When you hear about someone making a living in the mountains, you think they must be a travel blogger or must own a trekking company but Nidhi Thakur chose a different path, and ventured into the space of Digital Marketing. And, she made her dream a successful reality. By Japleen Kaur
Leaving a city like Mumbai is not an easy task, and living in the mountains is equally difficult. Nidhi had a high profile media job that she quit to go volunteer with Waste Warriors in Bhagsu for two months after watching the movie Highway. Guess, Bollywood will always be an important part of her life! Any free time she got was spent exploring nearby places like Kullu, Bir and Manali. During that time she knew that going back to the metro culture would be a highly daunting experience now.
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Once she exhausted her savings she was forced to come back, and start looking for jobs only to permanently shift to Dharamshala, where the majestic Dhauladhar range made her feel at home. And she bagged her dream job as a celebrity manager, which she dared to turn down only to look at the bigger picture. ” I went for an interview in Mumbai, and it was when I got selected and called for the second round that it suddenly hit me — I didn’t want to commit to anything that binds me and that might discourage any impromptu trips back to the mountains. That was it. I stopped applying for jobs and started meeting people to seek advice on starting my own agency, which I can manage from Dharamsala. I met my ex-bosses and ex-clients, and they were all very supportive. They helped me start with freelance projects. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was running an agency with some full-time and some part-time employees. I made sure all my clients were on-board with the idea of me eventually shifting to Dharamsala, and so once my agency completed a year and I felt it was stable enough to be monitored remotely, I packed my bags and booked a one-way ticket back to the Dhauladhars.”
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And, that’s how The Owl Post was born, a Digital Marketing agency with clients across different fields including Being Human Clothing. If the name doesn’t give it away, she is a big time Potterhead too, and is still waiting for her Hogwarts letter to arrive.
Her aim now is to involve the local kids with her agency and teach them the skills of digital marketing so that they can learn and be at par with the city kids. The ultimate goal though is to open an afternoon school for the kids of construction workers while their parents work hard to make ends meet.
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When asked what are the drawbacks of living such a life, because let’s face it, everything has its cons, she answered, “The one thing I really crave, and it’s probably the only thing that’ll make me shift back (if at all) to Bombay, is the lack of cultural/social events and opportunities. I’m a sucker for learning new things all the time, and the scope of doing that in a small town can be very restricted. I really miss and would some day want to complete my kathak and salsa training. Another very obvious obstacle is the lack of work opportunities here. People don’t really value the importance of digital marketing and that’s been my biggest fear/challenge.”
But the positive side for her are the people, who motivate her to always give her best. “I’ve been lucky to meet the most beautiful and eccentric bunch of super-talented people here, people from different walks of life, from all around the world, who have just given up everything and are now living here and doing super interesting things with their lives. I love that energy and the kind of inspiration it ignites.”
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From working as an associate producer for post production on Koffee With Karan to dealing with clients while watching beautiful sunsets everyday, Nidhi might get inspired by others but for us, she is a role model.
This young girl is highly competitive when it comes to board games (Monica vibes, anyone?), and hates chatting via messages. And, she can bake a mean storm of yummy goodies — I’m thinking a cute little bakery in the bylanes of Dharamshala in the near future?
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When there, make sure you stop by Blossoms Village Resort to say “hi” as it is her go to hang out spot but being the introvert that she is, don’t be alarmed if it takes some time for the conversation to hit momentum!
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