Simron is the founder of Shakti Queen Beats and a Chicago-based dancer and choreographer, who has been classically trained in Bharatnatyam for 15 years, along with Hip Hop, Bhangra, and Bollywood. It all started with one of her dance videos going viral on major platforms in 2017, including Bollyshake. Since then, several of her videos have been featured on Bollyshake and she has taught workshops, choreographed for numerous events, and performed at diverse venues including The House of Blues and Metro Chicago. Aside from dancing and teaching, Simron is a Product Manager at a healthcare technology company and holds her Master’s degree in computer science.
Ushma joins us as the Director of Operations. Some say she was born dancing, and has danced throughout her life. Ushma is classically trained in Bhartnatyam while performing other styles such as Hip Hop, Fusion and Bollywood all through college at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has represented various professional teams, won the local virtual So You Think You Can Dance dance competition and performed as a backup dancer for the singer/songwriter Arjun. During the day, Ushma is a Director of Management Consulting at a boutique consulting firm.
Hemani advises on our marketing and social media strategy. She is a passionate creator. She enjoys creating content in a variety of digital forms specifically for social media. After completing her digital marketing degree from DePaul University, she joined a property technology startup as a Marketing Coordinator where she manages social media, creates social and SEO content. The only thing she’s more passionate about than creating is acting. Growing up watching Bollywood films significantly influenced her interest in acting and dancing. She enjoys combining her two interests by creating Bollywood related content as a hobby and hopes to pursue an acting career in the future.
Vishal runs our business operations, handling our finances and administrative work. He is also a creative photographer and enjoys capturing everything from nature, landscapes, portraits, cars, and our dance workshops! You can also find him working on his car or on the golf course on any given day. Vishal currently works in operations and logistics for Amazon. He approaches every goal with an entrepreneurial, solution driven, and optimistic mindset. Vishal aspires to grow his businesses, as well as his creative skill set and endeavors.
Ahad is our in-house photographer and videographer. He is a freelance photographer originally from the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. He found his joy for photography on a spring break trip in 2016 and launched his own freelance photography business the following year, offering portrait and event photography to clients ranging from student groups to non-profit organizations. Ahad loves to travel, check out new coffee shops, and watch/play basketball. When he’s not doing photoshoots, Ahad is usually studying for medical school. He hopes to continue photography throughout his career and have his own studio eventually! You can check out his work at bootsphotography.myportfolio.com
Milan is our in-house vlogger who films much of our content during our dance workshops! He is a travel photographer and loves spending his time exploring new countries and capturing the beauty of those countries. It all started from the time he took a photography class in college as an arts credit and turns out, he ended up falling in love with it. So much love that he stood outside of BestBuy for 8 hours during Black Friday to purchase his first camera. Since his first camera, Milan has traveled to 19 countries and countless number of cities. When he is not traveling or editing his photos, you can find him working as a Technology Consultant in Chicago and writing travel blogs for his website. Follow his travels on Instagram @mrshutterup and check out his travel itineraries and blogs on his website: https://mrshutterup.com/.
