The Creative Hustle With Anika Goyal

This episode started as a question about loneliness and became something closer to a love letter.

We're talking about creative friendships: the depth of them, the complexity of them, and the specific kind of magic that happens when someone who truly gets it walks beside you.

We cover comparison, collaboration, and how to be the kind of friend you actually want to have.

And somewhere in the middle, I stop and talk about six people who have changed the shape of my creative life.

Bring a cup of something warm. This one lingers.

Stay tuned for new episodes every week!

What does it actually take to be a teenage creative in 2026? In this episode of The Creative Hustle with Anika Goyal, I sit down with a high school senior and videographer, Alyssa Del Mundo to talk about the reality behind the camera roll, from cinematic composition and visual storytelling to balancing school, deadlines, editing, collaboration, and creative burnout.

We get into the pressure of creating meaningful work while still figuring yourself out, the art of making people feel something through visuals, and why some of the best stories happen in the moments you almost cut out.

Whether you’re a filmmaker, photographer, content creator, or just someone obsessed with the creative process, this episode feels like a late-night conversation every creative needs to hear.

Stay tuned for new episodes every week!

In this episode, Anika has a wonderful conversation with Chapman University screenwriting professor William Stribling.

They discuss:

- power of storytelling

- learning and breaking rules

- being more open to change

- advice for creatives

and more...

Stay tuned for new episodes every week and for more updates follow Anika on Instagram @thecreativehustlewithanikag

In this episode, Anika has a wonderful conversation videographer Jeisa Ng. She is an amazing high school sophomore who works in her school's video production team, with a beautiful knack for storytelling.

In this episode, we discuss:

- storytelling

- just going for it

- creative mentorship

- advice for creatives

- and more...

This episode is for all the creative and ambitious people out there, looking for an extra dose of inspiration today!

Stay tuned for new episodes every week and follow Anika on her instagram @thecreativehustlewithanikag

In this episode, Anika discusses the concept of wanting something versus actually living it.

She also discusses the struggles of comparison, feeling like she is asking for a lot, managing pressures, and more!

This episode is for all the people who dream big, but get burnt out really quickly!

In this episode, Anika sits down with YA sports romance author Jennifer Iacopelli!

They discuss storytelling, romance development, building strong independent woman characters, Netflix adaptations, creating opportunities for debut actors, and more!

This episode is for all the creatives out there who dream of making it big someday or want an extra dose of inspiration!

She was here in year two. Now it's year six. And a lot has changed.

The last time my mom sat across from me on this podcast, I was still figuring out who I was as a host, as a storyteller, and honestly, as a person. She showed up for me then, the way she always has. And now, four years later, she's back.

This Mother's Day, I'm bringing my mom back to the mic for a conversation that felt long overdue, and nothing about it went the way I expected.

We talked about her dreams, definition of success, what happiness actually means to her in her own words, and more! And yes, she had stories about raising me that I was absolutely not prepared for.

Four years is a long time. We've both grown. And this conversation proves it.

If you've never asked your mom the big questions: what she wants, what she believes, what lights her up, this episode will make you want to pick up the phone the second it's over.

This one is for every mom who shows up quietly and every daughter who doesn't say thank you enough. 🍋

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Thank you for coming back.

In this episode, we get into the neuroscience and psychology of first impressions and what it actually means for your career in creative and media: an industry where the meeting is the audition and the pitch is the preview.

We break down the warmth-competence axis, why leading with credentials backfires, the uncomfortable truth about Mehrabian's 55/38/7 rule, and what researcher John Antonakis found about the tactics that make some people genuinely magnetic in a room, regardless of what they say.

Then we get tactical: five things you can change immediately that will shift how rooms respond to you, from the way you slow down, to the specificity trick that makes you unforgettable, to the counterintuitive reason vulnerability closes more deals than confidence.

This one's for anyone who's ever walked out of a pitch wondering why the energy was off, why the room never fully opened up, or why someone less talented keeps getting the call back.

Stay tuned for new episodes every week!

For more BTS content; follow me on Instagram (@thecreativehustlewithanikag)

In this episode, I'm joined with the world's leading human design expert Erin Claire Jones.

In this episode, we discuss:

- Thriving vs just surviving 

- Identifying career paths that align with your human design

- Choice paralysis

- and more!

This episode is for all the dreamers and innovators out there, hoping to achieve their dreams and goals, while maintaining their peace and composure!

If you want to look up your own human design: https://humandesignblueprint.com 

Here's a link to get her book: https:/erinclairejones.com/book

For more updates from Erin follow her instagram pages: 

instagram.com/erinclairejones &

 instagram.com/humandesignblueprint

Here's a link to study human design with her too: https://humandesigngenius.com

Stay tuned for new episodes every week!

In this episode, I sit down with Saul Brauns, a 19-year-old founder and Rice University student building Bridge, a dating app designed to rethink how we actually connect. And we’re not keeping this surface-level.

We get into:

• the real psychology of men (not what TikTok tells you)
• why modern dating feels so broken, and what might fix it
• the business side of love: attraction, retention, and emotional branding
• pickup lines that actually work vs. ones that should be retired immediately
• how storytelling shapes attraction (and your entire dating life)
• the overlap between building a brand and building a relationship

• and more...

This episode is equal parts unfiltered, strategic, and slightly chaotic, in the best way. Whether you’re single, taken, or just observing the mess, this conversation will change how you think about connection.