Quirky, Riveting, Inspiring: Lifestyle influencers of 2021

In a world driven by social media, content, creators set trends, help us tackle the problem of plenty and make mindful choices. These lifestyle influencers went out of their comfort zone to create fascinating content in 2021.

Shenaz Treasury, Travel vloggerIG: 888k; FB: 1 million; YT: 183K

Her bio states – Travel, Romance, Smiles – and her feed is just that. This solo female traveller’s impressive storytelling and photography skills have made her travel blog extremely popular around the globe. Her Instagram feed is an array of incredible landscapes, people, streets, and architecture. In 2021, she wholeheartedly supported StandWithTravel, a crowdfunding initiative where contributions made by travellers who care would reach daily wagers in terms of cash in order for them to survive. “ Instagram has given me a whole new career and I am grateful for it. I love shooting my own videos. I enjoy speaking and telling stories and will continue doing that. The daily wagers in travel (tour guides, drivers, porters, etc) were helpless because they are usually not on salaries, so the initiative supported them,” she opines.

Sapna Vyas, 32, Fitness influencerIG: 1.6m; FB: 384K; YT: 346K

Her fitness journey is a testament to the fact that you can achieve your fitness goals with determination and rigorous training. Passionate about fitness and health, she guides people on how to lose weight and become healthier without any pills, crash dieting or surgery. 2021 made her focus more on mental health tutorials through her social feed, “The unprecedented times of the lockdown encouraged me to revamp my content. My content in 2021 focused on people working from home and maintaining and improving their fitness levels. I made workout videos and tutorials and also conducted live group fitness classes. My content touched aspects of stress management and on how one can one stays positive in uncertain times brought on by the pandemic. I also guided people on how to remain fit with limited resources at home. Personal online consultations have taken a front seat in the past year,” she says.

Shipra Khanna, 40, Masterchef and food influencerIG: 3.5m; FB: 4.8K; YT: 145K

A Masterchef at the age of 29, the food author and influencer is known to put new twists on Indian classics and perfecting delicious Italian cuisine. Suffering from an abusive marriage and later walking out of it, the chef made it her aim to invent healthier versions of her physically handicapped daughter’s favourite fast foods and thus a master-chef was born. Her feed on Instagram is strewn with pictures of her preparing sumptuous delicacies and healthy dishes. In 2021, she felt it was her responsibility to tell people to focus on their health and made health booster shots to build immunity “I shifted my entire content on creating healthy and innovative recipes so everyone could build on their immunity and also breaking the myth that healthy food isn’t delicious through all my social media handles. My health shots were an amalgamation of fresh or organic turmeric, ginger juice, lemon juice and honey. I raised money for COVID relief with Care India and Care Australia. It gives me a sense of victory to see a radical shift in people’s perspective towards healthy eating and accepting and trying my healthy recipes at home,” she mentions.

Masoom Minawala Mehta , 29, Fashion Influencer Instagram: 1.1 Mn followers; Facebook: 2,05,372 followers; YouTube: 52k subscribers

Right from making headlines at Cannes Film Festival and Paris Fashion Week with her sartorial choices, to supporting Indian designers at global platforms via #SupportIndianDesigners campaign, Minawala knows how to create value through her content. Her IG feed reflects fashion, lifestyle, beauty tips, and individual styling. Talking about her year, she says, “2021 has taught me the importance of my social responsibilities and the power that lies in curating content that creates value. Amidst the toughest of times, my belief in curating content that adds value to my community has only strengthened. Whether it is through supporting Indian designers who were hit during the pandemic or aiming to empower women, it is through creating content with attached value that I’m able to communicate the spirit of solidarity to my community. In a nutshell, I’ve grown to realise that my goal should be to create value.”

Ankush Bahuguna, Comedian-cum-BeautyInfluencer Instagram: 979k followers (Ankush Bahuguna + Wing It With Ankush Bahuguna) Facebook: 191k followers; YouTube: 168k subscribers

Bahuguna who started his journey of being an influencer by creating funny videos on social media platforms, became a social media star soon with his charming boy-next-door looks and propagation of social issues served with a hint of humour and sarcasm. Although, in 2021, when the entire world was forced to stay indoors including his close-knit team of makeup artists and camera crew, he decided to take matters in his own hands. What began as an experimentation to diversify his content resulted in Wing It With Ankush, his Instagram beauty account, where he uploads fun makeup videos of himself and his friends in a candid environment. Soon after this, Ankush began getting opportunities to collaborate with well-known beauty brands, and today he is a well-appreciated influencer in the beauty space who’s also encouraging other men to put makeup on, if they want to, without feeling ashamed about it. While talking about this year, he says, “In 2021, I’m finally being seen as a brand and not just someone who makes funny videos. I think that’s what changed for me this year.”

Siddharth Batra, 28, Fashion Influencer Instagram: 222k followers; YouTube: 42.7k subscribers

With his quirky, unconventional and OTT style, Batra is considered one of the most experimental fashion influencers of all. However, what sets him apart from his peers is his promotion of androgynous style. Marrying masculine with feminine elements effortlessly, Batra gained prominence in 2021 with his suits in fun colours, corset tops, and even jewellery that are conventionally worn by women. Want to see a man confidently sporting a sherwani with a saree? Go to Batra’s profile because probably he would have styled it already. He also talks about feminism, toxic masculinity and how to evade it, and normalizing groomed men, on his social media platforms.

Sanjyot Keer, 29, chef and food influencer

Started as a food producer for MasterChef India, Keer is now a popular content creator with millions of followers. He is known for giving a twist to dishes be it pav-bhaji bruschetta, Khakhra sandwich, peri-peri dosa and much more. His quirky spin on dishes gets viral. Keer says he has created a lot of content in 2021. “This year has gone by like a breeze but when I look back, I have created an insane amount of content. Going through the second wave we realized that the pandemic is still going to be with us for a while and as a content creator you have to go through it finding ways in which you continue to create content mindfully. 2021 makes you realise that even though you plan, strategize and imagine things going in a certain way, life is uncertain but you have to hold your head high and face realities. The biggest change 2021 brought in my life was to live in the present without overthinking about the past rather learn from it and live without contemplating what’s going to happen in the future.”