HYDERABAD: It’s a great time for all aspiring YouTubers in Hyderabad and the Telugu states, especially for female content creators. Telugu language content is being consumed than ever before around the world. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, CE speaks to three such amazing female content creators, who are ruling the world with their work on the channel and inspiring many others to do the same.
Mad Gardener (Madhavi Guttikonda)
Talking about how it all started, Madhavi Guttikonda, says,“I am a homemaker and a terrace gardener who has always enjoyed gardening. Initially, I used to grow flowers and ornamental plants. A decade ago, I realised that the fruits and vegetables that I bought from the market were not safe for my family as they were sprayed with chemicals. So, I tried growing some leafy and basic vegetables. That is when I realised growing food naturally is not difficult at all and is similar to growing any other plant.
My journey of growing food has been so fulfilling that there has been no looking back. Serving home-grown food to my family has always brought me immense joy. Since I had no guidance on the natural methods and practices of gardening, I started experimenting with my own methods. My passion and enthusiasm for gardening were noticed by my son and his friends. I explained to them the importance of natural food and the techniques I followed to maintain my organic garden.
The idea of starting a YouTube channel is the result of our casual talks where they suggested to me, ‘Why not start a channel and share your joy and experience of growing food there.’ We started a gardening channel, ‘Mad Gardener’ the very next day. I would say the essence of my channel is to share my joy and experience of growing organic food, and also motivate others to do the same.” Elaborating about the challenges faced, she says, “I had no idea of shooting, editing, and uploading videos.
We started recording videos with a Samsung S8 phone and initially, my children helped me with all the technical aspects of video making. It took me a month to learn the ropes and eventually I started doing it all by myself. I was also clueless about the concept of monetisation but within a month my channel was monetised. My only purpose was to share the joy and experience of growing organic food. Learning about recording, editing & uploading videos while looking after all the household chores was one of my initial challenges.”
At present, Madhavi is looking forward to being a full-time organic farmer, growing food crops on at least 1 acre of land. “I am aiming to create awareness about sustainable organic gardening and want to set an example of growing your own organic food sustainably through my videos on YouTube which is the perfect platform to showcase my learnings in different formats. Though I make videos in my regional language Telugu, YouTube helped me reach an audience of other languages also. Currently, there are many requests for translations or adding subtitles to my videos,” she concludes.
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Shravani’s Kitchen (Shravani Gooda)
Talking about how it all started, the 33-year-old Shravani Gooda from Hyderabad, says, “I was born into a Telugu family, raised in Mumbai and settled in Hyderabad after marriage. I am a passionate food vlogger and a proud mother. I started my YouTube channel back in 2016 which now has 3.68M subscribers. My channel is all about cooking where I teach simple, delicious and healthy recipes from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Maharashtra, South and North India. Most of the recipes I cook are based on simple ingredients which are available at home. Cooking has been a passion for me since my school days. I started with simple recipes and later started experimenting with new cuisines. Food prepared by me brought a lot of joy to my friends and family and I always wanted to try something different from others. That is when I thought of sharing cooking tips in the form of videos and started posting on YouTube so that everyone can try at home and enjoy it.
This started my journey as a food vlogger. The fondness that my loved ones shared with me after tasting my food was the biggest inspiration for starting my food vlogging channel. Elaborating about the challenges faced, she says, “My transformation journey from a simple homemaker to a food vlogger has been one of the toughest journeys of my life. In addition to looking after my family, I had to learn new technologies like shooting, video editing, and managing social media. Creating cooking content needs a lot of craftiness, whether it is balancing the ingredients in the recipe, or capturing the right frame from proper angle and light or stitching the content to get proper visuals and perfect video. All of this requires a lot of learning and expertise.
My first attempt at voice over recording took me two days and the process was a bit difficult for me to understand during my early days. Similarly, handling a camera and learning editing software was a big struggle for me. Although the journey was tough, I cherish it deeply as it helped me reach millions of hearts.” Shravani still feels that there are a lot of hurdles that I have to overcome and that there are plenty of new things to learn. “I wish to open my own restaurant someday. Creating videos in different formats is also something I look forward to. YouTube has played a very important role in my life by helping me transform myself from a simple girl raised in a middle-class family to achieve a name in the creator community. I never thought a day like this would come when I would win the hearts of millions,” she concludes.
Ruling the world with content
JayaAmmulu (Pavani Nagarjuna)
Talking about how it all started, the 23-year-old, Pavani Nagarjuna, says, “I give all the credit to my mother who suggested that I should start my own YouTube channel. Initially, I was very hesitant as I was doubtful about its success. The thought that I would not be able to get many subscribers was holding me back. But, my mother’s belief was so strong that we started our YouTube channel in 2016, which today has 385K subscribers.”
Elaborating about the challenges faced, she says, “I always dreamt of becoming an actor back when I was in school. Since no one from my family was into acting hence my parents didn’t allow me to pursue acting as a career. It took me three and half years to convince my family but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find lucrative opportunities in the film industry. While I was still struggling with my acting career, I saw YouTube as the perfect platform to showcase our talent.
As we were not well-versed in technology, we faced a few problems initially. Thankfully, my friend Arya, who himself has three YouTube channels helped us understand the technical aspects of creating videos. YouTube, which came in as a ray of hope in my journey, has helped me a lot in my career by empowering me to manifest the life of my dreams.”
Meeting the needs of this increasingly mobile and diverse viewer, creators on YouTube have become the studios of the future. “Launching an album is on my bucket list. I am inspired by Korean pop music and wish to create my own rendition inspired by it. Additionally, web series is something that also interests me and I am looking forward to creating one soon. I am trying my best to achieve both of these goals this year,” she concludes.