Brace yourselves. We’re going to say something extreme. Pragati Verma is up there with Beyonce.
But, before the Beyhive swarm, let us explain. Like Queen Bey herself, Pragati turned life’s lemons and made some of the finest lemonade.
For Pragati - a Gen Z YouTuber from India, the bitter lemons were persistent problems with her health from a young age. And the lemonade is a YouTube empire with over 32 million combined subscribers (and counting).
From migraines to millions - the unlikely inspiration behind it all
As a teen, Pragati Verma reportedly suffered from debilitating migraines, preventing her from being able to attend school regularly.
In turn, this meant that the youngster would turn to YouTube - itself in its early years - to keep up to date with studies and trends. Having access to YouTube inspired her to develop a love for video editing. And what came next was her very own YouTube channel.
To call Pragati’s success ‘overnight’ would be incorrect. Her videos didn’t sweep the globe and become viral sensations. But she persevered at it, developing a sense of self and a sense of what content was connecting with her peer group.
Slowly but steadily, they came. Pragati’s channel grew by the hundreds of thousands - impressive, but not enough to change her life.
Then, with more time at home during the Covid pandemic, she introduced a series of ‘Real Life Challenges’ videos.
These proved hugely popular, with some - like one of the family only using supersized or miniature products for 24 hours - racking up tens of millions of views.
She had done what she set out. From a relief from migraine misery to millions of viewers, Pragati was a Gen Z success story. But the real headache (ba dum chh) was what to do next.
While she had definitely found success - and her main channel boasts over 8.1 million followers as of early 2025 - she wasn’t quite ‘established’ yet.
She was Sabrina Carpenter, pre-Espresso. Famous. But not famous-famous.
Unlike her YouTube peers who really broke out into the mainstream, it was hard to label Pragati’s brand. From product tests to reaction videos and personal vlogs, the content was less a strategy and more a collection of whatever sprung to mind.
She had to find her own niche if she wanted a bigger platform. And she’d find that the secret to her growth was thinking smaller. Smaller video lengths.
Shooting her shot with Shorts
Her real success came when she realized YouTube audiences and creators were switching on to Shorts.
Diversifying her platforms - a lesson learnt from the king of multi-channels himself, MrBeast - Pragati had the foresight to set up a separate Shorts channel - one which now has nearly three times the followers as her main.
Some might just assume short videos are more popular because social media is making people’s attention spans shorter. And those people would be wrong.
Our attention spans are doing perfectly fine, thank you very much. So while we can sit down and immerse ourselves in a long-form, deep dive - like Lex Fridman’s interviews - that doesn’t mean we always want to.
Like a more concentrated burst of flavour or the best short podcasts for those in a hurry, YouTube Shorts gave you chance to connect to a creator succinctly. Sort of like the trailer of a movie. You get to the good stuff of why you might want to see more, but you know there’s still some treasures to be discovered if you invest further.
Shorts are perfect for stimulating the brain, scratching that storytelling pleasure center, but without needing perfectly timed toilet breaks or the risk of having to pause halfway through to focus on work, school or other plans.
As a result, Shorts challenge (or inspire?) content creators like Pragati to get to the point faster.
Look at what your audience wants (or likes)
These shorts showcased Pragati’s humor and deepened a connection with her growing audience. While there was still no rhyme or reason to the type of shorts she’d produce, they were all quintessentially and authentically her.
What Pragati Verma should be celebrated for is understanding the how and why of it all. She knows how people want to distract themselves and why people might be finding themselves on her channel - they want something more engaging than a doom scroll through the X/Twitter feed or Instagram grid, but something that won’t require a hefty time commitment.
