This is a true story and it took just over 12 years to write.

It’ll probably take you just under 6mins to read. (no pressure leisurely paced readers) Whatever be the reading speed I promise if you stay with me till the end the side notes are worth it. ☺

In 2008 during the recession I found myself living in Perungudi, a suburb in the outskirts of a city in the South of India — Madras to some and Chennai to most. Life circumstances and my own personal choices had landed me in a place that felt remote, and disconnected from my regular world of work and friends.

Now, I’m the kind of person who found it perfectly normal to sit in bed one day and decide that I’d pick up my laptop, and start a company. I began at the easiest place — google.

I searched ‘how to set up your own graphic design studio’. You see, I’d already had a short one year career in the design space but never thought I would actually own a firm. Coming from a family of doctors and engineers who had always had full-time jobs, business and entrepreneurship were nowhere in my universe.

Google had me soon find out that the starting place would be to figure out a good accountant. I thought it a strange first step but figured it made sense as something I would eventually need to look into. Just not the first. But I was so glad that it was.

Because half an hour later I found a listing at random — for a Chartered Accountant and corporate accounting firm with the principal listed as a Mr.Prakash.

I found it perfectly normal to call him and say “Hello could I have an appointment to meet you, please? I want to set up a business.”

The next day I went to meet him and found it normal to sit across the table from him and say “I want to start a business and I don’t know how to do it”. He didn’t make me feel stupid or inept and just simply responded “Sure what sort of business?” I explained Graphic Design to him and said it would be a communication design studio …we (yes it was already a ‘we’ in my head) would design creatives for companies.

He said “Great just get started then. All you need is to set up a company account. I recommend a government bank for security, so State Bank of India, and then start your work, keep a track of your income and outflow with receipts and invoices and come back to me at the end of the year. We’ll file your taxes and close your books for the year.”

I said “that’s it? you make it sound very simple”. He said with his first smile “wait till you get to all the paperwork” (I might have added that detail for flair and flavor :))

Then in an awkward and uncomfortable manner that some of you might find familiar I wriggled in my chair and asked, “So how much do I have to pay you for this consulting session?” (I was hoping it would be free because there wasn’t any mention of it at the appointment set up and I was pretty broke). He promptly replied “No fee. Just wish you good luck and all the best!” To which I said, “Sorry, but could you please tell me how much you would charge for doing my taxes and all this ‘closing of books’ official sounding stuff at the end of the year?”

To which he did actually use his very first smile and say “Don’t worry it will not pinch you”.

I thought it was perfectly normal to just nod and say “ok, thank you. I’ll see you at the end of the year.” And with that, be off.

The first day of sending my ‘company’ opening announcement (still from my laptop sitting on my bed) via a ‘grand email push by Gmail account’ (I promise this is not a google sponsored story) with a short deck about the newly set up company, an old work acquaintance who worked at Diageo called me back and said “I was waiting for you to do this! Congratulations. It’s always been a pleasure working with you… Here’s a lead of an ex-Diageo head who’s looking for an agency to do their identity and branding for a new Duty-Free chocolate retail chain. Why don’t you give him a call?” A couple of calls, presentations, and proposals later I had my first client all within a day of having sent out that email.

Again, I found it perfectly normal to send out an email blast with a signature saying Founder & Creative Director. A blast that also meant I got to hear some grapevine chatter from people scoffing “oh sure, the easiest way to get the biggest designation on your business card is to just start your own ‘company’!”

So here’s the point. The reason I’m sharing the story of my beginnings and a short part of this journey is that I would never have imagined sitting in a bedroom in Perungudi, that 12 years later I’d be sitting in the heart of New York, bang in the middle of the island, knowing that we’re now a real we, an incredibly powerful team.

We’re now SMITTEN. The company I wished for is today an international communication design firm with offices across New York, Bangalore, and Chennai with a presence in Dubai.

Today I find myself amid another recession with a global pandemic to boot, feeling ‘lucky’ and filled with pride, exhaustion, and exhilaration to reveal SMITTEN’s work on a milestone identity rebrand. This rebrand took place after almost 100 years of India’s representation at the OLYMPICS. As the daughter of an ex-army general, I am writing this fighting back tears of joy, during the month of India’s 74th Independence day, Aug 2020.

It does not feel normal. :)

I’m smitten and I hope you will be too.

side notes: -

• Here’s to a truly Olympic effort by the team at SMITTEN®. Know that I finally got some sleep and recuperation as I hope did you. I’ll be calling each and every one of you who is fortunately/unfortunately a phone call or a Google Meet away. (it is a pandemic after all)
• The Indian Olympic Association put their faith in a boutique, Indian, homegrown agency over one of the massive international ones who would usually land a project like this.
• Mr. Prakash was true to his word. His fees still don’t pinch and we’re still working together.
• If you were thinking at one point of this story that it sounded so easy — someone in Diageo (one of the world’s leading alcohol companies) was on my email list and replied positively, quickly, and hence I’m so ‘lucky’ — I am and I’m not. That relationship was built on delivering sticky ideas and hard work that I had put in during the past short year before starting SMITTEN. (that’s a story for another blog post or short story)
• It’s perfectly normal to aim and try to hit above your weight. It’s not normal to have the power, support, love and good energy of so many people who’ve been a part of this journey. I’m genuinely lucky for that reason. And the personal thank you calls are coming to each one of you, you know who you are.
• Fun fact: I did the voiceover for the Indian Olympic Association video. I cringe at hearing my voice every single time it plays (so thank god the client liked it) because I’m not a professional voice over artist but we had to pull it together coz — hey pandemic times and that’s the kind of strappy agency we are.
• Fun fact no.2: the first job I ever got paid for in life, (side hustle effort to make some money in college), was to do a professional voice over for an RFID technology company in Pune, India. A gig that I landed by walking into a recording studio at random thinking I wanted to be a singer. That was 15 years ago perhaps and an entirely different story ;)
• Google if you read this please don’t take 12 years to find us… if you don’t know what we mean, please check our 12 years of SMITTEN video on instagram and you’ll know.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEcVCZ-juD2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link