Most nights, you’ll find Ariana Nathani in the middle of a crowded bar, surrounded by young people waiting to meet her. As the founder of the podcast-and-events company Drinks First, the 27-year-old New York City-based creator organizes gatherings for single Gen Zers to meet new people, try drinks from different brands, and dance the night away with their friends.
“Dating is really tough, and most people are tired of online apps,” she said. “I have a design background and was constantly thinking of how I can problem solve this.”
In 2019, she launched a dating podcast called “Drinks First,” where she would interview anonymous singles about their dating preferences and history. Listeners would then submit their names if they were interested in the anonymous podcast guest, who would decide if they’d like to meet up with the person.
She also started Instagram and TikTok accounts for Drinks First, posting content such as bars and clubs where single men and women could meet prospective partners, popular date-night restaurants, and other related topics. She promotes the podcast and posts food and lifestyle content on her personal TikTok and Instagram accounts, too.
Today, she has a following of about 62,600 across the four accounts. Nathani made about $74,000 in 2023 by hosting events, posting sponsored content on her personal channels, and from the TikTok Creator Rewards program that pays for videos at least a minute long based on their performance.
Hosting events were her biggest source of income, bringing in $49,700 last year from brand sponsorships and ticket sales, compared to $22,700 from sponsored social-media content and $1,600 from TikTok.
“Brands are not just paying for my social-media presence, they’re getting access to my community of thousands of people,” she said. “I’ve gotten to the point where it’s now financially viable for me to turn down opportunities that don’t align with the brand.”
Pitching Soho House opened the first door, and it hasn’t slowed down since
Nathani was still building her social-media presence in late 2021 when a beverage brand asked her if she had thought about hosting in-person events tied to her dating podcast. She and the beverage-brand founder were both members of Soho House, so they pitched the exclusive members-only club, which let them use the venue for their event free of charge.
After a few of her videos went viral in 2022, more brands and venues started reaching out with offers to sponsor her events or use their spaces.
As her New York-based events became more popular, Nathani started charging for tickets; she made $11,800 from ticket sales through three events at the Georgia Room, $3,000 for two events at the Lox Club, and $9,600 from three Discolo events.
Brands also pay her to host their events. She has an upcoming event with the dating app Bumble, which is paying her $5,000 to host an event at the restaurant Ketchy Shuby.
“Most brands find me on TikTok, which acts as a discoverability tool, and then head over to Instagram, which is like a storefront where you can see everything we’ve done in one go, ” she said.
Outside Drinks First, Nathani has built her own brand as a food and lifestyle creator. She’s landed several paid collaborations with brands, including Just Salad, About Time Coffee, and Circle App. Restaurants also offer her comped meals in exchange for posting a thorough review of their food and drinks. As her following grew last year on her personal TikTok, where she has about 33,000 followers, she was invited to the Creator Rewards Program, which allowed her to make money directly from her videos.
In February, Vice invited her to the UK to cohost a new travel show for a few weeks. The deal was worth $17,200, not including the free flight and accommodations.
“When I get invited to places as an influencer, I’ll try to use that to my advantage to advertise my business, too,” she said. “I’ll ask to meet the programming lead or manager to see if they want to get involved in a future event, and sometimes it just works out.”
Ariana Nathani
Directly monetizing the podcast is her priority for 2024
Earlier in April, Nathani quit her role as a senior designer at Johnson & Johnson to focus on Drinks First full-time. Even though the money she made from content creation and Drinks First hadn’t surpassed her corporate salary by the time she left, she said she’d saved enough money to feel comfortable with the decision.
She aims to earn more from events and brand partnerships this year compared to 2023; the first three months of 2024 have already brought in $25,900.
One of her main priorities is to grow her podcast, which has about 1,000 monthly listeners.
“Podcast growth is really tough, especially because short-form video has become so popular [as a promotional tool]. It’s almost expected from audiences,” she said. “I interview anonymous guests, so video has never made sense.”
She hopes her new management can help. The podcast is now represented by a network housed under the satellite-radio company SiriusXM. Her team is tasked with helping grow her audience and securing programmatic ads that align with her brand.
“Leaving my job was a big risk, but I’m hoping the extra time and energy I’ll invest will pay off,” she said.
