Hi Pooja, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Hi, I am Pooja Patel, from India, moved to the US on January 6th, 2020 I am a very family-oriented person. I believe in doing things that I enjoy doing. I am a fashionable as well as a spiritual person. I love traveling. I love to explore work in different fields. My story is all about my struggle to come to the US and how my life changed after coming here.
I had a very happening life in India. I did my bachelors in business administration and along with that, I started teaching because I always wanted to give it a try so I was giving Tuitions to 7th and 8th-grade Children’s. While teaching, I got a chance to do modeling which sounds really interesting so I gave it a try and I became successful in that, I won 2 titles – Miss Best Walk Of Surat 2015 at Mr. and Miss Surat Central (Surat is the name of my city) and Best Smile of Gujarat 2016.
In Model Search Contest 2016 (Gujarat is a state in India), I was one of the top 22 finalists from Gujarat to go for Creative Miss India 2016, Also got a chance to judge many beauty contests, came in newspapers (that was like dream come true) I started getting good shoots and I enjoyed doing that ( most of them were Indian bride related shoots) but that was just a part of my hobby, I never wanted to make it my profession. After completing my bachelor’s, I applied for my master’s, and fortunately, I got the admission to pursue master’s in business administration.
Meanwhile, my US petition files got approved, which was like awaited moment for me and my family . Me and my family decided to cancel my admission because it was better to do master’s in the US. So, everyone was happy and celebrating. I went for a trip with my friends to celebrate New Years and on 30th December 2017, we got a mail that said my name was removed from the petition files because I exceeded the 21years age law.
That was like a complete shock to my family. Everyone was upset because it was a difficult situation and my parents had to leave me alone in India. That was a tough phase, we tried so many things to get approved, I tried a student visa and everything but nothing was falling right in place. Meanwhile I started with my airport management from Aerostar Aviation Academy. I was so excited to join the aviation field. It was magical and I learned a lot from it. My parents use to visit me every few months. I was by myself I started a job in my field as a sales executive ( I use to explain projects ) and side by side I continued modeling too.
Meanwhile, My family showed so many marriage proposals from the US but I never liked anyone and they never forced me. Later after 2 years of struggling and figuring out things for me , I decided to just get married and settle down as I was already 24 by then. I met my husband on Facebook, we talked for a while on text than started videos calls, there was a time difference but we both managed giving time to each other and know each other better. I found him very interesting – good looks, good nature, understanding, caring, loving, good sense of humour well a complete husband material. Later, he came to India to visit me. We got married in India in 2019. I was happy and everything was good, I was expecting my visa call in the beginning of 2020 ( I was eagerly waiting to start a new life with my husband ) and all of a sudden there was lockdown everywhere because of the increase in Covid cases so my file was on hold again as the embassy was closed. It was a long wait.
Finally, at the end of 2020, I moved here. My life completely changed after coming here. I expected things to be really different but everything was just opposite to my expectations. I had no idea from where to start and do what. I started helping my husband with his business. His name is Nishant Patel and he is a Hotelier. I was eagerly waiting to get here, but after coming here I realised that it is not going to be easy. It’s a new country, new lifestyle, new people. Nothing was like before but I was mentally prepared that it will take time to adjust and get used to the new country and I never gave up on that.
Nishant always stood by my side and always motivated me to continue work in my field. I was busy trying to figure out the next step in life and everything else was going smooth.
One day, we found that my dad is suffering from Cancer (advanced stage ). My life just stopped, it was a tough situation, we tried a lot but couldn’t save him. I lost my dad, which I couldn’t accept. I was completely broken. I love my family so much. My parents mean the world to me. I should be the one consoling my mom and my brother but I was blank, I couldn’t see my life ahead without my dad but I realised that I have to be strong for my mother and my brother so, again for them I stood up to face the world and decided to do something on my own which will make my mom and dad proud.
Nishant gave me so much confidence and always helped me with everything. He said I can continue modeling or start a blog or just continue with my TikTok or Instagram because he believed in me that I am good at creating good contents so I started doing that and today I am doing good with that. I am a Makeup person and recently I got a collaboration offer from a beauty brand and This gave me more motivation to continue creating content. Getting work in your own field is a beautiful feeling.
I believe in my God and I know he has the best plans for me. Still, a long way to go, but I am loving this journey already.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it was more like a roller coaster ride for me. I started from one point, tried different things to reach my goal. It never went the way I wanted it to be but never lost faith in my god Krishna and with his divine blessings at the end, I am satisfied with what I have today.
I had no clear vision of what I can do here. I wanted to do something that makes me happy. I love making videos, doing makeup, creating different content, and interacting with my audience. Everyone knows that US is known as the land of opportunities so here, Life gave me a chance to continue my work that gives me immense satisfaction and happiness that too on a professional basis so I am loving it.
It is just a start, still a long way to go but ya I am working on it and I have a belief that I will reach the top one day.
My goal was to come to the US because I had my own reasons but the main reason was my family, my parents, my husband everyone was here, and as I said I am a very family-oriented person so I tried everything possible to get here. Recently I lost my dad, I still have a regret that I couldn’t meet him in this country. So I am working on myself to make my dad proud every day.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Apart from being educated in different fields, My specialty is creating digital content, may it be makeup videos or any other Lipsync videos. I am more about facing the camera and expressing myself because I feel more confident on camera and it helps me show the real me to my audience.
At first, I use to make videos just because it made me happy and I enjoyed doing it but after coming here I got a platform where I can get paid for making videos so this is the biggest achievement for me. I have activated my TikTok account which has around 111.1k followers and recently I got my first collaboration in the US from a makeup company so it really boosted my confidence.
Also, I am very much active on Instagram because they have given me an opportunity to show my talent in making reels and earning from it. There are obstacles everywhere but my specialty is my belief in myself because I know I can do it and I will do it. This all started with modeling 6 years ago and it was just a part of my hobby but today I feel proud of myself for not letting my talent down.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My belief in my Lord Krishna has given me a different vision of success. For me, success is the freedom of doing things you enjoy doing. Living my life on my terms and working on something that inspires you to make you a beautiful person in and out is success for me.
A work that gives you financial security but doesn’t make you happy at the end of the day is not worth it. Happiness is precious. I prefer making less money but being satisfied at the end of the day. That is an achievement for me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/pooja.2102?r=nametag
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pooja.2102
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC3ksqYKB2kkD_Jtac2QbOOA
- Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeQeSjJ5/
