The Birth of an Influencer

I am an Actor / Influencer / Entrepreneur and a stock and crypto investor by profession.

My career in the media industry began as a model when I started doing ramp shows for brands like DNA, Times of India, and Fashion Big Bazaar at the age of 18, from where I was spotted and cast by Balaji telefilms for my first television show. Thereafter, I worked in many television shows on Zee TV, Channel V, and Star Sports. Some of the shows that I have been a part of are Maharakshak Devi, V Distractions, V Confessions, Pro Kabaddi, and films like Disco 82 with Amol Parashar and Akshay Oberoi.

Because of the television exposure, my social media accounts started getting more attention. If I remember correctly, I had around ten thousand followers at that time. Initially, I didn’t understand the meaning of those numbers because they were not benefiting me financially, until one day I got a call from my friend saying he wanted me to be the face of Himalaya for their social media campaign. And that is how ‘Kuldeep Singhania – The Influencer’ was born.

The Journey

The day our first collaboration with Himalaya happened, that day changed my perspective about social media completely. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be paid by brands to post pictures on my social media – which was something I had been doing for free anyway.

I started researching about this ‘Influencer Culture’ on the internet and found that this was already a billion-dollar industry in the west, whereas in India it was just starting. That’s when I decided to be amongst the first people to hop on this train. I decided to leave everything else for some time and give my 100% to creating quality content every day, building a social media presence, and getting as many brand deals as possible.

The Challenge

Though it sounded easy to ‘leave everything and hop on this train of becoming a social media influencer’, it was in fact the opposite of easy. Not just emotionally, but physically, mentally, and financially. Already I was in a field that was super competitive and getting roles was not an easy task. To top it off, I was now about to risk everything for a career that was not even recognized as one in India. 

My parents were extremely anxious about my decision, and even started giving me anxiety attacks because they just couldn’t see the end of the tunnel in this profession. To be quite honest, neither could I at that point. But you know what they say – you don’t need to see the end of the tunnel, you just need to take the first step; and that’s what I did. One step at a time, and that is how the journey began. 

But wait… this was just the beginning. 

I had neither photographers who could shoot me, nor a camera or lights, I did not know a dime about editing or direction, production design, nothing!

So, guess what? I did it all alone. I bought a camera with my savings, put it on a tripod and started shooting and editing my content – all alone. I had to learn everything from scratch, but there was no alternative. I still remember those days, from 6 am in the morning to 10 pm at night, all I was doing was learning, learning, learning, and posting content on social media.

Best Moments

As they say, one day all the late nights and early mornings do pay off. And so it happened in my case as well. Eventually, big brands like Myntra, Jaguar, OnePlus, Xiaomi started coming in. From one to ten to a hundred brands – today we have worked with over 250 brands and have a base of over 2.1 million followers across social media. We have started our own production company, The – K – Factor Productions, which makes digital ads for brands worldwide, our own clothing line, as well as our own in-house studio, K studios, for shooting professional ads and shows. 

Still, if I have to choose one special moment in my career as an influencer, that would be my first brand endorsement with Himalaya. That was the deal that made me realize the latent potential of the influencer industry.

Last Words

If I had to give a quick piece of advice to those who are just starting out as influencers or actors and would like to be a part of the media industry in 2022, it would be to, firstly, find your niche and your audience. Find what kind of content you like posting and will be able to post 365 days non-stop, while being happy and without compromising on your health. The next step would be to post the best quality content every single day, without thinking about likes and followers for the next six months. Just keep going, keep putting in the work, and the results are bound to follow.

Since we know how difficult it is to build an audience base in 2022, we keep on casting new faces in our digital ads and YouTube videos, giving people instant social media exposure. You can share your portfolios and connect with us on our social media.

Till then, stay happy and keep creating!

• The article was originally published in Career Ahead January 2022 issue.