[This transcript has been automatically generated by a digital software and will therefore  contain errors and typos. Please kindly take note of this and only rely on the digital transcript for reference.]

00:02

Hello boys and girls and welcome to tattoo biz to show the best place for action advice for entrepreneurs. This is Ted your Brendon host speaking. Today we’re talking about art with my friend Meghana . Giridhar Meghana  is the founder of let’s curate, now after she was mesmerized by the creativity behind a traditional art form of a painter at the airport in India may not realize that there are many artisans out there who never get a chance to showcase their talents to the world. And this what led her to start, let’s curate.

 

Today, let’s curate provides a platform for artisans around the world to showcase their talents and sell the aircraft to a wider audience. Now, in today’s show, Meghana  shares how she pivoted her business during COVID. How she pauses great relationships between her artisans and her customers, and how she showcases her artisans and turns them into ambassadors for her company.

 

All these in more on today’s show after this quick commercial break. Hey, guys is Ted, thank you so much for joining me on my show.

 

And for all the support. If you ever found any value from the show, I would love if you could subscribe to the show, leave a review on Apple podcasts and share the show with somebody who will find it useful as well. All episodes, tools and resources are available on Ted to.com. So make sure you log on to tattoo.com. That’s tdto.com.

 

And make sure you sign up for the newsletter if you want to hear updates from me directly. And now let’s dive right in. He Meghana  thank you so much for joining us today. It’s so nice to have you here.

 

01:27

Thank you so much that I’m so excited to have this very exciting, I’m sure conversation and I cannot wait to begin.

 

01:33

Yes, me too. But before we begin  please Sheva so we can get to know you better, please share who is Meghana  gearvita When she’s working?

 

01:42

Yes. So um, just a quick recap. To begin with, of course, my you know, my most fulfilling identity is founder of let’s curate, which is my baby, a two year old baby now. It’s a global curator platform. And the objective is to empower and celebrate independent artisans from around the world.

 

Though, you know, this platform has existed just for about two years now. It’s kind of been in the making for almost a decade. And I’m sure we will, you know, dive deep into that more. But it’s been a journey. And I’m very excited as to how far it’s taken me so far. So

 

02:21

Meghana , you are currently the founder of Leicester VIP explained and is a platform that empowers and celebrates independent artisans around the world. But tell us a little bit more about yourself. I know you’ve been in New York for about 15 years. Yes. Are we doing it then? Yes.

 

02:34

So I’m I’m born and brought up in Mumbai, India, and I came to the US in about 2007. You know, up until then, I was in a very, I would say a linear path. I had already worked in India, I had, you know, I was armed with my MBA in international marketing. I’d also worked for a couple of organizations there, I wanted to kind of enhance my resume.

 

So it was a good time for me to come to the US. I pursued another business degree in finance. At from UC Berkeley. In 2008, I moved to New York. That’s where I met my now husband. And you know, it was a city, I absolutely fell in love with the diverse crowd. And you know, it just reminded me of home. Since then, up until I would say two years ago,

 

my life seems very much like many other lives, I would say a very kind of typical, where I worked for very interesting job profiles don’t want to undermine the value that added to my entire persona, to be honest. I’ve worked with nonprofit organizations, venture capital firms, healthcare firms, essentially in branding, PR and marketing, which was what my education was about.

 

So it was a good 10 year, I would say, of a corporate life, a good 10 years span of a corporate life. But something else was kind of brewing inside me. Which led to let’s curate

 

04:06

now why did it take you 10 years to start? Let’s curate.

 

04:10

You know, this is one of my favorite questions because I feel like it really gets me so excited to talk about the the kind of the motive behind my platform. So I’m, you know, I’m an avid traveler, I travel. It’s always been a passion of mine. And even when I was working in corporate jobs, when I would go on holidays and things like that, it was always interesting for me to find people or you know, places that are off the beaten track. And it so happened that over the 10 years of my travels,

 

I kind of got in touch with 10 very interesting artisans. And strangely enough, there was a common thread between all of them, they will all individual artisans, they will not associated with any organizations. They were one man one woman shows doing everything right from coming up with the idea of procuring the supplies, creating the product marketing, all of those things, I was blown away at what they brought to the table. Because, you know, every time

 

 you go to a place, you know, the world is a small place now, and there are certain expectations when you go to a place in terms of what you’re going to find. But I saw I was so lucky to happen to meet these 10 people who gave me a different perspective of that place through their art, whether it was paintings, or ceramics, or, you know, creating fabric, textiles, any of those things, I kept in touch with them, just because I was so fascinated by how they were working. And I kept telling them that, you know,

 

 I have a feeling we’re going to probably do something. And they were very sweet. They indulge me up until 2019. It was I just kept thinking, oh, you know what, I should probably do something about this, because I don’t seem to find the things that they’re making anywhere else.

 

And I, you know, I like to, I would say I like to kind of dig around and find stuff that’s unique to a place or to a person. You know, everyone storytelling is a big is a big part of any product. I feel like nowadays, even at that time, when I was interested in a product, I realized the interest was not just in the product. The interest was also in terms of why yes?

 

Why did he create that? What influenced him, and the most remarkable stories come out of that. In 2008 19, I don’t know what happened, you know, something switched, and I kind of got this Do or Die feeling. And I went back to them. And you know, I had kind of kept in touch, I had built my relationships with them. And I just said, you know, I think it’s time for me, I’m going to start a platform, would you be open to that.

 

The interesting thing for me also was that they were people who had no web presence, they were located in very small towns, all across the 10 countries that I had kind of focused on. And they were a little, they were indulgent, they didn’t know which direction I was going in. And I will forever be grateful to them for giving me this opportunity to kind of launch them into the world. And their kick started. So June 2019, was when the platform went live with 10 people and not you know, in no ways am I being boastful or, you know, kind of too full of myself.

 

But I felt very good because I felt that I had presented something that was unexpected. It was kind of extra ordinary, in terms of, you know, the techniques and the stories. And I kind of at that point felt, you know, I’m on the cusp of something very, very interesting for myself, and hopefully I can build it.

 

07:49

So magnet, the mission for let’s create is quite clear, right? It’s a platform that gives these independent artisans around the world a chance to bring their products, their stories and their art to a wider audience with your help. So what is the value proposition for the customers,

 

08:05

the value proposition is essentially the common thread, like I said, between all these people is my thought processes, you know, I’m kind of the world is or rather I am focused on a non mass produced form of ecommerce or store or whatever you call it. The common thread between all these artisans are they only make handmade products, they make small batch products.

 

So they never did it small batch handmade, handcrafted, unique, bringing to the table some sort of legacy that they’ve, you know, that they’ve kind of inculcated or learned from their ancestors and brought their own contemporary spin.

 

So the value proposition is this is basically a platform where you will see emerging talent, talent that you will not possibly see anywhere else, either, because, you know, many of the platforms are focused on volume, obviously, in terms of, you know, for creating profits, which is also very valid reason to kind of have mass produced product, I’m trying to create a sort of collaborative space for customers, as well as for creators and to create a dialogue between them.

 

So it goes beyond the idea of a store. My, the sense of let’s curate is to create a world where you literally have a relationship with the person who’s making something custom for you. And by custom, I don’t mean you just pick a color or you just pick, you know, the shape of a product.

 

By custom, I mean that you actually understand each other’s perspectives and create something, you know, nine out of 10 times something that’s created that way, is special and it’s you know, there is no price to that,

 

09:49

guys. What I love about what Meghna has just shared is that she’s so mission focused and she’s passionate about helping these artisans showcase their art to the world and is so translated into her business model. She’s so rather unique in the sense that she’s staying away from mass produced products from countries like China.

 

And she’s actually only focusing on that curation process for an artisan to produce very selected pieces of work to her customers. So this is a very nice object. And of course, it has his own niche clients as well.

 

So that sets her apart from other competitors who can actually produce such a tailored, customized solution to its customers. And no intruders. Another passion is so infectious, back to you Meghana . How have you been actually growing the platform. So you started before COVID.

 

And I happen to know that you are attending physical fairs, and setting up a physical store to get people aware of your company in the word out, but how have you had to evolve since then,

 

10:42

um, it was, you know, now when I look back, I feel like 2020 was almost an opportunity, hidden behind a challenge mostly to grow. And but when it when it hit me, march 2020, you know, I had my entire calendar filled with all these dates of all these fairs that I was going to attend. And I was so excited about it, I was going to have my first trunk show in New York City, I had booked the venue, I still remember the the date, it was March 27 2020.

 

And I had to obviously cancel it because the entire city went into a lockdown on March 15. But to be honest, when that happened for the first month or so, I was paralyzed. And I do want to say that, you know, when I think back, it actually gave me time to think about what I should do next. A lot of people are fearful. And I was fearful too, of being stuck and of stopping.

 

But sometimes stopping and slowing down actually leads to something more innovative, which you may not have had the time to think through. So I had all these products which I had, you know, it was in my store, and I was ready to showcase them.

