Today we’d like to introduce you to Prachi Patel.
Hi Prachi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My brand started in November of 2021 as Prachi Henna Art, LLC. It is my baby, I have grown as an entrepreneur so much in the last 2 years of running this company and developing its brand. A good friend once told me, “if we’re not all friends, what’s the point?” and it has been my brand motto ever since. With the added caveat of not everyone is your friend, so protect your energy.
I started crafting and selling my work at five years old in Bamberg, South Carolina. At three years old, two years prior, I was selling the toys I no longer wanted alongside my mom at the gas station where I went after school instead of daycare. It was mothers day 2004, I wanted to make her something but the only supplies I had were in the office area. So, I took 2 pieces of printer paper, a red sharpie, scissors, and tape to make her a flower. I needed to make circles, so I took tobacco cans and used them to draw six circles and colored them in with the red sharpie, cut them out, taped them in a line, and set them to the side, I rolled a cone to make the stem of the flower with the other sheet of printer paper and the rest is history. My mom told me she loved it and told me to make a minor adjustment so that I could sell them to the customers. So she added a cotton ball and sprayed it with essential oil concentrate room spray and I outsold her inside the store making over $200 dollars selling these paper flowers. Later the design was changed to a pipe cleaner and tissue paper design to make it attachable to rearview mirrors. If you are wondering how much they were $1 each.
Fast forward to 2012, I made over 2K one summer selling custom paracord bracelets (I still offer paracord products). Fast forward again to 2019 when I decided to go to Mercer University in Macon, GA to pursue a pre-medical school Neuroscience major with a minor in Chemistry. I always knew I wanted to provide a positive impact on people and be the best I could be in my chosen career. So, in my junior year I decided to change my major to Chemical Commerce with a focus on Business Management, this major will allow me to still graduate with my class of 2023 while also providing me with classes that are relevant to me as an entrepreneur. Medical school and Neuroscience as a career path did not work out for me but I know I can be the best I can be at this small art business. I have been doing it since I was practically five years old.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been smooth, I did not grow up around diversity. Coming to Mercer and joining the Minority Mentor Program was a huge transition from the small wealthy coastal white communities I grew up in. This is the south, and I am a first-generation South-Asian American. I did not understand what that would mean for me until I became a formal business person and until Mercer and Macon gave me the opportunities and experiences I needed to understand how people should be treated. It also gave me the strength to persevere when I am being mistreated or discriminated against or when my culture is being appropriated. There are a lot of things that I have experienced that I did not know I didn’t deserve, and as a person with PTSD that is really hard. Long story short, it is not the easiest task to be respected as an equal in the boys club that is the business world. Nonetheless, I have met the best most real people along the way that make the hard times bearable and the better times the best.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m known for being a jack of all trades and a master of henna. Joking aside, I can do my small adult henna in 3-3.5 mins in a festival setting. I make wire jewelry including but never limited to nose cuffs, septum cuffs, bangles, pendants, and credit card clips. I am a digital artist on the IPad, I sell that work as prints, bags, tapestries, and more. I do vinyl crafts in holographic bags, jars, cups, bags, shirts, etc. I dabble in lotion candles and regular ones as well as incense and incense holders. I create marketing materials and run social media for companies and organizations around Macon and beyond. I work with up-and-coming musicians and social media stars for custom branding/merch or artistic collaborations/exchanges. What sets me apart from others is my energy and brand motto: if we’re not all friends, what’s the point? Not everyone is your friend, though, so protect your energy.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is learning how to stay motivated while also achieving milestones despite setbacks.
Pricing:
- Henna $15.00+
- Basic flier $35.00+
- Nose Cuffs $12.00+
- Bangles $25.00+
- Jewelry Wraps $15.00
Contact Info:
- Website: www.linktr.ee/PrachiHennaArt
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prachihennaart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrachiHennaArtLLC/
- Other: www.prachihennaart.com
Image Credits
Marketing Materials by: Prachi Henna Art, LLC
