Sadhique Aboobacker‘s life mantra has always been – “Just because you failed once, doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and, always believe in yourself.”
A Robotics Engineering graduate and Kerala’s leading fashion icon, Sadhique had started his formative years in life by failing; failing in his 10th public exam and then his 12th. He even had many back papers to attempt during his stint in college. But now, he proudly says that he is Kerala’s first and most popular influencer, in addition to being an entrepreneur and running a digital marketing company.
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Sadhique Aboobacker hails from a small town called Changaramkulam in Malappuram, Kerala, where he lives with his parents. For long as he can remember, he has loved experimenting with fashion. He also loves travelling and exploring food from across the globe.
We had the chance to speak to Sadhique Aboobacker, and explore his journey to fame. Here’s his story.
We noticed that you’ve been tagged as Kerala’s Most Popular Blogger. What did it take to reach there?
I was crazy about photography since childhood. I captured many pictures using my mobile camera. In fact, back then, I had used the Nokia 5500 to click my first couple of photographs. Later, I realised that my passion for fashion and photography. Some of my friends started to notice my potential and helped me along the way.
The most life-changing decision that I took was to join Instagram in 2012-2013. Eventually, I started to gain followers and support. One fine morning, when I was browsing through my phone, I found an email with the subject “Collaboration” in my inbox. Back then, I didn’t even know what it meant (to be honest, I even Googled the meaning of word “collaboration”). I responded, and that happened to be my first brand collaboration. Want to know which brand? It was with Daniel Wellington; they delivered a watch worth ₹21,000 and asked me to do some Instagram posts tagging them.
I soon started to learn the tricks of the trade. I would send collaboration requests to other brands and when they showed interest, I felt more encouraged and motivated. I understood the potential of getting paid brand collaboration. So I decided to put together a team inclusive of a photographer, editor, and content writer to handle my Instagram. There was no looking back!
I believe that content is king so I always work hard to improve my content. And because of that, over the years, I have managed to become Kerala’s most popular blogger, Kerala first influencer, South India’s top influencer and have even positioned in India’s top influencers list too.
What was Sadhique Aboobacker doing before he became a blogger and Instagrammer?
I was studying like any other college-going kid. I loved posting my pictures on my social media. Back then, Orkut was the trend. Then came Facebook and Instagram. When I started blogging, I was among the very few who did it as it wasn’t a trend that had been picked up in Kerala. But I stuck to it and that has literally changed my life.
How did you manage to convince your parents to pursue this creative field?
My parents had no clue about this field as it wasn’t as well-known as it is now. When I started to have a busy schedule, my parents realised that this truly made me happy. They were pretty convinced to see me whole-heartedly work on my content. And, when I started to earn money from the work I did, my parents acknowledged it further.
With influencer marketing on the rise, and competition too, how have you been doing things differently?
In the beginning, it was al smooth sailing because there were no competitors in the influencer marketing space. But now, it has exploded. That said, the experience that I come with and brand partnerships that I have built over the years, have helped me maintain stature in the fashion influencer space.
When it comes to doing things differently, I make sure that my Instagram feed is clean with high-quality posts. You see, the numbers of followers won’t matter unless you put out great content. And that’s always been my focus. Not many of my followers know of this, but I travel a lot to do photoshoots and experiment with my content.
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FamePays – Can you tell us a bit about it?
FamePays started out as my way of controlling my own marketing strategies/legal purposes. I soon turned it to a digital marketing company with a focus on influencer marketing. It is Kerala’s first influencer marketing platform. I built FamePays to help budding bloggers/micro-influencers to work with brands. We fix the gap between brands & influencers.
Where does Sadhique Aboobacker gets his style inspiration from?
I experiment with myself and get inspired from myself.
We all have a point of self-observation; Once we reach that point, we start working for ourselves.
I am filled with confidence when I dress well. Having self-confidence is vital to your well-being. Not only is it mentally and emotionally beneficial for you to feel good about yourself, but it can actually make you more successful! Multiple studies have shown that dressing well increases your performance and heightens others’ impressions of you. So yes, dress for success!
How do you select the brands you work with?
So, I just finished “555” selected regional/national/international brand collaborations to date, which is a huge achievement for me. Speaking of brand selection, I focus on well-known brands, which are skewed towards fashion and lifestyle. I reject alcohol brands. I also support small entrepreneurs too. I have a series called “a space for small entrepreneurs” where, every week, I feature one small entrepreneur on my story, free of cost.
In order to understand what my audience likes, I make Instagram polls & quizzes. I can easily catch their favourites. I do have an Instagram policy – 60% my face or my physical appearance & 40% brand product in posts. That’s how I balance.
We’re curious! What does a normal day look like for Sadhique Aboobacker?
I wake up before 8 am, do some home workout, have breakfast, and then start working.
If there’s a brand shoot, a few hours go into making it. I love urban styles so finding backdrops is my biggest challenge as I live in a remote area. After the photoshoot, I start making short videos to post on the Moj app. Post which, I head over to manage FamePays with my team. Around 5-6 in the evening, I start to post the content for the day and plan next day’s shoot. In the night, I take some time out for myself, spend time with family or friends, and end the day on a good note.
How has 2020 treated you, personally and professionally?
Personally, I have been able to read more books, listen to more songs, watch more films and enjoy spending time family. Professionally, 2020 was a game-changing year, because brands became more focused on influencer marketing so I got better enquiries from them. I started to experiment and improve my content too.
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What is something you believe that other people think is insane?
The value of a single Instagram post. People often ask me – “It’s just a post. What’s the value in that?” But, what they don’t know is that I spend a lot of time to make that one perfect post. I’ve had my share of mocking and social media backlash, but I stuck to my vision. That’s exactly why my bank balance is 7+ digits.
One advice to people who wish to enter the fashion blogging scene
Create value, always.
Many people will mock you, pull you down, and hurt you mentally. Don’t get lost in that.
Never work for a low cost. Never support free reviews. Start supporting small entrepreneurs. And don’t forget the people who you started with.
