When Bengaluru-based Divya Tejaswi lost her teaching job during the pandemic-induced lockdown, she was uncertain about the road ahead. Her husband, also a teacher, had lost his job as well. It was during this time that she found inspiration in her daughter’s doll and struck upon a unique idea — designing ethnic dolls.
Recalling the initial experiment, she shares, “After personalising my daughter’s dolls for the first time (in traditional Indian wear), I simply uploaded pictures online for fun, and got an almost immediate response for the dolls. In fact, in a matter of days, I got my first-ever order online for 20 personalised dolls from someone who wanted to gift them. This came as a blessing and there has been no looking back from that day.”
The dolls are made from plastic and synthetic material, wool and thread. Today, Divya earns an impressive Rs 10 lakh annually by creating and selling her handcrafted dolls under the brand ‘Lalitha Dolls’, named after her mother who loves to make doll accessories. That’s not all. She has also employed five women who assist her in handcrafting the dolls, which have gained a global fan base, finding their way into the United States, Canada, Malaysia, and Korea.
With her handcrafted dolls already winning hearts worldwide, Divya now aims to bring Lalitha Dolls to life with her own physical store.
Edited by Khushi Arora
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