A Female Serial Entrepreneur making Strides. Introducing: Meeta Vengapally: The Most Sponsored Model on Instagram, LITERALLY!
Instagram is one of the most popular social media where people can share pictures and videos. As a popular medium of sharing impressive media, many investors are looking for influencers to promote their own brand and products as well.
Today, we had the honor of sitting down with Meeta Vengapally for an exclusive interview on all her successes. How this woman went from getting an MS after having babies to launching her startup in the most competitive Silicon Valley, honored by Forbes on a number of times, to becoming the most sponsored person on social media?
One of the most sponsored Instagram model; fitness enthusiast who runs a silicon valley based health and fitness startup; and a serial entrepreneur. Meeta Vengapally has been featured on Forbes, MSN, Entrepreneur Magazine, Chicago Tribune, TGDaily, and recently made an appearance on IMDb. We all had one question for Meeta, how did you accomplish so much? Here is what she said: “You gotta trust your innovative side and give your creativity room to grow. No matter how silly or how impossible your idea might be, the fact that you had it means something special. “
We asked her several questions and are going to publish three questions related to her Instagram management, her first startup business ‘Garnysh’ and her transformation from an innovator to a Serial Entrepreneur.
Question: Please share some information about ‘Garnysh’, something you haven’t shared before, perhaps?
Meeta Vengapally: Garnysh is my third baby. I have grown personally and professionally so much through the ups and downs of my company. A year ago, I started out alone, with nothing but an idea. I went around pitching my vision to the neighborhood gyms, most didn’t believe in it and the few that did became the biggest supporters of my journey. The hustle is real, I learned quickly that the only guarantee that was a constant was rejection and failure. Honestly, it was the only familiar feeling. I spent many sleepless nights facing my biggest fear, what if…? You know how that goes. I mean I still mostly run on less than 5 hours of sleep on most days and sometimes have to put in 36-48 hours especially before we launched our second version of the beta. The difference is in how I feel now, and it is just that, to keep going. I really didn’t know where any of it will lead or even if it will, but the little voice (the kind that seems to come to life at night, at least for haha) always said just go with it. I made countless mistakes, many decisions that made my board doubt my abilities, and my team, my little team of 3 people I had built in 6 months frustrated and annoyed. It’s definitely been a scary ride, you really have to be able to make a fool of yourself, allow to be laughed at, be ok with not being taken seriously, and still somehow find the courage to keep going, anyway. I can’t say that I made it or am anywhere close to it, as that was never the reason behind going after your ideas and dreams. But, I will say, I had to go through it all, every heartbreak, all the sleepless teary nights, and every stupid mistake to have arrived here. I was not handed a manual, I was warned though. Those conversations typically went something like everyone has an idea these days, good luck. Many also had to point out that I am a wife and a mother as if I had forgotten that. Somehow it was talked with an undertone of that being a weakness when it’s really my biggest strength. Just keep going, is the only thing that made any difference.
Question: How did you become an IG star? a model after having two babies?
Meeta Vengapally: Honestly, I don’t know, haha. I remember Garnysh was 6 or so months old and my team was managing all the social accounts for the company and they wanted me to have a presence on IG. I told them I can’t even keep up with my FB (it was the only social platform I was somewhat active on). So they set it up for me, took over the management and all I had to do was load my pics on Google Drive so they can schedule posts. A few weeks later one of my teammates told me there is a new brand that wants feedback, it was actually one of the followers for Garnysh. We were happy to help, I had under a thousand followers then and they had over a hundred thousand haha, so it was no biggie. So we gave them a shoutout and that was that. Rest is honestly history. As Garnysh grew, so did my following, and while old methods of marketing have been around, new ways started emerging such as Influencer Marketing. I got into it by accident and now I have a team just to handle my social media management and vetting all sponsorships. It is getting very busy and overwhelming so we are hand selecting who to work with.
Question: How you became a most sponsored model on Instagram surpassing many heavyweight actresses?
Meeta Vengapally: (Laughs!) I have a great team. I wouldn’t be able too without the collective effort. It’s been a true blessing and I am so incredibly honored to be published as “one of the most sponsored people on IG”. It’s been just one dot to another. Often times you can’t see the dot connecting as you move forward, but in retrospect, I can connect all the dots and how I’ve come this far. I don’t know about surpassing celebrities though, I mean I keep it real. I tell the story as it is. As we continue to add brands to our portfolio, we continue to learn and grow as what we want to stand behind and where we need to say no. Its a work in progress and a great little journey to be on.
Question: You made it on IMDb recently, can you share about that?
Meeta Vengapally: Yes, it is definitely one of the highest honors of my life. I was to be invited by the Producer and Director of the new upcoming movie, Whisper, to be part of the feature film. I had the best time being on set with the incredible cast including Maia Mitchell. The movie was shot at. Frank Sinatra’s mansion. He if my forever mood. Coincidence? I like to call it Synchronicity, where the mystical powers bring us to exactly where we are meant to be.
From all of us at the Inscribe Magazine, we wish you all the best and much more success to you in everything you do. We are honored to have had the opportunity to meet someone who is living a full throttle life and is inspiring so many along the way.
Follow our fav Serial Entrepreneur on IG Followers and see for yourself, that you can really have it all.