 

And then suddenly the worst shutdown, and it took me a month to be to realize that wait, I need to find an alternate avenue to still showcase these artisans. Because, you know, they were still depending on me presenting them to the world. So we quickly pivoted to something called Limited Edition.

 

Now remember, the the beauty of let’s curate is that no collection, you know, when you think of collection, typically, you think of 50 pieces or 60 pieces. When I say limited edition, it typically means basically a mini collection of three to five pieces.

 

So I had the good thing was I had a ton of diverse products, whether it was home decor, or art or jewelry, or fashion or any such thing. But I had many collections of those things. So we I quickly pivoted and created something called limited edition, which essentially steered slightly away from the original objective, which was where, if you like something,

 

I get you in touch with the Creator, then you talk about it, and then he makes it for you. With limited edition, that was what was available. And if you liked it, it could be shipped to you right away. So ready to ship limited edition, all these initiatives kind of birth during during the COVID era.

 

So Limited Edition now essentially means if you are a creator in any corner of the world, and you have an idea, and it involves just creating a couple of pieces, that’s where we would showcase you and it’s custom and it’s exclusive to our platform.

 

And we you know promoted, we kind of also enhance it by additional avenues like video interviews with creators, creating a portfolio video for them a media kit for them. So it’s an entire package that we create when we are launching them under the limited edition collection.

 

This however, was because of COVID I don’t think this would have happened if I had not had everything stopped. So that was an interesting and to be honest now that the world is slowly coming back to its speed.

 

Those two initiatives that I launched have been so wonderful. And you know, my my platform is close to now representing almost 50 artisans. We’re at 47 today.

 

14:06

So you started with 10 and you have about 47

 

14:08

right now, so it’s expanded and I think a lot of it is because of these two new initiatives that are launched during COVID. Could you explain a

 

14:17

little bit more about how your business model works, you actually have this limited edition pieces, do the Artisans actually ship it to you directly to hold it for them.

 

14:25

Typically, when an artisan signs up to be on a limited edition feature, we decide and discuss what they would make in terms of the mini collection.

 

Now this is something again where I do want to emphasize creating is the artisans job, you know so this is where you know my job is to present them so we go you know we are led by the artists and so typically, you know we have a discussion and they say you know I can make a collection with these three pieces.

 

Once that’s there is no timeline. That’s another thing I want to emphasize. We do not have deadlines. We don’t it’s kind of anti Corporate in that sense, because I don’t work with a very strict framework. Because I have realized, and I feel like on Rush good art, right?

 

Yes, exactly. I feel like three, I mean, the only way you can create is when you have time and space. And I’m willing to wait for the best possible product that comes out of someone’s, you know, the mind or hands or whatever you may call it. So essentially, when a collection theme, and the product is decided they created, they send it to my office in New York City.

 

And now we’re going to resume in person fairs and artists, poppers pop ups, but essentially, up until COVID, was raging, we put that under limited edition, like I said, we also kind of encouraged a lot of the artisans to talk about the product to talk about the collection, the inspiration, the influences, and we you know, have a lot of these webcasts, interviews,

 

 which have also allowed the Creator to, I guess, give their own point of view, because you may look at something a certain way, but the Creator has thought about his own way, you know, when it comes to execution. So it’s interesting, and you know, all these things have led to,

 

 it ties in with my brand of giving them a stage and giving them a platform. And it also, you know, hand in hand, it’s also helped my brand, because the more people watch these things, the more intrigued they are by what the collection is about. And that has actually led the platform to expand way much more quickly than I had expected.

 

16:30

So magnet, the platform is growing, the number of artisans that you have on board is growing as well. So that means the number of stock keeping units that you’re holding with this will be increasing, has it been a challenge for you managing this high number and variety of stock keeping units as well,

 

16:45

you know, to be honest, there, it’s not just because like I said, we don’t deal in volume, I don’t deal in volume. It’s actually the interesting thing is that portfolio and like I would say the product line is so diverse, that it’s it makes it a very, very interesting array of creations. So I’m not overwhelmed by the number of products that I have.

 

In fact, you know, it’s exciting to kind of see that we can present so many things from so many different countries. So even in terms of countries, we’ve expanded from 10 countries to about 29 countries so far. So I actually get excited when I when people send me stuff. And speaking of limited edition, not every artisan that we work with, chooses limited edition, that’s another thing, we offer a bunch of resources for the artists, they can either, you know, do a simple listing on the platform, or they send me stuff, or many of them.

 

You know, just to give you an example, we represent a painter from Iran. And initially, what happened was, we were in conversation, fantastic point of view, I was so excited to have him on board. And just for logistical reasons, because you know, his paintings were huge. And there was no way he could ship it to New York City without you know, it’s a huge sticker shock for either of us.

 

We also decided, okay, maybe we should split the shipping cost. Even with that it was just way too expensive. So what happened was at that point, you know, we spoke about it, because I was so invested in it. And I realized, you know what, I’m kind of, it’s going to be a bad business deal. If I say no, no, no, ship it, you know, we will take care of it in whatever manner it is.

 

So I just said, you know, I think this is going to be a bit tricky, because it’s art, it was going to come framed, it was a you know, like a wall to wall kind of piece. So we actually stalled the conversation. Instead, what we said was, why don’t we just talk about what what the proper what your painting is about, and the message that you want to give behind the painting? And he said, Okay, let’s do that he had never done an interview before.

 

He was quite hesitant. I had to kind of push him a little bit because, you know, when I heard him speak, you know, to me, I didn’t care that he didn’t speak English. Well, it’s not his native tongue. I just said that you literally, you know, people have to listen to what you’re saying. Because, you know, it’s something I know, it’s special, and I’m sure lots of people will find a special so I kind of coerced him somehow to do this interview. And invariably, there was a, there was an art gallery person based somewhere close to where he was, who watched the interview, you know, some randomly I mean, that’s the beauty of the internet and got in touch with us got in touch with him.

 

And you know, his painting was showcased in an exhibition out there, which was you know, it was so good. I was watching and I just realized that you know what, it does not have to be I have realized that it does not have to be one way or the other. It can be any number of ways. As long as my brand messaging is not diluted, and that’s why I kind of keep it very, very simple in terms of you know, when I’m when I’m Thinking to myself about the brand, I’m always thinking, it’s very simple, the best way to present an independent artisan, that’s all I need to do, because that’s the service that’s providing

 

20:09

the voice only to well, whether it is sought in New York or not,

 

20:13

doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter. Because you know, people are, it’s a wonderful thing, the internet, the point is that you need to get people’s attention, whether it’s through a show a product in your shop, whether it’s by letting someone talk about their background, whether it’s creating a media kit, you know, a media kit is something that we prepare for emerging artists, particularly only for painters.

 

So what happened was up until COVID, whenever art galleries were looking for new people, you kind of have an in person meeting with them, you show them your artwork, you discuss, when COVID had all the art gallery shut down, and they still haven’t resumed, you know, the original form of business where you actually go in person and show your product.

 

So a couple of painters came to, you know, we were again, I was talking to a bunch of them, and they said, you know, right now, I don’t know how to present my work, I have all these pieces, you know, artwork at home, and I have no idea how to showcase that. And that gave me another idea. I said, Okay, you know what, all they need to see is your work.

 

So let me prepare a media kit for you. And that media kit is kind of like a calling card, you go and show it to the art galleries and see if you know they open to that, again, it was very successful for a few of them. That led to you know, so it’s a bunch of things that have just, you know, when you turn the tap the creativity tap on it keeps flowing until you turn off. So it’s been interesting, I have to say, and I give all credit to COVID, to be honest. So

 

21:44

guys, as Meghana  has just shared what was originally a huge setback when COVID hid, and she could no longer she set up her physical stores to attend fairs, has allowed her to pivot and provide so many more new initiatives that can actually showcase her art designs and gal work.

 

So remember, for every setback that you face, that could be an opportunity for you to uncover as well. Now, magnet, you are very clearly passionate about this subject.

 

And you can see how much effort, time and passion you put towards helping this individual artisans grow. So could you share this? How does that curate share the stories of his artisans who had a different initiatives you’ve actually implemented as well.

 

22:21

So when like I said, when we first launched it, we launched it with a store, we had a physical store, and we had an e commerce Store, we were actually banking on kind of doing more in person relationship building with customers, which didn’t work out and then the E store was a bad. Little did we know that the estore would be exactly the estore would be our main source of revenue, at least for like the first few months. Right after that, like I’ve explained, we launched limited edition, we have something called ready to ship ready to ship was what was with us in stock before COVID head.

 

So since we didn’t have a store, and we couldn’t present that we move that quickly to something called ready to ship, which meant if you placed an order, the product would be shipped to you that very day. So that was the differentiation between limited edition and ready to ship because it was, again, diverse products. So you see completely different products under ready to ship and limited edition.

 

Another interesting thing we found while talking to customers, as well as artisans is a lot of people have, just to give you an example. A friend of mine was looking for a coffee table. And you know, she had a mood board, she had this, you know, she had all these, she was like I wanted to be this color that color. And she you know, when she tried to do a simple search on Google because there was, you know, either she goes to all the furniture stores, or she does a Google search.

