https://nasacademy.com/blog/article/michelle-khare-self-doubt-to-youtube-stardom
We all have goals we’d love to achieve in life. We make New Year’s Resolutions every January, and promise ourselves that we’re going to stick to them – we’re going to take on those challenges, and finally become the person we’ve always wanted to be.
But, somehow, life always tends to get in the way.
Resolutions fade into the background, and our bucket list never leaves the page. And soon, you find yourself stuck in a cycle of making goals but never making steps to achieving them. If this sounds familiar – you’re not alone. Michelle Khare, a 29 year-old actress, YouTuber, and former BuzzFeed producer, is no stranger to this cycle, and knows exactly what you’re going through. But she’s proved over the years that you don’t have to stay in that cycle. You can achieve those goals. You can build a life you love.
All you need – is a little challenge.
From gaining over 2.4 million subscribers on YouTube, to launching her very own fitness app, Michelle Khare has come a long way from being stuck, to building herself as a creator. She’s become a vibrant public figure and an inspiring beacon of hope to everyone that anything is possible.
Michelle Khare grew up in Louisiana, USA. Coming from an immigrant family from India, she always felt a great pressure to work hard and find success. Being persistent in her goals was something engrained in her from day one – but that doesn’t mean she was born with the ability to believe in herself. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Michelle had always been into the arts, and she was also a very dedicated athlete. She studied at an Ivy League school, Dartmouth College, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Media and Technology. It was at this point in her life that she also became really invested in cycling, and kept pursuing it on the side as she worked to build her career in production.
Michelle has tried her hand at acting, worked on film sets, interned for many studios – and actually landed a gig working with Dwayne Johnson on the film, Snitch. She jumped around to different positions, until she landed a job in 2016.
And little did she know – this job would be the launchpad for her career as a YouTuber.
Although Michelle loved video and content creation, she never believed that she had it in her to really find success in the field. She fell victim to comparison and self-doubt early on in her career – as many creatives do. She would always look at the talented artists out there, all of the comedy sketch actors and producers that she idolized, and never felt she would be able to reach their level of skill and success.
But, one day, when Michelle was at a low-point in her career, unsure of where to go next, her sister gave her just the advice she needed. She convinced Michelle to make her YouTube channel and inspired her to just start creating.
So, Michelle gave it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen?
As she thought about what kind of content she was going to create, she focused on using what she knew, and what she was passionate about. And so“Helmet Head” was born. It was a little sketch comedy series about a cyclist, and it was something completely unique to her. She realized quite quickly that she stopped comparing herself to other creators when she was making these videos – because there was no one else to compare to.
By finding this unique perspective, she found her strength as a creator. And not long after, this amateur video series would be her portfolio submission for an incredible job opportunity in LA with BuzzFeed. 
Michelle never really thought she would get the position with BuzzFeed – but when she was called in for an interview, she jumped at the chance. She booked an impromptu, 12-hour, round-trip to LA for the interview. And although she was excited, she quickly became riddled with self-doubt.
She ended up being the only one in the interview who hadn’t gone to an official film school. She had worked on set before – but it wasn’t enough to make her feel qualified in the slightest. She didn’t think she stood a chance, and truly believed she had drained her bank account for this impossible dream.
But little did she know – she had impressed them enough to land the job.
Michelle moved to LA alone, and took on the 9-6 life for the company. She was promoted from her intern position to being a producer, and it was here that she learned all of the essential YouTube skills that would prepare her for her own career as a creator only a few years later.
While Michelle worked hard at BuzzFeed, she never gave up her love for cycling and athletics. She got back on the bike after moving to LA, joined a cycling team as the only girl, and worked through injury after injury, and weekend after weekend to get better at it. She crashed her bike more times than she could count – but this only led to her training harder.
And when she never thought she could, she crossed the finish line in first place at a national bike tournament. She never thought she would ever get to that point as a cyclist – in fact, she even admitted that she wasn’t the strongest cyclist there. But because of her commitment and the fact that she just took a risk to sprint ahead early on in the race, she won. No one expected it, including her.
