The “positive influencer” speaks to USA TODAY about how he bounced back from his failures to build a video empire that’s earned 140 million followers across platforms.
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Dharminder “Dhar” Mann got his failures out of the way early – and they helped launch his career.
In 2018, he started putting out inspirational videos – his first one, titled “Before Deciding to Give Up on All Your Goals,” shows him sitting on a couch telling his followers that people like Oprah, Michael Jordan and Elon Musk faced enormous failures at the start of their careers, but pushed through to become who they are today.
This became the theme of his videos before he started pivoting into the type of content he makes today, where actors perform soap opera-ish life-lesson stories with names like “Teens Learn To Be Honest The Hard Way” and “Foster Mom Ignores Her New Daughter.” It’s an approach that has brought him over 170 million followers across social media, and a spot on Time’s list of the most influential creators in 2025.
Now Mann is taking his inspirational, do-gooder image and partnering with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America as the organization’s first-ever “Honorary Big,” he’s announcing exclusively to USA TODAY. He’ll help promote them in videos and create experiences for the “littles,” as the mentees are called. The partnership stemmed from his role as the chief kindness officer for the Super Bowl, he says, as the nonprofit has ties with the NFL.
Mann spoke with USA TODAY about his work as a “positive influencer” and how an unexpected mentor changed his life. Here are his comments – and a few lessons of success that we gleaned from them. (Note: This interview was edited for clarity and length.)
Your disappointments can prompt you to do better
Dhar Mann: Being this positive influencer, putting out the content that I do was honestly just my way of filling a void that I needed myself. When I found myself at the lowest point in my life when I entered my 30s, what really helped keep me moving forward was reading stories of people that I admired and looked up to. As I dug into their stories, I realized how much hardship, failure and disappointment each of them had faced. I created videos to inspire people and let them know that they’re not alone.
I’ve built an incredibly proactive community that four out of five people who watch our videos say they feel compelled to take some sort of positive action in their lives. Whether that’s going on a walk or rekindling a relationship with a loved one, our videos not just make people feel better; they actually make people do better.
Quitting social media can be inspiring
I was an early adopter of Instagram. I was constantly watching other people’s lives, thinking, “Why are other people’s lives so glamorous, and why isn’t mine going the way I wanted it to?”
I got to a very dark place internally, and the way that I climbed out of it was that I deactivated all social media and I completely got off the internet for four years. Between 30 and 34 years old, I did not even consume any social media. I was running a business.
I shifted towards books. I would read stories of successful people, and I found that not only was failure a part of their success, in many ways it was a prerequisite to their success. That’s when I decided to start making videos – so I literally turned on my camera in the living room of my apartment in L.A. and started talking on camera, trying to give people advice about not giving up on their dreams.
Your lows can help you connect with others on a deeper level
In the beginning, success was paying bills. My parents immigrated from India and came to make a better life for themselves. I was the only Indian kid in my city. It’s a lot of pressure to make it and try not to be a failure. Now, my definition of success is more centered around giving back than anything.
Once I was able to climb my way through depression, I really wanted to help others do the same. I think back about all those hardships that I went through. I was broke. I was depressed. I was about to be evicted from my apartment. I was going through a bad breakup. I was having family problems, every kind of problem you can imagine.
Now, when I meet someone who tells me about a problem that they’re going through, I can connect with that person on such a deep level, on such a spiritual level, because I can say I’ve experienced similar things in my life, and because of my pain, I have found purpose.
Mentors are a privilege – but they can be transformational
I had the opportunity to meet with three littles last week. One kid told me she doesn’t have any siblings her age, so she always finds herself alone. Her dream is to be a dancer, but she can’t afford dance classes. But now that she has a big sister, she has someone to spend her time with, and her big sister actually teaches her to dance.
I met another boy whose mom struggled with some mental problems, and at two years old, his aunt had to take over custody. She had so much love and gave him everything, but at the same time, he had no one his age, and there was just like a big disconnect. And he told me how summers are the hardest time because he would find himself alone, and he had never done things that we sort of almost take for granted. Through finding Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, he was able to experience a lot of these things that having a big brother or a mentor figure would allow.
The littles that I have spoken with have been through extremely difficult times, but that does not define them. They can still find power and strength.
Crucial help can come from unexpected places
My parents weren’t around a lot when I was growing up. They were immigrants trying to make it. They didn’t really speak English. They didn’t understand American culture. I found myself between two different worlds that I didn’t really understand. I was too Indian for Americans. I was too American for Indians. I never really felt like I belonged.
But then, I met this mentor in a very unexpected place. He was like a friend of the family. He was an attorney, and he would tell me about the cases that he was working on, and I became so fascinated. I had never been inspired to learn more or passionate about something, and so he would tell me about his career, because my dad drove a taxi cab and my mom was a bank teller — that wasn’t inspiring to me or relatable as a kid.
I still tell him today – he’s in his late 70s – that he saved my life. If it wasn’t for him, I really think I would have gone down a dark path in life. And now I am the person I am today, and I can give my kids the right mentorship and guidance to help them become the best possible adults they can be.