I have studied Economics and Business Studies and have a solid background in them. Since childhood, my family and I have always prioritized education over everything else. Even though I had always been passionate about gaming and wanted to pursue something that I would enjoy doing day in and day out, gaming as a career was not even a thought. But as they say, you never know what is planned for you. At 17, I passed my Class 12 and started working in an influencer marketing company. It was just a crew of three, and influencer marketing was not famous yet, so I had explained everything from scratch to my clients.
Back in those days, YouTube was mainly known for its music and entertainment content. There wasn’t much gaming content on YouTube back then. At that time, getting 1,00,000 to 5,00,000 followers was also a big deal. Unlike now, when most of the content creators are now bagging millions of subscribers. Throughout the year I worked in this industry, YouTube content began building a gaming presence. Gamers started getting attention, and we were happy that the industry was finally getting recognition in India. Because we were responsible for working with few Indian gamers as an agency, we built an outstanding bond with these gamers, while we also enjoyed playing games in our free time. We were a small team and shared everything.
‘I Had No Courage To Tell My Friends And Family Where My Heart Lay’
Even though I have always been into gaming as a hobby, I learned so much more when I was coordinating with a group of gamers and understood the kind of content they were creating during my job. I would then observe what the audience like and dislike about the content pushed out. In India, gaming was not growing much, but my interest in the field was! Since I already had a passion for it, and work had given me exposure in the industry. Therefore, I decided that I had to pursue it. However, no road is a smooth sail. I was very camera conscious and lacked the confidence to stand in front of it. So, I had no courage to tell my friends and family where my heart lay. I would keep thinking, “Log Kya Kahenge”. So I gave up even before starting to put that idea on the backseat.
I diverted my attention to my studies and got a couple of job opportunities after that. But somehow, my heart was not ready for it and kept taking me back to my passion for gaming. I would have sleepless nights thinking about the same and finding a solution to my predicament. So with a lump in my throat, I decided to share my feelings and dreams with my family and friends. Surprisingly, they were very enthusiastic about the idea, and that was the only push I needed. I decided to pursue a career in YouTube and was so fortunate to have a set of incredibly supportive people around me.
Although I worked on it and produced five videos, I could not post any of them since I felt the content was not worthy. I had a hard time coming up with a concept that the audience would enjoy. In addition, I learned video editing on my own and several other things that I was not familiar with before. Since it isn’t like you are simply recording a video on your phone and upload it. When you are finished recording a video, the real work begins. My attempts seemed to fall flat for me. It took me a few videos before I started to grasp it, and my 7th video with my family and friends, and they all loved it. It was finally time for me to post something on my channel.
‘People Told Me That I Am Growing Because I Am A Female Content Creator’
When I started Magsplay, my channel for gaming, initially the audience response was encouraging too and I had a following of about 2,000 followers. After I passed 1,00,000 followers, I realized I also needed to prepare for the heat as lots of pessimism had already started coming my way. It did affect me for a brief period, and I started feeling low. Everyone wants to be recognized for the hard work they do, and a little appreciation goes a long way. I was a bit disappointed when a few people disregarded my efforts to create gaming content and went on to say that I was growing only because I am a ‘female’ content creator. I still feel it’s a very harsh thing to say. My current position results from putting in many hours to gain exposure and create an engaging website.
In addition, female content creators are always expected to appear beautiful and well-groomed. I usually received criticism based more on my appearance in a video than based on the content of that video. Over time, I stopped allowing these things to affect me. I just started inhaling all the positivity and love that came my way and ignoring negativity. I shared the initial content I created with many of my friends and a few gamer clients we had at the agency. I never expected a reply, but one fine day, Mythpat – one of the most well-known game artists – was live streaming. During a random chat, he said that he saw and liked my content, and I was shocked and thrilled to know that he had taken the time to watch my video.
The gaming industry does have a place for girls; I honestly believe that. It only requires passion and interest. For any career choice you make, you need a certain amount of zeal. Moreover, I have created a group with other female game creators. I always urge them to collaborate so that we can do something together. Putting women’s representation in the gaming industry is something we should work on together. I am keen to collaborate with them and develop some interesting content to boost women in our industry, and currently, there are only 10-15 female gamers who are doing well.
After my journey so far, I have realized that it is in our hands to feel low if we receive negative responses. Sometimes I wish I had done this earlier, but it’s always better now than never. People should do what they believe in, and the much-needed self-belief should come from within, not from external validation.
Content creation is by no means an easy task. At present, I don’t want to lose the quality of my content, especially during the growth phase. There are many sleepless nights, and it can be frustrating at times. It brought me to the point where I looked like a zombie after I didn’t sleep for three days straight. My content is vital to me, so I have not posted many videos which I have shot and edited because I do not want to compromise on the quality content. Despite the pressure and challenge, I enjoy this process, and I want to say to every lady out there, if you think you’ve got it, jump right in.
If you too have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@thelogicalindian.com
