Building The Self-Belief To Work With The Biggest Celebrities And Influencers

Anisha Vasani: [00:00:00] You have to go out there and if you don't put yourself out there, you're not going to know what you like and what you don't like. So go through it all. Everything is here today gone tomorrow, but your self belief will be with you for life. So always have that belief that you can do this and you will only become stronger and better as a person through making those mistakes and learning from those mistakes, how you overcome it and rise from it that will show you your true potential.

Anisha Vasani: Don't limit yourself. 10 years was a long time and you just know when it's time for me to go and begin a new chapter to dream come true. My most iconic one would be creating a celebrity shoot with Shilpa Shetty and Jacqueline Fernandez.

Amardeep Parmar: Welcome to the BAE HQ podcast, where we inspire, connect and guide the next generation of British Asians. If you're watching this on YouTube, make sure to hit that subscribe button. And if you're listening on Apple or Spotify, make sure to leave us a five star review. Today we have with us Anisha Vasani, who's behind Anisha [00:01:00] Vasani Creates, a creative wedding consultancy.

Amardeep Parmar: She's also a bridal stylist, and the founder of Influence Reach, and the former editor of Asiana Magazine. She's worked with and styled the likes of Shilpa Shetty, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Beverly Nye. How are you doing today? 

Anisha Vasani: Oh, great. It's so lovely to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me on your podcast.

Amardeep Parmar:  We met before a few times and I went to your show quite recently, which is amazing. 

Anisha Vasani: Oh,  thank you. I hope you enjoyed it. It was really nice. 

Amardeep Parmar: So obviously that show is a culmination of like years of work that you've done in the wedding industry. But like when you're growing up, did you ever think this is the kind of thing you'd be doing?

Amardeep Parmar: Like going from like Asiana magazine to everything you did later on. What was your childhood like? Did you have that belief in yourself? 

Anisha Vasani: That's  interesting, actually, because no, I didn't. I, my actually, this is, this is going to be really funny and surprising to a lot of people watching this, but my parents really wanted me to become a doctor or go down the whole medical route as every parent does.

Anisha Vasani: They want you to, you know, become a dentist or a doctor, the cliche kind of, you know, professions. And [00:02:00] it was only when I did my GCSEs that I found that my strengths were in journalism, were in English, lit and lang, and I felt that my strengths were in like the creative side. And I got an A star in drama.

Anisha Vasani: So actually I wanted to be an actress, which many people probably wouldn't know. And I wanted to go to drama school and that didn't work out. And so I thought, okay, what can I do to explore something on the creative side where I still can, you know, be out there? And, you know, make a difference in the world.

Anisha Vasani: And then I thought, I really love my media studies. I love like studying the different film genres and the presenting side of things. And then I thought, right, okay, these are my strengths. So I picked my strengths from my GCSEs. And then I decided to go to college and do my A levels in photography, psychology, sociology, and obviously English lit and Latin.

Anisha Vasani: So I knew that I was down the right path. And I think that's really important at a young age. Just to try and find which subjects that you're really [00:03:00] enjoying. Don't force your kids to go down a path that they're not going to enjoy because they're only just going to resent it. So my parents were really supportive in the end.

Anisha Vasani: And, you know, after I did my A levels, I thought, okay, I think I want to, I want to become a journalist. And that's how it happened. But yeah, it was actually, I wanted to become an actress and then I thought, I want to become some sort of producer, uh, presenter. 

Amardeep Parmar: You  still can become an actress. I know. If anybody's listening right now and they're looking to hire somebody or they need to cast, you've, they know they can contact you, right?

Anisha Vasani: It could definitely be a path I could go down and explore. I haven't explored it yet. I have been asked to do a lot of cameos in like some short films and films that, you know, UK, British films that happen because obviously. We're always behind the scenes, you know, creative directing and styling everything.

Anisha Vasani: But yeah, it could be a path I could explore. 

Amardeep Parmar: And then you went into Asiana  Magazine originally, right? And then you're one of the youngest, the youngest, right? One of the youngest editors. And how is that path? Because obviously you went on a big journey there for 10 years. And you obviously learned so much, made so many huge connections.

Amardeep Parmar: [00:04:00] How do you think that set you up for everything that's come later on?

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Anisha Vasani: Well, that was just a dream come true. And I think one that I didn't even expect because I was so young, I didn't even know what journalism I wanted to specialize in because I wanted to be a news presenter. I thought I wanted to go into broadcast journalism.

Anisha Vasani: So my degree was in broadcast journalism, but it was only as I took the opportunity when I used to go and see my career, career's advisor, that they would say to me, I used to always say, I'm really confused. I don't know which journalism I want to specialize in. And they said, you know, the best advice they gave me was go into work experience, as much work experience as you can.