Each time Michelle took these challenges on, from BuzzFeed to cycling, she started building the confidence that she could take risks and actually succeed – even if it seemed impossible.
After a while of working with BuzzFeed and producing 6 videos a month, she finally was ready for her next challenge. She thought she would give YouTube a shot on her own terms.
As many do when they ditch an annual salary to become a content creator, Michelle doubted her decision, and was overwhelmed with the fear of failure and financial instability.
But she stuck with the challenge. She left her job to pursue YouTube full-time. This meant no social life, no movies, no eating out, and living in a small shoebox studio apartment in LA. She lived frugally, but it allowed her to stick with her dream.
Michelle’s Challenge Accepted series is really what launched her career on YouTube. The idea for it initially began because she wanted to upskill her resume and skillset. She saw it as a chance to at least show that she had tried these things and picked up some new skills, even if she didn’t fully master them. And soon enough, the concept behind taking on these challenges, became her way of life. She thought:
“What if I live as if I’m failing and that just becomes my everyday norm?”
And it did.
She kept taking on challenge after challenge, and before she knew it, her Challenge Accepted series had gained her over a million followers. Now, she’s landed herself the reputation of being the YouTuber who has taken on some of the world’s toughest challenges.
“No matter how hard the challenges are, I always come out on the other side thinking I’m really glad I did this and I’m really glad I have a new perspective on this. I genuinely have grown so much as a person from the experiences and it’s just a blessing that people enjoy watching it” (Michelle Khare, Entrepreneur.com)
Michelle has taken on challenges from training with NASA Astronauts, the U.S Marine Corps boot camp, Navy Seal training – all the way to being the very first YouTuber and influencer, ever, to take on the FBI Academy.
But her challenges aren’t just to prove strength or resilience. She uses these challenges to help identify and solve problems in the world, all while inspiring people to make changes themselves. She’s given inside looks into what it’s like training for beauty pageants, and discussed the ethics around modeling bikinis on a runway for a crown. She’s shown what it’s like to train as a Victoria’s Secret Model, and highlighted the lack of inclusivity in the modeling industry.
She challenged herself to walk the runway at London Fashion Week, and was rejected by nearly every designer for being “too short”, at 5’2. But she kept up with the challenge until she finally found a designer who would let her walk.
And through this, Michelle ended up being the shortest person to ever walk at London Fashion Week.
She’s become increasingly passionate about taking on challenges that identify problems in communities, challenge norms, crush stereotypes, and shed light on systems and worlds that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to see as viewers. She pushes herself to the limit to break boundaries, expectations, and limiting beliefs – both of her own, and of the world.
Michelle has racked up 2.46 million subscribers on YouTube, over 290k followers on Instagram and over 3.3 million likes on TikTok. She’s worked with countless notable brands like Toyota, Target and more. She’s even been nominated for a Shorty Award for Best YouTuber, and was nominated for Best Unscripted Series at the Streamy Awards.
Through it all, Michelle has proved to herself and all of her audience members out there, that maybe – just maybe – the things we never see ourselves being able to do, are actually within reach.
We just have to use our limiting beliefs as fuel to keep going – no matter how many times you fail and doubt yourself along the way.
If you want to take on a challenge of your own, this is your chance! Michelle Khare is launching her own Academy, and she’s going to walk you through how to conquer any challenge you have in 30 days.
Not only is this your shot to put yourself first, and finally start living the life you love, but it’s also an amazing opportunity to learn alongside other passionate people from all around the world. You will get the chance to connect with other people on the same journey as you, learn together in live sessions, and hold each other accountable from start to finish as you conquer your unique challenges.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you think you’re capable of, Michelle is here to prove that you can achieve the impossible – and she’s going to walk you through it, every step of the way. Sign up today…and say yes to the challenge!
Challenge Yourself
By Admin Nas Academy
By Admin Nas Academy
WE EMPOWER CREATORS.