 

And she tried both. And it was extremely frustrating. So we learned. So she said, I just don’t know how to find someone and I don’t want to just bite off a store. I want to actually, again, talk to a person discuss my ideas, and have him make that for me in you know, in sync with me.

 

So it’s not about the time it’s more about wanting what I want, essentially. So all I said was Okay, give me Tell me what you’re thinking, I think I may have someone whom I can connect you with. And that’s how we connected her with an artisan, who is not on a platform right now.

 

But he did make the coffee table for her. And that was fantastic. And that led us to something called Seek and ye shall find where essentially if there is a certain kind of artwork or a certain product or a certain fashion accessory that you want to design based on your likes and dislikes. You kind of reach out to us give us a brief description and we set up a consultation with us and we connect you with the person who we think would actually help you.

 

So we typically connect you with about two to three people and then you know the whole if it works out great if it doesn’t You know, at least she would keep that person in mind for something in future. So see can we shall find is another very fun, fun initiative that we’ve launched. Because, you know, as you can clearly see, I love speaking to people. This gives me an opportunity to connect with as many people as possible.

 

25:19

What I love about what Meghna just shared is that she created this whole new revenue stream called seek, and we shall find where she connects customers and consults with them with the right artisans to produce that customized piece of art that they are looking for.

 

She started this because she listened closely to what her customers needed. And that allowed her to expand the business itself. So you never know, guys, if you listen to your customers, maybe there’s a new revenue stream that you can add to your business as well. Now make sure busty artists in the spotlight function that you create on your website as well.

 

25:47

Yes, there is yes, absolutely. So artists in the spotlight is primarily we have, I mean, we’ve also we’ve showcased a bunch of jewelry designers, but primarily it’s for painters and those who work with, you know, watercolors and things like that, where we set up an entire profile for them, where they can showcase their work.

 

And not just that they talk specifically about the techniques that they use for the product line, where they’re from. And we also obviously, you know, so anyone who’s looking for maybe a jewelry designer from Greece, can click on, you know, our artist spotlight section and immediately connect with that person.

 

Because they get it they get a sense of not just their educational background, you know, also, the whole story story is out there. So the concept, the you know, the branding is essentially about telling stories, and building relationships. That’s why I think of it as a collaborative space. And we’re trying to do this in as many ways as possible, whether it’s a portfolio video, whether it’s a video interview, whether it’s artists in the spotlight, it’s to get these people in front of the camera or in front of, you know, potential customers, and not have them behind the scenes I found, you know, even before I launched

 

Let’s curate, I was feverishly looking through multiple platforms just to see if there was something that came close to what I was thinking. And to be honest, it was always about the product, it was very rarely about the person who made the product. And that I find a little unfortunate, because there is no product without the Creator.

 

27:22

That’s because maybe those platforms are focusing on a more mass produced model. But you know, you’re taking it and flipping the equation, you’re focusing on the artisans, and the unique pieces of work that they can produce, in fact, because you just shared that if somebody wants something customized, the option is there for them as well.

 

 So I think that’s the unique key proposition that you’re offering with let’s curate, which is really interesting.

 

Now Meghana , you said that let’s qv prides itself on uncovering hidden talents, how do you actually find these individuals, especially in the time of COVID,

 

27:52

um, like you rightly said, you know, the first 10 was more organic in the sense because I met them. And I kind of kept in touch with them, I built relationships with them. When I launched the platform in 2019, that was a challenge for me, because, you know, I knew these people well, but now, obviously, I couldn’t sit still with 10 people from 10 countries,

 

I wanted to kind of expand more, because that’s the essence of the brand. Exactly. If I am empowering independent artisans, I need to have as many as possible, so that people are encouraged to, you know, kind of visit the page more often.

 

So initially, what we did was I kind of went based on, I’m very fascinated by, you know, like cultures. So initially, because I had 10 countries, I was started looking for artisans from other countries. So it was a mix, there were people who approached me as soon as the platform was launched, because a lot of them said,

 

you know, what we actually were looking for something like that, and we couldn’t and What’s the process like? So once the conversation began, it led to, you know, most of the times it led to a fruitful relationship. On the other hand, I was also consciously looking for interesting people. And by then I kind of had a sense that I knew the kind of person I wanted on the platform.

 

So essentially, it just meant me looking, whether it was, you know, up until 2020, I was trapped, again, traveling feverishly. So there was a lot of, again, connections built through my travels. But the I would say the profile was very clear in my mind as soon as I launched it.

 

So then it was easy for me to I would say, be aggressively promoting the messaging in terms of not looking for anyone who’s working with an organization not looking for someone who’s looking to sell 10,000 pieces, 20,000 pieces, so there were two ways

 

One, they a lot of them approached me. And like I said, it didn’t always work out initially, because my thought process at that point was stuck with having the shot It’s only because of COVID that I kind of pivoted a little bit, and then I could be like, Wait, we don’t just need to do a shop, we can do something else. But at that point, a lot of the times, it didn’t work out because people couldn’t send stuff or, you know, the shipping cost and match for them.

 

But the thing that I did was I kept the conversation going, I have never turned anyone away. Because my whole thinking behind this venture has been to keep an open dialogue. So if we don’t work out one way, we would work out some other way. But you know, and in that I enjoy it. That’s the reason it was very

 

30:38

nice individuals watching not on the platform, formally, are the ones who are actually providing customized solutions to your clients, depending on what they need. Correct.

 

30:46

Exactly, exactly. And, you know, if I found someone who was an exciting artisan, and even now, if I find someone who I think is perfect for the platform, but I am unable to kind of put them in one of the five things that I have currently going, I always tell them that you know what we will work together, I will find a way to present your work. So I would say even after the platform was launched,

 

 it was kind of a mix of people approaching me plus me aggressively looking for talent from, you know, unexpected, unexpected places. You know, we have these beautiful, there’s a lady who does this Romanian lace technique, and she’s from Moldova. I’ve never been to Moldova. And I happen to find her, you know, wonderful pieces on a Pinterest board.

 

And, you know, I went down this rabbit hole trying to find out, Oh, find out who she was investigated. Yes. And then, you know, she, she’s my, she’s one of my limited edition artisans today.

 

And she’s a wonderful, wonderful young girl who’s very talented. So the more obscure the place, the more unknown the place, the more aggressive was my search. And to be honest, I actually got because, you know, it’s, I feel like the US is a market that is very well explored.

 

There are many people who know how to dig deep, within developed countries like Europe, and even Asia, Australia, New Zealand, but there are many, many little countries within Europe. You know, like Romania, we have a wonderful lady from Romania, we have someone from, of course, Greece is a prominent country. But you know, this lady from Greece, she’s actually a grandmother. And she started a business at the age of, you know, 60, or some such thing. And, you know, she does these beautiful contemporary twists on traditional Greek techniques.

 

So I now know what kind of person I want. But initially, I kind of went towards countries that were not expected that I have not seen, for example, if I typed something like, jewelry from Romania, to be honest, I couldn’t I didn’t know what jewelry from Romania actually meant. And that’s why that kind of curious.

 

Yes, exactly. And then I was like, Okay, let me just dig through and see who’s you know, what kind of artists work in Romania? What do they do. And that’s how I’ve kind of expanded now it’s more organic in the sense now, we actually have more people approaching us. And like I said, because I don’t turn anyone away,

 

33:14

cuz it was getting some traction. Exactly. And I

 

33:17

always say that, you know, be on standby, because if this is not working in one of these five things, I have a bunch of other ideas in my mind, let me you know, let me finalize it, let me develop it. But I’m going to come back to you and I want to work with you.

 

So I feel like on paper, I have 47 people from 29 countries right now. But behind the scenes, I probably have so many more. And I’m just waiting to kind of launch them into the world.

 

33:45

Oh, I see this way, the whole idea of maybe reaching out to you to get a customized piece of art as well, it’s a very viable solution. Because you have so many unseen backing individuals behind the scenes as well who are not on the platform yet that you can’t wait to show to the rest of the world. That is very interesting. And I would say this model has worked very well for you. Because not only are you clearly passionate about it, but you’re also very good with people.

 

And I think most importantly, you have a very strong knowledge pool of the different kinds of art. So at the start, when you had your first 10 artisans, it really sounded like you knew what you really want it. And that’s because you’ve exposed yourself over the years. And that’s something that you’ve keenly been interested in.

 

So you went to plug in those holes, and you’re constantly educating yourself, which is, of course, a very important skill, not just in life been in business as well. So when you actually approach these individuals, or they approach you, I’m sure that the onboarding process is very important to manage the expectations as well. But what’s the onboarding process for you and how have you managed your artists over the years?

 

34:45

You know, I’ve always kind of tried to stay true to this one thing where it’s in my mind, the like I said, because the without the Creator does nothing so for me, the artisans deeds and are like front and center, it’s more important. In fact, I’m not being altruistic in any sense, because I feel like, if I keep the needs, you know, completely prominent in my mind, the profits will come to me in the end. So whenever there is, you know, whenever we agreed to work with an artisan, the very first thing, obviously, is we are very, very clear about the terms and conditions.

