Since her childhood, Annam Ishtiaq, 27, was inclined towardsart and creativity. Keeping her interests in mind, her family and friends wouldalways gift Annam craft books, colours, pencils etc instead of Barbie dolls andstuff, which young girls would like to play with. But her preference was eitherpainting or crafting something.
Throughout her school days, she took part and won prizes indifferent competitions related to art and crafts.
Same is true with grown-up Annam. She could not part wayswith her childhood passion even after completing her BTech and opted out of twojobs to start her own business of gift wrapping.
“I still remember the little me getting lost in mywonderland for hours with my colours, painting books, and crafting things,”says Annam, who grew up in Jammu. After completing her schooling fromPresentation Convent School, Jammu, she pursued BTech from DIT Dehradun inelectronics and communications.
“Despite pursuing engineering, I could not restrict theartist inside me and frequently took part in different activities related toart and craft,” she says.
After completing her BTech, Annam worked for twomulti-national companies in Gurgaon but ultimately decided to quit.
“It was a great learning experience but gradually I realisedthat technical job was not my thing. It would not bring me the happiness theyway I would get from creating something of my own,” she says.
Though she decided to do something related to the art andcraft but for some time she was not able to decide what exactly she would do.It was during her wedding when she could not find a good packing place inSrinagar that she thought of opening one herself.
“I explored the whole city for someone who could do the jobprofessionally. But all I found was gift wrapping sheets, some bows and ribbonsbut no one to ensemble it into a beautiful gift hamper. It is very tough to dothis job at home where there is already hassle around wedding days,” saysAnnam.
This way the seeds of ‘Wrap it up by Annam’ started growingin her mind.
“It was only after my marriage when I discussed this ideawith my husband who pushed me for taking it seriously. I was little skepticalabout it in the beginning but he made me believe that it will work,” she says.
At that time Annam thought that being creative is not enoughand if she has to take up gift wrapping as a profession then she should go forproper training. As the first step of her business, she did a certificatecourse in wedding trousseau and gift packing.
“After completing the course, when I returned back toKashmir the first thing I did was that I just grabbed a Samawar, wrapped it,and uploaded it on Instagram and it made an instant mark,” she says.
Annam believes that social media is a blessing nowadays. Itgave her a platform to begin this journey without investing in a physicalstore.
“The way people enthusiastically reciprocated boosted myconfidence,” says Annam.
As Annam started receiving orders, she looked for the bestavailable material and other exquisite things from outside.
In less than a year,Annam has 5000 followers on Instagram and has delivered more than 200 ordersacross India. Presently, she is handling on an average eight orders daily.
She makes full use of social media to promote her businessand connect with the people. From placing orders to updating customers anddelivering orders, her page on Instagram has played a vital role in promotingher business.
She is not just confined to weddings, she also providesother gifting and packing services like chocolate hampers, baby shower gifts,cosmetic baskets, dry fruit hampers, birthday gift hampers, etc.
Annam, probably thefirst female commercial gift packer of Kashmir, aspires to open her own brickand mortar store in future by the same name ‘Wrap it up by Annam’.
Annam says that her journey made her realise that nothingthat is worthwhile is ever easy but it gives confidence and satisfaction thatnothing is impossible.
“In fact, excellence becomes easier if one follows theirpassion. I feel very delighted when I see young people especially women likemyself taking to entrepreneurship and working towards the path of development,”she says.