Finnet Media

Building a one-stop solution for infotainment brands when it comes to anything influencer marketing, Ads, and Content IP Production.

Finnet has worked with over a 100 brands like CRED, Smallcase, ETmoney, Groww, INDmoney, upGrad, Byjus. 

We manage top creators like Finance w Sharan, Shivanshu Agarwal, Anushka Rathod, and many more in-house around which we do everything creatively. 

If you are a brand getting started with anything content- hit me up or reach out on ayush@finnetmedia.com

Founder

Unikon.ai

Angel Investor

The 1% Club

Business Advisor and Investor 

Rigi

Crib

House of X

GrowthSchool

Wint Wealth 

ZFW Dark Stores

Burma Burma Restaurant & Tea Room

I am Ayush Shukla - Founder of Finnet Media and host of ‘Restless’. If you are a brand that wants to collaborate or is looking to work with us - reach out to me at ayush@finnetmedia.com 

Before I share more details, here’s my story: 
Growing up, I've seen the power of the internet and how it can change everything. 
Post my Economics Grad in 2020, I tried freelancing in various startups, failed in e-commerce & tried my hands on my biggest fear a ‘full-time job’. 
But something felt missing—I soon found the answer when I was infected with COVID-19.
I have been into content creation since 2019 & since then, I've made over 100+ videos for my 300k+ followers across all my social media. I went full-time when I realized just how much I loved content & marketing. 
I have had the honour of hosting Anupam Mittal, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Aman Gupta, Anupam Kher, and many more on my podcast Restless. 
Soon after leaving my job, I started building Finnet Media in May'21 an influencer marketing and creative consultancy, where we work towards building strong relationships between brands, creators, and consumers. 
We exclusively manage over 50+ of your favourite creators, including India’s top names like Sharan Hegde, Anushka, and many others. 
We have worked with brands like HDFC, POCO, boAt.300+ brands in the short span of our existence.
We help with 
1. Influencer marketing from brief, creator discovery, creatives, to execution. (Influencer & Performance marketing) 
2. We produce videos & creatives for brands.
3. We write content for their CXOs and help them establish their personal brand on LinkedIn and Instagram. (SMM) 

Some brownie points for credibility: 
- Red Carpet at Cannes’24 
- LinkedIn Top Voice in 2022 & 2024
- BW Disrupt 30 under 30, 2023
- Impact Top 30 under 30, 2023
- Culture Brand Ambassador by the Minister of Culture, GoI, 2022
- Awarded Best Use of Influencer Marketing 2023 - by Afaqs 
- Won Best Use of Influencer Marketing 2023 (multichannel) - by Afaqs 

Being in the creative space, we know what it takes to deliver high ROI, find the right talent, and craft a brand strategy.
We have aced content on a personal & professional level. 
What we offer is backed by proof of work and a high-trust ecosystem. 
If you are a brand/creator looking for growth, I can help you:
✅ Helping you grow using influencer & SMM marketing with a check on investment and pricing 
✅ Find the right balance between product, targeting, and creatives.
✅ Establish the 0-2 journey of your content and production teams.
You can contact me here: [ayush@finnetmedia.com]/drop me a DM.

Ayush Shukla

Social Toast

Social Media Marketing Specialist

FunctionMania.com

Social Media Manager

GuruJal Gurugram

Communications Associate

Municipal Corporation of Gurugram

1. Managing social media handles of MCG.
2. Creating Advertisement Campaigns.
3. Closely working on strategizing social media content and schedule for Swachch Survekshan 2020.

Marketing Analyst, Team Youth for Earth, MCG

Camping Co.

1. Maintaining Company's blog (Designing layout and creating SEO friendly content)
2. B2B collaborations via networking on LinkedIn (Tripoto was a successful collaboration)
3. Setting Google Analytics account and tracking performance of the running campaigns.
4.Creating content for the campaigns and posting across platforms.
5. Making suggestions for enhancing user satisfaction on the website.
6. Updating website designer for the necessary changes and improvements according to industry trends.

