Phoenix Exclusive - Get to Know a Hippie Chic Blogger Sonal Agrawal

Sonal Agrawal a mumbai based award winning fashion and travel blogger whose blogs are inspired by her travels and the cultures she comes across.Our editorial team had caught up with her and here we present the exclusive interview.

·      What made you to participate in Yamaha Mission XPD Show and how was your journey?

 Sonal : One of the main reasons why I participated was because it's a travel based show... And travel being one of my core passions, it seemed like a great way to explore new places and experience local culture like never before. My journey was absolutely amazing because apart from learning and experiencing the local culture I also ended up forming some really amazing and precious friendships (with my fellow contestants).

·      I’m sure there will be many challenges in your journey. Tell us how you faced it.

Sonal : I've done a lot of long distance road trips in India in the past, and so the journey by itself wasn't as challenging. However, there were a lot of experiences that the creative team of the show had curated, which pushed me way out of my comfort zone.  For example, There was a challenge where we had to unload fresh fish at the Malvan fishing port and sell it in the local market. I've always been that person who's never touched raw fish and who's scared of looking at a dead fish's eyes.. hahaha. So that was really challenging for me... but it helped me overcome that fear. I think every experience through this journey only helped me grow as a person and yes while there were challenges I guess my attitude towards it all was to learn from it and grow, so I didn't let it bog me down.

  

·      How would you describe your personal style?

Sonal :  Hippie chic.

·      What was your drive behind becoming a blogger?

Sonal : I've always been very inspired by culture, travel, mythology and stories of people I come across. I wanted to tell these stories through the medium of my one true love, fashion and styling.

·      Who’s your favorite blogger and why?

Sonal : Juliana Siriana (@sincerelyjules) has to be my most favorite blogger because I love how real and relatable she is and personally relate to the bohemian in her.

·      According to you what’s meaning of Fashion? And who is your favorite designer?

Sonal : Fashion according to me, is to be able to take your own expressive style and turn it into a widely accepted phenomenon. 

My favorite designer has to still be Alexander McQueen, even now. In India at the moment, I love Aneeth Arora's Pero and a lot of young designers who are doing some fabulous work in India in the sustainable and ethical fashion space.

·      How did your travel blogging journey begin?

Sonal : I've been traveling for myself since forever. I lived in Italy for a year in 2009-2010, and that's when I did my first solo trip around Europe. Traveling has been a passion which keeps me going. Earlier I only travelled for myself, but once I started blogging, I decided to record and blog these experiences for others too.

·      What advice you would love to give to the new bloggers out there?

Sonal : Be original. Create content that is uniquely your own and which you love. Don't worry about what people will like and what they won't. As long as you love what you're creating, and as long as that's original, there will always be a set of people who will love it.

·      What’s the next? Are you participating in another show or series?

Sonal : As of now I don't have any commitments for another show, although I'm quite open to exploring opportunities if they are interesting. Right now however, I am immediately focussed on my own clothing label 'House of PinkPepperCorn' which will be ready to launch soon.

Well all the very best to Sonal on her own label will surely chekout her collection meanwhile you guys can checkout her blog with the same name here pinkpeppercorn.in