Anisha Vasani: And I took that as gospel. And I thought, you know what? All my friends will be enjoying the summer holidays. And I would literally be going out every holidays, Easter, summer, and all the winter breaks. And I would actually book myself with newspaper and work experiences, magazines. I went and did work experience with heat magazine, closer magazine, and then I would then obviously do radio.

Anisha Vasani: So I did like the local radio stations. I [00:05:00] worked at sunrise radio, your radio. And then I went and worked for the Daily Mirror. And then I thought, okay, I just want to get a little bit of TV experience. So when I went for X Factor and I went and worked for BBC Watchdog. So I actually, that was probably the best experience learning experience was unforgettable because I learned so much on my journey.

Anisha Vasani: And I would advise that to anybody that's still confused in their career, whether you're going through your GCSEs or your A Levels and you're thinking, I'm really confused. I don't know what path I want to go down. Go and experience it all. And you will find what sits and what works with you and what you feel that you love the most.

Anisha Vasani: Cause then you can just compare and contrast. And it was only when I went and worked at the Daily Mirror on the fashion desk that I was chucked in the deep end because the entire team were out on photo shoots. And the, you know, the fashion editor at the time said, right, here's the phone. Here's a fashion closet.

Anisha Vasani: These are all the things that we need you to call in. And, you know, we're going to give you a column and this is a theme [00:06:00] and you're going to have to do like your best, you know, like six belts and shoes that you like, and you can feature them and here are the numbers and get on with it. And I was like. It was quite overwhelming because it's your first or second day in, they're really busy, they're all out and they've left, like kind of left you to be responsible with calling all these items in and managing everything.

Anisha Vasani: But it was the best experience I could have given me because you're almost on your own and having to just deal with it. And I think that gave me the confidence. And that was when it was a turning point in my career. Or on my journey, shall I say, where I realized I really wanted to specialize in fashion journalism.

Anisha Vasani: And it was only when I went to the Lifestyle Show that Sunrise Radio used to host that I met the former editor of Asia on a Magazine, and they were looking for an editorial stylist. And they said, you should come in for a trial, went in for a trial, had an interview with the publisher of the magazine.

Anisha Vasani: Didn't even know he was the publisher of the magazine. I bought in like a [00:07:00] massive A3 folder with all my clippings, cuttings of all my, like my bylines and all the press experience I received and everything that I had created over the past four years. And he was just blown away. And he's like. You conducted all this experience in the last three, four years whilst you were at uni and you were studying.

Anisha Vasani: And I said, yeah, and I thought I was in trouble. I was like, is it too much? And he goes, no, it's perfect. And this is exactly what we've been looking for. ‘Cause it just, I think showed him that I was very ambitious and driven. and very enthusiastic. He used to laugh about it saying, never met anyone that's done as much work experience as you Anisha.

Anisha Vasani: But that's what I think gave me the confidence and the experience to then actually direct where I wanted to go with the magazine very quickly. And ABA, I think because I was young, fresh blood, I saw the magazine and I thought, How can I make this relatable to my audience, to my female brides to be? How can I make it current?

Anisha Vasani: Would I read this? Does this relate to [00:08:00] me? When you change perspective and you put yourself in the other shoes, I think you just then know what needs to be changed. And because I started already changing the magazine, the direction from the design to the features to the celebrities that we were featuring.

Anisha Vasani: I was already editing the magazine without even realizing, but I didn't know. So when they did call me into the office and they said, well, the former editor is leaving and we've been watching you very closely for, you know, the past year or so. And we've seen the amazing direction and how you've really evolved.

Anisha Vasani: As an individual and how you really tried to transform the magazine. Um, we would like to appoint you as the editor. And I was like, you guys crazy. I'm only like 24 years old. No way. Editors are meant to be old. And they're like, no, we feel you're ready and you can do this. And not only of one magazine, not only just of Asiana, but Asiana Wedding.

Anisha Vasani: So I was the youngest editor. At [00:09:00] 24 of two consecutive magazines at a time. So I was working on eight magazines in a year and that's a lot of work and you're working on them quarterly, but it was the best experience of my life. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I grew up with the magazine. It was my baby and it's really shaped me into the woman I am today.

Amardeep Parmar: So I  love what you mentioned there about the work experience in particular, because one of the things I always say is that a lot of people, they're trying to find the one thing that's going to like save their lives or make them happy. And instead, what I think you should do is that you said experiment because

Amardeep Parmar: If you just do the theory, like, Oh, this will be the perfect thing. Then you just put it on a pedestal. Then you might try it and not like it. And then, Oh, now what do I do with my life? If you just keep trying things, you eventually find something you like, whatever you like, you keep doing more of it. And then if you find you like it, then just keep doing that.

