Goals, goals, goals! Chef, author and television personality Shipra Khanna continues to inspire as an influencer after claiming the impressive title of MasterChef India.
Khanna, 40, exclusively shared with Us Weekly her keys to success as an influencer and what drives her to achieve her goals. The culinary star has gained 4.2 million followers on Instagram through her talents as a chef but also with her openness and authenticity. Her page is full of positive, candid content and delicious dishes — an irresistible combo that’s won many hearts.
As an advocate for healthy eating, Khanna has used her expertise to author several cookbooks, including #HealthUnlimited and The Spice Route: 1.
The MasterChef winner discussed her life in the spotlight and what she hopes to achieve through her platform. Keep reading to find out what advice she has for aspiring content creators:
Us Weekly: What’s your secret to your success in growing followers?
Shipra Khanna: My love to create. Whether it’s from my travels, recipes, new table setting ideas, fitness, healthy lifestyle, healthy recipes and sharing it with my tribe (followers) helps getting more and more people to follow me!
Us: Was there a pivotal moment in your life that really helped grow your following?
SK: Yes, I remember when I was traveling meticulously and sharing all my experiences on Instagram, I saw a boom in growth of my followers.
Us: What’s the best advice you can give on becoming an influencer?
SK: If you’re passionate about something, can be anything, master the art of creating and sharing it on Instagram. It’s a great platform to reach out to people who love the same and you will soon find your tribe. It might be slow, very slow at times, but do not let that get in the way of you doing and sharing what you love to do!
Us: Do you still talk to or hang out with any other MasterChef contestants?
SK: Yes, we are all in touch as much as we can and do meet sometimes and share some laughs together!
Us: What are three fun facts about you that no one knows?
SK: I have a great sense of humor, which very few know. I love to dance and I’m very adventurous!
Us: What (if any) celebrity has reached out to you to try to collab and/or said they were a fan? What was that conversation like?
SK: Yes, many have. It’s of course really a good feeling when a person accomplished in their field admires you and what you do and at the same time makes you want to give your best knowing you’re doing it right! Always a pleasant and fun long stretched conversation and leading to mutual admiration!
Us: Who (celebrity-wise) is your biggest inspiration? Whose account do you follow the most and what do you love about him/her?
SK: I love Chef Heston Blumenthal, his ideas, approach to food, is something which I admire a lot and has given me a lot of inspiration to create my own!
Us: What’s your goal as an influencer? What are you hoping to accomplish and/or spread the word about?
SK: I want to reach out to more and more people and inspire them to eat right, adopt a healthy lifestyle, healthy eating habits and become someone who is happy and healthy in both body and mind; which is what my eighth book #HealthUnlimited is all about! Eventually, life is all about being ‘happy’ no matter which approach you take, and being a chef it’s my mission to make people understand how important good health is and how they can change their mindset towards it. Also in my country, and (many others as well) woman still suffer from gender bias and all the drawbacks that come along with it, I am trying to break that in many ways but it’s an ongoing process as you know, it wouldn’t happen overnight, so I support women and inspire them to achieve their dreams and my entire team is of females from all walks of life!
Us: Anything else you’d like to share with us?
SK: If you can dream it, you can achieve it! Talking about my journey has not been an easy one, right from getting married at age 18 and knowing nothing about the world, to going through a terrible marriage, and getting out of it, at times where ‘divorce’ was a taboo in my country, the only way to freedom for me was through my cooking, with passion and love which helped me turn my life around and win the prestigious title of MasterChef India! I never thought that I would travel across the globe with my cooking and cook with all the star chefs of the world, explore cuisines, and have friends across the globe. I started to create content and make my followers travel across with me, through nations and explore, which gave birth to ‘MY SPICE TRAIL,’ which showcases my amazing adventures across the globe exploring food, people cuisines, etc. My message to the readers and my followers is – ‘Nothing in life is small or big it’s just a perspective. Life will throw a lot of challenges at you, but it’s how strong your resolve is and where you want to take your life, it’s completely up to you whether you want to turn dust to gold!’ Believe in yourself and rest will follow!