 

 Many of the platforms, you know, do so, to explain this, many platforms, essentially, what they would do is they would take a cut from, say, a product price, which essentially means if a product, if the artisan wanted $100, he would essentially have to sell it to the platform for say, 75, because, you know, the platform takes their own commission for the whole thing.

 

In my case, I promised and I always assured and this is true of all the artisans we represent currently, if they are pricing at $100, that’s what they would get. My commission is obviously added to the whole thing, we have a few nominal fees for producing content and things like that. But beyond that, we don’t necessarily try to shortchange the artisan, and we don’t kind of try to cut corners and say, Oh, can you do it for like, 25?

 

Can you do it for 50? Can you do it for 75, because remember, these are very, very special products, many of these products take a lot of time and effort. So the price that an artisan has, thought is the price that we go with. So that is the number one thing I always follow for all the artisans. And to be honest, it actually does not eat into my profits.

 

 Because the way we presented you know, when we’ve always got repeat business, whenever whenever we you know, kind of shown an artisan and you know, the artisan is happy, he wants to work with us more, the customers happy and you know, when, when an artisan is happy, the product that they send, you can see it’s made with so much love, it’s perfect.

 

So I have so much confidence when I send the product over to a customer because I always expect a five on five review, because I know it’s so good. And I know that they will come back. So you know, it’s it’s kind of like it builds slowly, but it’s sustained.

 

Mike, my philosophy is to be slow, but kind of be consistent and have a very loyal pool of customers who appreciate the whole process. And I feel it would not work if I kind of haggled with the artisan for a few dollars here and there. Because, you know, and it’s not obviously been all roses all the time, you know, it’s it’s taken me time to obviously break even.

 

And, you know, get to a point where I’m comfortable, I have, you know, kind of enough to kind of Tide me over all of those things. But even during the darkest days, especially, you know, the first few months of COVID. In, I realized that, you know, if I kind of went back and said, Oh, you know what? You sent it to us. And now this COVID let me sell it for like $50 versus $100.

 

 It just didn’t sit well, because you know, then I’m completely corrupting what I went out to do. And I had just launched my platform, so I didn’t want to kind of compromise. And I hope I would not have to compromise in future to essentially the artisans needs are met in you know, simple things like when they ship the product to us, they incur the shipping costs, but we never shortchange them in terms of the price that they have thought for a certain product

 

38:31

now Meghana , how would you like to grow into the future?

 

38:33

You know, this? This question for me, that is a bit, it’s a problem that I’m kind of grappling in my mind. Because also, there are a whole bunch of initiatives that you know, I’m going to be launching in the next year or so. And I’m very excited about it.

 

The challenge for me at this point is there is so much exciting talent out there. There is there are certain people who even within you know, our plan, because my platform only represents very specialized kind of techniques and products. Even within that I have found a smaller pool of people who are really avant garde who are, you know, completely reimagining things, possibilities to burnish and that is so thrilling, you know, it’s thrilling for me to say that, you know, I found this person, you know, I found this person who’s going to change the way jewelry is made.

 

The challenges that I need to figure out whether I whether I kind of balance both of these, I would say philosophies where I also go with this specialized group and the super specialized group, or do I kind of pivot a little more and just really like dig deep and stay with the like the super specialized group of people that I’m discovering now. The idea, of course, is still the same.

 

 The you know, the messaging is still the same Just to provide a platform and for me to be behind the scenes, but for these artists to get their due credit, for all the wonderful things that they’re doing, you know,

 

I keep joking to my friends, and you know, even some of my customers who are now good friends, you know, without art, and without art in any form, whether it’s movies or books, or paintings or online courses on YouTube, I don’t think any one of us would have survived COVID. So I feel like, you know, the artist is supreme. And that’s what my platform will continue to be. The, the question is, how, you know, what can I do I kind of go, which direction do I go in terms of representing what kind of an artisan, but until then, you know, I’m happy to kind of just, you know, meet new people and just try to present as many interesting people as possible,

 

40:54

whatever direction you take it, I know, you will definitely stay true to your original mission of giving these independent artisans, the ability to really showcase themselves to the world. So I’m excited to see how you’re going to grow into the future as well. Now Meghana , this is one of my favorite questions. Entrepreneurship is never an easy journey. So who would you say you have an immense amount of gratitude for, and you’d like to take this chance to say thank you to imagine them that person and oh,

 

41:23

I’m, however, cliched, this may sound that, but I have to give a whole lot of credit to my mom, to be honest, she, you know, I feel like even from a very, very young age, she kind of put these seeds of thought in my mind about kind of being independent, being innovative, not being boxed in not being afraid to be out of your comfort zone. And she did it from a very young age. It’s taken me 30 plus years to get to where I am.

 

But, you know, I think the credit goes to her because she you know, she always my mom herself, in you know, she’s, she’s a microbe, she was a microbiologist, and she switched careers midway through after I was born, and she became a lawyer. And she’s still a very, she’s, she’s 65. And she has been practicing law for 20 plus years.

 

And she’s always told me, never, never put yourself in a corner, you can always pivot. Life is always given you never worry about, oh, you know, you’re in a corporate job. You’ve How can you be a curator, all of those things, I think, that helped me free my mind from my own judgment. A lot of times, you know, a lot of people, it’s a self induced fear. What I realized was that when I went and spoke to people, and I said, Hey, you know, I have this, even those 10 people that I spoke to, for 10 years,

 

when I when I, I thought they would just laugh at me. And they would say, Oh, we don’t have time to talk about this. We don’t know what the concept is, we don’t understand what you’re trying to say. No one said that. And that’s what I realized, if I had stopped myself, and if I was embarrassed and inhibited, and I’d never, you know, put words in my mouth and approach them. I think I would have missed out on the most fulfilling part of my life, which I’m kind of going through right now.

 

So I think that is one of the things I do want to mention one more thing, which, you know, my parents are very hard working middle class parents. And one of the things they always said, which I think in the current generation is not given that much importance about always having reserves. You know, I worked in the corporate field for many, many years.

 

Yes, so I did save up, I still use those reserves for many of my, you know, initiatives. And I feel like people have this tendency, or people are taught that, oh, if you want to do something extraordinary, you burn your boats. And you know, you’re you burn the midnight oil, you don’t have $1.

 

And you know, those kinds of things, which is great, it works out for some people. For me, the risk averse tendency actually worked in my favor, because it kind of, I didn’t have to worry about, oh, how do I pay my bill for next month. Instead, I could use that time and energy to actually look for the right kind of person for my platform, which I think adds more value in the long run. So I also say this to my kids, it’s not, you know, not having any money.

 

And you know, just starting something off is not as glamorous as people make it to be. Yeah, I give a lot of credit to all my corporate experience for you know, giving me that security blanket to kind of have the strength to kind of start this venture which is so different from what I was studying. Of course, the lessons from my corporate life have are still helping me on a day to day to day basis. So Never, never underestimate the value of working for someone else before you do something on your own. If the listeners

 

45:06

only remember one thing from today’s conversation, oh, you’d like it to be,

 

45:11

I would say, you know, everyone finds, it takes time for everyone to find their own thing for lack of a better word. For some people, it’s very early on in life, for some people, it’s later in life, I would say, the only thing to do is challenge yourself and make sure you’re never too comfortable.

 

You know, I’m always I’m always discontent, I’m a, I’m a, I’m perpetually. I feel a you know, within yourself, when you’re kind of getting too safe and too comfortable. There is no harm at that point in jumping. But I would say jump with caution. And then you know, when you jump with caution, and then you’ll you’ll discover yourself,

 

45:56

oh, man, now how can the listeners get in contact with you, if they want to work with you on a piece of art, first of

 

46:01

all, I would, you know, just relay the message that I am, I love meeting new people. So you know, just get in touch with me, even if it’s just a phone call, even if you don’t have you know, a product in mind, or any kind of very definite collaborative idea in mind.

 

The best way to do that would be through my email info at let’s curate.com or obviously, through social media, Instagram, we are at let’s underscore curate. These two are the easiest ways we respond to every email me and my team. It’s a very small team.

 

But I encourage anyone who is thinking about, you know, who’s been doing some stuff at home, and you know, they kind of hesitant to talk about it, or I would just love to begin the conversation. So please do reach out. Like I said, we never turn anyone away, we will find a way to present your work some way or the other.

 

46:58

Oh, man, I thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your story and your passion for art. Thank you for you know, sharing this with me. And I’m very glad to have made this connection with you.

 

47:07

Thank you so much, dad. It’s my honor. And I’m so grateful that you gave me this opportunity to talk about what I love what I love most.

 

47:16

Guys, thank you so much for joining magnify. In today’s episode, I hope you’ve learned a little bit more about her platform, and how you can incorporate some fun lessons into your business as well. Now as before, if you received any value from the show,

 

I would love if you subscribe to the show, leave a review on Apple podcasts and to share the show with somebody who find it useful as well. All of these tools and resources and my email list available on tatio.com. That’s tdo.com that’s all for me today. Uh, see you guys next time.