Amardeep Parmar: But that experimentation phase is really important. I think. Sometimes people do all the research rather than actually just trying it. Because you might decide, Oh, I really want to do that one day. Just do it. Try it in a small, in a small scale. Like I said, you can do it in work space or whatever like that.

Amardeep Parmar: And then you really know. 

Anisha Vasani:It's  trial and error, right? Yeah. You have to go out [00:10:00] there and if you don't put yourself out there, you're not going to know what you like and what you don't like. So go through it all, you know, and if you don't like it, it's work experience. It's fine. You can just then move on, find something else.

Amardeep Parmar: And then with running Asiana magazine, Asiana wedding as well, you said how it was a lot of work in those years. How did you find that? So you've got to have all that enthusiasm and you like had these ideas. But obviously you're also trying to balance your life on top of that as well. Did you find that tough?

Amardeep Parmar: Like, what was the reality behind that? You're trying to build that up and grow your experience. 

Anisha Vasani: It absolutely consumes you. It does because everything I do, I do it with full passion. Anyone that knows me, they know even when I'm delivering an event or executing a project, I do it with a 110%. And you've got to literally devote your love and passion into anything that you do, and it can get you into trouble sometimes because you can't obviously switch off.

Anisha Vasani: So because I was given such an amazing opportunity, I literally gave my blood, sweat and tears to the magazine. It was my life. And when you devote all your time, it [00:11:00] can be challenging because you want to have that balance and you do become a workaholic. But the most challenging part was. I was female, I was young and you've had a team that have been there for so many years and trying to tell like, you know, older men particularly what to do and I want you to action this and I want to make this change, you know, it was hard.

Anisha Vasani: Cause I had to really win everyone over and really get them to see my vision and get them on my side to say, look, we're going to create something really amazing. Believe in me, but it's your approach is, you know, what, how you communicate with them, how you make them feel that they are important, but they've just all got to kind of adapt a little bit because they were used to working in a certain way and.

Anisha Vasani: I wanted them to come and work and change their perspective on the way that they used to work and let's switch it up and let's give it a new feel. And you know, when then certain younger people would come along with the same vision as me, they would get it. So it was just about kind of bringing the whole team together.[00:12:00] 

Anisha Vasani: And it's a lot of pressure cause you've got to make sure everyone is on the same page and everybody sees the same vision as you do. So for me, that was probably the most challenging part we did it.

Amardeep Parmar: What  tips do you have for people who are starting to manage teams at a younger age, maybe they're female as well, and they're not sure that they know what they want to achieve, but they're just not sure about what communication style they can use to do that.

Amardeep Parmar: Have you any tips for them? 

Anisha Vasani: A hundred percent. I think communication is everything. I think form an amazing bond with everybody because every person in that team is an asset. They are of value and you can learn so much from them. Don't go in with that attitude that, you know, everything, you know, no one likes anyone that's got a huge ego.

Anisha Vasani: Yes, confidence is amazing, but you've got to work with one another. So I would say communication, you know, bounce your ideas of one another. You are a team. And there's no I in a team. When you work with a team, you will actually, like they say, you know, two heads are better than one. You will actually achieve a better product from [00:13:00] working with your graphic designer and having their input and saying, look, I see it like this.

Anisha Vasani: How do you see it? Hear them out and vice versa. They will then hear you out. And once you start to communicate with them and they can see you respect them and you value their opinion, then you'll see that you start to deliver and they will go. Uh, I think that would go above and beyond to then deliver for you and treat them with respect.

Anisha Vasani: I think where a lot of people come go wrong is they come in and they demand and they want, you know, a lot of people don't like change. I don't like change. So you've always got to put yourself with that perspective and think, how would I deal with this situation? Or how would I want someone to speak to me?

Anisha Vasani: And once I think you get that balance. You've got an amazing team that will go above and beyond for you. 

Amardeep Parmar:I think sometimes  people mix up confidence with just not treating people correctly. And it's, you can still treat people with respect and be confident. And like you said, it's all about that way you do it because you can be firm.

Amardeep Parmar: Like this is the way we're going to do things. But at the same time, it's the way [00:14:00] you say it, right? If you say, I don't care what your opinions are, this is what we're doing. How do you think that's going go down, right?

Anisha Vasani: Exactly!

Amardeep Parmar:Right if  you say you listen to them, okay I understand your concerns. This is why, this way it’s going to be working and why I’m thinking this thing.Then they’re on board now because you've heard them.

Amardeep Parmar: You actually address their concerns and then you can continue. And you said that you gave your entire life to like Asiana magazine. When it came time for you to feel ready to move on to do something else, how did that feel? Because was it a decision was like, yes, I'm ready now. Or was it quite a difficult thing?

Amardeep Parmar: Because like you said, you put so much of your soul into it. How did you kind of break that bond? 

