New Delhi: The job of a food explorer sounds exciting to most of us, but little does one know all the hard work that goes behind it. Today, we will share the journey of India's one of the most famous food and travel influencers who has a huge base of 875K followers on Instagram and also a whopping 2.19M subscribers on YouTube. He not only covers the story of food but also highlights all that goes on behind it. Additionally, he is someone who is really compassionate towards local food joint owners and strives to highlight their stories to make them well known.
Yes, you might have already guessed it already, we are talking about none other than Gaurav Wasan. In an email interview with ABP Live, Gaurav shared his journey, his favourite memory with food, and how his parents used to run a dhaba to send him and his sibling to one of the best schools in Delhi. Additionally, he also gave a peek into what goes behind creating content for the audience.
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
1. Can you share with us your journey as an Instagram influencer? How did you initially get started, and how has your approach to content creation evolved over time?
The journey has been beautiful. I remember how in 2018 I created my Instagram account to share the same love and passion for food with the same community and set of people. I kept posting new content every day without fail, until in 2020 one of my videos went viral and gave me more than 2 lakh followers overnight. Today in 2023, my page has around 875K followers.
What has kept me going all these years is my passion for food and sharing my love for it with my audience. Success doesn't come overnight, you have to keep working hard for it and someday destiny would knock at your door too.
2. As an influencer, you have the ability to reach and engage with a large audience. How do you ensure that the content you create is authentic, valuable, and resonates with your followers?
I just don't cover food, but the stories behind them too. For eg: How a housewife gets up each day at 4 AM in the morning, cooks food for her stall and at the same time for her family too, and goes to the street to sell her food just so she can provide for herself and her family. This is what my audience understands and connects to. I do a lot of research before putting forward my content on my channel to make sure it is authentic and valuable for my followers watching it.
3. You are a food/travel/lifestyle influencer who covers a wide range of topics. How do you manage to strike a balance and create content catering to most of your followers?
Passion is what keeps me going. There are of course multiple trends happening each day under different categories, and a lot of hard work and time goes into creating content for these. For that, it is very important to know your audience and use Instagram’s analytics to determine who your followers are.
Also, it is important to post engaging content. Once you’ve tracked down your audience, you’ll want to post things they like.
4. Your videos often showcase a social or humanitarian cause. Can you tell us how you use your platform to raise awareness and drive positive change in those areas?
Yes, like I said I just don't cover food but the stories behind those, so after researching and knowing the efforts and hard work that one puts in, it melts my heart and then I feel it is important to share those stories with the audience too. Nothing comes easy in life and those stories give each one a lesson of how important is it to work towards your goal.
For raising awareness, I have created communities where I grow my base. I build momentum by celebrating the success of people and at the end of it when you get a thank you note and a smile from the vendors it actually is priceless.
5. How do you strike a balance between staying authentic and adapting to the changing trends and preferences of your audience?
Get to know your audience. The more you connect with your followers, the more authentic your relationship will be with them. Also, it is important to gain a deep understanding of what resonates with you on social media that can help guide your content strategy. And the more you can dig down into what you’re sharing on social media and why, the more authentic your content will be.
6. Can you share some behind-the-scenes insights into the challenges and hard work that goes into creating and maintaining a successful online presence?
People think that it is very easy for us to make videos, wherein the truth is a lot of research and time goes into making one. We have even shot 14-15 hours at a stretch just to pull out one video. In fact, I have travelled more than 800 km for a video to cover a story that touched my heart and I knew that it needed to go to my page and to be shown to my audience too.
7. What is your most memorable food-related travel experience? What made it so special, and how did it influence your perception of food and culture?
Without a doubt, a video I shot of 'Amma ki Rasoi' in Agra, where an old lady aged 80 sells paratha on the streets from 8 AM to 5 PM and her smile, her innocence, her passion, her commitment, her hard work made this experience one of my favourites. The video in total gained more than 110 million views, both on Instagram and Facebook.
8. You've highlighted local food vendors and their stories in your videos. What do you believe is the importance of supporting and promoting local and small-scale food businesses?
I believe that they are the ones who don't have any marketing or sales team to push them and hence, the best platform for them to reach someone is through social media or through pages such as ours. Supporting these local vendors is very much helpful to them and their families. Some people aren't able to earn even a mere Rs 500 in a day but when we post the videos, their sales go high and the smile on their faces after that is something that none can match.
9. Food has a strong emotional and nostalgic connection for many people. Can you share a food-related memory from your own life that holds a special place in your heart?
Very few people are aware of the fact that my mom and dad used to run a dhaba to help us study in the best school in Delhi. I remember how my mom use to get up each day at 4 AM to cook food for the dhaba and cook food for me and my brother as well. Also, she used to make tiffin meals to send to people's houses at night just to give us a better life. And today, for sure all her hard work has paid off :)
10. Connecting with locals can greatly enhance the travel experience. How do you engage with locals and immerse yourself in that culture when you visit a new destination?
Understanding culture through food is an interesting process because once a person starts asking food-related questions, such as how something is made, what ingredients are in it, or why it is called a certain way, the answers obtained go beyond culinary learning. In these answers, we also get to know things about a culture’s approach to life.
11. Travelling can be transformative and life-changing. How has travel influenced your perspective on life, and what lessons have you learned from your experiences on the road?
I am someone who loves meeting new people and who loves travelling to new places. Travelling for me works as a healer. It provides a new way to perceive life- who you are, and how you spend your time. When you travel, you meet new people, cultures, experience new things, embark on all sorts of adventures, and perhaps even redefine your meaning of life.