“Love what you do, do what you love”. Meet Naznin Nazar, who is a software engineer by profession but an ethnic model at heart. Fell in love with sarees and went on to win the Malayali Manka award, Naznin talks about her inspiration, how she manages her work, and her passion as a blogger and a model. Let us dive in to read more about it!
Tell us about yourself and what you do.
Myself Naznin, based in Trivandrum. Software professional working at Nissan Digital. I am married and pursuing my dreams. Ethnic Model, saree blogger, and an occasional writer.
How did you take an interest in choosing saree as your niche?
My love for sarees started at a very young age. My grandmother has a wide range of saree collections, she doesn’t miss any saree exhibitions, and travels to purchase saree even interstate was my biggest inspiration. And my mother who drapes so perfectly made me fall with six yards during my childhood days itself. Saree is not just a garment for me, the confidence and identity a saree provides is more. I enjoy wearing sarees at the same time I appreciate the effort and time the artisans put into making a saree. For me, I started my blog to answer all the questions I would always get. Which saree is best for an occasion? Where is your blouse from? How should I style for a dinner date? etc.
There are so many fashion influencers on Instagram. How do you ensure you are standing apart?
Instagram is becoming more competitive day by day. Anyone can be a blogger nowadays, just a matter of switching profile settings. But what makes standing apart is making valuable content in a professional and unique way. I believe in quality over quantity. I focus on getting my content remembered than getting more likes. I put effort to know each brand before working with them to make sure that my followers won’t get cheated after approaching them. Putting the shoes of my followers before choosing a product has made my job easier. One of the happiest moments in the past year was receiving the Western glow best content creator 2020 award. In a short time, I have been lucky enough to be picked up by brands such as Palam Silks, Nayakapada, Wood&Yarns, etc. Being able to work with such incredible brands and small businesses really lets me have my creative freedom and shape and style their clothes. Just be yourself and people will love you and follow you for who you are, not who you’re trying to be.
You are an engineer by profession and also a model and saree blogger ? How do you handle these multiple roles?
Handling multiple roles is exciting at the same time challenging too. With an I.T profession, it’s not easy to create content in a regular manner. I use my weekends for modeling works and blogging. This wouldn’t be possible without the support of my husband. There were days when I had to shoot for 5 costume changes in a single day with 5 different themes. Modeling is easy compared to blogging. Because many things will be taken care of by the team. While blogging I’m the makeup artist, editor, stylist, location hunter, and so on. As they say, if you have passion, you will enjoy the work you do.
What is the challenge you have faced to create engaging content on Instagram?
No cakewalk. I had my ups and down moments. Coping up with the Instagram algorithm is one of the biggest challenges I face. You have to continuously upload content, follow Insta trends, and deliver content.
You were the jury winner on Malayali Manka. Can you please tell us about your experience.
In one word, it was my life-changing event. Attending a pageant and winning a title was never in my dreams. You will be breaking your comfort zone when you attend a pageant. You can expect any kind of questions and tasks during the contest. Attending Malayali Manka helped me a lot to build my self-confidence. There are so many things you learn not only about yourself, but also about communication skills, leadership, interviews, and poise!
What are the recent trends in the world of blogging for fashion influencers?
Brands started using Instagram and social media more seriously in the past 2 years and fashion influencers are playing a big role in connecting them with their ideal clients. Many social events for product launches have started taking place in Kerala which includes influencers and bloggers. This is a good change and people are getting more information on the products they buy and use. Again, these events help in a lot of networking too.
What are your future plans and how do you plan to take ahead your blogging passion?
As of now, I’m working as Business Analyst at Nissan. Definitely, my primary job will always be there because that’s also one thing that I enjoy and am passionate about as much as modeling and blogging. I believe in small steps, so my current goal is to share as many saree stories as I could, support small businesses and weavers, introduce new brands to my followers.
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