Lead Travel Content Writer

OCIZO

Media and Public Relations
Strategizing the entire PR campaign of the company with special focus on inﬂuencer marketing. Drafting proposals of the company for collaborators and investors. Preparation of website content.

Media and Public Relations

Trek monk

Content Writer

ABP News Network pvt Ltd

Coordinator at Assignment Desk

Administration of Jind (district)

Worked with the public relations department of administration of district Jind as a social media manager and communication intern. The work involved analysing the government's development projects in the district and writing articles for newspapers and social media handles on behalf of the administration.

Intern

Assist Founders and Entrepreneurs to create a personal brand | LinkedIn Growth | Community Building | Organic Lead Generation

Hi all,

I’m Ashi, founder of Social Toast, a personal branding agency that loves giving social profiles a powerful makeover and here’s why we should work together to get the results your profile deserves!

My journey began when I started building my own brand from scratch. I experimented, tested strategies, and discovered what truly works and what doesn't. 

But here's the thing, I’ve always been fascinated by stories. Whether it’s a startup’s bold beginning, a founder’s journey, or a professional finding their voice, I believe stories are what make people memorable. That love for human connection naturally led me to personal branding. 

I realized that behind every profile is a person with a story worth sharing and I wanted to help them tell it in a way that drives real impact.

Today, at Social Toast, my team and I bring that same passion to every project. We combine strategic thinking with authentic storytelling to build brands that people don’t just notice but they remember.

If you're ready to turn your profile into a powerful narrative, let’s connect!

Ashi Kesarwani

Personal branding is not self-expression. It’s selective expression.


We hear this everywhere:

“Just be authentic, Just be you, People connect with realness.”
Nice idea but terrible advice.

Because your unfiltered self only rambles, overshares and goes on tangents.
And ends up talking about things that don’t align with your goals.


Strategic authenticity builds a business, not raw authenticity.

Personal branding means showing the parts of you that add value, build trust, signal expertise and move you closer to the opportunities you want.

You’re still being real, just not reckless with what you reveal.

That’s the difference.


The profitable version of you:

- shares stories that demonstrate competence.
- communicates with intention.
- highlights skills clients actually care about.
- stays on message.
- knows when silence is stronger than honesty.


And all this is not fake, just filtered.

Authenticity is about relevance. You don’t need to share everything to be real.

And personal branding is curation, not confession.


#personalbranding

Helping founders drive sales by turning their story into a sales magnet. | Community Building | Organic Lead Generation | Corporate trainings

My 20s didn’t go as planned.


I was supposed to have it all figured out by now. 
* As per the people *

The career, the milestones, the version of me that looked “successful” on paper.
Everything!

Instead, I quit my corporate job with no plan B.

Started Personal Branding with no clients and no roadmap. Just a quiet conviction that I couldn’t keep living someone else’s version of ambition.

The next few months were chaotic. I even sat idle for weeks. Then again took a job and quit in 15 days. Took another one, stayed a year and my salary was held for four months.

Somewhere in between these transitions, I knew I didn’t belong here.

And also as per my last name, I’m a “Baniya”, we’re said to belong to businesses. 
Haha kidding!

But because I wanted to do something on my own.

So I showed up, even when I didn’t know what I was doing.


All I wanna tell you is what goes behind the scenes..

Your 20s are not about having everything sorted.
They’re about staying in the field even when nothing feels sorted.

You learn, you unlearn, you lose balance but you find it again.

And one day, you realize the chaos was never a detour. It was the process.

So if your plans aren’t working out right now, maybe that’s not a failure.
 
Because the best things I’ve built came from the moments when I went completely off-script.

What’s one thing you thought you’d have figured out by now, but you’re still learning?


#founderslife

Selling got easier when I stopped trying to sound smart.


For the longest time, I thought sales was about how well I could explain what we do or how we’re different or why we’re better.

I’d overprepare every pitch deck, rehearse every line, and try to sound “convincing” as much as possible.

But honestly the best sales calls I’ve had, were the ones where I spoke less and listened more.

Because I think listening tells you everything the pitch can’t.


