Meet Devanshi Patel | Henna artist & saree Draper

We had the good fortune of connecting with Devanshi Patel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Devanshi, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I had a regular 8-5 job. I never thought about business up until I had my son. My priority had changed I wanted to spend more time with him than at work. I wanted to take care of him by myself I was not comfortable with the idea of daycare or nanny. I was also diagnosed with PPD. When I saw the trust of my friends with their bridal henna in me, I thought this would be a good business idea. I started working on it. I had nothing to loose plus if this works I could balance the family and work more efficiently. As I was getting more work I realized I love being a henna artist this was my happy place. I decided to do it full time and slowly set up the business. I have never looked back and will never do I only want to keep improving and expanding.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a henna artist. I specialize in custom bridal henna. Henna is a traditional art used to stain hands and feet of south Asian and middle eastern brides with intricate designs. I also do henna for families, guests, baby showers, birthday parties, events and more. I’m very proud of my abilities to hear the ideas and bring them to life for all my clients mixing them with traditional intricate designs. And that’s something that sets me apart as well I am always excited and interested in knowing people’s stories and why certain elements means so much to them and just think and figure out the way to add that to the design making each design as unique as their stories.
It was definitely not an easy journey. I have learned a lot about designs and techniques and constantly improved my self and I still work on it. I’m an artist I had no knowledge about business and while I did have a lot of help I had to learn and do it myself which didn’t come easily. I took every opportunity to learn more about how to run a business and used it. I did not take any advice from clients lightly. I took criticism gracefully as well and tried to improve on it.
Using social media as your marketing platform is also not easy. YouTube and instagram was my go to learning platforms from instagram algorithm a posting game to creating fb ads and keeping up with consistency.
One major lesson I learned as a business owner is if you keep working on your product to get it perfect you will never start the business. You need to jump in the market with what you have and get more feedbacks to improve the product and services. Find out what people actually need. For example, My bridal work is very different from the traditional Indian bridal design that work in Indian market today because I’m catering to bride in USA and they have different views that can be modern, contemporary, your traditional so I had to come up with the idea to mix them without losing the beauty of art work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My personal favorite is Parthenon. I love history and art. If you have kids I love taking my son and friends kids to science museum and Nashville zoo. For chill and relaxing days I love going to Arrington winyard and enjoy outdoor weather during summer time, you can take some food with you and kids can play. They have live music swings, food trucks and of course wine.
Fifth and broadway is a nice place to eat if you have big groups no wait time plus everyone can eat whatever they like from so many options. Downtown is walking distance to enjoy some live music as well. Opryland hotel is another beautiful spot to visit. They have beautiful indoor gardens nice little boat ride and restaurants.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are a lot of people who deserves credit. First is my parents who always encouraged me to do more in arts and crafts. They both are artistic themselves and have tought me a lot. All my artistic genes and creative brain comes from them. My husband is very supportive and encouraging as well. He took the complete financial responsibility so I could follow this without stressing about bills. He also guided me with lot of things like business setup since I had no knowledge in this field and showing confidence coz I had non when I started. I did believe in my work and my ability to deliver but I was not very vocal about it. I also have lot of family and friends who support me, guide me and help me with anything and everything. I’m the artist and face of my company but there is a lot that goes behind the scenes as well and I’m thankful to each and everyone who have helped and have faith in me.

Website: https://Www.hennadreamworks.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hennadreamworkstennessee?igsh=a3JwdTVuanhuejR0

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hennaessencenashville?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
All pictures are taken on my phone by me.