Anisha Vasani: For the  team or my family. Your clients become your friends and it was really hard because when you've been in one job for 10 years and that team have become your family and you've worked with everybody from your clients to the models to the creative side that change, that transition

Anisha Vasani: was really, really challenging. It was almost like you're stripped of everything. You know, you've, you've been part of this, [00:15:00] this amazing community of people. This amazing lifestyle, you know, I've got to travel the world, meet some fabulous people through this magazine. And now you're a little fish in a massive pond and it can be really daunting.

Anisha Vasani: But you know what, 10 years was a long time and you just know when it's, you've given everything you can give and now it's time for a new challenge when you know you're not feeling like as excited when you wake up in the morning and think I'm really excited to go into work today and you just think, right, I've done everything I can now, now it's time for me to go and begin a new chapter.

Anisha Vasani: Start a new challenge and go on a different experience. And you've got to take that plunge. Of course, it's going to be, you're going to have fears and you're going to think, okay, I was successful at the magazine. Will I still maintain that success afterwards? And you've just got to believe in yourself.

Anisha Vasani: And that would be what that would be the biggest advice I could give to [00:16:00] anybody. You, you know, everything is here today gone tomorrow, but your self belief will be with you for life. So always have that belief that you can do this. And I was really fortunate that I had a lot of mentors around me at the time that gave me that strength, that confidence to say, you can do this.

Anisha Vasani: And I was also fortunate that I had built up such amazing rapport with all my clients at that they knew how I worked. And for 10 years, they knew what I was able to achieve and it was now, okay, I'm going to do the campaign photo shoots for you, but I'm going to do it under my own brand. And it was so exciting.

Anisha Vasani: And you know, when you design your logo and your website for the first time, it's just, you'll never forget that moment because you've literally started everything from fresh and now that is your new baby and that is your future. 

Amardeep Parmar: Part of it is your identity, right? It's that everybody knew you as the Asiana editor.

Amardeep Parmar: And then, like you said, one of the worries is that, you know, you're good at what you do. You know, that you've done it well for so many years, but then you're always like, what [00:17:00] if I fail? And what would people say? And I think that comes into a lot of people's heads, right? And that's what stops them. And the way I always think about it is if you fail, nobody even knows about it because it doesn't become, okay, wait, say this.

Amardeep Parmar: Then nobody hears about it. You can go back to another job. You can find some guys if you want to. And what helped you overcome that fear? Because. It might have been even harder for you, because so many people knew who you were. Then, if something didn't go well, you'd think, Oh, but that person's gonna know this, or that person's gonna know that.

Amardeep Parmar: How did you get through that part?

Anisha Vasani: Because you've, you put so much pressure on yourself, more so than you did before. Because now, you're doing it for yourself. And you do feel like... You're going to make mistakes and it's, everyone's going to rise and fall and you will only become stronger and better as a person in your career through falling and making those mistakes and learning from those mistakes and making sure that you do it differently every time.

Anisha Vasani: And as long as you evolve and keep evolving and keep bettering yourself as a person, you will always have those challenges where [00:18:00] Things are not always going to go right because now, whereas you could hide behind a CEO and the publishers, and you had a whole kind of army of people that will be behind you.

Anisha Vasani: You're dealing with everything on your own. You're dealing with your own accounts. You're dealing with your marketing. You're dealing with your social media. You're dealing with everything from start to finish, and you will have to graft more. You will have to work just that much more harder because you are going to play so many roles.

Anisha Vasani: In your own business, that's going to make you really, really confident and stronger. But I would just advise everyone, keep going, keep going. You will make mistakes. Everyone's made mistakes. You know, we're all human at the end of the day, but it's how you overcome it and rise from it. That will be show you your true potential.

Anisha Vasani: Don't limit yourself and just keep going. 

Amardeep Parmar: You said about how excited you were about your first, like your website and your logo, but how was it with the first client? What was that first client experience like when it was your project and you were completely in charge? How did that go? Can you talk about that a bit?

Anisha Vasani: Yeah, it was really exciting because [00:19:00] first, even now, I left the magazine seven years ago. People still have me on their phone as Anisha Asiana. So to shake off that identity and that, that persona and that profile that you were was really hard. Like still people say, you know, how's the magazine going? And I said, I left seven years ago, but I'm, it's going really well.

Anisha Vasani: Remembering that first photo shoot that I did and you know, you feel that pressure because you're like, I've got to go above and beyond for that client because they believe in me, I'm going to go and deliver everything I can, you know, I'm going to get them instead of getting them like five outfits, I'm going to go and get them 10, I'm going to give them the best models, I'm going to get the best location, I'm going to come up with the best concept and it's, you're only as good as your Last photo shoot was your last event.