I've seen most of the clients don’t know how to describe what they actually need. They’ll say “We need visibility” when what they really mean is “We’re not reaching the right people.”

And I’ve learnt that when you start pitching before understanding, means you’re just doing your presentation.

Listening builds trust faster than any smart-sounding answer.

It helps you read what they mean and not just what they say.

So far I’ve closed more clients by asking simple, honest questions than by giving clever explanations.

And that shift - from trying to impress to trying to understand is what changed everything.

The psychology behind why some content converts and some just gets likes.


I’ve spent months observing this and sometimes a post gets hundreds of likes but zero return.

And sometimes a quiet, simple post brings 3 clients in two days.

Same creator, same niche, just completely different psychology at play.


Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Emotional safety

People don’t buy when they’re impressed, they buy when they feel understood.
Don’t do over-explaining, extra performing and definitely no “pick me” energy. Just serve clarity.


2. Pattern recognition

The posts that convert sound like someone is describing your inner world.
The moment our audience thinks, “This is literally me,” we earn trust without asking for it.


3. Authority cues

Real authority is quiet. It shows up in specificity, lived experience and clean thinking.
Never try to sound like “I’m an expert”. People can sense the difference instantly.


4. Identity alignment

This is the real one.
People buy from the energy they want for themselves, if your content reflects the version they’re trying to grow into maybe more clearer, calmer, more intentional, then they’ll choose you long before you sell to them.


And once you understand this, you will stop obsessing over going viral and start focusing on being memorable in the right way.

Because likes are public but trust is private and conversion happens in private.

If my Monday was a song, then it would be “Zinda.”
Especially the line: “Jo bhi main chaahoon woh paaun.”


I don’t know why, but this line always hits differently on Mondays.

But today it felt like someone pressed pause on the noise in my head and reminded me, you’re allowed to want things, softly and quietly without rushing yourself.

Maybe that’s why I love it.

It doesn’t hype you up but also it steadies you.

It makes you feel like you can start your week without proving anything to anyone.

Just doing your work, following your pace and trusting your direction.

That’s the kind of energy I want my Mondays to have, less pressure and more presence.


Btw what would be your Monday song? 🎧

“My Brain During Work” - a series I didn’t plan to start, but my brain gave me no choice.


So here you go..

It’s basically me documenting how one normal work thought turns into a 3 hour research rabbit hole.

Episode 1: “Let’s take a break for a while” → ends up analyzing and rebuilding the entire strategy for a client.

Episode 2: My brain at 9 AM: already feeling exhausted looking at the to-do-list. Me at 11 PM: “Discipline is just love in action.”


Somewhere between overthinking and overdelivering, maybe that’s where creativity lives.

Nonetheless, happy weekends :)

#personalbranding

If my workday was a movie, it would be a very confusing genre.


Scene 1: A peaceful morning.

Scene 2: One message ruins the vibe.

Scene 3: Me giving CEO energy on Zoom while wearing pajama bottoms and troubleshooting client problems like Sherlock but internally crying like Bollywood.

Scene 4: A dramatic comeback when everything finally works.

Scene 5: Emotional ending: me convincing myself I’ll sleep early tonight (but I won’t).


I’d loveee to know your workday movie genre?
Happy weekends!

I miss nothing about corporate, except this one thing..
Sick days without guilt.


A couple of months ago, I had one of the worst health breakdowns of my life.

And it drained me both physically and mentally.

In corporate, I’d have sent an email, taken a week off, and someone else would’ve stepped in.

Everything would’ve continued without me.

But as a founder, there’s no “someone else.”

Clients still need updates, the team still needs direction and deadlines don’t pause because your body does.

Though my clients and my team were very patient with me, no doubt!

But eventually I worked through it because I didn’t know any other way.

That’s the part no one tells you about running a business.

You can build systems, delegate power and set boundaries.. but when you’re really down, the weight doesn’t disappear, it just gets heavier.

This phase has taught me that the business won’t fall apart if you step back, but you might, if you don’t.

I used to think rest was a weakness. But turns out, it's survival.

I’m still learning to pause, recover, and not feel sorry for it.

