00:02
all right so Annika Gandhi really happy
00:05
to have you as our work guest on the
00:06
everyday enthusiast we've actually
00:08
featured you as an everyday enthusiast
00:10
previously on our homepage so yeah I'm
00:12
very happy to have you
00:13
we're really happy to have you um so you
00:16
are a DIY enthusiast a blogger through
00:19
the woman behind
00:20
Anika's DIY life a really successful
00:21
blog with thousands of followers once
00:24
you share the audience I know you kind
00:25
of stumbled upon DIY he like tell us a
00:28
little bit that little bit about that
00:30
story and so yeah about almost nine
00:35
years ago now I I before that previously
00:41
I had no absolutely zero exposure to DIY
00:44
I grew up in India and we don't really
00:46
do any of that stuff there the most I
00:49
did was you know crochet and embroidery
00:53
and paper crafts and stuff like that so
00:56
when we came here I was actually looking
01:00
for some cool table and chair set for my
01:04
daughter who was just about 18 months at
01:07
that time and I couldn't find anything
01:10
all I found was like primary colors or
01:14
just really boring things and I really
01:16
wanted something with some character to
01:19
it so I went online to kind of research
01:23
and then I found that you know I could
01:26
actually paint IKEA furniture
01:28
interestingly I had not thought about
01:30
that myself
01:34
I realized I could paint it and it kind
01:38
of led me down the rabbit hole of
01:39
discovering all the things that you
01:42
could do the world of DIY and I actually
01:45
discovered that I could actually build
01:47
my own furniture and it wasn't that hard
01:49
at all so it's just kind of being down
01:54
you know down that path of making stuff
01:58
now when you were starting where you did
02:01
you research like bloggers kind of like
02:02
what you eventually became like is that
02:04
how you kind of learned the tricks of
02:06
the trade yes I mean I I had discovered
02:10
blogs and my search for all
02:13
the things that you could make and do
02:14
and I really really enjoyed and I was
02:19
really in awe of all the bloggers who
02:21
were out there that were sharing all the
02:23
things that they were doing they were
02:25
giving so freely and that was so nice
02:28
and I just in my mind I guess but as I
02:33
was doing projects I always pretended to
02:35
be a blogger you know like in their mind
02:37
if you're doing things and stuff and it
02:40
just kind of yeah I just kind of went
02:45
down it and then there was a time when I
02:47
had quit my job we had moved moved moved
02:51
cities and I had my second kid and I was
02:55
kind of taking a little break to enjoy
02:56
the kids lives and I but then you know
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I'm a workaholic I can't not do anything
03:03
so I decided to start a blog I mean it
03:07
was always meant to be a site this site
03:09
hustle I was always going to go back to
03:12
work full-time but then I enjoyed doing
03:14
this so much and it just kind of worked
03:17
out so I never went back to work back so
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when he first started the blog did it
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how long did it take you to kind of take
03:26
off and get some followers like was it
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hard in the beginning to get people to
03:31
be interested in your work yes I mean
03:34
the first few months it's kind of really
03:37
I mean right now and it already feels
03:39
like it's been it's only been four years
03:41
like it's just about over four years and
03:44
it was four years in January and it it
03:47
already feels like it was a long time
03:48
ago and things have changed so much
03:50
because when I started out I had to
03:53
really struggle to find information on
03:56
how to do stuff and figure out how to do
03:58
now there's all these people with all
04:00
these courses and all this information
04:02
out there
04:04
so in blog blog years I'm already
04:07
ancient but yeah it's it took about a
04:13
few months for me to actually figure out
04:15
what I was doing like it wasn't just as
04:17
simple as starting a blog like setting
04:19
up a site and just start writing stuff
04:21
yeah all the background the SEO and all
04:24
of that stuff that goes into it
04:26
it took me some time to kind of figure
04:28
it all out I want to say at least six
04:31
seven months I add the first six seven
04:34
months I didn't really know what I was
04:36
doing I guess yeah I mean I was learning
04:42
that's you know it that was a very
04:44
crucial phase for me to learn and to
04:46
figure out what I wanted to be what I
04:48
wanted my blog to be what I wanted to
04:50
teach the audience and I mean on my
04:54
originally I was doing a lot of crafts
04:57
as well a lot of painting and things
04:59
like that
04:59
so it it took me a while to figure out
05:02
what really what what it was that I
05:05
really had to give to my audience that
05:08
they would they would enjoy and I would
05:11
be helpful to them so yeah and then took
05:15
me out but so yeah so it kind of took me
05:18
a while to figure that out but then once
05:20
I figured that out I just had to kind of
05:23
mold myself to that and there's like a
05:27
like collaboration is really big with a
05:30
lot of a DIY enthusiasts like did you
05:32
find help along the way to people share
05:34
your blog like kind of bringing you up
05:37
you know absolutely yes yes it is it is
05:40
a really really supportive community and
05:42
I'm really thankful for that and I have
05:44
actually become friends with a lot of
05:47
the bloggers that were originally you
