a skier and they keep posting about how good they are at skiing, it motivates me to be a better skier.
Apart from that, I think discipline helps a lot more than being motivated and finding inspiration. If you have certain tasks on your to-do list and you are thinking to finish it off by today no matter what happens then discipline plays a very key role in it because I do not have a boss right now.
There is no one to look after my work if I'm finishing it or not. So I have to be disciplined so that at least I'm able to finish it off even if no boss or no one is giving me, you know, a stick to complete a particular work.
6. Who is your favorite creator and why?
I love three female creators. I think they are the best female creators as they inspire me in many ways. One is Sorelle Amore, she is into finance. She tells people how to invest better and how to be a better human. The way she portrays her messages, I feel very connected to her whether it's regarding her lifestyle, her housing, her investments, or travel.
The second one is Eva Zu Beck. She's into the raw form of travel, very real travel. Her Instagram feels very real to me. It's not very rosy. She tells us both the ups and downs of travel and I think it's very important than just to paint a very rosy picture. I like raw and real content and that’s why I love her.
Apart from that, there are many other creators like I love Brinda Sharma. I love Chelsea, she's into diving. She has inspired me to be a better diver and because of her, I got into diving. I'm an advanced scuba diver now. Also, there is Ankit Bhatia and Suman Kothari. They are very down to Earth and very nice people.
As creators, we share a certain space together and we help each other, inspire each other and push each other.
7. Which is your favorite book and why?
I have not been reading. I haven't read for quite some time now but my favorite book is The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. It talks about the universe and the power of gratefulness, gratitude, and manifesting things. I think half of what I have achieved till now is through manifestation.
You just have to believe that you can do it and you have to keep manifesting and work towards it and you can achieve it. At least that book taught me that and if I ever forget it, I just read one page out of that particular book or read some quotes and I'm good to go.
8. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring creators?
My advice would be to be real. Do not copy anyone because there is only till a certain point you can do so and then you will feel exhausted, lose out on ideas and you won't enjoy the work. The one key factor is to enjoy your work and not be a sheep that follows the crowd.
For example, if I give you my example, my Instagram reels were not working for the past six months. I tried my best and so many people told me to do this, to create content like this, such kind of reels is working, follow the trend, follow this and blah blah.
At the end of the day, none of my trending reels or trending song reels picked up, and only those worked which resonated with me and my audience. The ones I created thinking of my audience, what they want to see, and what I want to put out, that worked for me.
So, be true to yourself. Be original. Do not follow. Do not copy. Whatever you think is right just do that and mute the other voices.
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