So if you’re pushing through when you shouldn’t be.. this is your reminder:
The business will survive but make sure you do too.


#founderslife

The one word that defines my approach to personal branding is “Balance.”


Not the “work-life balance” kind.

The balance between what I share and what I protect.

I talk about the business challenges, the tough calls, the lessons that came with bruises.

But I don’t believe in turning my or my clients entire life into content.
Because balance comes from intention.

It comes from knowing what serves your audience and what’s just extra.
For me balance sits somewhere in between posting everything and keeping it completely private.

You show up when you have something real to say, not because your calendar says “post today.” 

And here in Social Toast, we share what teaches or connects, not what just fills space.


Knowing when to speak and when to stay still is my definition of  Personal Branding.

Because in the end your brand doesn’t need all of you, it just needs the part that matters.


#personalbranding

My Unpopular Life Opinions
(aka the things I learned slower than I’d like to admit)


Some truths don’t hit you in one big moment, they arrive slowly through tired seasons, difficult choices, and small realizations that rearrange you quietly.

Here are a few that changed how I move through life:

1. Rest is productive.

Not the glamorous kind of rest but the boring, silent, “I’m doing nothing today” rest.

It’s crazy how your brain solves problems after you stop trying so hard to solve them.

Now I understand clarity usually shows up when you stop chasing it.


2. Slow progress is still progress.

We don’t celebrate the days where nothing exciting happened but we still showed up.

Consistency isn’t very out there, it’s quiet, steady, and often invisible until one day everything makes sense.


3. You can outgrow people and still love them.

Growing doesn’t always come with anger or drama. Sometimes it’s just two people becoming different versions of themselves. And that’s okay.

You can wish someone well from a distance. Love doesn’t disappear, it just changes form.


4. Soft people are not weak.

Softness is choosing kindness even when life gives you reasons not to.

Softness is emotional control without coldness, it is strength just without the noise.

Not everyone can do that.


These opinions aren’t popular because they don’t look like “wins” most of the time.

And they take longer to understand. But once they sink in, life gets lighter and you start to grow.

What’s an unpopular life opinion that life taught you and that you now swear by?

The Personal Brand ‘Green Flags’ People Don’t Talk About.


And no they’re not the usual viral posts or the big numbers, they’re the small signals that usually go unnoticed, unless you’re really looking.

Like yesterday, I came across a creator with barely 1,200 followers, no fancy hooks, no “10 lessons I learned at 3am” energy.

Just a post that made me stop scrolling and think, “ooh she’s saying something meaningful.”

And it hit me, the real green flags of a strong personal brand aren’t loud at all.

They mostly look like:

• Posts that subtly says something really powerful and impacting without trying too hard. 
• Comments that feel like an actual chat, not a copy-paste template.
• Posts that silently teaches you a lesson.
• Relatability that isn’t forced but comes naturally and a consistent vibe that feels real.

And there’s a certain confidence in such kind of presence.

It doesn’t require constant validation, or a big reveal, or a “look at me” moment. It just clicks.

Eventually, those are the brands I remember the most, the ones that feel like people, not profiles.

Maybe we should all pay more attention to these quiet green flags.

They tell you more about a person than the follower count ever will.


#personalbranding

A risk I took that paid off!


I chose to back myself before I even had any evidence.

I had no big strategy and no clear roadmap.

Just this uncomfortable knowing that I’d outgrown where I was and staying would shrink me more than leaving ever could.

At the time, it didn’t feel brave, it felt irresponsible.

It felt like choosing uncertainty over stability and I questioned it every second week.

But also growth rarely feels like growth when you’re in it.

It feels more like a doubt and more like you’re starting from zero again when everyone’s of your age already looks “sorted.”
 

But slowly, things started to compound, I met the right people, learned the right skills, built a voice and a system. And finally built a life that felt like mine.

So for the first time, I wasn’t choosing between “safe” and “risky.”

I was choosing between staying small and seeing what’s possible.

Looking back now, that risk paid off in ways I couldn’t have planned and not just in work, but in who I have become.

Some risks don’t pay off immediately. They pay off in identity, clarity, and direction.