05:49
know I looked like I I watched and
05:53
learned stuff from so it's and
05:56
everybody's supportive and everybody
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helps you and you know works with you
06:03
collaborates shares your projects and
06:06
that's everything we all help each other
06:09
grow and that's the amazing part of it
06:12
and I know you so it's only been a short
06:14
period of time like four years since you
06:16
started but what would Jesus changed
06:18
like what would you say is the biggest
06:20
change since you started like what's the
06:22
biggest difference between now and then
06:24
I think there's a lot more clarity on
06:27
things so you mean what's the biggest
06:29
difference in my love like approach yeah
06:34
yeah I approached the blogging exactly
06:35
yes yeah I have a lot more clarity or
06:38
what I want to do are for the blog and
06:40
what I don't want to do and how I wanted
06:43
to grow so I have obviously a lot more
06:46
clarity on that yeah and then I know you
06:50
spoke a little bit about growing up
06:52
overseas now was there like a earning
06:55
when you were a child to start building
06:57
things like what you play with Legos or
06:59
anything like what was there anything
07:01
like I mean I know is a there's cultural
07:03
differences so maybe a woman wasn't
07:05
allowed to do something like that but
07:06
was there a yearning even as a child for
07:09
you to want to build and create I mean I
07:13
was always creative I was always into
07:16
making things and doing things whatever
07:21
opportunities I had I I've done some
07:24
pottery I've done you know so I always
07:28
loved working with my hands even as you
07:32
know even at school I loved all the lab
07:36
work you know like doing things and
07:39
stuff with my hands and I mean I sew in
07:45
grad school to a lot of my Abbas and
07:47
experimental physics so I had a lot of
07:49
things like we were building furnaces
07:52
and we were designing things I didn't do
07:55
the very Co hard core building but I did
08:00
you know put together things and stuff
08:02
like that so I did have some sort of
08:05
exposure I would say in my later years
08:07
as a grad student to building stuff but
08:11
it was not in relation to anything that
08:16
I'm doing now you've really done every
08:21
element of DIY pottery fabric arts
08:24
woodworking you really don't everything
08:26
yeah like is there one DIY activity
08:32
that's like haunted you or like that
08:33
you're too scared to try or maybe you
08:35
tried and failed and wasn't easy to pick
08:37
up like everything else or you just a
08:39
pro oh no I mean funny enough like I
08:43
hate sewing and I'm not going going and
08:47
I cannot sew a straight line so I really
08:51
don't care for sewing
08:52
at all sewing's a no-go well hey you're
08:56
better than me because I can't do any of
08:57
that and you know but you know there's a
08:59
pottery in place like down the street
09:00
where I always walk by and see people
09:02
doing it I'm like I should try that'd be
09:04
fun you know why not what would you say
09:08
is like the hardest creation I've ever
09:11
done be a woodworking pottery or
09:13
anything like what was the project that
09:15
you know when he completed it you were
09:17
most proud of I want to say well that's
09:21
kind of a hard one I have a couple of
09:24
them but I want to say the dining-table
09:25
that I built recently it was now that
09:31
I've built it I'm like that was not that
09:32
bad but as I was building it because it
09:34
was the first time I was actually using
09:37
hardwood
09:38
I used maple to make the top and getting
09:42
it plane making you know and I did
09:45
mitered cuts and beveled edges and to
09:49
get like a nice seam on the corners and
09:51
stuff like that so that really haunted
09:54
me and I took a really long time between
09:56
each step to kind of take my time to
10:00
figure out and make sure I did
10:02
everything right and also because I had
10:04
that was the most money I had spent on
10:06
lumber ever like well hundred dollars on
10:11
the top for the dining table
10:13
it's like yeah I'm sure even then no
10:16
spending even if that was like your
10:18
biggest spend at the time you were
10:19
probably saving money I you know doing
10:22
it yourself I mean oh yes yes no yeah I
10:25
mean for that kind of quality if you
10:27
went and bought something that was that
10:29
looked that for that size of course yes
10:32
yes but I just wanted to get a good
10:35
quality wood for you know cause it's a
10:38
dining table it's gonna be get used
10:39
every day so do you have any tips for
10:45
bloggers di wires just kind of starting
10:48
to get into the game you know any tips
10:51
for them to maybe be for what working
10:53
because that seems to be what you say
10:54
woodworking is your expertise I I guess
10:59
so yeah you're an expert in many fields
11:01
Oh
11:03
no I'm not but I think yeah I would say
11:06
60 70 percent of what I do is what
11:09
breaking and I really enjoy it a lot
11:11
yeah yeah well it must be so satisfying
11:14
and then and also you know when I talk
11:16
to stamp collectors coin collectors and
11:19
you know you know why people it's like
11:21
you know it's really that tactile
11:22
feeling of having it in your hands via
11:25
the stamp you've been looking for
11:27
forever or a coin or just being able to
11:29
see like this is something that I
11:31
created and you're looking at it that
11:33
must be like the most complete feeling
11:37
you know when you see something that
11:38
you're created and people are eating
11:39
dinner on it and enjoying it it's like
11:41
it must give you a feeling of pride