Anisha Vasani: So you've got to keep innovating. You've got to keep creating new things and inspiring and doing things out the box and be original, do something different, you know, be inspired, of [00:20:00] course. Let others inspire you. But I think when you deliver for a client, they've invested in you, they've trusted you. So you've just got to make sure that you are.

Anisha Vasani: Giving back to them and delivering on everything that you've promised. And it is nerve wracking at times. And you just think, wow, you know, am I going to get the exact same results for them now, because the campaign is for their social media. You know, when I left, there was a whole digital revolution when Instagram and Facebook was taking over.

Anisha Vasani: So for me, it was like now adapting when everyone says, Oh, where's this campaign going, which magazine? It's not going into a magazine. And it was changing the persona of the clients because it was so used to me creating campaigns for them to be published, but it will be published. It's going to be your own campaign now for your website.

Anisha Vasani: It's going to be your own campaign now for your branding, which is going to shape you as a brand, and it's going to be for your social media. And that was just as important, but it was [00:21:00] about being on that process to educate them to say, this is now your campaign. You own it. You can now go and do with, you can go and put it now and publish it on flyers.

Anisha Vasani: You can now, even if you want, go and publish it in magazines. This is a campaign I'm creating for you. 

Amardeep Parmar: So could you  listen to your creative process a bit there? Because it's about every, you're only as good as your last campaign, right? What was the last campaign that went public? And could you tell us like, where did the idea come from?

Amardeep Parmar: Like, where did you go with that path to like, highlight the client the best you could? 

Anisha Vasani: God, I've done so many campaigns over the years, but for me, my most iconic one I think definitely would be the celebrity shoots being on my own and creating a celebrity shoot with Shilpa Shetty under my own brand was definitely a career highlight and Jacqueline Fernandez at the time because they were such big Bollywood superstars.

Anisha Vasani: And when I had the opportunity to do the photo shoot. With both these celebrities, [00:22:00] it was phenomenal because I used to work with a lot of celebrities for the magazine, but just the fact that they had faith in me as a celebrity stylist, as a celebrity creative director to not only, you know, there's so many elements of the creative process, like you said, where

Anisha Vasani: you have to ensure the celebrity works and fits the brand image of the brand that you're working with. You then have to bring that entire, uh, creative team together from the fashion designer to the jewelry brand, to the hair and makeup artists. And you've got to all just make sure that everything is aligned.

Anisha Vasani: You're coming up with a concept, so you're working on mood boards, you know, you're, there's so much that goes behind the scenes of creating a photo shoot to then sourcing the right venue and the location to then having the right photographer, the right videographer that's going to then capture because they're the most important person, no matter how much work I put in.

Anisha Vasani: If the photographer and the videographer at the end are not on the same page, they're the ones that are going to be [00:23:00] obviously capturing the whole campaign. And that is what you're going to be left with. You've got to ensure that they understand the vision. They understand the mood board. They connect with the celebrity because celebrities are not always the easiest

Anisha Vasani: to work with, and fortunately we, you know, Shilpa and Jacqueline Fernandez was two beautiful, um, celebrities to work with, and it was just a phenomenal experience. And I feel that was the turning point in my career because then everybody knew that if you wanted a celebrity campaign, you have to go to Anisha because she would then connect the Bollywood artists on the Bollywood celebrity with the UK brands.

Anisha Vasani: And I feel that that really changed the game for me. As you know, creative director and for my creative consultancy. 

Amardeep Parmar: And so that's now been seven years since you created that. Right. And obviously it's been going very well, but you've also been doing other things too. So you've got influence reach, which launched fairly recently.

Amardeep Parmar: Can you tell us about that? Yeah. 

Anisha Vasani: So after obviously doing all the celebrity shoots, a lot of you know, [00:24:00] influencers were formed where, you know, they were blogging, they were either known for their beauty blogging, or they were known for their, you know, their travel blogging or their lifestyles. And there was again, another massive transition where my brand started not then asking for celebrities.

Anisha Vasani: I started asking for influencers, so I obviously know a lot of people most fortunate of my network. So I'd written about singers and I'd written about chefs and I'd written about actresses. So I had lots of connections with a lot of celebrities. So it just made sense then to launch an influencer agency

Anisha Vasani: where my brands were wanting to connect to influencers that had great engagement on social media and were able to influence and through their following, be able to really elevate and promote a brand. So suddenly my influencers wanted to work with brands, and my brands wanted to work with influencers.

Anisha Vasani: So I thought, right, okay. I listen to what my industry want. [00:25:00] And I've got such an amazing relationship with all my girls, all my influencers that are professional influencers, because some people look down at influencers and think that's not work, but actually they work so hard to create their content.

