Episode Transcript
[Hello, my name is Aziz, and I'm the son of a divorce mother. She is really my superhero. That's why it's important for me to support women to share their uniqueness, their personalities, perspectives, and emotions about life. Too many women in this world feel alone. They worry about the judgment of others, and they struggle with their mental health. But when they listen to the Rare Girls podcast where empowered women share their voices and tell their stories, many women will feel inspired to live a life of freedom and to overcome all insecurities. They will feel it is a safe space to find their confidence, to remember their unique beauty, and to feel their self-worth. And they will connect with the sisterhood of Rare Girls who encourage their success and support their dreams. That's what this podcast is all about. My guest today is Sonia Shrestha. Originally from Nepal, Sonia is a model, writer, lifestyle influencer, and also an artistic director for multiple magazines. Her study degree is in mass communication and journalism, English literature and psychology. She lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and she loves writing, traveling, dancing, and cooking as a hobby. Sonia, how are you today? Hi, dear. I'm very good, and thank you so much for having me in Rare Girls podcast. I'm honored, I'm lucky, and privileged, and really looking forward to know much more about you since you're the very first girl from Nepal in this podcast. So to me, the question that I always begin with because it opens a conversation in a good way is if your friends could describe your personality, Sonia, what would they say about you? Well, if my friends have to describe me, then actually it's a little bit tough question for me because I have different friends, and different friends knows me in a different way. But if I count on my friends, they would probably call me selfless, kind, helpful, dedicated, and a strong, independent person. So my closest friend would also tell me like a funny person, too, because it depends on with whom I am and where I am with. So most of all, like everyone would say, I'm a very kind and good person. Thank you. You are welcome. And so to ask you a bit more about that because also you describe that you are a strong person, an independent person. Is this the reason why you moved to Dubai? And how was that experience of moving to a new place and starting a new life? Well, yes. To move somewhere alone by yourself, of course, you have to be very strong because you will be leaving your family behind. You will be leaving your friends behind, your close one, everyone. So yes, it was a little tough, but I wanted that because I always want a new thing in my life and some adventurous feelings. And to be independent, you should always be far away from your family because when you are with your family, you will always be dependent on them for something. So yes, I choose this life to learn about life, to be independent, to pursue my dreams in my own way. So when I realize it and turn back, I just love the way how it is and how it was because when I came to Dubai, I was totally alone. And those things made me more strong and focused to pursue my dreams. Yes. Thank you so much for sharing that, Sonia. And I'm curious as well, since you are working in the artistic field, where does your inspiration come from? What are things that inspire you in order for you to create and to be able to do your job in the way that is standing out in the way that you are right now? The artistic director is like when I started doing modeling and when I started working in this social media platforms, like an influencer, like a model. I met many new people. I met many models who wants to be modeled as well, who wants to be someone in their life. So yes, when I was alone, I struggled a lot in my lives by searching for a right path, for searching for a right people because here everyone are not helpful, everyone are not real. So you have to know who are good for you, who are bad for you. So when I used to do this modeling like fashion so like photoshoot, when I used to meet some new models, new ladies who wants to be someone in their life. So I was always helping them. I was telling them do this. So you have to register here. You can't trust everyone. You have to be independent. You have to be strong. You have to face lots of things, but always have a faith. You never lose hope. So when that things came, I had contact with many models. I had a contact with many organizers. So I find myself that I should work in a Maxim too. To give the opportunity for the people, for the models, for whoever they want, whoever comes to me, I always want to give them a platform for themselves so that it will be easy for them to move ahead in their life for what they want to be. So that's why it started. And yeah, I remember like it was last year, 2022, one of the magazine approached me to be their artistic director. And then it started with that. So now I am with almost like four magazines. The first one was in New York. So rest is from Dubai only. Yes. Thank you so much. I really celebrate your success. And it makes me wonder since you were working in the field of modeling and even today, there are many women who would compare how they look to other women. And if it's your job or it's your career, it becomes harder. Many women might not be able to deal with that stress or with not seeing their own unique beauty because they think some other girl looks like how they wish they looked. Did you deal with this? Do you know some models who are dealing with this? And what's your advice to women who compare themselves on social media or to other women in real life so that they see their own unique beauty? Well, I don't like to compare with any woman on social media because that makes us upset. And I really feel that every one of us is different with different beauty and values. So I just want to tell that everyone, we have a unique beauty and we are different from everyone. So in my way, I would be nervous if I copy someone. But when I present as me in front of people, as the way I am, as in my own style, in my own way, then I will feel more good. So I feel like comparing with someone is not good. You can compare with someone and you can be upset because you will feel like, OK, she's so beautiful. She has fair skin. I don't have that. She's