Malvika Sheth, founder of fashion & beauty platform and blog ‘Stylebymalvika,’ is one of the top five up and coming fashion influencers according to Pixlee. A digital content creator, her platform caters to the driven dreamers and luxury fashion lovers of the world and has also appeared on Forbes India, Create & Cultivate, Glamour, Buzzfeed, and The Cut to name a few. She has previously collaborated with brands like Jimmy Choo, Clarins, Givenchy Beauty, Reebok, Essie, Uniqlo, Lafayette 148 NY, and Lancome in her journey! Check her out on Instagram @stylebymalvika, or her site, www.stylebymalvika.com.
Tell us about who you are and what you do.
Hi everyone! My name is Malvika and I’m a 22-year-old, early college graduate that decided to tackle her untapped passions of creating, media, fashion, and beauty. I’ve always believed in the power of fashion and beauty to transform your life and level-up your confidence, and I wanted to share this with the world. With my content, I hope to empower other driven dreamers to use both luxury fashion and beauty as creative outlets to achieve even their wildest dreams. I’ve been creating content full-time for 1.5 years on Instagram, YouTube, and my blog, but more recently have joined platforms such as TikTok, Zynn, PrismPop, and Shop Lit Live!
Tell us how you created this brand and what was the sole idea behind it.
Stylebymalvika started during a sporadic shopping outing with my college friend in my sophomore year. At the time, she had created her poetry blog and recognized how obsessed I was with clothes, media, and the intersection of the two. My friend helped push me in the direction of putting my talents out there online. I am so grateful for that moment, and for having had a person like that around me at the age of 18. I have had a history of extremely low self-confidence, and that’s why I’m so passionate about doing what I do. I do not want other women to limit their thinking, and if, through sharing fashion and beauty inspiration, I can help them even 10% of the amount that my friend did, I’m extremely satisfied.
My brand has, of course, evolved. With the direction of where social media is going, I’ve enjoyed challenging myself through creating more short video form content and live streaming sessions as well. While Instagram is my first love, I am enjoying branching out to platforms like TikTok. It’s a new experience for me, as well as the new audiences I’m building.
Go in detail and tell us about how your brand works.
Having built a large South Asian audience, I recognize that my platform has a responsibility as well. I am naturally extremely close to her culture–in fact, I’m a professionally trained Indian Classical dancer, and it’s still a big part of my life today. While my content revolves quite a bit around how to use luxury fashion and beauty to feel your best, I also mix in a lot of my culture into what I do, and actively talk about unrealistic beauty standards whether on my platform or others. Coming back to the platforms, I like to stay quite active. I post daily on Instagram, 4-6 times a day on TikTok, 2-3 times a day on Zynn, 1-2 times a month on YouTube, and 1-2 times a month on my blog. When I take on brand partnerships, I make sure it would be something I would talk about even if I wasn’t being paid to do so–it has to make sense in the context of my life and should resonate well with the people that view my work.
What is your giveaway idea through this interview? Highlight something that may interest the readers on a one to one basis.
One of the topics I’m growing more and more aware of and passionate about is sustainability. I’ve started a closet on Wear Wardrobe with some of my favorite luxury pieces that you can rent for affordable prices! The best part is that if you sign up through my link, you get a $25 credit (which would allow you to rent almost any of the designer pieces on the site for 4 days). You can sign up using this link.
Explain the challenges you went through while you were working on brand creation. What are the challenges you go through on an everyday basis?
Self-doubt is my biggest challenge. Sometimes I wish I could stop myself from overthinking and just post. However, I’ve had to use discipline to combat self-doubt. As a dancer, discipline is a value that is deeply embedded into me, so sticking to a routine posting schedule helps stop me from allowing my self-limiting thoughts to take over. Second, I would say the fear of failure truly was a part of who I was. I had a terrifying experience wherein my Instagram was hacked just after I had decided to make content creation my full-time career after graduating, and this taught me that even if the worst happens, it is not the end of the world. There are ways and means to get around your obstacles, always! Sometimes it takes a little creative problem solving and strategy, and other times, just an impenetrable will.
How do you manage your finances through the services you offer. Any fundings etc received?
Since day one, I’ve been completely self-funded. When I was in school and working on my platform, I worked 2-3 jobs on campus and used that money to put back into the ‘Stylebymalvika’ brand, whether that meant taking content creation courses or hiring someone to help me figure out how to use various editing software. I still remember I had a dream to go to New York Fashion Week and to make that happen, I had to save up a good chunk of money, all the while reaching out to over 100 PR firms and individuals who were in charge of the guest lists. Today, I regularly get to go to my favorite shows across New York, Milan, and Paris fashion weeks! I have to throw this in there, too. I am grateful to my parents for supporting me emotionally, and for allowing me to do what I love from the comfort of the home that I grew up in even after graduation, as that is undoubtedly a financial boon. That being said, I do have plans to move out in the new year!
Tell us your future vision about the brand. How far do you want to take it? What is your dream about taking it to the next level?
I love being transparent about my vision–in fact, I have my vision board right in front of me right now. My biggest dream on that board is to be on the cover of all of the three major VOGUE’s, Italian, American, and French. I haven’t seen women like me on those covers, and I’m here to make sure other girls do not go through the same thing. We’ll get there, step by step.
What message would you like to give to anybody who has a plan of creating something of their own and making a living through it?
Remember that all self-limiting beliefs stem from the idea that we are trying to please others. The minute you find your calling, remember that is what you need to pursue to please yourself. Within that calling, you should be providing value in some way, shape, or form, to others, but it should feel natural. When you’re on the path of that calling, make sure you continue to block out noise that doesn’t serve your growth. Keep calm, and carry on.