Building her own career from the ground up, Meehika faced microaggressions after moving thousands of miles away. Now she is proving everyone wrong, from month-long PR trips in Paris to landing bylines in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Grazia and more...
When we see the lavish lives of freelance journalists, it can often be hard to envision a lifestyle of working when on our own schedule, being invited on prestigious press trips or seeing our name across top publications, especially when feeling secluded from the London life. But, Meehika does this and much more (yes she is practically the real-life Carrie Bradshaw).
Meehika Barua is a 25-year-old freelance writer with bylines published in US and UK-based publications from Tatler to Vogue. Writing about all things beauty, fashion, lifestyle, travel and the occasional controversial dating essay, her freelance career is one I have admired for a long time. Joining the call all the way from New Delhi as she takes a trip home, the moment felt beautifully full circle as she began to share her story.
From Asia & Architecture to Britain & Bylines
Growing up in South Asia, Meehika began studying architecture unaware of the creative industries out there. Although, always an avid reader of magazines growing up, she had no concept of the journalism industry or the career that awaited her. Whilst, New Delhi may be one of the biggest cities in the world, flying thousands of miles to start a new career brought many of its own challenges, especially when heading to a fashion capital. During her second year of studies, Meehika became aware that architecture did not make her happy. While seeing her degree through, she began to explore what she enjoyed when first discovering writing as a role.
Meehika's first writing experience came about when she began regularly reading a new New York-based magazine called Thought Catalogue. She emailed the editor out of the blue to pitch an idea as Meehika explains, "I sent the first idea and got declined, I sent a second pitch and got declined again. I was like I have to make this happen, so I sent a third idea and she published that one." Truly persisting at the start of her career, she never took no for an answer. This a lesson any freelancer needs to learn.
Throughout her final year of university, Meehika became one of the youngest applicants to be accepted onto the Thomas Foundation Fellowship in journalism. Travelling back and forth between London and India, she was juggling two very different lives. Her time in London consisted of immersing herself in the luxury market, a sector she was determined to make her niche as a writer. Making the most of her time in the fashion capital to attend PR events and lead the lifestyle she was ready to start a career in. While the pressure of finding your niche as a writer can be a challenging time, Meehika faced barriers some of us will never understand. When networking with editors she faced small-minded thinking and stereotyping, as she was often told to 'stick to what you know' as she felt pigeonholed as a South Asian journalist. Sullenly told that she may never understand the British luxury market or culture, Meehika used this as her drive to prove them wrong.
"Coming from South Asia I had many walls I had to break down at the beginning. I was told to stick to Asian representation in my work, it was so hard to keep explaining that I want to write what every other journalist here in the UK gets to."
Navigating The Industry
Beginning her career, Meehika interned at ITV, The Times and The Sunday Times to gain well-rounded experience as a journalist under her fellowship. It was as early as this moment in her career, she realised that freelance was the route for her. She began to see the reality of the industry was feeling overworked and underpaid with no room for growth in-house, further noticing that 70% of those people probably didn't even care or need to care due to their prestigious backgrounds.
"The journalism industry back then was majority filled with white middle-class people, with no representation of people of colour. I experienced a lot of microaggressions and I was like, wow I'm not cut out for this."
Facing countless challenges, Meehika continued to feel a drive in her, despite the lack of representation or support she felt, she knew change was needed. Now, Meehika is thriving as a freelance journalist for both digital and print living out her Carrie Bradshaw moment with bylines in Vogue, Elle, Harpers's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Business Insider, Bustle, Allure (and, yes even more).
Life As A Freelance Journalist
No two days look the same for Meehika, one day she is having dinner at The Savoy with the Netflix hit show Wednesday actors and the next she is stressing to make a deadline, while PR harass her about coverage that fell through on the editorial side. Managing her own work schedule, sometimes she finds her writing is best flowing at midnight. Her days can often look like; a morning of emails to editors and PRs and an afternoon spent writing and editing. Meehika's career has been filled with pinch-me moments, including landing her first Vogue byline at just 23. More recently she was nominated and shortlisted for the Journalist of the Year Award at the Asian Media Awards. Reflecting back on her career, Meehika remembers how important it is to celebrate every win and not get too wrapped up in it all. When she first applied and won the fellowship in 2018 she was only 20 years old, surpassing countless global applicants.
"I was the youngest person on that fellowship. That was my first time coming to London, and everyone else was like 28 or older, and it was just this young baby."
As a writer working for the US and UK audience, every byline is a pinch-me moment for Meehika. Being freelance allows her to cover everything from lifestyle and fashion to travel for a variety of clients. Often Meehika's published pieces have a big impact leaving her facing debates spiralling from her thought-provoking personal essays. A mentor to her in the industry once reflected on her time as the Editor-In-Chief of Elle to her, something that has always stuck with Meehika.
"She said, you know you've written a good piece when there is a lot of backlash. Including equal amounts of praise but also equal amounts of controversy, because then you've started a debate around a topic which always needed to be talked about."
Meehika's Advice
For anyone considering freelance for the first time, Meehika explains the importance of remaining patient throughout the process, "It's just like setting up any business, it's not going to give you a return in the first six months. You have to understand the ins and outs of the industry and you have to understand your own process because my process, everyone has their own style and the way they do things."
Beginning her first steps into freelance during the lockdown, living at home gave Meehika six months to throw herself in the deep end, from watching every industry panel and learning everything she could to endless pitching without having financial worries.
You don't have to read everything! A rule Meehika lives by, she explains you should only read what you're interested in and what your niche is, whether that's fashion or lifestyle. You simply don't have to consume the thousands of articles that are published each day across your favourite publications.
Finally, Meehika shares her most important tip she has learned over her career, building tenacity...
"That's the only secret of surviving in this industry. And it's really hard because we all have imposter syndrome, right? All the time. I still get it. I'd still be in events and situations where I'm just like, wow, do I deserve to be here, like, am I good enough for this?"
Meehika believes that confidence and tenacity are by-products of action, from negotiating higher rates to self-respect. She expresses the importance of going out of your comfort zone and setting standards for yourself and your work unapologetically while being prepared to negotiate.
"That's how you get people to respect you and not stomp all over you because it has happened so much in the industry. So that really becomes a problem because now we've had generations of middle-class, white, wealthy journalists never asking for more."
Knowing your worth is key in the industry no matter your background, as Meehika explains, the more you stand up for yourself, the more you are standing up for those from your background.
Follow Meehika on Instagram or give her a direct message for a 1-2-1 freelance consultation.
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