Today we’d like to introduce you to Vidhi Agarwal.
Vidhi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story is one of an immigrant’s journey that starts in a beautiful city in India known for its food, culture, and art. My love for fashion stems from those early years living in India with my grandmother, whose love for knitting and sewing created some of the most vibrant and fashion-forward outfits that couldn’t be purchased in the market at that time. In the narrow winding city streets coffee VS chai where I grew up, far from fashion capitals like Paris and Milan – my grandmother encouraged me to design my own custom outfits and cultivate my own style. When moving to America, I remember wanting to hang on to my style, to feel rooted in knowing where I came from but also confident in knowing where I could go. So, as a new student in a school in NYC, I had only a brief moment of feeling worried and scared about moving to a foreign land. Even at that young age, I became intensely passionate about reinforcing my style and empowering myself by dressing up and designing many more outfits with an eye towards bridging tradition with modern. I embraced the challenge and found boundless inner strength; and each time life brought a new challenge – a move to a new city, a new school, college, jobs – I always felt grounded in my style as a way of acknowledging my past, living in the present, and dreaming of my future.
For me, enriching my style had always been a personal thing. All the way through college in California through receiving my MD in Ohio, I had never thought that I could help others find their styles. But after talking with my husband for hours on end about different fashions, trends, and styles, he encouraged me to put my thoughts into a blog. That’s how coffeeVSchai.com was born, and it’s been such an amazing ride from there!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc .– but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I launched my blog coffee VS chai in July 2017. I didn’t know anything about blogging at that time, didn’t even have an Instagram account, and quickly found out how being a fashion and style blogger comes with its own hardships. From learning about web hosting and design services to garnering enough followers, to analyzing reader engagement statistics, there are always new things to learn. Despite lots of early stumbles and disappointing stats, I continued to generate content. In addition to my family who gave me strength and confidence all these years, I now also drew strength from my terrific audience whose comments on my posts fueled more posts and more content. Though I have experienced how knowing your style can generate strength, I had never imagined how my style could become a source of inspiration for others.
To young women starting out, I would say that blogging, at times, can be discouraging because growth can feel really slow. Whether you are using Instagram to promote or any social media, growing can be difficult with all the follows and unfollows. But the key is to continue to produce content. Creating good content that connects with the majority of your audience is what helps to generate engagement and will get your account noticed.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with coffee VS chai – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
coffee VS chai is more than just my addiction to fashion. It’s about brewing all my favorite styles together, fusing robust Indian with American cultures by taking elements steeped in tradition and spicing them up with some modern flare. Through this blog, I document how to blend a closet full of Indian clothes with one full of western outfits to create a well-balanced style. I hope to continue to inspire other women to tell their story through their style through coffee VS chai.
I’m most proud of seeing how the brand has taken off and how it’s made a positive impact on people’s lives. When I hear from a commenter or follower that I’ve been able to inspire, it’s a great feeling. I always try to make sure to engage with each one of those comments.
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
The blogging and influencing industry has demonstrated a tremendous boom and future growth is essentially unlimited with new developments in e-commerce. The communities and groups of female bloggers I’ve been exposed to in different parts of the country have been amazing. These are some of the most creative, organized, driven people I have met and I’ve been so blessed to meet so many supportive female leaders.
We should all keep in mind that our industry essentially has unrestricted growth potential which will help reduce the negative competition that sometimes goes on. Being supportive and inclusive of new bloggers, lending a hand, opening up and sharing insights – these are all things that can help expand the community which we should all want to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.coffeevschai.com
- Email: coffeevschai@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/coffeevschai
Image Credit:
Soham Dave – www.instagram.com/deserthikesandbites, Kunjal Pathak – www.instagram.com/kunjalpathakphotography
Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