[This transcript has been automatically generated by a digital software and will therefore  contain errors and typos. Please kindly take note of this and only rely on the digital transcript for reference.]

00:02

Hello boys and girls and welcome to tattoo biz to show the best place for action advice for entrepreneurs. This is Ted your Brendon host speaking. Today we’re talking about art with my friend Meghana . Giridhar Meghana  is the founder of let’s curate, now after she was mesmerized by the creativity behind a traditional art form of a painter at the airport in India may not realize that there are many artisans out there who never get a chance to showcase their talents to the world. And this what led her to start, let’s curate.

 

Today, let’s curate provides a platform for artisans around the world to showcase their talents and sell the aircraft to a wider audience. Now, in today’s show, Meghana  shares how she pivoted her business during COVID. How she pauses great relationships between her artisans and her customers, and how she showcases her artisans and turns them into ambassadors for her company.

 

All these in more on today’s show after this quick commercial break. Hey, guys is Ted, thank you so much for joining me on my show.

 

And for all the support. If you ever found any value from the show, I would love if you could subscribe to the show, leave a review on Apple podcasts and share the show with somebody who will find it useful as well. All episodes, tools and resources are available on Ted to.com. So make sure you log on to tattoo.com. That’s tdto.com.

 

And make sure you sign up for the newsletter if you want to hear updates from me directly. And now let’s dive right in. He Meghana  thank you so much for joining us today. It’s so nice to have you here.

 

01:27

Thank you so much that I’m so excited to have this very exciting, I’m sure conversation and I cannot wait to begin.

 

01:33

Yes, me too. But before we begin  please Sheva so we can get to know you better, please share who is Meghana  gearvita When she’s working?

 

01:42

Yes. So um, just a quick recap. To begin with, of course, my you know, my most fulfilling identity is founder of let’s curate, which is my baby, a two year old baby now. It’s a global curator platform. And the objective is to empower and celebrate independent artisans from around the world.

 

Though, you know, this platform has existed just for about two years now. It’s kind of been in the making for almost a decade. And I’m sure we will, you know, dive deep into that more. But it’s been a journey. And I’m very excited as to how far it’s taken me so far. So

 

02:21

Meghana , you are currently the founder of Leicester VIP explained and is a platform that empowers and celebrates independent artisans around the world. But tell us a little bit more about yourself. I know you’ve been in New York for about 15 years. Yes. Are we doing it then? Yes.

 

02:34

So I’m I’m born and brought up in Mumbai, India, and I came to the US in about 2007. You know, up until then, I was in a very, I would say a linear path. I had already worked in India, I had, you know, I was armed with my MBA in international marketing. I’d also worked for a couple of organizations there, I wanted to kind of enhance my resume.

 

So it was a good time for me to come to the US. I pursued another business degree in finance. At from UC Berkeley. In 2008, I moved to New York. That’s where I met my now husband. And you know, it was a city, I absolutely fell in love with the diverse crowd. And you know, it just reminded me of home. Since then, up until I would say two years ago,

 

my life seems very much like many other lives, I would say a very kind of typical, where I worked for very interesting job profiles don’t want to undermine the value that added to my entire persona, to be honest. I’ve worked with nonprofit organizations, venture capital firms, healthcare firms, essentially in branding, PR and marketing, which was what my education was about.

 

So it was a good 10 year, I would say, of a corporate life, a good 10 years span of a corporate life. But something else was kind of brewing inside me. Which led to let’s curate

 

04:06

now why did it take you 10 years to start? Let’s curate.

 

04:10

You know, this is one of my favorite questions because I feel like it really gets me so excited to talk about the the kind of the motive behind my platform. So I’m, you know, I’m an avid traveler, I travel. It’s always been a passion of mine. And even when I was working in corporate jobs, when I would go on holidays and things like that, it was always interesting for me to find people or you know, places that are off the beaten track. And it so happened that over the 10 years of my travels,

 

I kind of got in touch with 10 very interesting artisans. And strangely enough, there was a common thread between all of them, they will all individual artisans, they will not associated with any organizations. They were one man one woman shows doing everything right from coming up with the idea of procuring the supplies, creating the product marketing, all of those things, I was blown away at what they brought to the table. Because, you know, every time

 

 you go to a place, you know, the world is a small place now, and there are certain expectations when you go to a place in terms of what you’re going to find. But I saw I was so lucky to happen to meet these 10 people who gave me a different perspective of that place through their art, whether it was paintings, or ceramics, or, you know, creating fabric, textiles, any of those things, I kept in touch with them, just because I was so fascinated by how they were working. And I kept telling them that, you know,

 

 I have a feeling we’re going to probably do something. And they were very sweet. They indulge me up until 2019. It was I just kept thinking, oh, you know what, I should probably do something about this, because I don’t seem to find the things that they’re making anywhere else.

 

And I, you know, I like to, I would say I like to kind of dig around and find stuff that’s unique to a place or to a person. You know, everyone storytelling is a big is a big part of any product. I feel like nowadays, even at that time, when I was interested in a product, I realized the interest was not just in the product. The interest was also in terms of why yes?

 

Why did he create that? What influenced him, and the most remarkable stories come out of that. In 2008 19, I don’t know what happened, you know, something switched, and I kind of got this Do or Die feeling. And I went back to them. And you know, I had kind of kept in touch, I had built my relationships with them. And I just said, you know, I think it’s time for me, I’m going to start a platform, would you be open to that.

 

The interesting thing for me also was that they were people who had no web presence, they were located in very small towns, all across the 10 countries that I had kind of focused on. And they were a little, they were indulgent, they didn’t know which direction I was going in. And I will forever be grateful to them for giving me this opportunity to kind of launch them into the world. And their kick started. So June 2019, was when the platform went live with 10 people and not you know, in no ways am I being boastful or, you know, kind of too full of myself.

 

But I felt very good because I felt that I had presented something that was unexpected. It was kind of extra ordinary, in terms of, you know, the techniques and the stories. And I kind of at that point felt, you know, I’m on the cusp of something very, very interesting for myself, and hopefully I can build it.

 

07:49

So magnet, the mission for let’s create is quite clear, right? It’s a platform that gives these independent artisans around the world a chance to bring their products, their stories and their art to a wider audience with your help. So what is the value proposition for the customers,

 

08:05

the value proposition is essentially the common thread, like I said, between all these people is my thought processes, you know, I’m kind of the world is or rather I am focused on a non mass produced form of ecommerce or store or whatever you call it. The common thread between all these artisans are they only make handmade products, they make small batch products.

 

So they never did it small batch handmade, handcrafted, unique, bringing to the table some sort of legacy that they’ve, you know, that they’ve kind of inculcated or learned from their ancestors and brought their own contemporary spin.

 

So the value proposition is this is basically a platform where you will see emerging talent, talent that you will not possibly see anywhere else, either, because, you know, many of the platforms are focused on volume, obviously, in terms of, you know, for creating profits, which is also very valid reason to kind of have mass produced product, I’m trying to create a sort of collaborative space for customers, as well as for creators and to create a dialogue between them.

 

So it goes beyond the idea of a store. My, the sense of let’s curate is to create a world where you literally have a relationship with the person who’s making something custom for you. And by custom, I don’t mean you just pick a color or you just pick, you know, the shape of a product.

 

By custom, I mean that you actually understand each other’s perspectives and create something, you know, nine out of 10 times something that’s created that way, is special and it’s you know, there is no price to that,

 

09:49

guys. What I love about what Meghna has just shared is that she’s so mission focused and she’s passionate about helping these artisans showcase their art to the world and is so translated into her business model. She’s so rather unique in the sense that she’s staying away from mass produced products from countries like China.

 

And she’s actually only focusing on that curation process for an artisan to produce very selected pieces of work to her customers. So this is a very nice object. And of course, it has his own niche clients as well.

 

So that sets her apart from other competitors who can actually produce such a tailored, customized solution to its customers. And no intruders. Another passion is so infectious, back to you Meghana . How have you been actually growing the platform. So you started before COVID.

 

And I happen to know that you are attending physical fairs, and setting up a physical store to get people aware of your company in the word out, but how have you had to evolve since then,

 

10:42

um, it was, you know, now when I look back, I feel like 2020 was almost an opportunity, hidden behind a challenge mostly to grow. And but when it when it hit me, march 2020, you know, I had my entire calendar filled with all these dates of all these fairs that I was going to attend. And I was so excited about it, I was going to have my first trunk show in New York City, I had booked the venue, I still remember the the date, it was March 27 2020.

 

And I had to obviously cancel it because the entire city went into a lockdown on March 15. But to be honest, when that happened for the first month or so, I was paralyzed. And I do want to say that, you know, when I think back, it actually gave me time to think about what I should do next. A lot of people are fearful. And I was fearful too, of being stuck and of stopping.

 

But sometimes stopping and slowing down actually leads to something more innovative, which you may not have had the time to think through. So I had all these products which I had, you know, it was in my store, and I was ready to showcase them.

