We were lucky to catch up with Akanksha Puniyani recently and have shared our conversation below.

Akanksha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Growing up, I always felt passionately about anything creative. I was consistently at the top of my class in craft classes, drawing classes, photography, or any activity that involved creative design. My teachers, friends, and family would often come to me for anything creative, whether it was designing a project or poster, drawing, or painting, and they all told me that I should choose a career in the arts.

Despite this, I pursued my Bachelor’s and Master’s in Business and started working a 9-5 job because I felt that choosing something that did not include a creative role would be a safer option and provide job security. However, I always found it difficult to motivate myself to work. I often felt like I didn’t fit in, which led me to decide to leave my 9-5 job and start a career as a full-time content creator.

I have always been passionate about photography and videography, and my mind thrives in a creative field. Last year, I started content creation full-time, and I enjoy my job immensely. Working in a creative field feels like having an open canvas, full of endless ideas and no restrictions on thoughts, allowing you to create magic.

In the beginning, it was challenging to understand my style, and what I love, and gain followers who trust me. Today, wherever I go, people recognize me for my work and praise my photography and creative skills. This recognition brings me a great sense of accomplishment and fills my heart with joy.

Some of my major milestones include working with renowned resorts like Caesars Palace, Wynn, Hilton, and Hyatt to create content for them. There is no way to speed up the process, as it takes time to understand your style, develop your signature, create meaningful content, and gain followers who trust you and work with brands.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My parents took me on a 30-day road trip when I was just 1 year old, and since then, I have always remembered travelling every summer holiday. Each holiday, it was my role to take pictures of our family trip, which my dad would develop, and we would sit together to cherish the memories. I think that’s when I truly became passionate about photography and videography, and it was impossible to stop me.

When I was doing my undergraduate degree, I joined a photography club where I honed my skills and started documenting my travels and food experiences on social media just for fun. However, people began to recognize me for taking the best pictures and providing the best travel and food recommendations. That’s when I started feeling passionate about content creation. Nevertheless, it was just a hobby, and I never really thought to pursue it full-time.

When I moved to Ireland for my Master’s Degree, I gradually stopped doing photography and content creation as I adjusted to a new country with a different language and culture. The stress of my studies also contributed to my hiatus. However, when Covid hit and we were all quarantined, I realized how much I missed travel and content creation. So, as soon as the restrictions were lifted, I resumed travelling and creating content, which eventually turned into a full-time role.

I now do photography and create UGC (User-Generated Content) for brands to help promote their offers and services. I believe I have always had an eye for high-quality and aesthetic content, which sets me apart from others.

I am most proud of having my work featured in a travel magazine and working with dream clients such as Caesars Palace and Wynn, which are among the top resorts in the country. I always pay attention to detail and capture every little thing through my content, which distinguishes my work. My biggest personality trait is striving for perfection in everything I do, which can be both positive and negative, but it is what sets me apart.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When you are in a creative field, especially content creation, you often compare yourself with others, and that is exactly what I was feeling. I would see creators in a similar space to me getting amazing brand deals and partnership opportunities, and I would often compare myself to them and think, “Why don’t I see any results?” I would compare my engagement numbers with theirs and become my own worst enemy and critic. There was a time when I was working really hard on content creation, putting in a lot of effort into concepts and ideas, posting frequently, and still not seeing any results. That was when I almost felt like giving up and realized why everyone said it was difficult to be in a creative field and have job security. But with time, I realized that the numbers don’t define who we are. It’s barely a number and does not determine if you are good or not. Of course, it was difficult to wake up every morning, put in a lot of effort, and not know if it would work out or not, but I realized all you can do is keep pushing, and you will see results and people will recognize your work.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Anyone who knows me knows that I use Canva like a dictionary. It’s always with me, and I use it not only for posts, reels, and stories for my social media, but I also wrote all my assignments and designed them on Canva during my Master’s. I use it in my job role as a marketing coordinator; I use it for posters, basically anything and everything. I do wish I had known about Canva when I was in my other job roles. A few other resources that are really helpful for me are VN Video Editor and Lightroom for professional photo and video editing.

I also feel like in creative fields, your mind and your art are the biggest resources, and you can find inspiration anywhere. So I always make sure to carry a diary with me everywhere I go and note down my ideas whenever I see them. When I am working, I usually go through them and see how I can implement those ideas. Your mind is your greatest asset.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.glamglobegourmet.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whos.akanksha/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akanksha-puniyani/