Anisha Vasani: You even know how much goes into filming this podcast right now, you know, prep, prep, like preparing for it beforehand and then editing it and then putting it on socials. Influence is the same. They're content creators. They take so much time out to come up with the content, to actually strategize it, to then make sure they're working with the right brand and give the audience and their followers what they want to know and educate them, inspire them.

Anisha Vasani: So. I just thought it would be a great platform actually now to create influencer events, but also where it will involve photo shoots, PR events, gifting, influencer marketing. And yeah, me and my business partner, Sunny Suri joined forces because he has a marketing agency called Ethnic Reach. [00:26:00] And we just thought with my creative background and skills and his marketing expertise.

Anisha Vasani: We join forces and launch influencer reach and it's gone from strength to strength. Um, and you know, you come to many of my events and we always try to curate something different for the influencers, but also try to create, we don't want any event to be like the other. We're always trying to continue to inspire and innovate and create something really different from each and every event so that they enjoy.

Anisha Vasani: A wonderful experience throughout and it's been going really, really well.

Amardeep Parmar:  I think what  stands out to me from the events I've been to is the level of professionalism, right? Because there's lots of events going on all the time. And people would say, Oh, it's saturated, right? But it's not actually saturated because it's saturated of events, but not a high quality events where people are actually taking the time to think about it and make sure to say it's the same with any industry, right?

Amardeep Parmar: People just think, Oh, there's too many people in Instagram already. There's too many people in this already. There's lots of people on there, but how many people are actually doing it to a high level, a high level of quality. So there's [00:27:00] always space for people if they can elevate and go to the next level.

Amardeep Parmar: And obviously the skills you had from the other things you've done helped influence a reach, because like you said, where one, one is a network, but it's also the mindset, right? And the different ways you've put those other businesses can then help influence, influence a reach. And in terms of that side of things, have you felt in terms of

Amardeep Parmar: from going from a job and like a salary, like expenses, everything like that, to now being completely in control of your future, how have you found that transition? Because there's some weeks, for example, with what happened last year in summer, I basically didn't earn any money for five months. Cause I was like, I'm not taking any clients and

Amardeep Parmar: I'm free to do that. Yes. But if I had a job, I would have still got paid even though I might not been fully with it. How have you found that transition? Cause I think that's something that scares a lot of people going from salary to being in complete control.

Anisha Vasani: Yeah. Cause obviously having a, you know, a full time job, you've got that security, you've got that financial stability, and that is probably the most scariest part.

Anisha Vasani: And I [00:28:00] think that you scare my parents as well, ‘cause they're like. Why are you leaving a secure job that pays you really well, and you've got all the security there, and now you're going to go off on your own. How do you know where your next, where your next money is going to come from? But you have to take that leap of faith.

Anisha Vasani: You've got to take that risk. You've got to make sure you've got enough in your bank for security because you're going to have rainy days where, you know, you're not going to have money coming in all the time, but you just have to have that faith that money will come. You have to hustle. If you don't go out there and get the work, the work's not always going to come to you because you're building yourself up once people know you, they will know to call you like anything.

Anisha Vasani: Once you build your website, you build your brand, you build your social media. But you're also going to go out, you know, you're going to also have to go out there and get the work. And that's why I advise everybody networking is key. You know, a lot of people look at me and say, oh, she just leads this glamorous life and is always at events, but no one [00:29:00] understands actually I'm going out to network because you just don't know when that next job or that business opportunity is going to come from.

Anisha Vasani: And I am a firm believer in saying to everybody, go out there. Go and meet new people, go and talk about your services. You don't have to obviously oversell your services, but let them know what you do and how you can help them. Because I love helping, especially small businesses and giving them that confidence.

Anisha Vasani: There's so many people out there, especially women that have been in corporate jobs that are not happy in their jobs, you know, are juggling motherhood, well as, you know, being wives and then having, you know, a corporate job. It's like, but they're not following their dreams and they'll come to me and they'll ask me for advice and they'll say, we just wanted to run something by you, you know, we really want to, you know, flourish this dream of ours.

Anisha Vasani: And we really want to, you know, see if we can do this. Do you think it'll work? And I said, if you believe in it and you feel that you can do it, take that leap of faith and just do it because you only get one life [00:30:00] and you only get one choice go and live it to the max, right? Lead the life you create.

Anisha Vasani: That's the best advice I'd give you. Yes, there's going to be times where you're not going to make money, but there's going to be months where you're going to make double, triple the money and it all balances out and you've got to start somewhere. Yes, of course, make sure you've got a little bit of financial backing and a little bit of security because you're going to also need to invest in your brand.

Anisha Vasani: You're going to also need to invest in your marketing, your social media, your website design. You're going to have to keep, like you said, relevant. But you're also going to have to keep visible. If you're visible, constantly visible, and people are seeing you, people are going to want to work with you. 