 

And then suddenly the worst shutdown, and it took me a month to be to realize that wait, I need to find an alternate avenue to still showcase these artisans. Because, you know, they were still depending on me presenting them to the world. So we quickly pivoted to something called Limited Edition.

 

Now remember, the the beauty of let’s curate is that no collection, you know, when you think of collection, typically, you think of 50 pieces or 60 pieces. When I say limited edition, it typically means basically a mini collection of three to five pieces.

 

So I had the good thing was I had a ton of diverse products, whether it was home decor, or art or jewelry, or fashion or any such thing. But I had many collections of those things. So we I quickly pivoted and created something called limited edition, which essentially steered slightly away from the original objective, which was where, if you like something,

 

I get you in touch with the Creator, then you talk about it, and then he makes it for you. With limited edition, that was what was available. And if you liked it, it could be shipped to you right away. So ready to ship limited edition, all these initiatives kind of birth during during the COVID era.

 

So Limited Edition now essentially means if you are a creator in any corner of the world, and you have an idea, and it involves just creating a couple of pieces, that’s where we would showcase you and it’s custom and it’s exclusive to our platform.

 

And we you know promoted, we kind of also enhance it by additional avenues like video interviews with creators, creating a portfolio video for them a media kit for them. So it’s an entire package that we create when we are launching them under the limited edition collection.

 

This however, was because of COVID I don’t think this would have happened if I had not had everything stopped. So that was an interesting and to be honest now that the world is slowly coming back to its speed.

 

Those two initiatives that I launched have been so wonderful. And you know, my my platform is close to now representing almost 50 artisans. We’re at 47 today.

 

14:06

So you started with 10 and you have about 47

 

14:08

right now, so it’s expanded and I think a lot of it is because of these two new initiatives that are launched during COVID. Could you explain a

 

14:17

little bit more about how your business model works, you actually have this limited edition pieces, do the Artisans actually ship it to you directly to hold it for them.

 

14:25

Typically, when an artisan signs up to be on a limited edition feature, we decide and discuss what they would make in terms of the mini collection.

 

Now this is something again where I do want to emphasize creating is the artisans job, you know so this is where you know my job is to present them so we go you know we are led by the artists and so typically, you know we have a discussion and they say you know I can make a collection with these three pieces.

 

Once that’s there is no timeline. That’s another thing I want to emphasize. We do not have deadlines. We don’t it’s kind of anti Corporate in that sense, because I don’t work with a very strict framework. Because I have realized, and I feel like on Rush good art, right?

 

Yes, exactly. I feel like three, I mean, the only way you can create is when you have time and space. And I’m willing to wait for the best possible product that comes out of someone’s, you know, the mind or hands or whatever you may call it. So essentially, when a collection theme, and the product is decided they created, they send it to my office in New York City.

 

And now we’re going to resume in person fairs and artists, poppers pop ups, but essentially, up until COVID, was raging, we put that under limited edition, like I said, we also kind of encouraged a lot of the artisans to talk about the product to talk about the collection, the inspiration, the influences, and we you know, have a lot of these webcasts, interviews,

 

 which have also allowed the Creator to, I guess, give their own point of view, because you may look at something a certain way, but the Creator has thought about his own way, you know, when it comes to execution. So it’s interesting, and you know, all these things have led to,

 

 it ties in with my brand of giving them a stage and giving them a platform. And it also, you know, hand in hand, it’s also helped my brand, because the more people watch these things, the more intrigued they are by what the collection is about. And that has actually led the platform to expand way much more quickly than I had expected.

 

16:30

So magnet, the platform is growing, the number of artisans that you have on board is growing as well. So that means the number of stock keeping units that you’re holding with this will be increasing, has it been a challenge for you managing this high number and variety of stock keeping units as well,

 

16:45

you know, to be honest, there, it’s not just because like I said, we don’t deal in volume, I don’t deal in volume. It’s actually the interesting thing is that portfolio and like I would say the product line is so diverse, that it’s it makes it a very, very interesting array of creations. So I’m not overwhelmed by the number of products that I have.

 

In fact, you know, it’s exciting to kind of see that we can present so many things from so many different countries. So even in terms of countries, we’ve expanded from 10 countries to about 29 countries so far. So I actually get excited when I when people send me stuff. And speaking of limited edition, not every artisan that we work with, chooses limited edition, that’s another thing, we offer a bunch of resources for the artists, they can either, you know, do a simple listing on the platform, or they send me stuff, or many of them.

 

You know, just to give you an example, we represent a painter from Iran. And initially, what happened was, we were in conversation, fantastic point of view, I was so excited to have him on board. And just for logistical reasons, because you know, his paintings were huge. And there was no way he could ship it to New York City without you know, it’s a huge sticker shock for either of us.

 

We also decided, okay, maybe we should split the shipping cost. Even with that it was just way too expensive. So what happened was at that point, you know, we spoke about it, because I was so invested in it. And I realized, you know what, I’m kind of, it’s going to be a bad business deal. If I say no, no, no, ship it, you know, we will take care of it in whatever manner it is.

 

So I just said, you know, I think this is going to be a bit tricky, because it’s art, it was going to come framed, it was a you know, like a wall to wall kind of piece. So we actually stalled the conversation. Instead, what we said was, why don’t we just talk about what what the proper what your painting is about, and the message that you want to give behind the painting? And he said, Okay, let’s do that he had never done an interview before.

 

He was quite hesitant. I had to kind of push him a little bit because, you know, when I heard him speak, you know, to me, I didn’t care that he didn’t speak English. Well, it’s not his native tongue. I just said that you literally, you know, people have to listen to what you’re saying. Because, you know, it’s something I know, it’s special, and I’m sure lots of people will find a special so I kind of coerced him somehow to do this interview. And invariably, there was a, there was an art gallery person based somewhere close to where he was, who watched the interview, you know, some randomly I mean, that’s the beauty of the internet and got in touch with us got in touch with him.

 

And you know, his painting was showcased in an exhibition out there, which was you know, it was so good. I was watching and I just realized that you know what, it does not have to be I have realized that it does not have to be one way or the other. It can be any number of ways. As long as my brand messaging is not diluted, and that’s why I kind of keep it very, very simple in terms of you know, when I’m when I’m Thinking to myself about the brand, I’m always thinking, it’s very simple, the best way to present an independent artisan, that’s all I need to do, because that’s the service that’s providing

 

20:09

the voice only to well, whether it is sought in New York or not,

 

20:13

doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter. Because you know, people are, it’s a wonderful thing, the internet, the point is that you need to get people’s attention, whether it’s through a show a product in your shop, whether it’s by letting someone talk about their background, whether it’s creating a media kit, you know, a media kit is something that we prepare for emerging artists, particularly only for painters.

 

So what happened was up until COVID, whenever art galleries were looking for new people, you kind of have an in person meeting with them, you show them your artwork, you discuss, when COVID had all the art gallery shut down, and they still haven’t resumed, you know, the original form of business where you actually go in person and show your product.

 

So a couple of painters came to, you know, we were again, I was talking to a bunch of them, and they said, you know, right now, I don’t know how to present my work, I have all these pieces, you know, artwork at home, and I have no idea how to showcase that. And that gave me another idea. I said, Okay, you know what, all they need to see is your work.

 

So let me prepare a media kit for you. And that media kit is kind of like a calling card, you go and show it to the art galleries and see if you know they open to that, again, it was very successful for a few of them. That led to you know, so it’s a bunch of things that have just, you know, when you turn the tap the creativity tap on it keeps flowing until you turn off. So it’s been interesting, I have to say, and I give all credit to COVID, to be honest. So

 

21:44

guys, as Meghana  has just shared what was originally a huge setback when COVID hid, and she could no longer she set up her physical stores to attend fairs, has allowed her to pivot and provide so many more new initiatives that can actually showcase her art designs and gal work.

 

So remember, for every setback that you face, that could be an opportunity for you to uncover as well. Now, magnet, you are very clearly passionate about this subject.

 

And you can see how much effort, time and passion you put towards helping this individual artisans grow. So could you share this? How does that curate share the stories of his artisans who had a different initiatives you’ve actually implemented as well.

 

22:21

So when like I said, when we first launched it, we launched it with a store, we had a physical store, and we had an e commerce Store, we were actually banking on kind of doing more in person relationship building with customers, which didn’t work out and then the E store was a bad. Little did we know that the estore would be exactly the estore would be our main source of revenue, at least for like the first few months. Right after that, like I’ve explained, we launched limited edition, we have something called ready to ship ready to ship was what was with us in stock before COVID head.

 

So since we didn’t have a store, and we couldn’t present that we move that quickly to something called ready to ship, which meant if you placed an order, the product would be shipped to you that very day. So that was the differentiation between limited edition and ready to ship because it was, again, diverse products. So you see completely different products under ready to ship and limited edition.

 

Another interesting thing we found while talking to customers, as well as artisans is a lot of people have, just to give you an example. A friend of mine was looking for a coffee table. And you know, she had a mood board, she had this, you know, she had all these, she was like I wanted to be this color that color. And she you know, when she tried to do a simple search on Google because there was, you know, either she goes to all the furniture stores, or she does a Google search.