11:43
right yes that's exactly that yes when
11:47
you walk into a room and you see almost
11:49
everything is something that you made
11:52
specifically because you wanted it that
11:54
way and it's what you love and that's
11:58
it's just an amazing feeling you have
12:01
your fans contacted you for like
12:03
schematics or anything so they can kind
12:05
of copy your designs oh yeah I actually
12:09
provide them on my website i dont rek
12:12
sai had for almost all my builds I have
12:15
plans available for people to use in
12:18
Vienna and a lot of people build it and
12:21
I love you know of course making things
12:24
for myself is one of one of the exciting
12:27
parts but also every time I see a user
12:30
sorry a reader project I love I mean it
12:34
just makes my heart mouths to see
12:35
someone who picks up your idea and makes
12:39
one for themselves is really it's
12:41
amazing to see that and we'll start to
12:45
wrap things up what do you see for the
12:48
future of DIY like obviously in the past
12:51
four years it's gone really digital I
12:53
mean YouTube channels are really blowing
12:55
up I mean I always see DIY stuff on like
12:58
the trending tab so you know that
13:00
they're choosing this stuff cuz people
13:01
are watching it like in five years how
13:03
do you see it transforming well I think
13:07
of course it's going to be a really huge
13:09
thing especially because a people
13:12
especially with the current situation
13:13
people realizing that there are things
13:15
that they can do themselves they can
13:17
save money there it is definitely going
13:20
to be a really huge thing and there is
13:25
DIY there are projects available for
13:27
every design style I think it's just
13:31
going to expand on that I think I also
13:34
see DIY getting larger and larger you
13:37
know people are doing more complicated
13:42
projects like like the what's that
13:46
called
13:46
the mini house what's that called Oh I
13:48
know your time now where people just
13:50
building little mini homes everything
13:52
yeah yeah I just don't remember that
13:54
word right now but it's you know that's
13:56
a big thing right now yeah people are
13:58
transforming school buses into living
14:01
Wow
14:03
so that's a huge thing right now so it's
14:06
it's just going to get bigger and
14:07
abstract and I think it's yeah in the
14:12
future were creative and more fun yes
14:15
yes
14:17
now with this you know current pandemic
14:19
it seems like more people spending time
14:21
at home so they're picking up these
14:23
crafts and stuff learning how to sew
14:25
learning how to do different fiber arts
14:27
and whatnot have you noticed uptick in
14:30
the people you know inquiring about DIY
14:32
stuff have you seen more interest in the
14:34
last couple months absolutely yes a lot
14:38
more now would you say that you think
14:41
that that's gonna last do you think that
14:42
people will stick with these hobbies or
14:44
maybe once we finally are able to go out
14:46
of our houses that maybe wants to drown
14:48
but it's it's interesting it's a time
14:49
like unlike any other in history or a
14:51
really long time where people were
14:53
spending so much time on their board so
14:54
I you know people are making bread at
14:56
home they're you know they're learning
14:57
how to you know so and stuff and it's
15:00
just interesting you know the what you
15:02
know spend more time and doors leads you
15:04
to do has there been a particular like
15:08
quarantine project what are you working
15:10
on right now right now I'm just slowly
15:13
chipping away at redoing my garage it's
15:18
been a really really long project so
15:20
when we moved it and it was from the
15:23
sixties it had like dark paneling and
15:25
old cabinets that we're falling off and
15:28
stuff like that so
15:29
we completely ripped everything out and
15:31
we did it so it's almost kind of done we
15:35
have to replace the lighting and the
15:37
ceiling and then we have to do some more
15:41
organizational projects so smaller
15:42
projects and then the fun you know
15:44
decorative projects and stuff like that
15:46
so my my parents have been meeting to
15:50
redo their brush and renovate it because
15:52
every time I go there I see this paint
15:54
job that me and my sister did 15 years
15:56
ago and it's horrible so maybe when you
15:59
finish your project we'll follow your
16:01
tips because I think we're gonna
16:02
probably need it and maybe I won't do
16:05
the painting this time to a pro I'm sure
16:08
you've gotten better I don't know yeah
16:09
oh wise your videos and I'll yeah I'll
16:12
learn I'll figure it out this time all
16:14
right great
16:15
on a good do you anything else you'd
16:16
like to share no I mean if anyone's
16:20
looking to get into DIY just start doing
16:22
it just pick up something pick up a
16:23
small projects to start doing it exactly
16:26
right on okay cool and we'll share all
16:29
your socials and everything down below
16:30
yeah thank you so much Hanukkah this was
16:32
great thank you so much for having me on
16:35
yep all right take care thank you Annika
16:37
thank you bye
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On this episode of The Everyday Enthusiast, theTUNDRA sits down with DIY Enthusiast Anika Gandhi of the successful YouTube channel and blog Anika’s DIY Life, helping beginner DIYers and woodworkers by empowering them with ideas and skills. Anika discusses how she attained a large following of dedicated followers on her blog, which includes beginner woodworking projects, tool tutorials, easy DIY home improvement ideas and simple home decor crafts.
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