Women Who Empower – Simmy Goraya

• We will start this with you, obviously, say if someone is watching or reading about you for the very first time how will you introduce yourself in the most fun yet honest way that they can’t help but be smitten by you?
• “I swear by sarcasm and love memes to the moon and back. In fact, if I hadn’t entered the world of makeup, then I would have become a memer”. She has this insane ability to reply using only memes. When asked about work, she said, “I do makeup videos mostly, but you know, I get easily bored so to keep myself on my toes, I try different things, why to limit yourself only in the makeup field?”
  
  Well, we agree with you completely. Life is all about exploration so why restrict oneself to just one thing?
• If you have to sum up your traits in three words, what would they be?
• “Makeup and obsessed memer”, is how she sums up her personality.

• Let’s move on to some inspirational stuff without which no interview will be complete. But seriously, I personally have been following you for years and to see you where you are today gives me immense pride and motivation, like nothing is ever unachievable and impossible. It is a source of inspiration. So, why don’t you tell the world about your journey so far and how you started? When exactly did you start?
• “About my journey.. you know now that I look back I am amazed that I pulled it off! So my journey started from the day I called it quits in the corporate world and turned to the creative side, I would like to believe, my true self. Makeup was something I was always interested in but didn’t think about taking it up professionally, at least in the beginning. So, I started small and after working as an assistant makeup artist for a year, I decided to go full time through YouTube and poured my heart and soul into it. And I think, to start something and to take that risk is half the battle won so I would highly encourage people to take that risk if your heart goes out for something, believe in it and start with it. I believe that once this decision to start is made, one’s body and mind also start working towards it.” According to her, “You need to have that fire in yourself to achieve your goal. And when you enjoy your work, you don’t feel tired or lethargic.”
• Weren’t you conscious of putting yourself out there in the world? How did you overcome this fear? And how old were you when you put your first video/post as a creator?
• “I was never a person who felt shy to be in front of the camera and, in fact, I loved to share my day to day life and other random fun things through Snapchat while I was working the corporate job. And, the way I see it is that nobody can judge you so you be in your own happy bubble and do all that your heart desires. In short, don’t overthink or take yourself too seriously”, shared Simmy who decided to start her life afresh in the digital space at the age of 25. Talking about confidence, Simmy added “work on your confidence, is all I would like to say to anyone who feels intimidated in front of the camera. Just be yourself, take things easy and enjoy the process. For me, I think it comes naturally because of my Punjabi background where I am all goofy at home, with my friends and I am someone who can easily make fun of herself- it is all about confidence within yourself, not your looks because looks will not last forever but your confidence will.”
• The world of content and YouTube/Instagram (especially) has changed a lot in years with new algorithms kicking in every day and a lot of people starting in the same niche. How difficult is it for you to sustain or grow an audience at this time? How did you grow your audience? Were there any strategies that you followed?
• Simmy shares, “Starting out as a newbie in any field can prove to be frustrating but when it comes to being a content creator, it is ten times the frustration and annoyance. This is because a content creator pours their heart into each video and expects everyone to watch it but the reality turns out to be different from the expectations. It can be demotivating and heartbreaking for any content creator. However, I believe that it happens to every content creator who is building up his or her channel.”
  
  So what’s her mantra?
  
  “Just focus on the performance instead of the result. If you are planning to put two videos every week, then stick to it because consistency is one of the main ingredients required to grow as a successful content creator and establish a strong connection with your audience.” So, all the newbie content creators, hang in there! Apna time aayega!
• As a content creator, when was it that you started making some money or started getting some brand deals?
• “Money is important but in a creative field, it should not be the priority because when money takes over, the fun in the creative process is lost. For two years, I did not make any big bucks and had used all my savings (from previous jobs) to invest in the required equipment.” She even had to even borrow money from her father to buy the background setup. “For two years straight, I did bridal makeup as a side hustle to sustain myself and invest in my channel because I wanted to create this all on my own and that is what kept me going. The only time I asked my family to help me with money was to set up my room as a studio, rest I made sure to cover all my expenses independently. Slowly, the brand deals started to trickle in, people started to acknowledge my online presence and that gave me a huge confidence boost to keep going.” She further added, “if you have someone to lean on, then there won’t be any fire inside you to achieve your goals. Be responsible for yourself and be your biggest cheerleader.”
• On that note, what advice do you have in store for anyone who is starting out on this journey as a content creator?
• “My first advice would be to be yourself; Don’t try to pretend to be someone else because it won’t work for you in the long run. For instance, I used to watch other YouTubers and one aspect that caught my attention was none of them used Hindi as the medium of expression. I was comfortable in both languages and there are certain things that can be  better expressed only in Hindi so I started inculcating both languages (a mix of Hindi and English) in my videos and that made people relate better with my content.”“And, my second advice to every content creator out there would be to be patient, believe in yourself and your work and the work will grow. Instead of being demotivated, focus on improving your craft and skills.”
• Talking about content creation, I have always noticed the word influencer notoriously being used for creators. Now a lot of creators despise this word defining their work and niche. What are your thoughts on this? Do you mind addressing yourself as an influencer?
• “I, honestly, believe that I am no one to influence anyone. I consider myself as a friend to my audience who tests out the brands and helps them save money on certain products. Also, if you check out my channel, you will find that my content goes beyond the makeup and beauty niche as I share things about my life too, my life lessons and personal thoughts with the viewers. So, it’s not just about makeup or brands only.”

• That was lovely to learn, now I will circle it back to Beatnik. Clearly, we have seen your love for jewellery and how gracefully you style them all but if you have to choose only one piece of jewellery for the rest of your life, what would that be and why?
• “If I have a great pair of earrings, then I can ditch the rest of the jewellery. Since I am someone who is more into the minimalistic style even when it comes to jewellery, so I would choose earrings as my go-to jewellery choice.”

• So, I will now take another scenario for you. You have to get ready for a wedding function as a guest with just three jewellery pieces, what would you pick and how would you style them?
• “Nice chunky earrings, a ring and a maang tikka or bangles.”

• Okay, so let’s have a quick rapid-fire round to end this insightful and very interesting QnA with you. Are you ready? Pick one:
• Saree any day or dress?
• Dress
• Silver jewellery or gold?
• Gold jewellery
• Big earrings or small dainty earrings?
• Small dainty earrings
• Bad hair day with full glam or good hair day with no makeup?
• Good hair day with no makeup
• Lipstick on my teeth or a stained dress in an event?
• Lipstick on teeth for sure
• What would you choose? Month-long vacation on an island or road trip across India?
• Month-long vacation on an island

There can never be a dull moment with Simmy Goraya around, be it watching her fantastic videos or talking to her for the first time. Needless to say, her energy left an everlasting effect with this conversation which was not only inspiring but one filled with jokes (mostly memes), laughter and her resonating words of wisdom. What we love the most about her is how she is brutally authentically just herself and that reflects all very well in her content too. We wish all the best in life for her and count our days to talk with her again 😉 

We are stoked to share these wonderful women’s journey with you. We recently shared the story of Aparna Ganesh (JoyGeeks) in the previous blog, if you haven’t read about her inspiring work yet go ahead and while you’re at it do share your thoughts in the comment section below.

With this, we truly hope everyone reading this and learning more about Simmy makes this their fondest memory and we together, through this rendezvous, would have accomplished to put a smile on people’s face and made them realize it’s never too late to dream – if she can do it so can you!!