 

And she tried both. And it was extremely frustrating. So we learned. So she said, I just don’t know how to find someone and I don’t want to just bite off a store. I want to actually, again, talk to a person discuss my ideas, and have him make that for me in you know, in sync with me.

 

So it’s not about the time it’s more about wanting what I want, essentially. So all I said was Okay, give me Tell me what you’re thinking, I think I may have someone whom I can connect you with. And that’s how we connected her with an artisan, who is not on a platform right now.

 

But he did make the coffee table for her. And that was fantastic. And that led us to something called Seek and ye shall find where essentially if there is a certain kind of artwork or a certain product or a certain fashion accessory that you want to design based on your likes and dislikes. You kind of reach out to us give us a brief description and we set up a consultation with us and we connect you with the person who we think would actually help you.

 

So we typically connect you with about two to three people and then you know the whole if it works out great if it doesn’t You know, at least she would keep that person in mind for something in future. So see can we shall find is another very fun, fun initiative that we’ve launched. Because, you know, as you can clearly see, I love speaking to people. This gives me an opportunity to connect with as many people as possible.

 

25:19

What I love about what Meghna just shared is that she created this whole new revenue stream called seek, and we shall find where she connects customers and consults with them with the right artisans to produce that customized piece of art that they are looking for.

 

She started this because she listened closely to what her customers needed. And that allowed her to expand the business itself. So you never know, guys, if you listen to your customers, maybe there’s a new revenue stream that you can add to your business as well. Now make sure busty artists in the spotlight function that you create on your website as well.

 

25:47

Yes, there is yes, absolutely. So artists in the spotlight is primarily we have, I mean, we’ve also we’ve showcased a bunch of jewelry designers, but primarily it’s for painters and those who work with, you know, watercolors and things like that, where we set up an entire profile for them, where they can showcase their work.

 

And not just that they talk specifically about the techniques that they use for the product line, where they’re from. And we also obviously, you know, so anyone who’s looking for maybe a jewelry designer from Greece, can click on, you know, our artist spotlight section and immediately connect with that person.

 

Because they get it they get a sense of not just their educational background, you know, also, the whole story story is out there. So the concept, the you know, the branding is essentially about telling stories, and building relationships. That’s why I think of it as a collaborative space. And we’re trying to do this in as many ways as possible, whether it’s a portfolio video, whether it’s a video interview, whether it’s artists in the spotlight, it’s to get these people in front of the camera or in front of, you know, potential customers, and not have them behind the scenes I found, you know, even before I launched

 

Let’s curate, I was feverishly looking through multiple platforms just to see if there was something that came close to what I was thinking. And to be honest, it was always about the product, it was very rarely about the person who made the product. And that I find a little unfortunate, because there is no product without the Creator.

 

27:22

That’s because maybe those platforms are focusing on a more mass produced model. But you know, you’re taking it and flipping the equation, you’re focusing on the artisans, and the unique pieces of work that they can produce, in fact, because you just shared that if somebody wants something customized, the option is there for them as well.

 

 So I think that’s the unique key proposition that you’re offering with let’s curate, which is really interesting.

 

Now Meghana , you said that let’s qv prides itself on uncovering hidden talents, how do you actually find these individuals, especially in the time of COVID,

 

27:52

um, like you rightly said, you know, the first 10 was more organic in the sense because I met them. And I kind of kept in touch with them, I built relationships with them. When I launched the platform in 2019, that was a challenge for me, because, you know, I knew these people well, but now, obviously, I couldn’t sit still with 10 people from 10 countries,

 

I wanted to kind of expand more, because that’s the essence of the brand. Exactly. If I am empowering independent artisans, I need to have as many as possible, so that people are encouraged to, you know, kind of visit the page more often.

 

So initially, what we did was I kind of went based on, I’m very fascinated by, you know, like cultures. So initially, because I had 10 countries, I was started looking for artisans from other countries. So it was a mix, there were people who approached me as soon as the platform was launched, because a lot of them said,

 

you know, what we actually were looking for something like that, and we couldn’t and What’s the process like? So once the conversation began, it led to, you know, most of the times it led to a fruitful relationship. On the other hand, I was also consciously looking for interesting people. And by then I kind of had a sense that I knew the kind of person I wanted on the platform.

 

So essentially, it just meant me looking, whether it was, you know, up until 2020, I was trapped, again, traveling feverishly. So there was a lot of, again, connections built through my travels. But the I would say the profile was very clear in my mind as soon as I launched it.

 

So then it was easy for me to I would say, be aggressively promoting the messaging in terms of not looking for anyone who’s working with an organization not looking for someone who’s looking to sell 10,000 pieces, 20,000 pieces, so there were two ways

 

One, they a lot of them approached me. And like I said, it didn’t always work out initially, because my thought process at that point was stuck with having the shot It’s only because of COVID that I kind of pivoted a little bit, and then I could be like, Wait, we don’t just need to do a shop, we can do something else. But at that point, a lot of the times, it didn’t work out because people couldn’t send stuff or, you know, the shipping cost and match for them.

 

But the thing that I did was I kept the conversation going, I have never turned anyone away. Because my whole thinking behind this venture has been to keep an open dialogue. So if we don’t work out one way, we would work out some other way. But you know, and in that I enjoy it. That’s the reason it was very

 

30:38

nice individuals watching not on the platform, formally, are the ones who are actually providing customized solutions to your clients, depending on what they need. Correct.

 

30:46

Exactly, exactly. And, you know, if I found someone who was an exciting artisan, and even now, if I find someone who I think is perfect for the platform, but I am unable to kind of put them in one of the five things that I have currently going, I always tell them that you know what we will work together, I will find a way to present your work. So I would say even after the platform was launched,

 

 it was kind of a mix of people approaching me plus me aggressively looking for talent from, you know, unexpected, unexpected places. You know, we have these beautiful, there’s a lady who does this Romanian lace technique, and she’s from Moldova. I’ve never been to Moldova. And I happen to find her, you know, wonderful pieces on a Pinterest board.

 

And, you know, I went down this rabbit hole trying to find out, Oh, find out who she was investigated. Yes. And then, you know, she, she’s my, she’s one of my limited edition artisans today.

 

And she’s a wonderful, wonderful young girl who’s very talented. So the more obscure the place, the more unknown the place, the more aggressive was my search. And to be honest, I actually got because, you know, it’s, I feel like the US is a market that is very well explored.

 

There are many people who know how to dig deep, within developed countries like Europe, and even Asia, Australia, New Zealand, but there are many, many little countries within Europe. You know, like Romania, we have a wonderful lady from Romania, we have someone from, of course, Greece is a prominent country. But you know, this lady from Greece, she’s actually a grandmother. And she started a business at the age of, you know, 60, or some such thing. And, you know, she does these beautiful contemporary twists on traditional Greek techniques.

 

So I now know what kind of person I want. But initially, I kind of went towards countries that were not expected that I have not seen, for example, if I typed something like, jewelry from Romania, to be honest, I couldn’t I didn’t know what jewelry from Romania actually meant. And that’s why that kind of curious.

 

Yes, exactly. And then I was like, Okay, let me just dig through and see who’s you know, what kind of artists work in Romania? What do they do. And that’s how I’ve kind of expanded now it’s more organic in the sense now, we actually have more people approaching us. And like I said, because I don’t turn anyone away,

 

33:14

cuz it was getting some traction. Exactly. And I

 

33:17

always say that, you know, be on standby, because if this is not working in one of these five things, I have a bunch of other ideas in my mind, let me you know, let me finalize it, let me develop it. But I’m going to come back to you and I want to work with you.

 

So I feel like on paper, I have 47 people from 29 countries right now. But behind the scenes, I probably have so many more. And I’m just waiting to kind of launch them into the world.

 

33:45

Oh, I see this way, the whole idea of maybe reaching out to you to get a customized piece of art as well, it’s a very viable solution. Because you have so many unseen backing individuals behind the scenes as well who are not on the platform yet that you can’t wait to show to the rest of the world. That is very interesting. And I would say this model has worked very well for you. Because not only are you clearly passionate about it, but you’re also very good with people.

 

And I think most importantly, you have a very strong knowledge pool of the different kinds of art. So at the start, when you had your first 10 artisans, it really sounded like you knew what you really want it. And that’s because you’ve exposed yourself over the years. And that’s something that you’ve keenly been interested in.

 

So you went to plug in those holes, and you’re constantly educating yourself, which is, of course, a very important skill, not just in life been in business as well. So when you actually approach these individuals, or they approach you, I’m sure that the onboarding process is very important to manage the expectations as well. But what’s the onboarding process for you and how have you managed your artists over the years?

 

34:45

You know, I’ve always kind of tried to stay true to this one thing where it’s in my mind, the like I said, because the without the Creator does nothing so for me, the artisans deeds and are like front and center, it’s more important. In fact, I’m not being altruistic in any sense, because I feel like, if I keep the needs, you know, completely prominent in my mind, the profits will come to me in the end. So whenever there is, you know, whenever we agreed to work with an artisan, the very first thing, obviously, is we are very, very clear about the terms and conditions.

