My One-Month Experiment: Finding my Voice on TikTok

350+ matchmaking forms, 50K likes, and thousands of views later

Mid-July this year, I set out to do something different. I’d just transitioned out of my job, and I was standing at one of those crossroads where you can either overthink yourself into paralysis or just do something.

On July 17th, I made myself a promise: one month to go all in on creative expression. Substack, LinkedIn, and TikTok were my platforms. I decided to post consistently on all three platforms, and by the end of the month see which stuck. I found I liked TikTok the most - I could be messy, I liked the process of posting on there, and I was having a lot of fun. Substack and LinkedIn started to fall away.

From the get go, I was posting 6-7 times a day and sharing everything I’d been holding onto for years: content I’d written in essay form here on Substack about explanations of Hindu holidays and festivals, stories of migration about my family, and thoughts on love, identity, and other random things. I started taking the book content I wrote years ago and putting it into video form on TikTok.

I had no expectations beyond that.

I also chose TikTok because I thought I could hide there. There was no way people I knew could find me - I wasn’t an active user and previously never cared too much about the platform.

I was scared of being ‘cringe’, getting judgment from people who knew me, or talking about things that may make people feel confused about the direction of my career. Worse, I really didn’t want my family, childhood friends, or people from every other chapter in my life who might wonder what the hell I was doing making these weird, unedited, messy videos.

Instagram felt too exposed - everyone I knew was there. LinkedIn felt too corporate, too polished. Substack felt like shouting into a void where I’d already been shouting for a while.

TikTok felt anonymous and safe. Like I could experiment without consequence.

The algorithm literally went “hahahahaha” at this plan. Right in my face.

After less than a few weeks, I’d see people I know slip into my DMs, send me texts, or even share in person that they’d seen my videos. Even close family members. Initially, I blocked people - I did NOT want to be found. Somehow, TikTok’s algorithm decided that everyone I knew needed to see me explaining Diwali or talking about my deepest innermost thoughts.

This was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

But then I stopped caring. I thought: f it. They’re going to see it anyway. I can’t keep playing wackamole.

I kept posting.

The Numbers

Videos that I posted casually started hitting 20,000, 40,000, 100,000 views. I wasn’t going viral in the millions-of-views sense, but something was clearly resonating.

I started making content about my matchmaking hobby. A hobby I called “friend blob matchmaking” where I wanted to match friends of friends. I made a video about 4 single friends. That video came on the heels of a minor crash out (never would I think I’d actually use this phrase). After that crash out, the clouds opened, and I decided to take my mind off things by posting about my matchmaking hobby. I thought I’d at least find a few single women for my single guy friends.

Sometimes good things come after rock bottom.

Before I knew it, everyone was seeing it, I had 600-700 messages in my inbox in that first week. 350+ forms thus far. I received $1K in venmo donations, people feeling appreciative of someone looking out for them in what many called this bleak dating world. I had someone call me an “upgraded Sima aunty” (re Indian Matchmaking show on Netflix). The highest compliment one could receive.

Now my colleague Jenna, who’s been with me since my last company as a hybrid EA and Ops Lead, is helping me run matchmaking experiments. We’re using a blend of personalized matchmaking and AI to connect people.

I started to realize building an audience and creating content that matters is actually possible. It was happening now, not some distant dream.

Building in Public

TikTok has become my place for building in public.

I’d seen so many people build in public before. I’d seen people do it on Twitter, on LinkedIn, on Substack. But whenever I tried, it felt performative, too polished, and too much pressure to have everything figured out.

TikTok let me be messy. I could post a half-formed thought about matchmaking one day, a deep dive into a Hindu festival the next, a random story about my parents the day after. I could get things wrong and correct them later. I could show up imperfect and still grow.

Some days I post once or twice, but most of the time, I try to post 6-7 videos.

This is surprising to me because writing essays was my first love. I started blogging in 2015 and never thought I’d come to enjoy creating short form content.

Why Didn’t I Start Sooner?

My biggest regret is not starting sooner.

I had essays written. I had cultural observations documented. I had spiritual insights I wanted to share. I had stories about the first-gen experience that I knew other people needed to hear because I’d needed to hear them too.

So why did it take until July 17th, 2025, for me to actually start?

I think it took permission. It took me feeling lost and confused. Ultimately, it also took me not using my voice for long enough.

July 17th was special because it was the day I decided to stop waiting.

What I’ve Learned About Personal Branding

I’ve learned that your personal brand isn’t something you figure out and then execute. I learned it’s something you discover by building in public. There may be core pillars and a clear direction, somewhere I’d like to go, but it also can evolve and unfold through experimentation.

I didn’t know that matchmaking would be something I start to seriously experiment with. I didn’t know spiritual content would resonate this much. I didn’t know that talking about growing up Gujarati would connect me with hundreds of people navigating similar identity questions.

During Navaratri and Diwali season, I had a mom comment “I’ve been figuring out how to explain this to my kids and you just made it possible for me to do that”. Comments like those make my year.

Why I’m Writing This Here

My friend David Nebinski and I have a daily accountability text going. It’s been amazing (shout out David!) and he suggested I write a post here since it’s been a while. I’ve been thinking about this post for weeks and it was his nudge that pushed me to write this within a few hours and hit publish.

This post feels important because I’m building the muscle of sharing in real time, rather than when I have it all figured out.

If You’re Waiting for Permission

If you’re reading this and you’ve been sitting on ideas, this is for you.

You don’t need the perfect platform. You don’t need your content pillars figured out. You don’t need to know exactly who you’re serving or what your personal brand is. You don’t need permission from anyone except yourself.

Pick a date. It doesn’t have to be special. Mine was July 17th.

Commit to a timeline. Mine was one month. Yours can be two weeks or 30 days or 100 days.

Choose a platform that feels natural to you. Then just start. Post messy. Post imperfect. Post the thing you’re not quite ready to post yet. Share your inner world- the thoughts you’ve been holding, the questions you’re still asking, the ideas that scare you a little.

What’s Next

If you’d like a matchmaking form for yourself or a friend, please comment “form” below and I’ll send it to you! We’re revamping it, so it’ll take me a few days to send you the new and improved one.

I’m actively thinking about how I’d like to expand my personal brand from here and have a few ideas up my sleeve.

If you’d like to follow along on TikTok, I’m @rinagpatel and I may start reposting on Instagram @rinagpatel.

If you’d like to contribute to the matchmaking cause, you can venmo me @rina-patel-3

And lastly:

What’s going to be your July 17th?