I always wondered “is this it”?
Waking up at 7 am to catch a crowded morning train. Sitting at the office from 9am to 5pm, getting home tired and exhausted and doing it all over again the next day. And the next. And the next. Until… retirement. The answer was a big "NO".
So, one fine day on a busy afternoon sitting in my cubicle working on some designs I decided that it is time to have my own Brand.
I always wondered if I had the courage to pull the plug. But one day you just have to, and courage will find you!! So, I decided to leave the City of Dreams(Mumbai) and move back to "My City"(Bhopal) to make my dreams come true.
I sat in the driver’s seat, grabbed the wheel and started my journey. I was excited of being my own boss, deciding my own hours and setting up my workplace, but at the same time little scared of doing everything on my own and knowing it won’t be easy. Oh well!! It never is……
To be honest, I knew it back then that it would be difficult to work for yourself, with no vacation, loads of responsibility, financial instability and the pressure to succeed. It would require sacrifice, hard work and persistence. But my passion and dream kept me going.
There has not been a day off since then, but I don’t feel like I am working, I am living my dream and having so much fun doing it. I am passionate about creating ‘Fashion that makes a difference’. There is so much creativity in every corner of our country and I want to introduce the world to it through my clothes.
I started traveling to different parts of India to find artisans and embroiders who would create the textile gems I was looking for. The hardest part was transforming these textile gems into garments. For this I needed to find the right people who share the same dream as I do. Finding my own little crew. Tailors and pattern makers who would understand the designs I wanted to create. For one year I moved from one tailoring service to another, but the garments created were not a reflection of ME or my style! I never gave up hope though, and then one day two people knocked on my studio and asked me if I was looking for a pattern maker (also called masterji in our world) and a tailor and I said YESSS!!!
So dreams do come true, after months of working with my Artisans in Gujarat, Rajasthan And Telangana and my little crew in Bhopal (yes I can proudly call them one now) here I am excited, scared, terrified, happy and above all proud to introduce my brand.
“YESHA SANT”
(Handcrafted in India)