Like most people, I had a full time desk job which paid reasonably well and did not involve any overtime/weekend work. Somehow I just did not enjoy what I was doing, even though I was doing reasonably well at work. I felt I could use my skills to do something more worth while, something that's more creative, challenging and FUN!! I did not enjoy the monotony and above all the day today tasks involved were not using the left side of my brain at all!
With much needed support from my husband I finally decided to call it quits end in Oct 2009 and decided to take some time off. The time off was to unwind and decide what I really want to do and what would give me that inner satisfaction of having achieved something in life. Somewhere at the back of my mind I knew I wanted to something of my own, start my own company, be my own boss.. but HOW and doing WHAT??
I started to explore my creative side in my free time. I remember this one trip to Michaels when I was window shopping and browsing the store, wanting to buy some cheap home decor, mainly artificial flowers. I walked through this isle of beads and beading supplies. I just stopped there and kept looking, touching,feeling one of kind, beautiful bead findings. It felt like magic - something different.. I felt the beads were trying to convey a message and were sending in strong positive vibrations.. I felt warm and so comfortable standing there.. I just couldn't resist and ended up buying tons of beads and beading supplies. I was suddenly very excited.. the feeling was just like how a kid jumps at the candy :)
I had found a lovely hobby at that point and I was extremely excited to make some fun jewelry. My next instinctive trip was straight to the library to find some beading books/videos to get me started. As a child, i was very creative and did bead with my grand mother at home.. but wasn't sure if I could be as creative now.
After watching multiple video's online, reading several articles and with the help of some great books, I tried my hands on a few beads and made a couple of necklaces and earrings from the supplies I had bought. I was very excited - I felt like I had achieved something and had learnt something new which was so creative and so much FUN!!
I shared these pieces with a few dear friends and received great responses. My friends and family were very motivating and they loved my designs and the jewelry I made. At that moment, a thought came to my mind - why not start my own line of beautiful jewelry that can make someone feel loved and special? As an individual I am more focussed on making others feel happy - so guess it was just natural of me to think that way! LOL
After much thought, I realized that this is not just a hobby for me that I got attracted too.. I thoroughly enjoy being creative, design and make one of a kind pieces, so probably this was my dream career/job that I had been looking for!! More than that, I was craving for a challenging and a fun career opportunity!!
I decided to explore further in this area and took a trip to India as well as China to explore the markets there and to gather my supplies of raw material. Also it was very important to make some connections with good wholesale vendors and suppliers. With a lot of support and help from my parents, my trip was a huge success. I had an opportunity to take some 1-1 beading classes in India where I learnt some great beading techniques. I also travelled to China to understand the market there for beaded jewelry and raw materials.
On my return, I started working on building my inventory of pieces which I wanted to start selling to all the beautiful people out there. In this era, I knew internet was the best and the easiest way to sell. I launched my first online store on Artfire on March 12, 2010 and received my first sale within a week, i.e. March 17th 2010. This was very motivating, and guess what my first sale was from one of my early supporters, a friend and a senior from college. I was really excited and happy! She said I want to be your first customer - so I designed and hand crafted this beautiful black onyx and crystal necklace for her which she totally fell in love with! After a few good responses, I started my second online store on ETSY on April 5, 2010.
This is how AnshStudio was born.. I love every minute of what I do, I love to design and make jewelry for women and I love it more when people mail me, call me and tell me how much they love the jewelry they bought from me. They get so excited when they get tons of compliments on these beautifully hand crafted pieces. This is what gives me inner satisfaction and happiness - the feeling of making someone feel special and that big million dollar smile on their faces brighten my day!! I am so glad I found my dream career.
You must be now wondering why AnshStudio? Doesn't really sound like a fancy name? Well my nick name is "Ansh". I looked for a lot of names/themes/ideas to create a brand - somehow nothing really spoke to me.. also several online articles warned me not to have a specific name as that may restrict me later on in case I decide to expand (which I am so grateful I followed). I was tired of looking and din't want to delay my launch just because I couldn't come up with a fancy name. Of all names, I started feeling very inclined to "AnshStudio" - it kinda spoke to me and conveyed a message of belongingness and confort!
