Today we’d like to introduce you to Vandana Agarwal.
Vandana, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a full-time working professional, a corporate struggler but a foodie by heart. My love for food runs for as long as I can remember. The love to explore new places, try new cuisines and share about them with people encouraged me to start my own micro-blog. Towards the end of the pandemic when restaurants were just opening up, I used to receive a lot of requests for recommendations from friends and family. I felt I could cater to a wider audience through Instagram and created my page The Vegetarian Story.
Initially, I didn’t tell anyone about it hoping they’d find me organically on social media. When I put out my first post, I kept checking the app for likes and views but hardly got anything. Not letting it deter me I made sure to post something every day and keep doing what I like doing. Today when I open the app and see people loving what I’m putting out or recognizing me in the real world, it all feels worth it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting out a microblog is not easy as it seems. Once I created the Instagram page, it was a blank canvas. I put out a few posts but didn’t really know what to do next. The number of followers stayed at 0, the reach was nil. Getting the initial push was extremely difficult. But I kept going forward, interacting with people, learning new things, and trying different stuff, and somehow things started working for me. My community loved the places I recommended, tried out recipes I was posting, and ordered products I posted about.
In addition, with a full-time job, it was extremely difficult to be consistent throughout. I used to dedicate my weekends to working for TVS and made sure I got enough content to post through the week,
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My food blog “The Vegetarian Story” aims at breaking the stigma around vegetarian food being boring. Also, being a vegetarian I understand the hesitation veg people have in trying out a new place or a new dish. I love posting about new places in Kolkata for people to try out. It could be a fancy restaurant or a roadside stall. It also helps anyone who’s visiting the city for the first time and wants to explore around. I also put out some quick lazy recipes which you can make any time with common pantry ingredients. However, what I am known for has to be my reels. I absolutely love making video content on food which includes some food-related memes as well.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My mother is the better part of The Vegetarian Story. Initially, when I hadn’t invested in a tripod, she was the one helping me with shooting everything. Also, she’s an amazing cook so a lot of the recipes you see on my page are made by her. Another support system for my blog is my sister who had encouraged me to start this and made me believe that I can make a commitment of this kind. All the brands that I’ve worked with have been extremely supportive and put their faith in me to churn out content that would be appreciated by the audience.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/thevegetarianstory_
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thevegetarianstory101
