We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anya Kumar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Anya, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
I learned early on in my entrepreneurial journey what aspects can make or break your success. The very first is simply being a good person. This might sound arbitrary, but if you ask anyone who has succeeded in the film industry, you’ll hear the same thing.
To some, it might sound like going out with your mentor for coffee just to catch up with them is the bare minimum. However, a gesture like this is rare in today’s disproportionately busy world. I found that being kind and showing it to those who I can learn from strengthens my chances of moving higher in my industry.
Any time one of my mentors is nearby, I ask them if I can meet with them for a coffee or a meal so I can ask about them, their work, and their lives. Sometimes, we don’t even talk about work, and that’s the whole point. You’re meeting with them to build a relationship, which can lead to opportunities as a bonus. It’s crazy how caring about others makes them trust you more, right?
The second thing I learned was to be curious. No one wants to work with someone who has little to no interest in what they are doing. If you ask questions, show interest, and act upon feedback, people are much more likely to give you work as they know you’re competent and interested.
I have built strong relationships with valuable mentors simply by asking them for their time to talk to me about themselves, their stories, their experiences, and their advice. Everyone loves to talk about their passions, which means you can learn so much by asking questions.
And finally: be timely. Again, it’s difficult to manage our time in a busy society. However, if a hard-working full-time college student like myself can successfully work on her entrepreneurship, then it’s possible for anyone with enough drive and organization. You have to find a method that works for you to manage your time as best as you can, and stick to it. For me, if something isn’t in my Google calendar, then it doesn’t exist. I keep track of everything from meal times to business calls, to social activities. Give yourself a designated slot of time to guide your day and you’ll find your time far more organized than you expected.
Anya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Anya Kumar. I’m an undergraduate student at Purdue University, majoring in Film and Video Production. I was born in Maryland but grew up in Lusaka, Zambia (Africa), and Chennai, Tamil Nadu (South India). As a 21-year-old, I’ve been around a lot.
I started my undergraduate journey as a Psychology major at a small liberal arts college in Massachusetts with hopes of becoming a licensed therapist. But, life had other plans. Those plans brought me to Indiana as a transfer student in film production and an aspiring director.
I took a gap semester in between transferring universities, where I worked as a media intern for a speaking agency. During this internship, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel the US doing camera work and creating content for various professional speakers. I realized I loved being able to support the voices of people who support and inspire other people. I believe in magnifying the voices and ideas that need to be heard.
After my gap semester, I found myself with requests from other speakers to work with me to create content for them. I took this as an opportunity to start working as a freelancer, which also helps pay the bills. I’m happy to dedicate my free time to working with clients during my college semesters because I love my work and the impact it makes.
Today, I offer photography, videography, and video editing services. I’ve primarily worked at conferences, events, and with professional speakers.
I specialize in creating speaker reels for professional speakers with ideas and beliefs that align with mine. A speaker reel is a brilliant way to market a speaker to potential clients by giving the clients a succinct and engaging piece of media that reflects the speaker’s overall aura and speaking experience while referencing their speaking topics and revealing who they are.
What sets me apart is that my work with each client is highly customized. It may take more time than simply hiring someone off a freelancing website, but I spend time with each client crafting their vision and working to match it as closely as possible. Furthermore, I only choose to work with clients whose values align with mine. I’m aware of the power of media, and I only hope to spread the word of those who I believe are positively impacting communities.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
As mentioned earlier in my tips for success, being a good person, being curious, and being timely has given me the reputation I have today in my industry.
I’ve always been personable and kind towards my clients. However, I had to learn how to balance it with professionalism because young entrepreneurs can easily be taken advantage of if they don’t set professional boundaries.
Even though I’m confident that I’m not the best cameraperson, editor, photographer, etc. in the industry, I know I’m one of the most curious and driven. If a client asks me to do something for them in editing that I’ve never done before, I am transparent with them about it, but I take the time to learn how to do it because I approach it as an exciting challenge. Being honest about my work, strengths, and limitations builds trust between me and my clients as they know I’m not just in it for the money. If you tell clients you can do everything, how can they trust your judgment?
I also work with clients to create detailed contracts that have timelines. Clients are busy, they don’t have time to look at a contract once and remember every exact date. I take the initiative to send them reminders to keep our project on track. While this can be tedious, it saves me and my client a lot of time and keeps things running smoothly.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
The creative journey is not a straightforward, reliable 9 to 5. Creativity is subjective, and most of the time those working in creative industries like myself have to encounter different levels of customization and complications based on each client.
Much like science, things in the media industry are constantly changing. New software, new technology, new camera gear – it’s challenging for creatives to keep up with the changes so it’s immensely helpful when clients take the time to understand the complexity of their requests.
Most importantly, good art takes time. Let me repeat that. Good art takes time. It would be surprising if you haven’t heard someone say “You cannot rush creativity”.
Creating a polished edited video from a folder of disorganized raw files takes time, effort, and talent. If you are working with an editor with a turnaround of 1 week, know that the quality of your product is compensated. If you want a high-quality product/service, you need to think and plan far in advance about finding an artist and giving both of you enough time to work together.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://anyakumar.com
- Instagram: anyakumar_
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anya-kumar-057ab2247
- Other: business inquiry email address: [email protected]
Image Credits
Anya Kumar