Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
My creative process is a bit manic at times, to be honest. I wake up Monday and Thursday stressed because I don't have a video. I usually - with the exception of maybe a handful of videos - wake up, write the video, shoot the video, edit the video, release the video all in the same day.
Now I do feel like I have something to say. The book [How to Be a Bawse] is a guide on how to not just survive life but to conquer it. And it's based on my life experiences, all the people I've met, all the things I've learned from those people, being in the weird situations that I get in.
I am pretty weird - as weird as in my videos. The only difference is Lilly is not a performer, and Superwoman is. So Superwoman is very fearless. You'll never see her nervous. You'll never see her sad. But Lilly is a human. She is the person behind Superwoman, who gets sad and tired sometimes.
I was the first South Asian female to do comedy videos on YouTube. But at the same time, all races face their barriers, and I've learned through YouTube, if it's not race, it will be sexism, if it's not sexism, it will be homophobia. It will always be something, and all voices should be heard.
When I uploaded my very first video, I was just looking for something to make me happy. I was confused about what I was doing in my life and had earned a degree that I didn't really enjoy. With that video, I was finally doing something I was passionate about. So it was my way of self-medicating.
As a digital creator, there's been so much pressure to write a book because so many of my peers have done it. I've been very adamant about saying, "No! I don't want to release a book just for the sake of writing a book. I'm going to write a book when I feel like I have something to say in a book."
No matter what I put out, somebody will be offended. I made a video on 10 reasons to smile, and it has dislikes. That should be an indication that there will be some who get offended no matter what you do. The best you can do as an entertainer or as someone who performs is to follow what you believe in.
Sometimes I'll be sitting on Facebook at home and see all these people getting married, having kids, having that life that I was told I should have. And sometimes I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Am I the stupid one here? Am I not doing what I'm supposed to do? And that's also equally as stressful.
I can go to my premiere at the Chinese Theatre, and everyone will know me, and everyone will cater to me. And then I'll go to an audition and get rejected left, right and centre. They don't watch my videos, and they don't really know who I am. It is like starting from scratch when it comes to traditional Hollywood.
Competition gives birth to a lot of success, and if no one ever challenged you, you wouldn't go anywhere. It makes sense to compete with others for a promotion at work. But so many women take it a step further and won't even support other women. They end up competing over things that don't make sense - like how we look.
Growing up, I was always creatively inclined, and when YouTube came about, it was like getting the perfect platform to showcase what I wanted. Personally, I was going through a dark phase in my life, and I decided to make videos and basically go by the adage, 'If you want to cheer up yourself, go cheer up someone else.'
I feel like you have to use your energy, you have to use your resources to help those who don't have a voice. Whereas back in the day, you could say, "I didn't know about this. What was I supposed to do? One person can't make a difference." No, like, none of that's valid. You can make a difference, and you do have a voice.
I still make videos in my bedroom by choice because that's the feel of my comedy, but the opportunity to make longer format content with a production company, with a team that's a bit more elevated in that sense, is really exciting for me because it's not that it's better than what I've already been doing, but it's different.
I've had fans do some pretty awesome things... I once had a fan do a mock proposal for me in Mumbai, inside a McDonalds... and I've had fans give me some precious things. I had one fan give me her mother's ring; I've gotten some pretty intense stuff. And I always get drawings and scrapbooks from fans, which is also pretty cool.
I recently caught myself giving a pretty girl the cold shoulder because I felt intimidated. She was so gorgeous, and it made me feel insecure. I wasn't even aware until someone pointed it out to me. I was so embarrassed! I recognized those thoughts and made a point to be more friendly to her because there was no reason to be cold.
I'm a super spiritual person, so every now and then I'll say, "Everyone, get out of my room because I need 15 minutes by myself to just sit alone." I have a chapter in my book [How to Be a Bawse] called "Pause," and basically, the idea is one of the ways to be successful is to reflect back on your successes and everything you've achieved.
I found my voice when I started doing YouTube videos, and that's when I was pretty old, to be honest. I think it's about exploration. I think it's about trying new things, meeting new people, and also, it's about borrowing inspiration from other people. Because I still have those moments where I'm like, "Oh my God, I'm a loser, what am I doing?"
I started treating my career as if it was a guarantee,if things get difficult and things don't work out, I'm not gonna think I have a Plan B, which is grad school, or Plan C, which is an office job. I'm just gonna have a Plan A, a Plan A 2.0, a Plan A 3.0, and that's what I'm going to do. Because entertainment and YouTube are always going to be my Plan A.
I would tell anyone, pick the person you love the most, the musician, the actor, public figure, whatever, and watch a bunch of their interviews and find ones where they talk about all the times they've failed, all the times they weren't good enough, and watch those on the regular. It's a very unique type of inspiration. It's almost like spiritual jumper cables for your inner drive.
I always wanted to be someone in the entertainment industry. In my eighth grade slideshow, when everyone was like "show us what you want to be," everyone [said] doctor, lawyer, [but] mine literally said rapper. I wanted to be a musician, I wanted to be a superstar, I wanted to be on stage, I wanted to perform, I wanted to be in movies. But as you grow up, those dreams kind of fade away.