Four years ago, 26-year-old New Jersey native Neha Sobti made a decision. She was going to leave law school for good (and all the financial and social security that came with it) and move to California to pursue an acting career. This came as quite the shock to her parents, who not only disapproved of the idea, but refused to accept it even two years later, when Neha had already moved to Los Angeles to study acting at CalArts.
Neha was determined to do things her own way. She had spent a large portion of her life doing what others had expected her to do, and acting was the one thing she finally had that was truly hers. But following her heart was not without consequence. Because of her family’s disapproval, Neha is under a lot of pressure to perform. “I just want my income to be solely from acting,” Neha says, “I know the best way to prove [my parents] is to be stable in it, showing my Dad I can make a career of this.”
Neha is now fresh out of school and new to the industry in Los Angeles. Watch the video above to see how Neha is handling family pressure, along with the daunting task of finding stability in a notoriously unstable industry.