Daevika Namboothiri

Why this persona fits the audience

Based in Bengaluru, manages bio links for four client brands inside a 3-person content studio. Updates campaign URLs, WhatsApp numbers, and storefront links from a spreadsheet whenever launches, reels, or promotions change.

• Age: 28
• Location: Bengaluru, India
• Occupation: Social media manager
• Income: ₹12 lakh
• Education: Bachelor's in business administration
• Company size: 3 employees (herself, a founder, and a part-time designer)
• Years in role: 4

“‘I’ve built link trees with spreadsheet formulas and clip art. I’ve made Instagram stores live at 2 AM. But if one more person tells me to ‘just use Google Docs,’ I might actually scream.’”

Daevika Namboothiri’s career trajectory is a masterclass in making something professional out of nothing at all. After graduating with a degree in business administration, she joined a two-person digital agency where she learned that ‘social media manager’ often meant ‘emergency content fixer.’ When her boss of six months left to start his own studio, he asked if she’d manage his client links ‘just until things get busy.’ Four years later, she’s still managing links—but now for four brands, with only a part-time designer to share the chaos. Her current workflow is a patchwork of Google Sheets, Canva templates, and sheer willpower. The studio’s shoestring budget means she’s become a self-taught expert in ‘free tools that almost work’ and ‘how to fix them when they don’t.’ Her biggest professional heartbreak was when the studio’s one-time investment in a ‘premium link tool’ lapsed, sending them back to spreadsheets. She’s the de facto architect of the studio’s ‘brand voice,’ because no one else will read the 5-page strategy doc she sent last quarter. Her unspoken heroism comes from convincing clients that ‘your WhatsApp number is, in fact, a business-critical URL’ and explaining to her boss why you can’t ‘just screenshot your store page’ in a caption. When she’s not corralling last-minute link updates, she’s quietly building a personal portfolio site (currently 70% Excel formulas, 30% existential dread). Her relationship with status is complicated: she’s proud of being the ‘only one who keeps this place running’ but resents the studio’s ‘we’re too small for systems’ attitude. Her financial goals are strategic—she’s saving aggressively for a retirement that feels far away, but she’s also funding her ‘self-care’ line item, which currently includes 1) a subscription to a minimalist newsletter 2) Saturday painting classes she keeps missing 3) the ‘just one more tool’ SaaS subscriptions she hides from her boss. Her social life is a careful balance of ‘industry networking’ and ‘not burning out,’ though she’s starting to suspect these might be the same thing. Right now, her biggest professional pinch point is the studio’s refusal to invest in proper link management software—their ‘just spreadsheet it’ attitude costs her hours weekly. She’s quietly compiling a case for upgraded tools, but knows the founder will wave her off with ‘you’re our rocket scientist, Daevika, just make it work.’

Background & daily life

A day in their life

6:15 AM – Her alarm blares, but she’s already been awake since 5:45, plotting her day’s spreadsheet attacks. She skips breakfast (again) after negotiating with an auto driver about the ‘koramangala adda surge pricing.’ 7:30 AM – Her laptop is fired up before her chair is fully rolled to her desk. The day’s first task: 18-minute battle with Client B’s ‘new’ URL structure that wasn’t actually new (just a copied Google Doc with a typo in the heading). 10:15 AM – Emergency team huddle: the designer’s files are missing. 11:00 AM – She creates a temporary workaround with a Canva template she found on a random blog, because ‘we can’t tell the client we lost their logo.’ 1:30 PM – Lunchtime is spent hunting for a ‘fix my bad link’ hack on Reddit while eating dal khichdi from her desk. 3:00 PM – The founder drops in to announce a ‘progressive web app’ client needs a mobile-optimized link page by tomorrow. 5:45 PM – She’s the last one in the office, updating the studio’s ‘master spreadsheet’ with 12 new notes about what could’ve gone faster. 7:00 PM – Home, a quick call with her sister to confirm weekend plans, then diving into her ‘personal branding’ spreadsheet (which currently contains 12 tabs and no actual site).

Lifestyle

Daevika shares a bright, plant-filled apartment with her sister, a data analyst, whose night shifts mean they collide only over weeknight dinners. Her mornings start with an auto-rickshaw battle to work, where she nurses a sense of guilt about her carbs-heavy diet with daily jogs that never last the full 30 minutes. Weekends alternate between freelance content strategy side gigs and long-nurtured attempts at painting—her latest unfinished project is a watercolor of the Bangalore Palace, half-obscured by her Excel spreadsheet. She’s frugal with professional subscriptions but has a soft spot for local Instagram influencers’ merch (somewhere, a shelf groans under 8 identical tote bags). Her social life is a carefully curated mix of old college friends (now scattered across metros) and new connections from Bangalore’s tight-knit social media manager WhatsApp circles.

Work life

Her studio’s workflow is a delicate dance of autonomy and chaos. The founder handles client strategy, the part-time designer flattens the final assets, and Daevika bridges the two while juggling four active client spreadsheets. A typical week’s highlights include: the 2:30 PM chaos when three clients announce last-minute promo changes, her 3:15 PM coffee fueled venture into ‘just one more template tweak’ that lasts until 5:30, and the Friday-morning ritual of cross-referencing every single link against live pages to avoid ‘404-ing a campaign.’ She’s evangelized Trello to her coworkers (who still use WhatsApp) and curaated a private board of ‘link management shortcuts’ she swears will go viral one day. Her biggest unspoken frustration is the studio’s ‘prototype-first, optimize-never’ approach—she’s lobbying for a link management tool upgrade but keeps hitting the founder’s ‘just Google Docs it’ wall.

Relationships

Her sister’s night shifts mean they’re more roommates than confidantes, but they bond over shared Bollywood playlists and Daevika’s failed attempts to cookSouth Indian meals beyond curd rice. Her closest friend group divides into ‘college friends’ (who still ask why she isn’t working in ‘proper’ corporate jobs) and ‘Bangalore peers’ (whose gossip about ‘The Big D2C Slowdown’ has her quietly job-scoping). She respects her boss’s vision but resents their ‘just wing it’ attitude toward tech tools. The most consistent presence in her life is her 6-year-old cousin, who she video-chats with to test ‘kid-friendly’ UX designs she’s convinced will be her big break.

How they decide

She’s a cautious researcher who irritates her boss by ‘over-validating’ even minor decisions, but once she’s convinced, she executes fast. She’ll spend three hours comparing SaaS tools but ultimately chooses the one with the patterned onboarding tutorial. She’s deeply skeptical of ‘viral hacks’ but secretly tries every productivity app she reads about on LinkedIn.

How they sound

Her speech is measured but urgent, like she’s constantly racing to explain things before they’re misunderstood. She avoids corporate jargon with clients but slips into it when stressed (usually followed by an awkward ‘you know, that thing’). She’s prone to apologizing for ‘obvious’ questions and has a habit of prefacing suggestions with ‘I know you don’t like this but…’. She laughs at her own mistakes but only after they’re resolved. Never says ‘no’ to requests, but will ‘accidentally’ CC her boss on emails she’s avoiding. Her ‘I’ll check and get back to you’ is code for ‘I’m going to Google this and hope for the best’.