The MBA Dancer-YouTuber from India
From shy introvert to a Brand Ambassador- The Journey of Neha Upadhyay
1 How did you develop interest in dancing? What made you decide to become a YouTuber?
Dancing has always been my passion, since childhood . I had no desire to hone the skill initially, , but as I began to participate in school performances, I learned that dance makes me feel so confident and energetic, and it gives me a sense of happiness and fulfillment that allows me to manage any pressure or scenario with ease. That was the first time I chose to pursue my passion for dancing.
I enrolled in classes and had two years of training in the western Bollywood style. I also had the opportunity to audition for Dance India Dance. I was also recognised as the institute’s best dancer, and my photo was featured in the local newspaper. This instilled such confidence in me that I decided to create a YouTube channel so that I could continue to pursue my passion and work on it at a larger scale, showcasing my passion and skills to a bigger audience. . I’m also passionate about singing, and I share my dancing and singing videos regularly on my channel.
2 What challenges did you face in the initial years as a vlogger / YouTuber ? How did you overcome those challenges?
I started my YouTube channel a year ago and was initially fascinated by how it worked and how I might increase the number of views and subscribers to my channel. In the beginning, I struggled because my first 2–3 videos had only 40–50 views.
But I never gave up hope and continued to work. I worked hard not only on quantity but also on quality. I also used to look at the data analytics section to see the best time to upload, hashtags to utilise, the types of videos and songs people prefer, and watch time to see how long they spend watching my videos on an average. I learnt video editing and started editing my videos to make them more engaging . I soon realised that putting on the most recent content gets me a lot of views, so I began posting on a regular basis, focusing on new songs.
I attempted to make my steps and dance as noticeable as possible so that others may learn them as well. Later, I learned that YouTube’s new “shorts” feature attracts a larger audience than regular videos, so I made the best of it and produced a 45–50 second video, which resulted in an increase in both my viewership and subscribers. So this is how I gained information and kept setting higher goals for myself, rather than accepting any kind of failure till I reached my dream. The maximum views for one of my video are around 30k.
3 What is your role as a Brand Ambassador of Bloggers Alliance?
Bloggers Alliance has instilled in me the confidence and determination to believe in my own potential. I had an introverted nature and am a soft-spoken person, which sometimes made it difficult for me to express myself and have my voice heard. Since college days, I have been working hard to strike a balance and become more extroverted when the situation demands. Bloggers Alliance has given me the opportunity to be the face and voice of the organisation, which is nothing less of a dream come true for me.
I’ve seen how my personality has evolved over the last several months, and I now consider myself as a more assertive and vocal individual. I promote the organization’s values and educate people about what the Bloggers Alliance is and how it is benefitting bloggers and content creators to realise their ambitions. I’m thrilled to be a member of this organisation, and I’m grateful for this wonderful opportunity.
4 As a reflection of voice, face and attitude of Bloggers Alliance, tell us your personal values and how they match Bloggers Alliance values?
1. Collaboration- I’ve always been a team player who believes in collaborating with others to achieve the best possible results and to learn from one another.
2. Learning- I believe in lifelong learning in order to improve my personality and make it better every day. I experiment with new concepts in order to increase the quality of my work.
3.Empowerment-Through my dance videos, I am setting an example and empowering other women and introverts to share their talents. I am a calm person who strives to have a positive attitude in every scenario by performing to the best of my ability.
4. Inspiration- I am constantly motivated and inspired by watching and learning from others. I, too, want to be a person who people can rely on.
5. Creativity and storytelling- As a member of the Bloggers Alliance, I believe that storytelling is a vital part of our lives. Even while dancing, we strive to tell a tale with our expressions and steps in order to keep the audience interested. I believe that bringing creativity to our workplace is also important, as creativity is the foundation of innovation and thought leadership.
5 Tell us an interesting incident from your life.
For me, an occasion in which I am able to achieve mypeak potential is interesting.
It was an honour for me to win the trophy in the Student of the Year competition at my college in Mumbai, in which the best teams from several institutions competed. It was an elimination game in which we had to qualify three rounds.
The first round was an aptitude test in which we had to demonstrate our reasoning abilities. As a frequent participant in quizzes and games, I was able to quickly work on it, and we attempted to answer as many questions as possible. The second round was a test of physical strength, in which one of the team members had to perform maximum push-ups in the allotted time. My teammate was an expert at this, therefore we qualified for the next roundtoo. The last phase was a talent show where we had to perform on stage and demonstrate any of our abilities. Fortunately, we were both excellent dancers, and we qualified for the next round as well. Everything went so smoothly because both of us handled it so well. We got second rank as a team in the Student of the Year competition, which has been always my proudest achievement. This event gave me a lot of experience and knowledge, as well as the confidence to accomplish big things.
Apart from that, I’d like to share one more source of pride: at a city level, a dance competition was organised among all branches of a dance institute. There were over 500 people that took part, and I was awarded as the best dancer in the performance, and it was reported by the media and press, as well and my photo being featured in the newspaper for the same. Those moments often bring tears to my eyes, more so because of the pride I saw in the eyes of my parents.
6 What are your future plans? Does creativity help you as a budding manager / leader?
I am now doing an MBA-HR at MDI Gurgaon. I aspire to be successful in the business sector while also pursuing my passion for dance and singing. I’ll be working on my YouTube channel right now so that when my studies are through, I may take the first step toward realising my aspirations.
After that, I would like to participate in international dance competitions in order to improve my dancing abilities. Apart from that, I want to create my own dance studio and teach everyone who is passionate about dancing. Dancing gives me deep power and peace. It assists me in expressing my emotions through expressions and actions. It boosts my self-esteem and encourages me to be more creative. It even energises me to deal with any type of stress.
Dancing is helping me become a better HR professional, as both involve understanding nuances.
Creativity opens up opportunities in problem-solving, achieving goals, and inspiring teams to be creative and find unlikely perspectives.
(Interview conducted by Bloggers Alliance team)
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Brief Profile
Neha Upadhyay is a dancer, singer, Youtuber and she is also a student of MBA-HR at MDI- Gurgaon. She became the Brand Ambassador of Bloggers Alliance early this year. She is also a micro influencer with 1 lakh views on her videos.
Channel link https://youtube.com/channel/UCOY3RwCHlwHLvOTsu3UGJAA
