The agenda, as always, is fairly straightforward. The participants and I ( never more than 10 ), meet at a professional conference space, in this case, WeWork Blue 1 Square in Gurgaon, and we discuss possible solutions tailored to each individual’s unique situations.
The workshop has seen all kinds of solopreneurs previously : professional photographers, artists, an entreprenuer planning to launch a beauty brand, a textile jewellery designer, etc.
For the 4th Edition, the workshop had :
- Priyanka Thakur, entrepreneur running a jewellery brand called Nirwaana
- Neha Malhotra, professional photographer running her brand called TinyLovePhotography specializing in babies and maternity photography
- Gurnoor Behl, a professional networker and conductor of her own series of workshops specializing in platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube, under the label HouseOfGKB.
For roughly 3-4 hours, we exchanged information, discussed the pros and cons of various approaches and discussed real life situations that I had experienced.
The focus was on brand building, mostly online. The fundamental rules of running a successful business haven’t changed. Social media has, however, allowed us to expand our reach and horizons internationally.
The new addition in this edition of the workshop was a case study about my brand of brooches that I have launched recently. I have only just created an independent Instagram account for my first ever product brand at @khaosphilos but all major updates will always first appear on the Naina.co blog and new series of mini-paintings will be listed for sale on my online Shop. I am looking forward to growing that line of products as a separate brand and I hope I will be able to use my experience of 15 years and put it to good use.
There is always a LOT to talk about during the workshop and it ends up being physically and mentally draining. Luckily, I usually have other energetic and inspiring entrepreneurs in the room and we feed off of each other.
After more than a few coffees and tons of conversation, and after a round of portraits, but of course, we called it a day.
Since I had included a case study about my brooches, I carried a 24 inch diameter canvas studded with a variety of my hand-painted wearable art brooches to show to the participants in-person.
I’m grateful to have found a platform like MeetUp and a professional conferencing space at many of the WeWork locations in Gurgaon. Because everything just works at WeWork, I am able to focus entirely on delivering my best in the workshop without having to worry about a multitude of variables likes air-conditioning, coffee, water, washrooms, electricity, etc. Special thanks to Saudamini for making this happen. Also, as always, thanks are due to Arushi and Rishita.
Saturdays are rather quiet at WeWork and ours is probably the loudest space in the entire building!
( See the Workshop’s listing / registration page on my Shop for pricing and offerings. )
Below is the graphic I created for announcing the workshop on my social media channels. It’s the first time I tried something on these lines and I am not entirely sure it worked. The value proposition remains in that the kind of details I share, are invaluable. I also don’t know of anyone else offering a similar workshop in India.
Scroll to see more images from the workshop, participant portraits and links to previous workshops at the end of this blog post.
Some TakeAways
Two of the biggest takeaways from this edition of the workshop, that can be turned into hashtags are : #GoalKyaHai where we remind ourselves, continually, to not lose focus. To not be tempted by what others around us are doing. To know what out goal is, to refine it and to focus on it at ALL TIMES. And then there’s #FuckThePlatform where we appreciate platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and others but our brand must not depend on what these platforms provide. Our brand should have its own identity independent on what platform we are using for marketing or selling.
Apart from the brand building conversations, each participant also receives a high resolution image file of their portrait and access to over 5,000 words of content created specifically for this workshop, in the form of 10 blog posts.
Stay In Touch
Read & see more from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Editions of #WorkshopsByNaina
For announcements of future workshops, subscribe to my newsletter. I barely send out one in six months. If I manage to get regular, maximum once a month, if that. Mainly only announcements of workshops.
My first ever photography workshop for Portrait Photography has also just been announced.