tall. I'm a little bit short. So when you compare it, I feel like it comes a problem, not a solution. So I feel that you should not compare. You should be comfortable with yourself, be comfortable with what you are. But you should groom yourself better. You should be better version by comparing. If you compare someone, if you like something which is good for you, which is good for your identity, yes, you can change by yourself. You can make your-- OK, if you see someone have a good hair color, you want to change. And you feel like that is good for you. Yes, that is good. But comparing overall for me is very bad. And it's not good because it helps-- it doesn't help you to move ahead in your life. It just brings upset and it can make you unhappy too. Because if I compare with someone, to be honest, I really don't feel good. So yes. So I would like to tell that we don't need to change what we are, but we need to be improved. And we have to be better version day by day. No one is perfect, but we can be better always. So yes, I think we should not compare. 100%, thank you for sharing that. As well as you mentioned, when you are growing your network in Dubai, there are a lot of great people, but some people that are not trustworthy. What is your advice to maybe new girls moving to Dubai so that they can see the red flags and the signs of who is not trustworthy so that they can filter those people out and only focus on good people? Well, yes, there are different kind of people. So my advice for other women to find the right friends or right first person when they move to a new place. So it would be like you should be a friend of someone who always tries-- you should not be, sorry, you should not be a friend of someone who always tries to take from you, you know, like someone who talks bad about you in your bag, a person who is with you only in your happy situation or when you have money and when you have something to give them, but when you have nothing, they just leave you and they can take advantage from you and they will disappear somewhere. A friend is someone who I feel like a person or a friend is someone who will be with you in your every situation. Like, I have some good friends who are like my family, you know, with whom I share lots of things and they are always close to me in my bad situation, in my good situation. And some person I saw is like I help them in their bad situation and when I need something, they are like, oh, they make some excuses and they just go disappear and again, when they need something, they come to you. So you should know the person intention, you should know how they are behaving with you, you should know like if they are right or wrong because, yeah, it's really difficult. Sometimes you trust a person so nicely, but later they disappoint you with some kind of bad behaviors. So, yeah, it's a little bit difficult, but the cra- but you should know the characteristic of a good person and a bad person. Good person are always selfless, who are kind, polite, forgiving, honest, also encouraging you in the field of success, encouraging you like what you want to be, what you want to do. The good person will always encourage you. It's not about money or it's not about something that they can give you, but they will be encouraging you, they will be with you in your good time. So, yes, I have a good person, good friends now, so I filter in that way and it takes time, but later you will realize who is nice, who is wrong, but when you find someone is very selfish, I would like to stay away from those kind of people. Thank you so much, and I want more of your insight and wisdom. You said that when there are new girls in the industry, you give them advice about what to do and how to succeed. In general, what is your advice to women who are going after their big dreams that you think they should remember or listen to so that they will succeed and follow those dreams without giving up and without letting someone else tell them they cannot make it? Yes, when I was new in this field of modelling, I faced different issues, different problems. I was like, "How should I start? What should I do?" So, like many people said, like, "You should sign up with the agency. They will give you some projects." So, there is one very funny incident. I even signed up with one agency, and later I came to know that they just signed up with the models, take money and they give some classes, and after that they don't care at all. So, there are so many those kind of fake agencies who are earning money and they are doing nothing for the models, and there are some good agencies who are not taking anything but still giving the job. So, when I realised that there are those kind of things happening, so I was scared to register in another agency. So, what I did is, like, the shoot, whatever I have done, I started to filter my pictures, I started to post good pictures in my Instagram, I started to build my profile like a portfolio so that the people, whoever I meet, we meet, we share the Instagram so they can see everything, my profile, my work, my background. So, that way I started to manage my Instagram very well and do kind of shoots, whatever project I used to do, I used to post, wherever I used to meet people, we used to share the social media link, and through that I got many opportunities, and through that I got inbox, I got messages, so many messages to work with me. So, in that way I started to work, and in that no agency was there, it was by my own. So, if you want to be something in your life, you should not wait for someone to do something for you. What I believe is, like, if you go ahead, if you improve yourself, if you, whatever you know, whatever idea you have, you should provide it in front of the people so that they can see it. So, yes, sometimes you will get the opportunity, sometimes you will not get the opportunity, but you should never stop trying. You should always try. It can be small, it can be big, it can be good, it can be bad, but never stop trying and never lose faith or hope. That is the thing what I did in my life, so maybe after two years or three years, I got the success, I got the platform, I got the chance. Now people knows me, now people invites me, now I am, like, so much busy because I have to schedule, like, which day, what should I do? So, a whole month routine I start to make, and, yeah, that's