Meet TheGlitz ‘Super Woman’ Janice Sequeira who is indeed a super achiever. Not only is she a well-known youtuber, content creator, anchor, ex-broadcast editor and media strategist, she is also the creator and anchor of the YouTube talk-show series, “Social Media Star With Janice” which is hugely popular. Read on to know why Janice Sequeira is TheGitz ‘Super Woman’ and what makes her believe that “our failures and low moments will teach us a lot more about ourselves and how we want to shape our future than our successes.”

Your journey has had many momentous milestones. Could you tell us about your life-changing journey that has moulded you to be what you are today?
Honestly, like every other person, I am the result of all my experiences- good, bad and ugly. As someone who lost her dad at 17, I had to learn to become independent at a very young age. And since I was too young to deal with my emotions fully, I focused on financial independence, which in turn fuelled my ambitions as I entered the world of broadcast news journalism.

But by the age of 29-30, I’d started feeling burnt out and creatively spent. So I did, what seemed crazy to a lot of my peers. I simply decided to work for myself. It took me a couple of years of trying on multiple hats to realise that while I didn’t want to do news TV anymore, I did miss creating good content and having great conversations. And that’s where the journey of being a creator and host really began.

Could you list 3 of your major achievements?

• The age of 26 was an important one for me. Not only did I buy my first apartment in Mumbai, but I was also promoted to Entertainment Editor at Times Now. At that time, I was the youngest news broadcast editor in the country to have that position.
• Seeing ‘Social Media Star With Janice’ go from being a concept note on email to a full-fledged talk show! We’re currently in our 6th season and have over a billion views on YouTube alone!
• Being financially independent since the age of 21 and never having to depend on anyone to pay my bills.

What are the setbacks you have faced? How did you tackle these setbacks or challenges? And what lesson have you learned from it?

There have been plenty of setbacks- both personal and professional. And those setbacks continue till today. Whether it’s losing out on important hosting or content opportunities or not being shortlisted for campaigns I really wanted to be a part of it even a series you put your heart and soul into not flying the way I thought it would. I’ll never forget that there was a non-fiction interview series that had been green-lit by a major OTT platform and my team and I were about to start budget negotiations.

And then, a day before my birthday my (then) manager had to call me and tell me that it had fallen through because the marketing team didn’t think I was the right face for that series. But you know what, and I know people think this is just a line – but I’ve come to believe that our failures and low moments will teach us a lot more about ourselves and how we want to shape our future than our successes. So strangely enough, every time I fail or something doesn’t go through, I tell myself, don’t worry “this too shall pass”.

When you look back, what are the three qualities in you that have helped you become what you are today?

• One is that I’m genuinely curious about other people’s stories.
• Two would be that I truly believe that no job is too big or too small. If it makes you happy, do it!
• And the third is that I’m honest. If I don’t like your work or something you’ve done and you ask me about it, I will tell you the truth. I’ll say it in the nicest way I know how, but chances are if you ask me for the honest truth, that’s what you’re going to get.

Who are the people who have been the wind behind your wings?
My partner Aniruddha, who was the first to encourage me to make the transition from corporate to a creator and consultant, my “chosen” family who’ve always kept things real with me and my cats, who are the best furry therapy a girl could ask for.

Lastly, if there was a quote to define you, what would it be?
Earlier it used to be “Live & Let Live”, but now I swear by “This Too Shall Pass”.