 

 Many of the platforms, you know, do so, to explain this, many platforms, essentially, what they would do is they would take a cut from, say, a product price, which essentially means if a product, if the artisan wanted $100, he would essentially have to sell it to the platform for say, 75, because, you know, the platform takes their own commission for the whole thing.

 

In my case, I promised and I always assured and this is true of all the artisans we represent currently, if they are pricing at $100, that’s what they would get. My commission is obviously added to the whole thing, we have a few nominal fees for producing content and things like that. But beyond that, we don’t necessarily try to shortchange the artisan, and we don’t kind of try to cut corners and say, Oh, can you do it for like, 25?

 

Can you do it for 50? Can you do it for 75, because remember, these are very, very special products, many of these products take a lot of time and effort. So the price that an artisan has, thought is the price that we go with. So that is the number one thing I always follow for all the artisans. And to be honest, it actually does not eat into my profits.

 

 Because the way we presented you know, when we’ve always got repeat business, whenever whenever we you know, kind of shown an artisan and you know, the artisan is happy, he wants to work with us more, the customers happy and you know, when, when an artisan is happy, the product that they send, you can see it’s made with so much love, it’s perfect.

 

So I have so much confidence when I send the product over to a customer because I always expect a five on five review, because I know it’s so good. And I know that they will come back. So you know, it’s it’s kind of like it builds slowly, but it’s sustained.

 

Mike, my philosophy is to be slow, but kind of be consistent and have a very loyal pool of customers who appreciate the whole process. And I feel it would not work if I kind of haggled with the artisan for a few dollars here and there. Because, you know, and it’s not obviously been all roses all the time, you know, it’s it’s taken me time to obviously break even.

 

And, you know, get to a point where I’m comfortable, I have, you know, kind of enough to kind of Tide me over all of those things. But even during the darkest days, especially, you know, the first few months of COVID. In, I realized that, you know, if I kind of went back and said, Oh, you know what? You sent it to us. And now this COVID let me sell it for like $50 versus $100.

 

 It just didn’t sit well, because you know, then I’m completely corrupting what I went out to do. And I had just launched my platform, so I didn’t want to kind of compromise. And I hope I would not have to compromise in future to essentially the artisans needs are met in you know, simple things like when they ship the product to us, they incur the shipping costs, but we never shortchange them in terms of the price that they have thought for a certain product

 

38:31

now Meghana , how would you like to grow into the future?

 

38:33

You know, this? This question for me, that is a bit, it’s a problem that I’m kind of grappling in my mind. Because also, there are a whole bunch of initiatives that you know, I’m going to be launching in the next year or so. And I’m very excited about it.

 

The challenge for me at this point is there is so much exciting talent out there. There is there are certain people who even within you know, our plan, because my platform only represents very specialized kind of techniques and products. Even within that I have found a smaller pool of people who are really avant garde who are, you know, completely reimagining things, possibilities to burnish and that is so thrilling, you know, it’s thrilling for me to say that, you know, I found this person, you know, I found this person who’s going to change the way jewelry is made.

 

The challenges that I need to figure out whether I whether I kind of balance both of these, I would say philosophies where I also go with this specialized group and the super specialized group, or do I kind of pivot a little more and just really like dig deep and stay with the like the super specialized group of people that I’m discovering now. The idea, of course, is still the same.

 

 The you know, the messaging is still the same Just to provide a platform and for me to be behind the scenes, but for these artists to get their due credit, for all the wonderful things that they’re doing, you know,

 

I keep joking to my friends, and you know, even some of my customers who are now good friends, you know, without art, and without art in any form, whether it’s movies or books, or paintings or online courses on YouTube, I don’t think any one of us would have survived COVID. So I feel like, you know, the artist is supreme. And that’s what my platform will continue to be. The, the question is, how, you know, what can I do I kind of go, which direction do I go in terms of representing what kind of an artisan, but until then, you know, I’m happy to kind of just, you know, meet new people and just try to present as many interesting people as possible,

 

40:54

whatever direction you take it, I know, you will definitely stay true to your original mission of giving these independent artisans, the ability to really showcase themselves to the world. So I’m excited to see how you’re going to grow into the future as well. Now Meghana , this is one of my favorite questions. Entrepreneurship is never an easy journey. So who would you say you have an immense amount of gratitude for, and you’d like to take this chance to say thank you to imagine them that person and oh,

 

41:23

I’m, however, cliched, this may sound that, but I have to give a whole lot of credit to my mom, to be honest, she, you know, I feel like even from a very, very young age, she kind of put these seeds of thought in my mind about kind of being independent, being innovative, not being boxed in not being afraid to be out of your comfort zone. And she did it from a very young age. It’s taken me 30 plus years to get to where I am.

 

But, you know, I think the credit goes to her because she you know, she always my mom herself, in you know, she’s, she’s a microbe, she was a microbiologist, and she switched careers midway through after I was born, and she became a lawyer. And she’s still a very, she’s, she’s 65. And she has been practicing law for 20 plus years.

 

And she’s always told me, never, never put yourself in a corner, you can always pivot. Life is always given you never worry about, oh, you know, you’re in a corporate job. You’ve How can you be a curator, all of those things, I think, that helped me free my mind from my own judgment. A lot of times, you know, a lot of people, it’s a self induced fear. What I realized was that when I went and spoke to people, and I said, Hey, you know, I have this, even those 10 people that I spoke to, for 10 years,

 

when I when I, I thought they would just laugh at me. And they would say, Oh, we don’t have time to talk about this. We don’t know what the concept is, we don’t understand what you’re trying to say. No one said that. And that’s what I realized, if I had stopped myself, and if I was embarrassed and inhibited, and I’d never, you know, put words in my mouth and approach them. I think I would have missed out on the most fulfilling part of my life, which I’m kind of going through right now.

 

So I think that is one of the things I do want to mention one more thing, which, you know, my parents are very hard working middle class parents. And one of the things they always said, which I think in the current generation is not given that much importance about always having reserves. You know, I worked in the corporate field for many, many years.

 

Yes, so I did save up, I still use those reserves for many of my, you know, initiatives. And I feel like people have this tendency, or people are taught that, oh, if you want to do something extraordinary, you burn your boats. And you know, you’re you burn the midnight oil, you don’t have $1.

 

And you know, those kinds of things, which is great, it works out for some people. For me, the risk averse tendency actually worked in my favor, because it kind of, I didn’t have to worry about, oh, how do I pay my bill for next month. Instead, I could use that time and energy to actually look for the right kind of person for my platform, which I think adds more value in the long run. So I also say this to my kids, it’s not, you know, not having any money.

 

And you know, just starting something off is not as glamorous as people make it to be. Yeah, I give a lot of credit to all my corporate experience for you know, giving me that security blanket to kind of have the strength to kind of start this venture which is so different from what I was studying. Of course, the lessons from my corporate life have are still helping me on a day to day to day basis. So Never, never underestimate the value of working for someone else before you do something on your own. If the listeners

 

45:06

only remember one thing from today’s conversation, oh, you’d like it to be,

 

45:11

I would say, you know, everyone finds, it takes time for everyone to find their own thing for lack of a better word. For some people, it’s very early on in life, for some people, it’s later in life, I would say, the only thing to do is challenge yourself and make sure you’re never too comfortable.

 

You know, I’m always I’m always discontent, I’m a, I’m a, I’m perpetually. I feel a you know, within yourself, when you’re kind of getting too safe and too comfortable. There is no harm at that point in jumping. But I would say jump with caution. And then you know, when you jump with caution, and then you’ll you’ll discover yourself,

 

45:56

oh, man, now how can the listeners get in contact with you, if they want to work with you on a piece of art, first of

 

46:01

all, I would, you know, just relay the message that I am, I love meeting new people. So you know, just get in touch with me, even if it’s just a phone call, even if you don’t have you know, a product in mind, or any kind of very definite collaborative idea in mind.

 

The best way to do that would be through my email info at let’s curate.com or obviously, through social media, Instagram, we are at let’s underscore curate. These two are the easiest ways we respond to every email me and my team. It’s a very small team.

 

But I encourage anyone who is thinking about, you know, who’s been doing some stuff at home, and you know, they kind of hesitant to talk about it, or I would just love to begin the conversation. So please do reach out. Like I said, we never turn anyone away, we will find a way to present your work some way or the other.

 

46:58

Oh, man, I thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your story and your passion for art. Thank you for you know, sharing this with me. And I’m very glad to have made this connection with you.

 

47:07

Thank you so much, dad. It’s my honor. And I’m so grateful that you gave me this opportunity to talk about what I love what I love most.

 

47:16

Guys, thank you so much for joining magnify. In today’s episode, I hope you’ve learned a little bit more about her platform, and how you can incorporate some fun lessons into your business as well. Now as before, if you received any value from the show,

 

I would love if you subscribe to the show, leave a review on Apple podcasts and to share the show with somebody who find it useful as well. All of these tools and resources and my email list available on tatio.com. That’s tdo.com that’s all for me today. Uh, see you guys next time.