Amardeep Parmar: And then what's been the lowest point in your business and how did you get through that?

Amardeep Parmar: Because obviously you said some months you don't have the money there and you're trying to, you have to come up with new ideas and new things going on. Like what's something you've done where you've had a hard time, but you've come back from it and you've bounced back stronger. 

Anisha Vasani: There's so many. There's so many.

Anisha Vasani: First, my first, I think the transition that I [00:31:00] found really hard to adapt with when I went from working at the magazine to going on my own is you don't have a team. And I'm such a bubbly person and I love working as part of a team. And then suddenly you've gone solo. So that was really hard for me, you know, when you bounce ideas of people and, you know, your team and, you know, you, you grow together, going solo and working on my own was really, really hard, but very quickly, when you go and create a photo shoot, you've got an amazing creative team that you work with.

Anisha Vasani: So it kind of all balanced out. So you would have your day solo working on your own, and it's reconditioning yourself that you've got to do your admin days. Anyone that thinks a photo shoot just happens, you know, as a miracle is wrong. There's so much preparation coordination that goes on behind the scenes.

Anisha Vasani: So I think adapting to working on your own to then being actually excited to working with the team was definitely a challenge, some months where you'd feel low, where you [00:32:00] feel okay, I haven't made as much money or I haven't hit my targets and you set yourself goals and you set yiur  personal targets and then miraculously, you know, mid, mid month or halfway through the month, suddenly,

Anisha Vasani: work will just come through and you'll be like worrying, losing sleep over it, thinking, where's my next, you know, money going to come in from? How am I going to finances? How am I going to pay my mortgage at the end of the day? You know, I've got bills to pay everything that you, you know, that you're all probably feeling we've all gone through.

Anisha Vasani: People just don't talk about it because with social media now, there's a perception that. Oh, they've got everything so perfect and, you know, they're always leading this amazing life and it's just so super glamorous. No one sees the tears and the anxiety and the fears that you're going through behind the scenes because no one talks about it.

Anisha Vasani: And as we were talking about earlier, now, luckily for these podcasts and these platforms, so much, so many more people are talking about [00:33:00] mental health. And there, there's been nights where I've lost sleep and I've been really worrying and thinking, oh my God, am I going to get through this year, am I going to get through this month?

Anisha Vasani: Am I going to, you know, get through this job? Sometimes you lose jobs. You pitch for jobs, you send proposals and suddenly you find someone's come and undercut you or someone's come and copied your exact vision and your photo shoot, your concept and your proposal and have undercut you. So the client's going to go there.

Amardeep Parmar:Yeah.

Anisha Vasani: So there's so many little things like that, that you will face, but you will also overcome them because you win some and you lose some. And when I lose a job or a client doesn't book me, I used to take it really personally. I'm going to think why, why did I lose that job? Why did they go with the other creative director or the other consultancy and the other influencer agency?

Anisha Vasani: And why are they not investing with me? God has a plan and something bigger and better. [00:34:00] Always comes along. And then you understand when that happens, you just think just wasn't meant to be. And you've just got to be so resilient and so strong. And you've just, like I said, at right at the beginning of our podcast, you've just got to have that self belief and the work will come.

Amardeep Parmar: I always try to be transparent about that and also get my guests to be transparent because it's not easy. And the whole thing is if you care enough about what you're doing, then you can ride those waves. And if it feels really tough and you're not enjoying it, and it's not making you happy, then sometimes you've got to think, is this actually the right thing for me?

Amardeep Parmar: Because eventually, if you really have that passion, you can overcome the challenges. But going for all that hard work and all that trauma, just because you want to prove something to somebody else, that's not the right way to do it either. And that's what comes across when you're so passionate about helping your clients in the creative side of things.

Amardeep Parmar: That's what makes that hard work worth it. Hard work itself isn't the point is. Using that hard work to achieve your dreams, right? 

Amardeep Parmar: Absolutely. 

Anisha Vasani: And we haven't got much time left, so could you quickly tell us about the Bridal Boutique show, [00:35:00] which we mentioned right at the start? 

Anisha Vasani: Bridal Boutique show was the new edition and it was something that I've been wanting to do for many, many years, especially after leaving the magazine.

Anisha Vasani: I always wanted to like curate and execute my own kind of luxury bridal show. And definitely for the new, you know, the new age bride, the brides that are sitting on Instagram on social media, they're scrolling through and they've got so many different options and it can be really overwhelming. And I wanted to bring a mixture of the Western brands also embracing our Indian culture.

