Hello friends! I’m
back with another story from #thebrigadethatbuildsbrands series. We’re
featuring Air Force wife Sanyukta Bhardwaj today and her ‘Apple of My Eye’ – a handmade
children’s room linen and art venture. I’d like to mention that we will also feature veterans, veteran ladies and Veer Naari’s as well as Armed Forces wives, who have set up
interesting businesses and brands. If you know anyone we can feature, drop us a
line (contact details below).
Now, on to our chat with Sanyukta.
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Sanyukta Bhardwaj - #Milpreneur |
C. Please tell us something about yourself – what do you do,
where are you based and how long have you been a fauji wife.
S. I’m an Air Force wife, stay-at-home parent and an
Architect by education. Currently based out of the outskirts of Delhi NCR and
have been married to my man in blue since 10 years.
C. What has been your business or creative journey been
like: how & when did you start your venture?
S. The venture honestly started by chance; it all started
when I was packing the hospital bag for my yet to be born son. Being an
architect and a daughter of an artist (my mother), I have had a flair for
painting, so both of us decided to hand paint and stitch linen for him. Post
the birth I happened to show all the hand painted stuff to my fellow Air Force
friends. And they motivated me to start this venture when they mentioned how
such kind of linen and accessories are not available and even if it is, it
costs a bomb.
So that is how ‘Apple of my eye’ was conceived and formed. My
very first order for customized bedding set was from the same dear friend (an Air
Force wife herself).
My mother and I run this venture together. I mostly do the
PR, managing the Facebook page, handling client orders, and my mother does the
execution or field work ( since she is stationed and I move from place to
place) so we discuss all the details of fabrics, textures, designs, colors etc
over the phone.
I however, do most of the wall art orders myself as sourcing
canvases and stocking on art and craft supplies is easy with the constant
moving!
C. Were you in a different profession and re-trained for the
current one? If yes, can you share how/where you learned the skills required
for your current profession?
S. I’m an architect by education and all architects are
artists/designers by default, so I’m the jack of all trades; the trades being
sketching, drawing, doodling, painting and scribbling. So I just had to polish
my skills when I started with ‘Apple of my eye’, and now I’m planning to learn
stitching too.