I’m an Indian hailing from the Southern state of Kerala. I was born into a family of creatives, which instilled in me a love for art, DIY projects and all things creative early on. I was a happy-go-lucky kid who loved to goof around, was obsessed with a very specific brand of mango juice (still am) and loved to dress up and get clothes made to my whacky specifications. My earliest dream for when I grow up, was to be an animator. However, life took several twists and turns before leading me to finding my love for illustration and lettering.

When the time came for me to pick a career path after high school, I decided I want to design cars. So, I moved to India to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. During my four years in Engineering School, I found other interests within the field and took up a corporate job in the Air Conditioning industry. Sadly, the role I was doing left the creative in me feeling unfulfilled and drained.

So, I quit.

I realised I could do more with my love for fashion and style and decided to pursue a career in fashion design. Without a formal degree in fashion, I faced rejection for the first time in my life. But, I was determined and secured a spot for MA in Fashion Technology & Design at Heriot-Watt University, Scotland with a focus on Pattern Making. It was challenging to catch up with the demands of an intense Masters program such as this, but I graduated Top 5 in my class. I interned in London before taking up a full-time position as Assistant Fashion Designer with a brand in Kuwait.

The creative void in me was now being filled with my fashion projects. However, I was swamped with work, which also meant I needed a de-stress mechanism. I got myself a small sketchbook and reconnected with art by drawing little doodles and doing some very amateur lettering. Soon, I couldn’t be seen without my sketchbook. I would whip it out every opportunity I got and found joy in creating. I tried several things but lettering was what I truly fell in love with. I created an Instagram page as a little corner in the Internet for my art to live. I soon started getting requests for free work from friends and family, many of which I did. I also gladly took the occasional paid commission that came by my way.

I moved to Oman in 2019 to be with my husband. My plans to build by own slow-fashion brand in Oman were derailed by the global pandemic. As someone who could never not do anything, I directed my energy towards lettering and drawing more. I created daily and shared my work on social media. Soon, I started getting more exciting remote paid projects. But, I still saw myself as a fashion designer who was doing art in the interim.

Looking at my work on social media, I also started getting requests to make tutorials on how I do what I do. At this point, I didn’t think I was good enough to teach and shied away from the whole idea.

As the pandemic became more intense and people across the world were confined to their homes, I remembered an email that Skillshare sent me a few years ago asking if I wanted to be a teacher. I started toying with the idea in my head and despite being terrified, I decided to take the plunge and give it a shot. After what might have been the most intense 45 days of my life, I published my first Skillshare class which, to my surprise, was staff picked and did really well! My second class landed me the Top Teacher badge on Skillshare, which was more than a dream come true. Today, I continue to create classes for my fellow artists and get so much joy and motivation from kind words my students tell me about how my classes help them.

It wasn’t until I realized the magnitude of what it meant to have students across the world gain value from my lettering and illustration classes, that I saw myself as a professional artist. I was getting these exciting opportunities to work with amazing brands, I started teaching in-person and online workshops and most importantly, I enjoyed every bit of what I was doing. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have formal training in art. It didn’t matter that I’m also passionate about fashion and have a day job. All that mattered was that I got to bring value to others doing what I love doing. This shift in mindset changed everything.