how it works. So, I just want to tell, like, never stop whatever it comes. Do not be sad if you failed. I failed a lot in my life, a lot. Maybe for three years I was failed in my career, I was failed in my goal, whatever I wanted to be, model or writer, whatever. So, after that, slowly, when I never stopped trying, I always tried in my life, then I got this chance, I got this situation right now, which is good, and I'm thankful for that. And it all depends on yourself, not with anyone. So, that's it. Thank you so much, really, for sharing that. And this project is about breaking all the stereotypes related to women, no matter how they look. And there is such a stereotype about women who might be models that maybe they could be snobs or not so smart or not friendly to you. Did you face these expectations from people who did not know you, who thought things about you because of how you look and that are not real? And what is your expression towards this? Is this something that is disappearing? Is this something that you are happy to change the minds of people? Did you experience it? Tell me more. Well, sometimes it's very-- well, I'm very friendly with the people. Sometimes when I speak with someone, I speak very nicely, and I'm honest what I tell about someone. I haven't faced, but sometimes, you know, like when there is an international event or international person, so there are like different kind of people, and some models are like very, very tall, and fair, and very skinny. In that way, we are easy, and we are not super tall. We are not super skinny. We are like by the birth only, we are different, and we are not so much tall. So sometimes they are like-- they just act like normal, like different kind of way, not only with me, with my some friends. But what I feel like confident is one of the best thing. Like if you have confidence, if you walk properly, if you pose properly in front of camera, and if you have a confident of that, nothing can stop you. So but then I see like their walk was not so much good. They were tall, but when they were walking, it wasn't so good. Then I realized that to be a model, it's not like you need to be super tall or skinny. No, you can be as you are. You should take care of your fitness. You should improve yourself better every day by taking care of your skin, your body, your body language, and the way how you walk, the way how you pose. And you should have that confidence. I think if you have that confidence, nothing can stop you. And even though if you face those situations, I think it doesn't matter at all when you are as the way as they are in the work-wise. 100%. And to finish this, Sonia, I have this question for you. You spoke about confidence, and a woman can be confident. There can be women in this world who are dreaming, for example, to move away to Dubai or to live through life on their dreams. But they are following their parents' advice, doing what their parents want them to do, but they don't want to do it. Or maybe they worry and think, oh, what if something bad happens? What if it's too much risk? What's your advice to those women so that they follow their dreams and go after their big goals? Well, yes. When we follow our dreams, we always think about the family also. I was the same. I used to discuss everything with my family, like, I'm going to do this, that. And then they used to-- sometimes they used to say, OK. Sometimes they used to say, no. What I think is like, if you are true to yourself, even though if you go to follow your path, but if you don't do anything wrong and you are right, that means it's fine. What I mean to say is, like, sometimes we go to follow our dreams or to be successful. We take some wrong ways, which can make bad, which can affect us later. So I want to tell that don't go in that way. Just be honest to yourself. Just be good. You may not get one opportunity there, but you will get another opportunity. The doors are always open for us. It can be now or it can be later. But if you really respect your family, if you really want you to be happy and them to be happy, then I just saw things like, don't go in a wrong way. There are so many good agencies. There are so many good people. Just be with them or work with them. If you find something fishy, if you find something is not good beyond your imagination or without your concern, something is going happening bad. If you feel like that, I think you should step out from that situation. You should not be with those kind of people or surroundings. Because that will affect your mind later. You will feel like, oh, I feel like they were not good, but I didn't stop myself. I should not have doing bad things and all. That will just spoil your mind, mood, and everything, which will be more bad in future. So I just want to say, if you find something wrong, if you find some people are not good with you, not correct, then just step out from there. It's OK. You can find some better path. And that is your good decision. And everyone would be proud of you than being with the wrong people and doing the wrong thing to get something for you. I hope you understand. I understand 100%. Thank you so much, Sonia. It was my privilege and my honor to have you here to share your voice, your thoughts, and your wise advice. I wish you all the success in the world and to keep growing your impact and your brand. And thank you again for participating. Well, thank you so much, dear. Well, this was a live podcast online. So yeah, it is all of a sudden. And we planned since long time. And finally, we did. So yeah, I was a little bit nervous at first. But when you told me it's about the woman, it's about encouraging the woman, I was very excited. And I'm so happy for this opportunity to share my words among the women who are dreaming, who are willing to be someone in their life. I just want to tell is just be yourself. Just be happy. Just follow your dreams. Never stop dreaming. If you dream, then only you can succeed. So that's what I want to say. And thank you so much once again. It was my real pleasure. And I'm so happy. I know I was a little bit nervous. And it was too quick for me. But it went so good. And I'm so happy and glad that we got connected through the real girl phase. And we got connected in the Instagram. And now we got chance to speak. So it's my pleasure. Thank you so much. Mine as well. And thank you too.