And that’s the part I’d choose again, trusting myself a little sooner than I was comfortable with.

There’s one skill I mastered by accident.


And that skill was reading people.

Not in a dramatic “I can decode your childhood trauma in one glance” way.
But more like noticing the small things and observing people.

How someone pauses before responding, 
how their tone changes when they’re unsure, 
how they talk when they trust you vs when they’re just being polite, 
how they negotiate without using the word “negotiate” and 
how their confident face looks like vs when they’re unsure about you.

I picked it up during the early days of freelancing, when I didn’t have systems, leverage, or a team.

All I had was intuition, which, tbh I didn’t even know was a skill back then.

But it saved me from clients who were never going to pay, or from people who loved the idea more than the work or from opportunities that looked shiny but didn’t feel right.

Today, that “accidental” skill has quietly become my biggest advantage as a founder.

It helps me hire better, team, choose clients carefully, make decisions faster, navigate conflict with less chaos and build relationships that actually last.

Now when I look back I find it funny that we chase the big, glamorous skills, but the ones that change our careers are often picked up in survival mode.

The ones we never realized we were practicing all along.


#personalbranding #founderstory

Lessons I have learnt from other industries and I apply to personal branding..


1. From Journalism → Clarity beats cleverness.

Journalists write so the reader gets the point on the first read. Neither fluff nor jargon.

It taught me that a personal brand grows faster when your message is clean, not poetic.


2. From Psychology → People trust patterns, not peaks.

Behaviour science is clear: consistency creates safety.

In branding, it’s the same. Your audience trusts your energy more than your posting schedule.


3. From Sports → Reputation is built off the field.

Athletes don’t become icons because of one day's match magic. It’s the invisible discipline, the boring reps and the quiet grind that make them true athletes.

Your personal brand works the same way. The trust you earn when you’re not performing for the internet matters more than the days you show up big.


Different industries but same truth.

Remember your brand is what people sense and understand about you.


#personalbranding

Recently LinkedIn has started to feel like my class 9th textbook.


All I can see is methods, information, tricks and hacks to build something.
They’re helpful, no doubt. 

But I kinda miss the relatability and bonding through the content era, on LinkedIn.

And I often see myself recalling the posts that felt relatable, like someone is thinking in real-time.

The posts where I can sense the person behind the words.

Posts such as, someone shares a small shift in perspective, or something they noticed about people, or a quiet realization from their week that changed how they think.

The kind of content that feels honest, grounded, and human.

And whenever I sit with my creator friends we all love when the founders talk about the tiny behind-the-scenes details more than their big wins.

I personally love reading and knowing how somebody made that difficult decision, what were the trade-offs or the things they are unlearning, what are the ways that help them grow quietly.

I love thoughts that sound like they came from lived experience because I get to learn from them.

That’s the content that feels refreshing to me: simple, thoughtful, and rooted in something real.

Maybe that’s what I want to see more of.. not more “information,” but more perspective.


Please tell me I'm not alone to feel this..
What kind of content would you prefer to see more?

Year 1: I made decisions from urgency.
Year 3: I make them from clarity.


When I started building Social Toast, Year 1 felt like a fire:
 
- every client seemed “critical”
- every idea felt worth chasing
- every delay felt like failure
- every decision felt personal

I said yes too fast, over-explained too much, and tried to solve every problem immediately.

But by Year 3, the lens changed for me.

Now I ask:

- Is this aligned with my vision?
- Does this make any difference in the business?
- Will this matter 90 days from now?
- Is this a priority or just pressure?

Now I take longer to decide, I say no without guilt and I definitely don’t chase validation disguised as opportunities.

And I’ve learned that speed is useful but direction is everything.

The biggest shift is, previously I made decisions to survive and now I make decisions to scale.

If you’re in the messy middle right now, then trust me your decision-making will mature long before your business does. And that’s when things start to feel lighter.


#founderslearning

Some days, we forget this…
but there’s a child inside us, still living.


The one who never looks for achievements just to feel proud, who didn’t worry about being “enough,” for the job, who found joy in the smallest and silliest things.

