The Brigade that Builds Brands: Writer, Novelist & Army wife Puja Mukherjee Khattri on creating a career that sustains you through different phases of life

Hello friends! Meet Puja Mukherjee Khattri, a freelance content writer and self-published novelist, and Army wife, who forged on in life and work with courage and gumption after she lost her Army officer husband on active duty, a few years ago. Puja and I have known each other online for the past many years. I really wanted her to share her story at The Brigade that Builds Brands to inspire ladies, whose husbands are still in service or those who have lost their better halves in the line of duty, to build sustainable careers from wherever they are in life or in the country.

CB. Please tell us something about yourself – what do you do, where are you based and how long have you been a fauji/military wife.

PMK. Hi Chandana, I am an army daughter and wife. I am a writer and have been writing for the last twenty odd years. The kids and I live in Delhi with my parents. We moved to Delhi after my husband, Lt Col Abhishek Khattri, died on active duty.

CB. Fauji wives make their home in an assortment of obscure places across the country. Our lives are about living in the moment and doing what we can, when we can. Can you share how you stayed creative or found work that satisfied you while moving across the country?

PMK. I truly believe that I am blessed in my choice of profession, because I can work from almost anywhere, as long as I have a computer and an internet connection. I have sent in my articles from the most interesting of locations. I remember standing at the doorway to our temporary accommodation in Sikkim, while it was snowing outside and the bukhari was on inside, waiting for the internet speed to pick up enough to send my email. And that time I used to log onto the internet through my cellphone. When we were moving out or moving into a new accommodation I have worked in middle of stacks of boxes!

6 Smart reasons to start a work-from-home career as a military/fauji wife

I prefer being my own boss any day over reporting to a boss. But if you’ve always worked for an organization—a company or school, then you might wonder what’s so great about this self-employed lifestyle. Especially, when working for yourself is about putting in just as much hard work or more and not getting a paycheck every month in the bank (the money trickles in, eventually).

Work-from-Home entrepreneurship for fauji wives

Here’s why I think home-based self-employment is a great fit for the military wife:

1.     You can pack and carry your work wherever you go: Whether you’re moving to another town on posting (PCS) or traveling with your husband on a TD (temporary detatchment), you can take your work along. While you may have to take a break when you’re moving to another base, you don’t have to quit working or worry about taking a long leave of absence. 

2.   You can work from back-of-beyond military bases: When your spouse is in the military, especially the Army and the Air Force, postings to obscure places across the length and breadth of the country is a given. And rather than making the difficult choice of staying back in a bigger town to work or giving up working altogether if you move with your husband, as a work-from-home entrepreneur, you can continue working (with some solid tweaks to customize it to your current posting and portfolio requirements) wherever the service sends you.

Be Your Own Boss From Anywhere: A brand new blog series for military wives & moms!

Hello ladies! Are you a military/fauji wife or aspiring work-from-home/homeschooling mom with talents, skills, degrees and a deep desire to whip up a home-based career from anywhere? Have you been wondering where to begin or how to start that work-from-home small biz? Do you often feel disheartened about the lack of good job opportunities where you’re posted and feel that you won’t be able to have a career as a fauji wife?

Helping military/fauji wives & moms with small kids, start that work-from-home venture

I’ve got a new & Free blog series, with audio (download it below) + video (am beginning my Yourtube journey soon) to help you get started. I’ve also launched a new Facebook group called Be Your Own Boss From Anywhere, as an online meet-up of work-from-home women entrepreneurs. 

What’s in this new series for newbie work-from-home military wives? From the nuts and bolts of identifying what you want to do, how you need to get started and how you can juggle work with your military wife commitments, this blog series has you covered.

The Brigade that Builds Brands: Meet Navy wife & handmade entrepreneur Rupinder Kaur

Hello, dear readers! I’m back after a longish break – a surprising, out-of-the-blue break, where I launched a whole new career as an artist, making and selling quirky, cure, out-of-the-box artwork (here's my Jugnoo Story Art FB page). I was also recovering from some health issues, and giving all the required TLC to my spine ;-). I’m back here again, with new ideas, new challenges (i.e. balancing writing, art, homeschooling my son & my military spouse portfolio), and the gumption to nudge more of you into the ‘Boss Lady’ life as a self-employed, work-from-home, fauji wife.

I’m launching a brand new series every week with posts designed to help you banish those issues and create your own Girl Boss life, from anywhere in the country! Do subscribe to the blog to stay tuned. And, don't forget to join our new group: Be Your Own Boss From Anywhere.

Today, I’ve invited Navy wife and Jewellery Designer, Rupinder Kaur at The Brigade that Builds Brands, to share her creative journey as she juggled military life, motherhood and a business. Without further ado, here’s what we chatted about.

For those who are new to my blog: The Brigade that Builds Brands  is an interview series about Fauji wives who create businesses or stay uber creative while juggling all the social + family commitments.

CB. Please tell us something about yourself – what do you do, where are you based and how long have you been a fauji wife.

R.  By education I am a trained Hindustani classical vocalist and also have completed my B Ed. I spent my initial 10 years of married life looking after and raising my two lovely daughters. In 20114-15 I realized that I had some time to spare. Also my husband’s job took him for long sailings and to utilized my time gainfully I got involved with NWWA and also started making utility items from paper weaving. I started my brand ‘Recreation – The Inner Voice’ in February 2015. The page has been a huge success for me and today I have more than 800+ followers of my page.  My paper weaving art was a huge success but regular transfers thereafter ruined some of my artifacts due to their delicate nature and this made me think that I needed to do something different.

So I started making jewelry with a difference. I started investing my time in learning about fabric art and making jewelry out of jewelry. I also started hand embroidery and crafted my embroidery into jhumkas and neck pieces which were liked by my inner circle of friends. I started exhibiting my art within Naval community and also got chance to display my art during Kala Ghoda festival in 2017. NWWA, at Mumbai, was very supportive of my effort as well as that of other artists. Since that time there has been no looking back and my effort has been recognized by art lovers across India.

I am presently at Delhi. I am married into Naval family since 2002.

Rupinder's handmade jewellery

CB. Fauji wives make their home in an assortment of obscure places across the country. Our lives are about living in the moment and doing what we can, when we can. Can you share how you stayed creative or found work that satisfied you while moving across the country?