I'm Aham and it Means "self" in Sanskrit - Im into Fashion and Ill tell you why

I was a cabin crew with Air India Express for many years and has traveled the world. But most of my travel was to the middle east. As some of you might be knowing a lot of Indians work in the middle east or 'dufai' as we call it. Air India Express is their preferred carrier.

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As a child itself I was into fashion and clothes. Me and my sister used to make our own clothes, mend the ones that needed repair, and also mix and match old stuff to create new looks. I never thought I would make a career out of this until I got married to a business man who gave me the motivation to quit my flying job and start my own label. This is how we inaugurate stuff in India, we light a lamp.

When I started up my Husband told me that it will take 3 years for you to understand what you are doing. I didnt believe him then.. and he was wrong. It took me 4 years to have a grip on the business.

One good thing about being a cabin crew is that all your colleagues are potential models for your business. In the early days I had a lot of fund working with them on photoshoots.

All of your friends want to be models

Indian women love painted sarees. It takes 3 days to paint this saree and when worn you look like a princess (in the Indian sense)

Meanwhile my little one was growing up. One good thing about being a designer with a little girl is that you have your own little princess to do all your experiments.

Two years passed by and then I got a break. I got an offer from a lifestyle magazine to do a costumes for a shoot of their and their theme was wedding. It was my first professional photoshoot and it took a day to shoot two images. I still remember the day I got the printed magazine, it was an achievement.

One thing I learned from this business is that your customers are your best marketing managers. What they tell others about you can make or break your business. I was lucky to get some good customers initially who loved my designs and told their friends all about it. Their wedding photos were my initial marketing material. Its the perfect word of mouth.

By this time I had setup my own small hand embroidery unit with a handful of skilled workers. These are the patient folks who convert your design into reality. They are the real heroes behind the scenes.

Meanwhile I place I was using for the business decided to tear down the building to make a bigger better building. I had to move out, but this time I got myself a bigger better space, an old house, two storied building which has got more visibility and ambience. This time we got ourselves a dedicated photo booth for customers to take pictures.

Then came the first feature about me in a magazine. We were selected as one among the top 5 boutiques in the state. It came with a photoshoot of its own showing myself helping a bride dress up. It was a fun shoot and the output was awesome.

Life went on, I had my second child, another adorable little princess. Now I had two models and I always used to design matching dresses for them and me. Here I can be seen in the background in a matching saree with heavy mirror embroidery work. We were attending a wedding.

We had a good celebration for our 4th anniversary with our entire workers and the designers. Had a lot of fun bursting crackers and fireworks.

My next milestone was producing a promo video for the business. This video was shot over a period of 2 weeks documenting the entire process of how a bridal Lehenga is made.

Last year I was lucky to do costume for a Malayalam movie star, her name is Lena and for her we created a stunning blouse. This picture got featured on the cover of the magazine which has got around a million subscribers.

I make dresses for brides mostly so that they can feel most confident about themselves on their biggest day. Thats why my business is called Aham and it means 'self' in Sanskrit. I will be sharing work, pictures and fashion tips here. Please follow, upvote, resteem and comment.

With love
Dinu