“Keep your friends close”
When Santoshi Shetty, 28, launched her fashion blog, the StyleEdge in 2015, few people thought of blogging as a full-time job. She was an architecture student in Mumbai at the time. Blogging was a way to offer fashion and style advice and chat about life and travel. The blog grew popular. Friends told Shetty she was on to something. But does one turn all that virtual clout into actual cash?
“I didn’t know that blogging could be business,” she recalls. She set up a YouTube channel and expanded the brand to Instagram. “At that time most brands were new on social media and because I had already gained some followers on my page, the brands were interested in collaborating,” she recalls. “Initially, I said yes to everything that came my way; as I grew, I chose more mindfully.” Her feed is a mini virtual runway, featuring looks inspired by her personal style, a mix of simple silhouettes to create new looks. She also shows off her ashtanga yoga practice sessions to her followers.
And all through, she cherished the people who were her early champions.
Riya Raut, her best friend from college is her manager.
“Who knew we would come this far and would be doing this?,” Shetty asks. “My friends in college would show up if I was doing an event somewhere, they would click pictures, shoot a video or just be around to show their support. It’s like we were and are each other’s cheerleaders.”
Her family has been on board for all her projects – in turn she takes them along on work trips. Creators end up missing social and family events. They’re editing late into the night or all of the weekend. “As a person who’s always on the go, travelling & doing creative stuff, I’m all about going with the flow of life and I would never say sorry to my friends and family for not always physically being present. I’d rather say thank you for understanding. And indeed, I’m surrounded with people who understand this. For me it’s about being 100% wherever I am. Be it with work, with friends, with nature, Just being present with whatever I have been presented with is my mantra.” that with the ones I do, I get to spend uninterrupted quality time whenever we meet or interact.”
Her husband, Manish Singh, a software engineer has been supportive too. “I usually shoot 3-4 videos over the weekend while my husband takes care of kids,” says Singh.
Still, it can be stressful trying to keep up with algorithms that reward a continuous stream of content. Last year, Singh finally hired a team to assist with the re-editing and re-formatting of her videos for other platforms. And she no longer loses sleep if she’s missed a video here and there. And if engagement is low because she was ill or had to attend a family event, so be it. Her greatest reward is the community she has built online. “It has made me more confident and assured about myself, it feels great to find out that my work is useful to so many people,” she says. “I read and reply to almost every comment. Some of them are really heartwarming like when they say, ‘I didn’t know anything about cooking but I can cook almost everything now’, or ‘I made a cake for my wife on her birthday’ or ‘Your recipes made me start cooking at home’. It motivates me to do more.”