And maybe you’ve had a heavy week, maybe you’ve been too hard on yourself lately or just maybe life feels a little too serious at the moment.

Then here’s a reminder you might need to hear today:

You’re still allowed to be soft.
You’re still allowed to slow down.
You’re still allowed to feel excited over small things.
You’re still allowed to believe good things can happen for you.

That child in you hasn’t gone anywhere, they’ve just been waiting for you to notice them again.

Happy Children’s Day.
Be gentle with yourself, always!

P.S.  If there’s one person who taught me how to stay young at heart, it’s my mom. She lives with a softness I’m still trying to learn. ❤️ 


#childrensday

If my personal brand was a person here’s exactly who she’d be..


She’d walk into the room quietly, but somehow everyone would notice her presence before she even speaks.

She’d be the friend who gives you one sentence, that fixes your whole overthinking spiral.

She’d talk softly, but her thoughts would land heavy. Nor loud, neither dramatic, just quietly intelligent.

She’d love clarity and hate jargon. And absolutely refuse to pretend she’s someone she’s not.

She’d be the kind of person who:

 • remembers tiny details
 • writes thoughts in her Notes app at 2am
 • observes more than she talks


She’d be ambitious, but in a calm way. The kind of ambition you don’t announce, you just embody.

She’d be the girl building her thing slowly, intentionally and not for applause but because she knows she’s meant for more.

And honestly, that’s the energy I try to show up with online too.

For me my personal brand isn’t a strategy, it’s a version of me, just a little clearer, a little braver, a little more intentional.


P.S. If your brand had a heartbeat, what would its vibe be?

P.S.S. Birthdays make you rethink everything, including your personal brand vibe 😂

If I lost my account tomorrow, here’s exactly how I’d rebuild from zero.


And more than followers I'd be more scared of losing all the versions of myself that I documented along the way. 

But if everything disappeared overnight, here’s what I’d do calmly, intentionally, and without rushing myself.

1. Build presence before posting.

Thoughtful comments for 10–15 days. Trust me it’s the easiest way to feel “seen” again without posting much.


2. Post 2–3 times a week.

Focus on posting real and useful content, thoughts from where I actually am. People connect to progress.


3. DM the right people.

Don’t start pitching immediately, start with human conversations. Relationships rebuild your brand long before reach does.


4. Start a tiny email list by week 2.

Because platforms might glitch but your people will not.


5. Give myself 90 days of patience.

Not everything compounds fast but it always compounds.

Because once you’ve built something from nothing, you stop fearing “starting over.”

 
You begin to trust your own ability more than your metrics.

If everything reset tomorrow, I know I’d find my way back and probably with even more clarity.


What’s the first thing you would do if you had to start from zero again?

#personalbranding

Things no one tells you about working in content.


Since Instagram keeps showing content creators working from pretty cafés, you must think this field would be all creativity, vanilla lattes, and ‘inspiration strikes’ moments.

But unsurprisingly, it’s not!

Behind the scenes looks something like this.. 

I’ll spend an entire morning writing a post, only to hate it at 3 PM, rewrite it at 5 PM,  and somehow circle back to the first draft like a toxic ex.

And the most funniest and ironic part is, the posts I casually write in 90 seconds while waiting for my food will blow up in no time. 
Meanwhile, the masterpiece I crafted like a delicate art form, well it just did fine.

Working in content is basically this emotional loop of:

“I love it → I hate it → This is genius → This is trash → Actually, this is kind of good.”


But honestly, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

There’s a weird joy in turning a tiny thought into something hundreds of people feel. A strange satisfaction in knowing your words travelled further than you did today.

No one tells you this part either, as messy as it feels, content makes you pay attention to your own life a little more closely.


What’s one thing your job taught you that no one warned you about?


#contentwriting #personalbranding

taplio

The Battle

Ayush Shukla

Ashi Kesarwani

Followers

Posts

Engagements

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Performance ScoreAshi Kesarwani's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Ayush Shukla

Ashi Kesarwani

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ashi Kesarwani's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreAshi Kesarwani's LinkedIn Performance