Anisha Vasani: And our Asian culture, and I really wanted to create a very intimate, but a very immersive kind of bridal show where from the minute you step into the venue and the Nobu hotel, which was just a beautiful hotel to launch the inaugural show at, you're on a kind of an amazing wedding journey and just wanted to have the most prestigious brands there that you know, that everybody can just meet under one roof.[00:36:00] 

Anisha Vasani: And have an amazing experience from like the masterclass cocktails to, you know, Dr. Vanita talking about skincare and hair care, you know, leading up to your wedding day to having obviously my favorite element, the fashion show and curating like something that's going to be appealing to everybody. And it was definitely one of my highlights because obviously for the very first time we had Vivian Westwood's bridal collection there.

Anisha Vasani: May like God rest her soul because obviously she passed away. just only a few weeks ago, but that was an absolute honor to have her gracing our first show and her collection at our first show. And you know, I think everyone forgets that modern brides do wear white bridal outfits for their civil ceremony.

Anisha Vasani: So I wanted to make sure that there was something there that catered for everybody and it was a huge success. And thank you for coming and supporting. 

Amardeep Parmar: And thank you  so much for coming on. It's now time for the quick fire questions. The first one is, who are three British Asians you'd love to shout out who you think people listening right now should be paying [00:37:00] attention to and following?

Anisha Vasani: Oh, that's a tricky one because there's so many and as you know, I work with so many of them as well. But I'm just thinking who inspires me on a daily basis that I go to when I just need that kind of pick me up or someone that's going to lift me up and inspire me. I'd definitely say one of them is Jay Shetty.

Anisha Vasani: I just feel his quotes. His podcasts, his videos always come to me at the right time. So he would definitely be one of them that I feel really inspires me. Secondly, I would say Kaushal definitely made the change in our industry. She definitely was one of the first ones that everyone really looked. And inspired to, and really paved the way for content creators because she was just so authentic.

Anisha Vasani: She's a beautiful soul. I've met her in person. She's so genuine, so authentic. And her, obviously her husband, Vex King, them like now launching the rising circle with their journals. Um, I think they're both such an [00:38:00] amazing inspirational power couple. So them two, and then I'm going to, the next person is going to be a big shout out as one of my longest clients who I've worked very closely with, and that would be Dr.

Anisha Vasani: Vanita. She has literally revolutionized the skin of color. Family with all of her amazing products that she has launched. And I have been really fortunate to be part of her journey because she's educated me. I've been able to work with her on all her brand launches. She's inspiring and you know what?

Anisha Vasani: She is just growing day by day on social media, TikTok and YouTube. So she's a huge inspiration for me too. 

Amardeep Parmar: Yeah, definitely. Like we're getting Dr. Vanita pretty soon.

Anisha Vasani: Amazing. You've got to get her on here anyway. So you guys have to watch her. 

Amardeep Parmar: I think it's in a week or  two's time. Yep. So watch out for that.

Anisha Vasani:  She’s fantastic.

Amardeep Parmar: Brilliant. If people listening right now, like they want some advice from you or they're looking for guidance and they're not sure where they want to go, what could you advise them about? What should they come to you for?

Anisha Vasani: A lot of people have been messaging me recently about mentoring [00:39:00] them because I've obviously helped a lot of small businesses and the biggest reward has been for me to see their brands grow and elevate them and continue to elevate them through just different kind of brand marketing to whether it's their events or PR or just working with them very closely to kind of create a bespoke marketing strategy for them.

Anisha Vasani: And that's what we specialize in. 

Amardeep Parmar: And  then on the other side. What's something that you need help with right now? What could somebody listening right now maybe help you with? Do you know what? 

Anisha Vasani: I'm looking now to expand my team more and more. And I feel I would love to have some more interns coming to work because I learned so much through experience that I'm anybody that wants an internship and wants to gain valuable experience.

Anisha Vasani: Please do get in touch with me. You won't get bored because it's a great consultancy. You will get a wide knowledge of experience and every day will be different because you'll be working on events to influence the marketing, to coming on weddings, to doing bridal styling, to doing the creative campaigns.

Anisha Vasani: And it will make you so versatile and universal. So [00:40:00] if you are someone who wants to go into the creative field and into wedding planning and influencer marketing. Get in touch with me because I'd love to give them an opportunity. 

Amardeep Parmar: Thank you so much for  coming on. 

Anisha Vasani: My pleasure.

Amardeep Parmar: Any final words for the audience? 

Anisha Vasani: I would say just keep believing in yourself.

Anisha Vasani: Be strong. You know, there will be times where it's going to be a roller coaster and it's going to be so hard for you. Be resilient, know your worth, value yourself and love yourself unconditionally. Cause self love is everything, but make sure you take time out to have that work life balance, recharge and reset, because you will then go on to just being the best version of yourself.

Amardeep Parmar: Hello, hello, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. It means a huge amount to us, and we don't think you realize how important you are. Because if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you leave us a five star review, it makes a world of difference.

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