Today we’d like to introduce you to Anya Ahuja.
Hi Anya, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At the age of 11, I stepped into a career path which would not only become one of my biggest passions but something that would shape me into the person I am today. I became the youngest radio host to have a weekly show in Texas at age 11. I had always been a shy child, opting for the company of carefully crafted words on a page. But growing up, I was always fascinated by the cool swagger of the voices on the radio. My curiosity was answered as I happened to meet the CEO of the Radio Station I currently work for at a party and my curiosity took me to have conversations with her and one thing led to another and I had a voice audition call in 2018. I then started to co-host an hourly show called “The Kids Hour with Anya” at just age 11. As I started doing more and more shows, I found myself opening up more and strengthening my voice and soon started solo hosting my show on radio. I realized the pure joy of communicating and engaging with people and began to use my platform to uplift others’ voices. Over the years, my show evolved to become the “Youth Spotlight with Anya,” where I strive to maintain a platform where youth feel secure, heard, and celebrated as I shine a well-deserved light on youth and their opinions, achievements, ideas, and passions. But my journey really transformed during Covid-19, as radio and social media became even more important to keep people informed and entertained. I quickly pivoted to continuing to do my radio show online by recording at home, created a podcast where those around the world could listen to my content, and began creating situation-specific topics to cater to the needs of the youth during those times. One of my favorite shows I did was when I gathered youth from all 6 continents to talk about the impact of their specific lockdowns and home-schooling on their mental health. As I started podcasting and getting deeper involved in social media marketing, I explored new avenues and Emceed/hosted global and local events to give back to the South Asian community, which has supported me immensely. Instead of hiding behind the words on the page, I progressed my passion of reading into writing engaging articles for local magazines. I then began to share my story with other youth and have had the honor of being invited as a Speaker or Guest at several local and national events as a youth icon. I am now pursuing avenues that I would have never even dreamed of before my radio show, and am constantly using my voice to uplift others and myself.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Despite my work and passions mainly revolving around communication and confidence within myself, those two things were the hardest for me to learn. From a young age, I found myself hesitant to speak up and would always find comfort in reading, realizing that I didn’t need to try and express myself because the books did that for me. After losing my younger sister in an accident at the age of 9, I retreated further into myself and struggled with expressing my emotions. My seemingly benign fascination with the radio and my radio show is really what encouraged me to speak up about what I believed in and made me more confident. I continued to do my show and interact with talented youth across the community, and hearing their stories prompted me to hone my public speaking skills so I could do them justice. And over the years, I am proud to say that public speaking is one of my strong suits and something I cherish deeply. As I started my radio and media journey at a very young age, it was a struggle for me to master the technical aspects of being on the radio. Speaking is one aspect of radio, but there are other moving parts such as managing the timing of my show with ad breaks, mastering the soundboard, taking live callers, that provided a learning curve. It was also a journey, as a young host for people to take me and my content seriously. But I continued to put in the hard work and dedication, and soon the show caught the attention of radio listeners of all ages. Also in the beginning, I felt as though my content was limited to more simple topics solely because that was what was expected of me as a 11-year-old host. But as I started high school, I felt I was underrepresenting my fellow youth as they have complex ideas, opinions, failures and achievements that went beyond the topics I was limiting myself to. It took hard work to prove that I could and should be able to discuss more complex topics as a youth but in the end… I was able to expand my content and hit on topics that truly affected youth and show that younger voices in nuanced topics should be celebrated, not pushed away because they don’t fit the norm. That said, I have learned so much, and the journey has been very full-filling so far, and the hesitance has turned into massive acceptance across the board.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a radio host, Emcee, podcaster, writer, and social media content creator who centers all of my content around community enrichment and youth advocacy. I bring a variety of enriching, uplifting, and entertaining content on my weekly radio show, called the ‘Youth Spotlight with Anya’ show, every Monday from 4-5 PM CT on Radio Caravan (a Dallas-based, South Asian radio station). I showcase talents across several walks of life and across continents – Young entrepreneurs, authors, musicians, sportsman, academia, actors, founders, leaders – in my attempt to make my radio show and podcast a platform for youth to feel heard, seen, and celebrated by “Spotlighting” them. I play a variety of Bollywood and Western music on my radio show to celebrate both parts of my identity.
Radio has opened several other opportunities for me. I started podcasting during Covid lockdown and reaching out to global listeners, gained knowledge of social media marketing, and thrived as a digital content creator. I write engaging articles for local magazines and post book reviews. I got more involved in my community by volunteering for several non-profit organizations and became Global Youth Ambassador to EKAM Foundation (non-profit focused on improving neonatal and women’s health across the globe) due to my significant outreach and community work, my brand continued to expand and that resulted in me getting opportunities to host/Emcee at global and local events. I have had the honor of being invited as a Speaker or Guest at several local and national events as a youth icon. I also got opportunities to model for fashion shows, jewelry and clothing lines.
I am a recipient of the ‘Youth Icon’ award in the Dallas metroplex for my significant contributions to the community.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/rjanyaahuja?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anya.ahuja.33?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@RJAnyaAhuja
- Podcast : https://www.spreaker.com/
show/youth-spotlight-with-anya
