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Junaid Bhat
Sopore: It is an inspiring story of a teenage girl from Sopore who converted her childhood hobby of making beautiful things out of scrunchies and resin into an innovative business model.
Sofiya, 18, who lives in Sopore is currently studying in class 12th at Delhi Public School Baramulla. She is an innovative artist and works on scrunchies and resins to make beautiful gifts. Further, she does Hama bead artwork to make beautiful characters.
“I started my page on Instagram on the 5th of Jan 2022. Right from childhood I was into art and crafts. In my school (DPS), I would always volunteer for decoration making for events”, says Sofia.
This passion of hers was just a rough idea which ultimately with the support of her friends, Mother, and her maternal family changed into an innovative business model. Even her first customer was her friend only.
“It was out of curiosity whether I could turn my hobbies into money. I started with Scrunchies then I started exploring with resin and with time got better at it after resin I started doing Hama bead artwork creating small cute characters. I make homemade goodies which have a human touch to them and each artwork or product has a meaningful story to it.”
Since Kashmir is seeing a lot of new artists coming to the limelight which is not just a boost for the economy but an inspiration for many artists like Sofiya. She was also inspired by the works of many artists like Shafiya Artworks, Paletteflowers, Bubble Scrunchies, etc.
During the initial phase she was receiving on average around 4 to 5 orders a month but with her hard work and dedication, this number is now around 20 orders a month.
“One of my friends introduced me to Junaid Bhat Photographer and he agreed to do a photoshoot of my products which further promoted my artwork.”
Her customer base is not just local but has reached other states and even foreign countries also as she is having customers from Jammu, Delhi, Russia, etc. She has delivered more than 500 orders to date and the number keeps increasing.
“Time management and dedication are key to success. So it is mandatory to have a proper daily routine and you can grow in any field only if you are dedicated to growing.”
She has a few tips for aspiring artists who are passionate about their ideas and products.
“Initially invest more in quality and not in promotion, Say no to COD, take help from social media influencers to promote your products, learn from other artists also, don’t expect instant success but keep patience and faith and don’t spend income instantly rather invest it to make your products more worthy.”
