I believe content is king and nothing else matters, says Devashree Sanghvi

Devashree Sanghvi left her job at a law firm for full-time blogging. She shares her journey of pursuing her passion for food and travel.

Devashree Sanghvi sheds light on how staying true to your content is important. Fame and money follow the hard work and sincerity is what lawyer turned blogger believes in. She is a lawyer by qualification and had started blogging when she was still a law student. Later, she left her job to pursue blogging full time.

Looking back, where did it all begin?

I’ve always grown up loving Food & Travel. Thecrazyindianfoodie started out of that passion as a website way back in 2014 with my home recipes and some restaurant reviews.

I love cooking, eating out, exploring new places & have been active on channels like Zomato.

My social media pages started in July 2015 when influencers weren’t in as much of a boom as they are now. It started simply as a way for me to express my passion and stories of Food and Travel through photos and write-ups.

I started making more and more efforts on my content and my page grew rapidly over the years to become one of Mumbai’s leading blogs on the Food, Travel & Hospitality that has over 330k+ followers across social media.

I’m actually a lawyer by qualification and was still studying law when I started with Thecrazyindianfoodie. Fast forward two years and I quit my job at a law firm to pursue blogging full time. Never looked back.

What's in the name?

Thecrazyindianfoodie is a reflection of who I am as a person. I am crazy and extremely passionate about what I do and Indian!

Indian food is an absolute favorite and nothing beats India in terms of its rich cuisine and diversity of cultures.

What is your USP in this cluttered space? How does your content give you an edge?

Our USP is good content. I believe content is king and nothing else matters as much as good quality content that interests your readers. Our unique and engaging content is what gives us an edge. You can find everything from street food to luxury hotels to destination videos to simple home cooking recipes on Thecrazyindianfoodie.

There’s something in it for everyone. Also, Thecrazyindianfoodie isn’t just another page, it’s the connection I have with my audience by always giving a personal touch to my posts and stories. After so many years people trust and respect our recommendations.

Please take us through your content creation process. How do you stay relevant and relatable?

We create a variety of content as mentioned before. Video is the most important in recent times. We have a small team of videographers, editors, photographers & stylists who work round the clock to put good content out.

Also since years of trial and error, we understand our audience to a certain extent and know the kind of content that they would want to see. I make sure I’m involved majorly in each and every project to keep the personal touch. Our content is spread across social media and on our website as well where we curate travel guides, listicles, restaurant reviews, hotel experiences and more.

Every project and shoot we do is unique. Every post should tell a story and make the viewer want to go there or try that dish themselves. Relevancy and relativity come from experience and experimenting. We’re always taking feedback from our audience on the kind of content they’d like to see more of. When I’m traveling I try to go to non-touristy less explored places too.

How do you make moolah with your efforts?

I started Thecrazyindianfoodie out of a passion and never imagined that it would one day become my career too. After years of content creation and effort today, I can proudly say that this is my career. We work with various restaurants, tourism boards, hotels, events & F&B brands on their influencer campaigns. This is how we monetize the blog. However, we also do a lot of other content like street food to keep a balance.

How do you maintain editorial objectivity with the influx of brand briefs?

When we have a brand promotion brief, we integrate our ideas with the brand's requirements and create content that’s engaging. It’s a win-win.

We keep the highest standards of integrity and try to present our work in a style understandable by various readers.

One instance/experience that made it all worthwhile

From trying some of the finest food in Macau

to covering luxury hotels in the UAE to riding on a safari in Sri Lanka to

exploring unique Greek islands, every experience is so beautiful and such a

wonderful content creation opportunity.

We were recently invited to Greece by the

Greek Government Tourism Boards to cover less explored islands like Andros,

Tinos, Milos, etc and we are the first Indian influencers they’ve worked with.

We were there for a month and the sheer beauty of the places + the warm Greek

hospitality & the chance to create unique content made it one of the most

memorable experiences as a blogger and as an individual. I remember making

Greek coffee for locals in a tiny mountainous Greek village in Tinos island and

the sheer happiness on their faces.

Also read: Overthinking will only spoil your content: Shreya Thakkar

Apart from Greece some of my most memorable experiences were winning the Sri Lankan Airlines Award for Photography & Coverage of Sri Lanka as a destination as part of the TBC Asia Travel Bloggers Conference, Colombo. This award hoisted Thecrazyindianfoodie as being one of the world’s 60 most influential travel bloggers.

I also got invited to give a Josh Talk on my

journey inspiring thousands of others to pursue their dreams.

The DM’s and messages we get from people every day appreciating our work make it all worthwhile.

Weirdest brand brief/request ever

There have been way too many weird briefs. I

remember one campaign where I had to showcase my teeth and take an

uncomfortably close shot of eating food.

If not blogging, you would be?

A lawyer which I already am!

A day in your life...

Wake up. Reply to emails and schedule calls. Plan campaigns with agencies for different brands, shoot all kinds of content, attend events/reviews or catch a flight maybe. Also a lot of food involved. It gets crazier every day!

Message/tips for upcoming bloggers

Don’t start a blog just because you want to earn money and live a fancy life. Do it because you’re truly passionate about it and you’re willing to give your sweat and blood for it. Fame and money will come eventually but not unless you start sincerely.

Your Favorite Influencer

The Naughty Fork from New York, Miss Malini, Josh Cahill (aviation blog) and Bruised Passports.

The Future you foresee for your Personal Brand

We have a lot of exciting things coming up. I foresee bringing in investors and expanding the company, making it a one-stop destination for people to know about the latest Restaurants, destinations, hotels, events and more.